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All, Seriously it's an amazing watch & thanks to Rolexfinder for getting this batch of MBWs on the board and on our wrists. They are great. I'm by no means a pro at modding and you'll see that through my write up here. But I do a have a few hacks(*) that can help some of you out there for your own build. Got in on the January batch of MBWs picked up a 5513, I like the subtleness of the no date. Watch arrives and it's beautiful. I wore it on canvas for a few weeks until I could spend a few hours hammering out the details and get a few parts in. I ordered up a Clark T19, WSO 580 end links and a clasp from TC. About $75 in total. 1. Lug holes. Mask the case, you will end up scratching no matter how careful you are. 2. I used the standard 1.2mm. In retrospect I would go for 1.25 or 1.3mm to let the pin show just slightly better but I had a set or 1.2 bits to burn up so there you go. *3. This is great. No power drill! No drill press! Slide the bit into an exacto handle and tighten down. I lubed the bit with some lithium gasket grease and went slow. I was able to get three out of for opened up to 1.2 until I got impatient. Worked great! When I started to rush and use less grease I snapped the bit and broke it off in the lug. I've never not broken at least one bit off. Not a real big deal you just go through the other side and eventually it will get pushed out by the opposing bit. Patience is key. Go slow. If you hear scraping add lube so you don't over torque and snap the bit. 4. De-cased the movement and loosened the crystal retainer. Applied hand pressure and the crystal comes right off. 5. Test fit the T19 with both the retainer and case worked great. Found a gasket for underneath the the retainer. Applied a layer of glue (jewelers adhesive) to the outside lower case neck. Then cleaned and cleaned and recleaned to make sure no glue would get near the top or onto the rehaught and crystal. Slipped the t19 on checked again (last chance) for wayward glue. (I would of used crystal cement but I broke the applicator) *6. Time to grease the gasket up (a little extra helps it stay in place as the retainer get positioned. I don't have a crystal press, for that matter any press. In the past I've used a 22mm socket (horrible idea) I found that a sodastream bottle worked perfect as it seats right against the retainer! And with the right amount of pressure the retainer was set. 7. Bracelet. I had an NOS rep bracelet sitting in the parts drawer that I had already opened up to 2mm. Off with the clasp, on with the TC. A little thread lock on the screws and stunning. Note the TC clasp finish is superior, to the band but on the wrist you'll never know. 8. Fk up the keyless works. My favorite thing to do of all time. I sued a .6mm screw driver (bad) to release the stem and drove it through the opening pushing the setting lever up into the operating lever rendering the whole works INOP. 9. De-case again, hands off, dial off. 10. Watched this video 6 times http://youtu.be/qtgAJBPPefM at minute 13:15 it's all keyless works. At minute 15:15 they op engages the setting lever spring on the setting lever and the return bar. *That's key, I think I've missed that in the past and thought that I'd killed the movement. So, reset all that, dail on, hands on and positioned. 11. Time to clean up. Clean the dial off with rodico. Blow the interior of the crystal off wipe down repeat, repeat again. Clean the case threads with rodico. Recase, check in direct light, decase clean again, curse the dust, repeat. 12. Gaskets greased, steam goes in with a little help. Not easy but I got it. (Would of gone gen crown here but it'd need a new gen tube) 13. Final assembly, grease the case gasket, torque the case back tight, bezel and insert on (popped the pearl out almost immediately, I like the look). 14. Clean with semichrome then windex then a little stainless cleaner. Light buff on the case where I didn't follow my own advice and mask. 15. Enjoy. The new crystal makes a huge!!! Difference in the watch.

Switched the 16570 to the jubilee. I like it!

5513 for now

5513 today

New dial and hands installed!!!

BK Sub C on NATO Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

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Just testing it out a bit... Gave the case a polish before drilling lugs, and then redoing the bevels and final polish.

The dial is decent but I just received two Yuki dials and while not perfect, I think will make a dramatic difference. Sounds like you know your way around, it's not too hard to swap a dateless ETA dial and hands. Just installed this set on my 5513 today (left), medium bleach and Ofrei pearl on the 5512 (right) but stock MBW dial/hands.

A7750 I think Vac is thre only one touching those conus.

"Although I am 90% sure the case needs to be re-tapped and then countersunk as well for it to sit like gen." I posted this information 22 hours ago in 'General Discussion' under "Please MBW 5513 case accept genuine crown?" post number 15: "...I just now tried a genuine 7mm crown on the MBK 5512 I got last week from Reppin and it will not work because the case tube in the MBK case is not oem spec and the post on the genuine crown will not go into the MBK case tube...the hole in the tube is too small. The MBK tube is not made to have an O ring down low outside but the crown does have a skirt machined at the bottom for O ring clearance (??). On my other MBK cases, I removed the case tubes as soon as I worked on them and installed oem spec case tubes (did not try oem crowns on them) and the oem case tubes screwed right in but iirc the relief in the case for the case tube base gasket (where the tube contacts the case) was not oem spec and I had to use an aftmkt gasket of some sort. The MBK crown will not screw down onto an oem spec case tube either because the MBK crown threads are too small. The MBK tube and crown look like the same case tube and crown set that came on some of my DW cases. The MBK case tube is made like an old 8mm tube except for the size." update: Where I said..."The MBK tube is not made to have an O ring down low outside..." I was wrong. The MBK tube has a groove down at the bottom but the O ring on mine was missing. ...and this additional info is from a note I sent to a member about 30 minutes ago: "I removed the case tube on the 5512 I got last week and a genuine rolex case tube screwed right in so any oem spec aftermarket case tube will also fit. Since all four of my MBK cases will accept oem case tubes, maybe they all will. The case is machined for a gasket between the tube and case but I do not know if an oem gasket will work or not. The lug holes are a bit under size and will need to be drilled out for genuine spec spring bars. There is also a gasket groove in the top of the case under the crystal retainer bezel like later model genuine watches but there was no O ring in it. On my MBK 5513, I put a gasket under the crystal retainer ring but I had to go down a size in thickness from what a genuine case uses...from 1.0mm thick to .9mm thick iirc. Could have been .8mm, can not remember. If you have the bezels and crystal retainer off and decide to install this gasket just be sure the crystal retainer bezel will press down all the way to the top of the case. If the gasket is too thick the crystal retainer bezel will not seat against the case and the rotating bezel will not fit properly and be too far from the top of the case. The case tube threads had some type of sealer/cement on them and the tube was harder than usual to remove. I used a six sided broach to remove it then ran a pipe cleaner through the case threads a few times to remove the cement. If you do run a tap through the case threads be very careful as it is easy to cross thread the tap and ruin the case threads." Just now... My advice is: Do not try to re-tap the case tube threads in a modern MBK case. They will accept a genuine case tube or any oem spec aftmkt case tube. If the threads are clean and an oem spec case tube will easily go in a turn or two, run it on in because it is fine. No telling how many cases have been damaged by running a tap into these small threads. It is very hard to start a small cutting tap straight in small threads. If anyone is going to do this type of precision work...start with scrap cases and go very slowly, do not start with a $400 case. I started working on this stuff in 1972 and believe it or not, I know what I am talking about.

That's a very nice build spec! Looking forward to seeing the progress Here's mine. Cartel midcase and back. Phong bezel assembly. Yuki insert, pearl, hands, T39 crystal. ETA 2846. Singer dial. Polexpete DWO.

i personally only prefer the 1680 with the ridiculously tall top hat 127. Why? Because its bad - ass!

Here's mine. I used a 1680 case. Yuki dial, hands, insert and a 700 crown and tube from Athaya. I needed to countersink and retap the case to fit.

Thanks! Wrist shots... nahh, not yet. It looks like some weird creation only a color blind-watchmaker could create currently... I still have lots left to do: 1) Drill lug holes (?), not sure I'm actually going to do it. Don't want to risk messing up the SEL-fitment, also it will be used with the bracelet all the time (otherwise I prefer lug holes to avoid scratching up the whole watch all the time) 2) Wait for the custom dial to arrive + add some fluffy texture to it with Watch-lume Extreme C1 3) Wait for goodluck-hk-gold sub hands to arrive + relume them 4) Change hands/dial + remove date-function on the A2836-2 5) Drill + tap for Athaya Big Crown 6) Fix rocking bezel-issue 7) Change case back to modded one 8] Polish the triangle area to remove some light brushing achieved during sanding + add a couple of more final layers of red enamel paint 9) Change crystal to (most likely) helenarou 6538-homage-xtal (or TigerConcept 6538-homage-xtal) and find suiting crystal gasket Btw.. I've decided to sell one of the extra dials I'm going to receive, so if anyone is interested, especially in EU, send me a PM. The cost is 150 USD + shipping, but I'm letting it go for 130 USD. The ones that have already PM'ed me earlier have priority. Cheers,

Ok! Any information about the crystal and gasket used? ---- Took 3 hours, but finally finished, sending the mockup to helenarou for design.