tomhorn

You can check to see if Whoopy has any 1016 dials left, but if he doesn't then you will have to find one in a M2M sale, as he isn't still making them. There are other options, but most people these days are using Yuki's 1016 dial.

I was lucky to find an HH case for my build. Bought one of the last one's he had. I know HH had a lot of challenges to get where he did. It's really too bad that the project never came to fruition. The only potential availability of an HH case I have seen that was not already built into a franken was hinted at by member "altesporsche" in a thread back in January. Have no idea if he sold it during that thread, or has done anything with it. Otherwise, at this point you're out of luck. As for what to do now, there are only three viable options. Phong, Yuki and MBW. Phong's cases are easily the best, but is also the most money. Yuki's are better than the MBW case, but with either of those, you are going to have to do some case re-shaping in order to get them to look better. Personally, I wouldn't even attempt a 5514 build now without having the budget for a Phong case. Sure, you'll spend less with Yuki or the MBW, but then you'll have the added re-shaping costs and they still won't be as good anyway. This is why the first order of business when deciding to build a franken is doing the research and coming up with the plan. It's critical to do this before buying the first part. Otherwise you can end up with a few parts, and no way to finish the project, or an end cost that's way more than you wanted to spend. Far better to figure out ahead of time what items are going to be the toughest to find, so you can start with them first. As you've found, with the 5514, it's the case. For a 1016, it's the dial. The list goes on ...

Yep. https://rwg.cc/profile/31422-athaya

^^ well said DTM ... From spending all the time I have on the forum over the years, if you throw out the would be poseurs who just want a fake watch to fool their friends and colleagues with, I see a regular progression during people's tour through our hobby on the various message boards. The trend I seem to see a lot of in people is: 1) Bought a few reps to start. Mostly of the 1:1 or very good quality variety. 2) Interest in "modding" begins. 3) Plateau reached. 4) Move from "modding" to building frankens. 5) Plateau reached. 6) Selling off of the project watches. 7) Purchase of gens. 8 ) Return to #4. I am at step #5 myself. Went through building several frankens, and haven't felt the energy to do much new for a bit.

That's him. I always PM him to order.

No SSL certificate on the site. Huge red flag. At least everything is shipped COD, so you aren't sending CC info that way. Regardless, after all of the issues with DW in the past, why chance it?

Months? He hasn't been active here for years. Dropped off the radar when he started running into problems with people's IWC builds. I'd look for a new supplier unfortunately.

Neither are "perfect" so you can go with either. Having said that, IMO the v1 hands are a bit flatter, and thus closer to gen for the 5514. You can also use Clark's or Yuki's.

Probably should leave this guy in the safe, based on how much people are asking for franken DJ's these days .... agentoso74 ... love that one!

There are plenty of posts about the Santos 100. The Ultimate Edition is highly regarded.

Looks like that seller broke up an entire 5513. He's selling off all the parts but the dial.

Interesting. Will have to update my notes. Thanks! I used an ETA 2846 in my HH case. It's 5.22mm and worked OK. Can see why the OP's watchmaker is saying things aren't aligned properly. IIRC the 2846/2836 is what HH designed the case for, but I know dbane and fitch (maybe others) built 5514's with a 1520 and HH case. Maybe there's a trick to getting everything to line up?

+1 I have always just messaged him through eBay.

The heights between the 1530 and ETA's came direct from Ranfft. I haven't used a 1530 myself for anything, but the height difference between the 1520 and 1530 I have in my movement notes attributed to Ubi.

Therein lies the problem. The 1530 movement is thicker than the 1520. I don't think the Phong ETA case is going to work either. A 1530 is 5.75mm in height, the 2824 is 4.7mm and the 2836 is 5.1mm.

Thanks for the kind words about my build. It's one of my favorites ...

Pulled the 5514 out of the box today ...

Getting an HH case will be next to impossible. I'd be surprised if there were any left out there that haven't already been used for a build. There weren't that many to begin with. If you don't want to go Phong, then your next best bet is probably to contact Rolexfinder and see if he has any of the MBW cases left. Your other option is Yuki. I think the caseback is better than the MBW (though still not great), but it's also more expensive. http://www.yukiwatch.com/catalog/item/6924997/7292167.htm

Have had two ... it sucks. One surgically removed. Don't recommend them to anyone ....

I was referring to this part of the OP .... "The hour hand is rubbing the dial". You could be right about the hands not being for a 2824.

I don't see mention of what case is being used, but the hand height rubbing issue is probably related to using a 2824-2 movement without the H4 canon pinion setup. It's also not a good choice from a beat perspective, but if the OP doesn't mind then it's just a matter of getting that corrected and the hands will be at the right height.

There are many other build threads. I used a 16014 case which is why my build thread will be helpful if you want to use a gen case. Having said that, JMB's cases are excellent, and if I didn't have the gen case sitting around, I would have gone that route. The dial has always been the difficult part of these builds. Good one's are hard to come by these days.

Yes, it will look a bit like this when you are done ... My build thread will get you started.

Vac has a whole section here. Search isn't even required. https://rwg.cc/forum/221-vac39s-modification-shop

I used TC's on my build. IMO they are the most accurate aftermarket Mercedes style hands.