Heywood

Hi The collector, Cousins or AG Admin in the UK probably stock this tool even though neither list it on their web sites unless I missed it. Ofrei and Jules Borel in the US both stock them. The one you want is for the new style 6 mm (or 7mm, fits both) case tube. Take care when tightening up the case tube to the case. A little too much force and you can strip the splines off the tool or shear off the tube at the case. I've done both at different times and either one sucks.

Great results. Congratulations!

I just picked up a DW Daytona from a forum member which is in need of some repairs. I'm planning on installing a new crystal, gen tube and crown, new pushers and a new movement. Herein lies my dilemna. I haven't removed the movement yet, but it appears to be one of the cheap asian 7750's with the autowind rotor and axle removed. From a cursory inspection this movement seems to be a cheap ass piece of crap and isn't worth overlhauling. I've read some of the posts on the board and found several movements mentioned as possible replacements. I was hoping I could get some feedback from some of the veteran DW owners along these lines. Thanks!

Try Jules Borel. You can call and give them the size you need, they have tons of crystals.

Step 1 We admitted we were powerless over watches-that our lives had become unmanageable. Etc, Etc, Etc. Jokes aside, that's quite a collection you have going there! Wear them well.

Eddie, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when I read your post. You should be doing stand up, not selling reps!

That's a great looking watch and a good informative review. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Bill, If you are using one of the cheap, made in India handlebar style Rolex openers you should sell it cheap with the disclaimer that it is a piece of crap! I use an LG Openall case opener and it is absolutely the best opener to be had for the money IMHO. If you pair it up with the LG master wrench you can open nearly any watch case known to man. The Openall is about $70 bucks and comes with the rings to fit Rolex (and reps too). The Master wrench is about $50 bucks and has tips to fit almost any watch. I would buy the new 4 post case vise to go with the Openall too. For $125 bucks you will be able to open nearly any watch. Ofrei has all of these. The fancy Swiss case openers are probably great too but hard to justify the $$$ unless you're a real watchmaker. All above IMO for what it's worth.

Ofrei has the 2846 that Ubi uses if you want to go that route. If you can figure what part of the keyless works works is busted I have several 28xx parts movements and will send you a replacement part gratis if I have what you need. I've worked on, I mean busted, a few of these movements over the years.

That baby is smokin'! You are the king of the Franken Daytona.

Here is another source for redials, might be worth checking out his prices before you make a decision. These dials look pretty decent. Site is www.timeman.net

GS Crystals. I'm having the same dilemna you are with the crystal on an Andrew vintage sub. I've tried every damn crystal in my tool box and none were a good fit. To make matters worse all of my watch stuff is put away in closets so it is impossible to get at without a lot of work. I've got a GS crystal book somewhere in my stuff that's packed away. If I can find it I'll be sure to post for everyones benefit. I was hoping that a gen tropic 19 would fit this thing. I guess this wouldn't be any fun if it was simple!

Washer spring for 1680 is available from Smith Supply http://www.watchpartonline.com//p72.html. I think Jules Borel has them too.

The 28xx movements take the 90, 150, 25 hand sizes. Hands designed to fit Tudor subs will be a direct fit. Their are a couple of people on the bay who sell these.

That dial looks damn good! Excellent job.

Congratulations and Good work! That first successful repair really makes you feel good. Be careful though, you've now entered the danger zone. Having tools inevitably leads to fiddling with movements and those little parts sure do bust easy. I've got an eta parts box filled with the remnants of 3 or 4 movements I busted up to prove it.

My newly completed Frankenmaster!

I'll second the harbour freight digital calipers. I bought mine on sale for $15.99. They are incredibly nice for less than $20 bucks. At these prices you could by five for the price of one mitutoyo caliper.

Nice work! The gen crown makes all the difference. Glad to see you didn't hose the keyless works, it's a pain to fix the first time.

Done & upgraded. Where else can you get this much fun for $30 bucks!

Let's get about a thousand of the members here to email and ask him if He'll work on our reps!

Hi All, I picked up a new 5512 from Trusty at the post office on this past Friday. I ordered this watch not knowing whether I could use it for some modifications to turn it in to a pseudo Rolex with a genuine movement. Well once I got it apart the crystal mounting lip was too small to fit a tropic 19, the inner dimensions of the case weren't perfect, the genuine dial fell thru the front of the watch because the hole was too big....and so goes the frustration with the search for a case for this project. Oh well, I guess I can just sell it and buy an MBW to Franken up. After bumming about not being able to finish the Rolex project yesterday I decided to put together another project that has been in my toolbox for a couple of years. My main interest in watches has been the vintage Rolex sports models, but I picked up a couple of Omega Seamaster 300 case kits a few years ago from Watchco. They never excited me that much and have been sat in my toolbox untouched. The movement, an Omega calibre 552, came from a donor Seamaster dress watch picked up on flea bay. All of the parts are original, but the sources of the parts being different models I must call this a Frankenwatch. Pardon the lack of photos from assembly, it was late and I didn't to stop to take pictures. Anyway here are some pics. Please pardon the crappy photography, it looks much better than it appears.

A fine job gentlemen! You guys both do great work.

That crystal press that Nanuq mentioned would probably come in handy about now. You can find one at OFrei, Casker, Jules Borel or flea bay for well under fifty bucks that will do the job. I've bought tools from Casker, Frei and Borel and been satisfied with all three. Casker has a cheap 2 day fedex shipping deal that will get stuff to you quickly and cheaply. Good luck!

At first glance, without looking carefully, the first movement looks more realistic to me. Unfortunately they both are obviously fake upon closer inspection , but pretty darn nice looking for a rep.