chefcook Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Hello guys, the floppy cg lever is IMO one of the weak spot of most Panerai reps. Actually no one will notice it, no one will know it, but it will bother you. It does not feel as precious as the genuine lever does and at least to me the floppy lever was a big disappointment. The genuine lever has a rubber bushing that makes the lever feel nice, tight and smooth. The bad news: None of the current reps has the rubber bushing. The only rep crown guard I've ever seen that copied that feature correctly is the discontinued V crown guard. The good news: It can be retrofitted to propbably all crown guards and I'll show you how to. All you need is your crown guard, a small table drill press and a rubber-insulated cable. The wires diametre without the insulation should be a little smaller than your cg pin and the insulation should add about 1mm to the wire. I chose a cable 1mm X 0.8mm, so the complete outer diametre is 1.8mm. This is a disassembled Ultimate crown guard from a cartel 088. It is a quite good crown guard, but again: The lever... Make sure you've bought the correct cable Secure the lever on your drill press. Do not drill to the same diametre as the cable has!!! Stay about two tenths smaller - you'll need that for a good fit. I enlarged the hole in the lever to 1.6mm Burr the enlarged hole. It will make assembly easier. Cut a small piece from the insulation Probably you won't be able to push the rubber into the lever. If so enlarge it slightly with a broach until you can push the rubber into the lever. It must sit tight and firm. Assemble the CG again. It may be more difficult to push the pin into the CG than before - you have to get through the rubber the first time... Maybe some rubber is pushed out of the lever when inserting the pin. If that happens take the lever out of the cg again and cut the rubber coming out of the lever. After that the pin should go back in place propperly. The result is a CG that feels precious and tight - just like the genuine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deniz21 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 thats a good way to do it, and thank you for the work in doing it but i have one question , do you dont see the blue color of the cable after doing this? on the last pics it looks a little bit like that. best regards denz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmedude Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 You shouldn't be able to see the blue because the crown guard should theoretically cover the holes on the lever. I personally probably would've went with black insulation, but it's something that no one would notice unless they took the watch apart. Great job chefcook! thats a good way to do it, and thank you for the work in doing it but i have one question , do you dont see the blue color of the cable after doing this? on the last pics it looks a little bit like that. best regards denz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadtorrent Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Very interesting...great suggestion and a good write-up. I agree with bmedude...the housing should be underneath the CG it self...buried in the lever so nothing should be visible!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted January 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Yep, nothing is visible. The crown guard is a lot bigger than the hole in the lever. The CG looks exactly the same after the mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted January 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Some more close up pics of the assembled CG, first on my 005 with Torobravo CG (mod done about 4 weeks ago) then on the Ultimate cg I used in the tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Thats a good mod defintely better than the hot glue fix. Also saw a similar mod bevelling the holes and using O rings here http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/how-pams-crownquards-from-dsn-47065.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deniz21 Posted January 3, 2010 Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 ok thank you for this, and your right nothing visible, great job again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefcook Posted January 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2010 Thats a good mod defintely better than the hot glue fix. Also saw a similar mod bevelling the holes and using O rings here http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/how-pams-crownquards-from-dsn-47065.html Hi Pete, the O rings are a very good trick, too, but only if the lever is just slightly too loose. But for example on a LH crown guard I found the hole in the lever so much to big that the O rings did not work. The cable trick worked, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SERGEANT_AT_ARMS Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Very nice Tut, Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coolfire Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted January 4, 2010 Report Share Posted January 4, 2010 Hi Pete, the O rings are a very good trick, too, but only if the lever is just slightly too loose. But for example on a LH crown guard I found the hole in the lever so much to big that the O rings did not work. The cable trick worked, though. Thanks mate, appreciate the heads up. Thats what this place is all about sharing your experience. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.