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Operation: Lugholes enters phase II..


fidhle007

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As some of you may know I have always been a fan of lugholes and have had an ongoing Submariner project for awhile now.  It's based on an ST case and after several movement incarnations and some drastic case reworking I wound up here:
 
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Bezel, insert and crown are genuine,  dial and hands are TC and it's powered by a high-grade 2824 movement I found on ebay.  I love this watch imensly but it's just not there yet...  And so, having to order some parts for some watch repairs I'm long overdue on, I found myself ordering the ST 3035 (16800) case earlier this evening.  I'm not sure yet what the endgame will be but it be nice to have the two cases side-by-side for a comparison.  I already have a super-franken 16610 anyway, I think it's time to get a little vintage!
 
I'll update this thread as parts start to arrive and the build goes together.
 
Thanks for looking!
 
~Brendan

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Interesting! I recently swapped out the case on my 16800 franken from a noob case with the lugholes drilled to the ST 3035 case. The 2834-2 movement fit right in the ST case with the rafflestime #2 ring. Crown position is high and looks good. I like the ST case for the fact that it takes good aftermarket/gen parts like the bezel, insert and crystal. The case is WR and the only thing I don't like is the tall lugs (when compared to a gen 16800 case) and the ridge along the case at the crown guards. But it certainly is an improvement over the noob case which we all know has its shortcomings.

 

Here's a pic of the ST case on top and a gen 16800 case on the bottom. The gen case is thinner as far as the height of the lugs. The ST case is more like a 16610 case, IMO. The 593 end pieces didn't fit too well, they're too flat for the ST case. I guess I could try to bend them out a little or swap over to some 501Bs. I certainly don't intend to try to file down all four lugs of the ST case at this point.

photo-16.jpg

 

But overall, I've been happy with the ST case- I certainly prefer it to the noob case. It's comparable to the TW Best/WM9/TC sub cases as far as I'm concerned

 photo-27.jpg

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I think that problem with short lugs plagues the 16610 case as well.  I had to modify the crap out of my 580s to get them to fit but they were really cheap...  I milled down a TC dial and movement ring to fit but it was still a little shoddy.  I suspect it will be a much easier fit in the 3035 case thanks to the extra clearance.  Ephry73 got a TC dial to fit without any modification so if that's the case for me as well I may pick up another dial just so I can have a clean one in this project.  Certainly an early dial is on my wishlist (I have a silver DWO with open 6 and 9 already) but for now the MO is get it together, get it working and see what fits.

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Man, I have a time getting on the Rolex Forum- my computer can't get by the 'long running script'. But that thread appears to be from 2010 from what I could tell and didn't see where it had anything to do with stopping raffles time..  

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The 3035 case is DEFINITELY thinner. Much like the thin cased 16800. The 3135 case I'm using for a more modern sub for every day use. 

 

You'll be happy with it. 

 

 

Now, if you ever want to trade your 3135 case for a nice 3035, let me know. 

 

E

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That's great news!  I'm excited to get to soften the case BEFORE I install all the little tidbits so I can give it a proper polish!  The 3135 case has been such an on-going project that I've just sort of chipped away at it.  The problem is now it looks like exactly that, chipped away...

 

I need an opinion on something though: I have a gen bezel but it's seen better days, should I use the TC bezel so I have a "new" watch or should I just soften the case more to match?

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's a 3035 case now although I haven't reshaped it at all yet. Gun is a Kimber Stainless Gold Match II .45ACP. It's stupid big but it's become my regular carry weapon now just based on how damn accurate it is! Plus, if I have to pull it, it's noticeable enough that it may keep the peace without me having to pull the trigger. But if I do have to pull it, I know the first shot is landing and landing hard... :-)

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It's hard to get a carry permit in your state anyway... NH is not bad and I've had one or two issues here and there that have made me decide it's better to be prepared then not. I rotate between the the 1911, a USPc .40 and sometimes a Walther if I need something really small. The slim profile of the 1911 makes for better concealment but the USPc is a lot lighter and has a few more rounds.

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