I finally had the chance to do my first mods. Boy did I learn a LOT!
I started with this ...
Fairly nice 176 that I got from Trevor (at a very good price I might add). It came with the too blue AR, a high canon pin, but the hand was set too high, the nice engraved asian movement and a really awful crown. Still, all in all a good watch to start with.
I tore the whole thing apart...
First, I swapped out the crystal with one that I had with a very light AR coating. Thanks to brobert for his post, 'The McGyver $2 crystal press'. Made the whole thing go very easy.
Next thing I did was a full service on the movement. I used a copy of the eta 6497 disassembly/assembly flash file. Step by step instructions also showing how to oil the movement actually made this one of the easiest parts of the whole process.
To anyone that wonders if they should have their watch serviced, the answer is clearly YES after what I have experienced. Though the movement appeared to be clean, I'm guessing that it was bone dry. When I first got the watch, I timed the power reserve at 52 hrs. when fully wound. After service (reassembly & regulating) the power reserve is now 59hr. I couldn't believe it myself, but I've checked it twice. Same result both times. Without a second hand, I can't claim cosc standards, but after a week it's accurate to the minute at least.
Next came my first attempt at lume. Thanks Alvi, CBR & anyone else that's ever given tips.
What I wasn't prepared for is that it's more like applying spackle than painting. I used the V10 10-20 micron powder. Even though it's a fine grind, it still feels more like wet sand when you're putting it on. With a sandwich dial, it's kinda idiot proof though. The hands were fairly easy as well. If it's just wet enough, one swipe from the under side of the hand & it's done. Having said that though, I'm in no way ready to even think about attempting a sausage dial. :lol:
The only thing left at this point was to start putting the whole thing back together again. I had to cheat a bit putting the dial back on. It came with one of the mounting pins missing, so I had to resort to using some double-sided tape to hold it in place. It will do for now as I plan on getting a new dial from DSN at some point. The L Swiss Made L on this dial is almost touching the 6. After seeing Alvi's pics of his 176, the DSN dial is way better.
Setting the hands was fairly easy as well. It took a bit of trial & error to get the minute hand sanded down just right, but it now sits nice & flush with the canon pin. Putting it back in the case was the hardest part for me. Getting the last screw for the movement holder in seemed to take forever!
I had to file/sand down the CG lever to accommodate the new T60 crown. Thanks again for the crown Taka. It made all the difference!
Topped it off with a basic black Panatime strap, & it's ready to go... At least for now.
I also have to thank Cybee, H_U & Francisco (& anyone else I might have missed) for their great tutorials. It's really nice to have quality reference material to help guide you through the process. I just hope this post will inspire anyone even thinking about modding to just do it! The very worst thing you can do is totally screw up a $200 watch. Otherwise, for the price of a few movies, you can have hours of entertainment & a decent looking watch to show for your efforts.
I started with this ...
Fairly nice 176 that I got from Trevor (at a very good price I might add). It came with the too blue AR, a high canon pin, but the hand was set too high, the nice engraved asian movement and a really awful crown. Still, all in all a good watch to start with.
I tore the whole thing apart...
First, I swapped out the crystal with one that I had with a very light AR coating. Thanks to brobert for his post, 'The McGyver $2 crystal press'. Made the whole thing go very easy.
Next thing I did was a full service on the movement. I used a copy of the eta 6497 disassembly/assembly flash file. Step by step instructions also showing how to oil the movement actually made this one of the easiest parts of the whole process.
To anyone that wonders if they should have their watch serviced, the answer is clearly YES after what I have experienced. Though the movement appeared to be clean, I'm guessing that it was bone dry. When I first got the watch, I timed the power reserve at 52 hrs. when fully wound. After service (reassembly & regulating) the power reserve is now 59hr. I couldn't believe it myself, but I've checked it twice. Same result both times. Without a second hand, I can't claim cosc standards, but after a week it's accurate to the minute at least.
Next came my first attempt at lume. Thanks Alvi, CBR & anyone else that's ever given tips.
What I wasn't prepared for is that it's more like applying spackle than painting. I used the V10 10-20 micron powder. Even though it's a fine grind, it still feels more like wet sand when you're putting it on. With a sandwich dial, it's kinda idiot proof though. The hands were fairly easy as well. If it's just wet enough, one swipe from the under side of the hand & it's done. Having said that though, I'm in no way ready to even think about attempting a sausage dial. :lol:
The only thing left at this point was to start putting the whole thing back together again. I had to cheat a bit putting the dial back on. It came with one of the mounting pins missing, so I had to resort to using some double-sided tape to hold it in place. It will do for now as I plan on getting a new dial from DSN at some point. The L Swiss Made L on this dial is almost touching the 6. After seeing Alvi's pics of his 176, the DSN dial is way better.
Setting the hands was fairly easy as well. It took a bit of trial & error to get the minute hand sanded down just right, but it now sits nice & flush with the canon pin. Putting it back in the case was the hardest part for me. Getting the last screw for the movement holder in seemed to take forever!
I had to file/sand down the CG lever to accommodate the new T60 crown. Thanks again for the crown Taka. It made all the difference!
Topped it off with a basic black Panatime strap, & it's ready to go... At least for now.
I also have to thank Cybee, H_U & Francisco (& anyone else I might have missed) for their great tutorials. It's really nice to have quality reference material to help guide you through the process. I just hope this post will inspire anyone even thinking about modding to just do it! The very worst thing you can do is totally screw up a $200 watch. Otherwise, for the price of a few movies, you can have hours of entertainment & a decent looking watch to show for your efforts.
