I have this project at a point (the watch works) to show some shots 
The original watch was from Ruby. I stripped the dial and repainted it with automotive paint Mercedes Brown. This took alot of painting, then rubbing with compound then repainting. Finally I rubbed with compound to expose the undercoating in spots to give it the worn look. The back sandwich dial is fabricated from brass in a thinner gauge than the original dial to avoid cannon pin recession and then painted Chrysler Yellow (sort of an hommage to the defunct union). The dial is lumed with GLOW, which works pretty well. The hands were repaced with gold hands that I distressed with bleach. On the inside I removed the Asian clone 6497 and placed an ETA 6497-1 from Offrei. This was actually the hardest part. The plastic spacer did not work (and looked bad to boot) so I fabricated a brass spacer. The case was suitably distressed (note the bent springbars) and the watch placed on a leather NATO. I am n the process of getting an o-ring for the caseback and I need to distress the strap, but I am glad the watch is working at this point. Thanks for sharing my odyssey and a special thanks to Offshore for helping me through a winding stem hunt. And now the pics...
A wristshot in the sun...
The original watch was from Ruby. I stripped the dial and repainted it with automotive paint Mercedes Brown. This took alot of painting, then rubbing with compound then repainting. Finally I rubbed with compound to expose the undercoating in spots to give it the worn look. The back sandwich dial is fabricated from brass in a thinner gauge than the original dial to avoid cannon pin recession and then painted Chrysler Yellow (sort of an hommage to the defunct union). The dial is lumed with GLOW, which works pretty well. The hands were repaced with gold hands that I distressed with bleach. On the inside I removed the Asian clone 6497 and placed an ETA 6497-1 from Offrei. This was actually the hardest part. The plastic spacer did not work (and looked bad to boot) so I fabricated a brass spacer. The case was suitably distressed (note the bent springbars) and the watch placed on a leather NATO. I am n the process of getting an o-ring for the caseback and I need to distress the strap, but I am glad the watch is working at this point. Thanks for sharing my odyssey and a special thanks to Offshore for helping me through a winding stem hunt. And now the pics...
A wristshot in the sun...