M158 case backs - for posterity sake

[dapellegrini]

Ok, a little more inspection this morning in the light of day.

First, there is definitely a service mark - that seems to read  "L-1290-"



And I think the case back was actually fused together in 3 spots:



The worst being the side opposite the pushers.  Its almost like the gasket was glued on at those points.  I put a little effort at the remnants with peg wood this morning they are not coming to clean up easily - whatever is on there, is really on there.  I think I will need to soak it in something for a day or three.

Here are the worst spots up close:





Even the inner ring has etching from this mess on the opposite side of the pushers



Anyways, next step will be to clean it up - I have a lot of stuff to put through the U/S and am not keen on listening to it buzz away in my office at the moment - so will punt that for now.  

For posterity - if the case is really not coming off, you probably aren't doing anything wrong.  Consider super glue and a wrench - that seems to work and create the least damage overall.

[dapellegrini]

After U/S bath it became more obvious that those black areas around the inside of the case parts are pitting in the metal, that had kind of bubbled/swollen up a bit perhaps.  Cleaned it up best I could, then swapped a functioning LCD onto the otherwise functioning module, and it is all running like it is supposed to.  The bracelet is overstretched on this one, the LCD has some scratches on it - probably from being uncased in a drawer at some point in its life, and the dial frame is not perfect.  But its a good running example now, with refreshed gaskets

You can still see the battle scars from trying to get the case back off:



But otherwise looks pretty good

[scubarob99]

Aug 12, 2022 12:31:48 GMT -8 dapellegrini said:

After U/S bath it became more obvious that those black areas around the inside of the case parts are pitting in the metal, that had kind of bubbled/swollen up a bit perhaps.  Cleaned it up best I could, then swapped a functioning LCD onto the otherwise functioning module, and it is all running like it is supposed to.  The bracelet is overstretched on this one, the LCD has some scratches on it - probably from being uncased in a drawer at some point in its life, and the dial frame is not perfect.  But its a good running example now, with refreshed gaskets

You can still see the battle scars from trying to get the case back off:



But otherwise looks pretty good

It came out great! Was watching this closely as I have the abbreviated cities US version in good nick ( serviced by Spencer Klein) that I would like to transfer into a 'full' city frame (or the other way around)
But can't seem to get the back off the donor. Will get back to it after the summer

Rob

[dapellegrini]

scubarob99 - Keep in mind that the full cities version is the 5000 model with the bracelet like in my photos there.  The abbreviated cities goes in the 5009, which also has a different bracelet - that is if you care about keeping it original.  

I think I will be doing the superglue thing right away on anything that doesn't open easily for me.

[inboost]

Way to go dapellegrini - that turned out very nicely. I'm sure on the wrist it looks great, it's a shame how our high resolution close up photos can make minor imperfections look monstrous. Good work!

[scubarob99]

Aug 12, 2022 15:27:35 GMT -8 dapellegrini said:

scubarob99 - Keep in mind that the full cities version is the 5000 model with the bracelet like in my photos there.  The abbreviated cities goes in the 5009, which also has a different bracelet - that is if you care about keeping it original.  

I think I will be doing the superglue thing right away on anything that doesn't open easily for me.

I have both models on original bracelets.
5000 is a non runner.

Rob