1973 Bulova Snorkel

[Thommo82 1,397]

I picked this one up from eBay a little while back

It's missing it's crown but still has original stem

I gave the bracelet a good clean up with WD40 which worked quite nicely

 

 

The movement looks gorgeous, though I don't think the back had been removed for many years (if ever)

as it gave me much grief

 

 

I'm a total newb and therefore I'm asking some advice on a couple of issues.

First is a good way to clean up the dial, which as you can see is much worse for wear. I'm hoping it's superficial and can be restored without too much fuss

My own research found that baby oil on a cue tip is a good place to start, and also to avoid anything harsh on the dial so as to not cause further damage

Would like to know what methods you guys have had luck with

 

 

Second problem is that although the seconds hand moves around with barely a touch of the watch, and it moves beautifully smooth too, I'm guessing 28,800 beats or more

The hour and minute hands seem to be stuck in place

I screwed on a crown from another watch, however I was not able to set either time or date.

This was rather disappointing

 

Anyway, whatever advice you have on this watch is much appreciated

A local watch place was very unhelpful

Wouldn't even give me a price for a service, I'm guessing they were hoping just to get the watch then charge me an arm and a leg

 

Hopefully I can get this vintage piece up and running

Cheers guys

 

 

[Thommo82 1,397]

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0 replies

Cheers

[Mike on a bike 0]

I guess guys here need to knit a bit more LOL ,we know..................

[wannashmooze 6]

Not sure i would do anything to that dial, its got a nice wear look to it. As far as crown goes, sourcing a new crown should not be hard if you cna maybe measure the stem with a digital caliper or just buy a old lot of stems on ebay and you will probably find one that fits

[Diver Dave 0]

I remember those being sold new, circa about 1971 if memory serves. They were a mid level watch that were well liked.

 

What you are describing is the symptoms of a watch that's been wet inside. It likely needs a total disassembly and rebuild. The dial, if corroded like I think it is, is probably beyond help save for stripping it and redoing it. That's not beyond a kitchen table job though, with a laser printer, some lume paint, and some ingenuity.

Edited June 9, 2017 by Diver Dave

[Thommo82 1,397]

Not sure i would do anything to that dial, its got a nice wear look to it. As far as crown goes, sourcing a new crown should not be hard if you cna maybe measure the stem with a digital caliper or just buy a old lot of stems on ebay and you will probably find one that fits

 

I guess if the watch was working properly, that the dial wouldn't bother me too much as it does have character the way it is

[Thommo82 1,397]

I remember those being sold new, circa about 1971 if memory serves. They were a mid level watch that were well liked.

 

What you are describing is the symptoms of a watch that's been wet inside. It likely needs a total disassembly and rebuild. The dial, if corroded like I think it is, is probably beyond help save for stripping it and redoing it. That's not beyond a kitchen table job though, with a laser printer, some lume paint, and some ingenuity.

 

This has N3 marked on the case back, which means 1973 in Bulovanese

This will be my first restoration, so I'll be completely flying blind on this one

I'm guessing a total rebuild may cost me more than the watch is worth right?

I've seen similar watches in great condition at around the $450 mark

I'm already $150 into this one

That's Aussie peso's

[Diver Dave 0]

I remember those being sold new, circa about 1971 if memory serves. They were a mid level watch that were well liked.

 

What you are describing is the symptoms of a watch that's been wet inside. It likely needs a total disassembly and rebuild. The dial, if corroded like I think it is, is probably beyond help save for stripping it and redoing it. That's not beyond a kitchen table job though, with a laser printer, some lume paint, and some ingenuity.

 

This has N3 marked on the case back, which means 1973 in Bulovanese

This will be my first restoration, so I'll be completely flying blind on this one

I'm guessing a total rebuild may cost me more than the watch is worth right?

I've seen similar watches in great condition at around the $450 mark

I'm already $150 into this one

That's Aussie peso's

 

 

I was pretty close then in my memory. (I like Bulova's, having a few of the Astronaut 24 hour watches here, so the date code is familiar).

 

Man... it's a hard call. The first decision step will be to see if you can get the movement running. If you can, then proceed to step 2. If not, then there's your answer. Redoing the dial (or ignoring it), comes after the movement is running. So you need to solve that. You can (A) find a Bulova guy to do it (I'm sure there are guys specializing in these), play with it yourself (good luck), or buy another watch with the same movement and transplant it. Should be an ETA 2789, which ought to be easy to find in a donor watch. The only "Bulova" part on it will be the marked rotor. New ones should be availiable from Otto Frei for about $50 or so, do a little Google searching.

 

After that....

 

Finding a crown is easy.

 

Dial? Man... that one is beat up. It's not "nicely aged", it's "been wet and is corroded to shit". Basically it's going to be a strip to brass (or aluminum), re-print a new face using a laser printer, stick it on, paint lume on it, and then spray it with clear poly and then use it. There' are other ways, but that's the kitchen table way. Or you can source a replacement dial for an ETA and just drop it on. It won't be marked "Bulova" but then again you might like it better.

 

 

It's a project, and like any project it'll end up costing more time and effort and money than buying a nice example would have cost to begin with, but there's no better way to be proud of a job like doing it yourself.

 

 

 

 

Dave

Edited June 9, 2017 by Diver Dave

[edwinowl 180]

Hey bro, not too sure it's got wet looking at the movement which shows no signs of having got wet

There is however signs of damp or humidity on that dial which looks knackered to me.

Pop the hands off and try a light cleaning use a cotton bud dry and tak e it from there

Shame as its a beauty.

 

[Thommo82 1,397]

I remember those being sold new, circa about 1971 if memory serves. They were a mid level watch that were well liked.

 

What you are describing is the symptoms of a watch that's been wet inside. It likely needs a total disassembly and rebuild. The dial, if corroded like I think it is, is probably beyond help save for stripping it and redoing it. That's not beyond a kitchen table job though, with a laser printer, some lume paint, and some ingenuity.

 

This has N3 marked on the case back, which means 1973 in Bulovanese

This will be my first restoration, so I'll be completely flying blind on this one

I'm guessing a total rebuild may cost me more than the watch is worth right?

I've seen similar watches in great condition at around the $450 mark

I'm already $150 into this one

That's Aussie peso's

 

 

I was pretty close then in my memory. (I like Bulova's, having a few of the Astronaut 24 hour watches here, so the date code is familiar).

 

Man... it's a hard call. The first decision step will be to see if you can get the movement running. If you can, then proceed to step 2. If not, then there's your answer. Redoing the dial (or ignoring it), comes after the movement is running. So you need to solve that. You can (A) find a Bulova guy to do it (I'm sure there are guys specializing in these), play with it yourself (good luck), or buy another watch with the same movement and transplant it. Should be an ETA 2789, which ought to be easy to find in a donor watch. The only "Bulova" part on it will be the marked rotor. New ones should be availiable from Otto Frei for about $50 or so, do a little Google searching.

 

After that....

 

Finding a crown is easy.

 

Dial? Man... that one is beat up. It's not "nicely aged", it's "been wet and is corroded to shit". Basically it's going to be a strip to brass (or aluminum), re-print a new face using a laser printer, stick it on, paint lume on it, and then spray it with clear poly and then use it. There' are other ways, but that's the kitchen table way. Or you can source a replacement dial for an ETA and just drop it on. It won't be marked "Bulova" but then again you might like it better.

 

 

It's a project, and like any project it'll end up costing more time and effort and money than buying a nice example would have cost to begin with, but there's no better way to be proud of a job like doing it yourself.

 

 

 

 

Dave

 

Awesome advice

Thanks heaps man

I'm hoping to get this watch resembling something that I can say I'm proud of

I'm sure I'll make many rookie errors, but I'm cool with that

I'll keep this thread updated with any progress (or destruction) that occurs

 

[Thommo82 1,397]

Hey bro, not too sure it's got wet looking at the movement which shows no signs of having got wet

There is however signs of damp or humidity on that dial which looks knackered to me.

Pop the hands off and try a light cleaning use a cotton bud dry and tak e it from there

Shame as its a beauty.

 

Agreed, movement looks perfect, so I too doubt it's water damage

Things seem to move as normal, just not the hands

[Diver Dave 0]

Hey bro, not too sure it's got wet looking at the movement which shows no signs of having got wet

There is however signs of damp or humidity on that dial which looks knackered to me.

Pop the hands off and try a light cleaning use a cotton bud dry and tak e it from there

Shame as its a beauty.

 

Agreed, movement looks perfect, so I too doubt it's water damage

Things seem to move as normal, just not the hands

 

You should be able to look at the back of the movement to see what's happening when you change the time (assuming that it is changable). The self winding rotor will come off with one screw to let you see what's happening behind it.

[Thommo82 1,397]

Hey bro, not too sure it's got wet looking at the movement which shows no signs of having got wet

There is however signs of damp or humidity on that dial which looks knackered to me.

Pop the hands off and try a light cleaning use a cotton bud dry and tak e it from there

Shame as its a beauty.

 

Agreed, movement looks perfect, so I too doubt it's water damage

Things seem to move as normal, just not the hands

 

 

 

You should be able to look at the back of the movement to see what's happening when you change the time (assuming that it is changable). The self winding rotor will come off with one screw to let you see what's happening behind it.

 

I'll do that

I did have a crown of a rep Rolex on it the other day, however time was not changeable, nor was date

Honestly, though, I don't know what I'm looking at.

When I wound the crown, cogs move without problem

[Thommo82 1,397]

Couldn't get the original face cleaned up, I believe it's rather fucked, but Kinda cool.

Searched eBay but alas, was unable to source a dial exactly the same

Found this job lot (which seller wouldn't split up for me) so I bought all four dials

Was quite hard finding a dial that didn't have "Accutron" on it

Seems to me the automatic Snorkels are a rare breed

[Diver Dave 0]

That black dial will look nice.

[Thommo82 1,397]

That black dial will look nice.

 

I'm hoping so

I think it will look good against the blue bezel

[TheTinMan 13]

That black dial will look great, but I would leave it as is and not restore it. Should look right at home in that case.

[Thommo82 1,397]

That black dial will look great, but I would leave it as is and not restore it. Should look right at home in that case.

 

I always planned on restoring it

This will be my first (of hopefully many) project

In my opinion, the dial doesn't look aged, it looks fucked

I won't be throwing it away though, I may want to put it back in sometime in the future

 

[Sifu Whitey 53]

I love vintage automatics and manual winds. Can't wait to see pics when you're done.

[PanAm 0]

Good luck with your restoration. I remember when I was kid I restored my dad's watch with a hammer. Got some serious ass beating for that. :D

[Thommo82 1,397]

I love vintage automatics and manual winds. Can't wait to see pics when you're done.

 

Thanks mate

Biggest problem right now is hour and minute hands not moving. Think I'm gonna have to blow a bit of money and get a professional take a look at it for me

Everyone has to start somewhere, this watch is my starting point

[mike_morgan 0]

If the second hand is moving, but the hour and minutes are not... this means there's a problem getting the energy from the main wheel to the cannon pinion, which is probably slipping.

[Thommo82 1,397]

That black dial will look great, but I would leave it as is and not restore it. Should look right at home in that case.

 

I misread your comment

Yeah I won't be touching the black dial, straight in the way it is

[Thommo82 1,397]

If the second hand is moving, but the hour and minutes are not... this means there's a problem getting the energy from the main wheel to the cannon pinion, which is probably slipping.

 

I know nothing about watch mechanism's

When I attached a crown and tried to set time it was very stiff.

I didn't want to force it and break anything

But yes, seconds hand sweeps nicely

[mike_morgan 0]

 

I know nothing about watch mechanism's

When I attached a crown and tried to set time it was very stiff.

I didn't want to force it and break anything

But yes, seconds hand sweeps nicely

 

Well, here's your chance to learn about watch movements! Get yourself an eye-loupe and some decent screwdrivers and have at it! Spend a little time on youtube watching some servicing videos. What do you have to lose, besides some time?