Restoration - Heuer triple date valjoux 72c watch repair tutorial project

here we have a triple date with a value seventy two C chronograph movement lurking inside as you can see is seen better days this what is perhaps seventy years old I would not expect it to be perfect by any stretch but unfortunately this is not even in average condition I would suspect that the perspex crystal developed a crack at some point but was never replaced I can imagine this crack possibly at around the one o'clock position developed to a point where dust and skin started to creep its way in if this scenario is true then it would certainly explain the extent of damage to the dial which seems to be irrecoverable I would also imagine that the glass eventually fell out and the hands got caught in clothing as they are also in a very poor state I'm not skilled at all with dial restoration and there's always the debate as to whether a dial should be restored on vintage watches but I feel that this is far too gone and later as you'll see I attempted a conservative cleanup and although it did look a little bit cleaner some numbers started to come away as you might expect I've decided that I'll seek a second dial for a tripled a higher value 72 C and I suspect that it won't be easy to find I'll keep this one as part of the watch's Providence going forward but in the meantime I'll clean this up as best I can and use it until I can obtain something suitable there are some other problems with this watch movement and we'll get to that shortly but for now let's go ahead and strip this movement down [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you may notice that sometimes I place a screw back into position with these older chronographs there are so many similarly shaped screws with different depths of shoulder is very easy to mistake which ones go where and so this is my way of managing their locations so that they'll go back into the correct position when reassembling [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now I spotted a problem here with the fourth wheel unfortunately the extended pivot is bent as you can see the chronograph wheel attached to it is turning out true this is something I'm going to have to deal with shortly [Music] and now would be what dismantled I can clean all the paths and get on with the repairs [Music] I start with the fourth wheel pivot you may remember it's been I'm applying a little bit of pressure to the pivot against my small staking block and I'm attempting to worry it back straight this is a risky job if the pivot brakes completely then a new fourth wheel will have to be sourced or a BRE pivoting operation will need to be performed [Music] but luckily it all seems good is a lot straighter now and I believe it will function well when taking the washer part I noticed the minute jumper spring was corroded and indeed it had a hairline crack and it broke completely these Springs break very easily and have not been manufactured in decades this unfortunately has made new old stock parts very rare and even if they can be found they're very expensive I found a couple for sale but they were over a hundred and forty dollars each I decided to make a new one I took a piece of steel bar and a cut off a suitable size according to the dimensions of the original [Music] are then filed it to the correct fitness [Music] [Music] I drilled two holes one for the screw and the other is a guide for cutting out the pan and now I can proceed to cut out the pattern [Music] now I have the rough shape I can use my diamond files to create the correct geometry [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] i superglued the part at a leftover stock so as to have a stable base with which to allow me to file the leg down to the correct thickness which is 0.2 of a millimeter [Music] [Music] unfortunately my pin clamp has serrated jaws and this has indented the part somewhat it won't affect the functionality but I'm a bit disappointed nonetheless for the future I'll purchase a a pink lamp with smooth jaws or maybe I'll file this one and polish it now the filing is all done I can heat the part up so as to loosen it from the superglue [Music] and I can give it a test [Music] well it looks okay but the real test of course will come when the movement is reassembled so as you can see I've managed to clean a lot of the skin away which was embedded in the dial but at the cost of the calendar numbers coming away I did not expect much but depending on your viewpoint it will even look better or worse than when I started either way I'll keep this as part of the what his Providence as I said before and I'll source a cleaner dial and make an update video at some point [Music] [Music] but for now I can deal with these hands they're really quite been [Music] [Music] and now I can assemble the movement over its long lifetime I can tell it's being stripped and assembled many times there's many scratches and dings and I can even see evidence of cleaned out rust the screws are a bit beaten up but I suspect the watch will run fine let's find out [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the news bring seems to be working well [Music] [Music] and now it's time to put it all back together in the case I start by removing the pushers so that I can clean them and give the case a bit of a polish [Music] [Music] [Music] unfortunately the what is missing is case screws and quite sure I have some old stock let's have a look [Music] [Music] and now I can fit a new perspective [Music] [Music] and I can fit the movement back into the case secure it with the case screws and fit the hands [Music] [Music] [Music] and let's finish the project with a nice new worst rap [Music] let's have a look at the timing [Music] [Music] well it looks okay is gaining a little bit but it's got great amplitude and is perfectly in beat I can make a slight adjustment just to tighten it up [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] and that's it with the glass on it doesn't look as bad as I thought it might but I'm interested to find ever a restored or new old stock suitable dial I am quite pleased with the timing performance and all seems to be functioning well despite some issues which needed to be addressed this is a fantastic what is a real piece of history I wonder what stories it could tell but the main thing is it can be enjoyed again and that's a good thing [Music] but thanks for watching and if you've not done so already please subscribe is free and if you click the bell you'll be informed whenever I publish new content and this video was made possible with the support of my many patrons thank you so so much you guys are amazing and as a you next time [Music]

Channel: Watch Repair Channel

Views: 1,065,872

Keywords: watch repair channel, watch repairs, watch repair lessons, watch service, mark lovick, watchrepairtalk.com, watchrepairlessons.com, antique watch repair, restoration project, chronograph watch movement, chronograph watch repair, restoring a timepiece, tag heuer, valjoux watch movement, valjoux 72c, making watch parts, repairing broken watches

Id: pFOQm9sAzE8

Length: 34min 35sec (2075 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 21 2019