MarkII Project Racing Thread

[eugeneandresson]

140dave

Getting close to completion.

Whats missing? It looks GREAT!

 

[140dave]

eugeneandresson

Whats missing? It looks GREAT!

What is missing is only a couple internal parts at this point; needs crown gaskets & seals and the antimagnetic shield. Plus the hour counter is out of alignment, resets just a tad off center. It is as far as I can get it so now off for a full service, get it to pass a pressure test, and then its a new daily wearer for me.

Thanks! I think it is looking good myself. And thanks for the inspiration, tips and advice!

 

[nickuk99]

Hi Eugene,

just finished my Racing build.

I found a Mk11 in Spain with a beaten up case (bracelet was nice though), however the dial and hands were all original and in absolutely beautiful condition, this piece had certainly had a life, but the dial and hands were just about perfect inside, ever so slight ageing, but all the original mkII’s hands were still displaying their original bright and matching orange colour, I had been looking for quite a while and usually the sweep hand and subdial hands have aged to the point of not looking so good, very rare to find when all orange hands match each other and the orange plots on the dial…. So I bought it.

I managed to find a 145.022 69-ST mid case with pushers, I sourced a service hippo caseback and a movement ring, so was able to bring everything together.

I know its not a DON bezel, but I can live with that as the price of a DON bezel is eye watering.

I can also live with the “MKII” on the dial, because its a period 1960’s movement and dial, so tritium, tritium hands, and “T SWISS T” as well.

Together with the 69-ST case (forgive the service caseback), its mostly period and pretty close to the £80k 1968 original!!

I’m really enjoying wearing it and I like it a lot, which is what creating custom builds is all about.

At the moment on a rally black leather strap, I have a period early 1171, waiting for the links to arrive to try that on.

I need a movement cover and a better period caseback, so I’m still looking, if anyone has one available.

many thanks


P.S. The masking tape on the pushers and crown was put there whilst I polished the hesalite crystal, I didn’t want to get polish residue anywhere other than the crystal.

Edited: Feb 15, 2023

 

[JetLinks]

Very nice work indeed Nick!!!

I have a Mark II Racing sitting here on my desk next to me and after getting the gold version yesterday, you might have just given me the motivation to going down the path of a Speedy Racing Conversion Project like yourslef & @eugeneandresson

The question is, should I try and get new hands as these racing hands don't look too bright?

 

[pdxleaf]

N nickuk99

Hi Eugene,

just finished my Racing build.

I found a Mk11 in Spain with a beaten up case (bracelet was nice though), however the dial and hands were all original and in absolutely beautiful condition, this piece had certainly had a life, but the dial and hands were just about perfect inside, ever so slight ageing, but all the original mkII’s hands were still displaying their original bright and matching orange colour, I had been looking for quite a while and usually the sweep hand and subdial hands have aged to the point of not looking so good, very rare to find when all orange hands match…. So I bought it.

I managed to find a 145.022 69-ST mid case with pushers, I sourced a service hippo caseback and a movement ring, so was able to bring everything together.

I know its not a DON bezel, but I can live with that as the price of a DON bezel is eye watering.

I can also live with the “MKII” on the dial, because its a period 1960’s movement and dial, so tritium, tritium hands, and “T SWISS T” as well.

Together with the 69-ST case (forgive the service caseback), its mostly period and pretty close to the £80k 1968 original!!

I’m really enjoying wearing it and I like it a lot, which is what creating custom builds is all about.

At the moment on a rally black leather strap, I have a period early 1171, waiting for the links to arrive to try that on.

I need a movement cover and a better period caseback, so I’m still looking, if anyone has one available.

many thanks


P.S. The masking tape on the pushers and crown was put there whilst I polished the hesalite crystal, I didn’t want to get polish residue anywhere other than the crystal.

Stunning dial. I've been casually looking for one since Eugene's first post and haven't seen anything remotely like yours. Well done.

 

[eugeneandresson]

JetLinks

The question is, should I try and get new hands as these racing hands don't look too bright?

I would say 'hell no' The indices are a bit darker ... to me that darkening of the hands is perfect (and natural and patina) ... I think it looks great as is. But its totally up to you...

N nickuk99

just finished my Racing build.

Nice one Nick! I wouldn't sweat the DON ... if I didn't already have one lying about, I would have not bothered (I think there are some Racing 69's with DNNs. WIGH.

 

[OneTwo]

This may be a dumb question and forgive me if this was posted before, but is the movement holder ring from the Mark II case interchangeable with the 145.022 case? Or is the movement holder ring specific to each of the case references?

Trying to make this project happen for me just trying to build the part list so I know what to keep an eye out for.

 

[nickuk99]

Hi @JetLinks ,

Very nice pair of mkII’s

yes, I would try to source the orange hands, as they should perfectly match the orange plots on the dial, and it just looks so awesome when they do. Your dial looks great, so I’d say it would be well worth the effort to source replacement hands if possible.

I’m interested to get hold of a mk11 gold version too, yours is very nice.

the good thing about creating a racing speedy mod is it is all reversible, so no harm ever done and I think the result is great and well worth doing

Edited: Feb 15, 2023

 

[nickuk99]

OneTwo

This may be a dumb question and forgive me if this was posted before, but is the movement holder ring from the Mark II case interchangeable with the 145.022 case? Or is the movement holder ring specific to each of the case references?

Trying to make this project happen for me just trying to build the part list so I know what to keep an eye out for.

No the Mk11 movement holder doesn’t fit, it is bigger , I tried

 

[nickuk99]

Here is my racing build next to the original 1968 grey racing £80k !! I think they only made like 50 or something

 

[OneTwo]

N nickuk99

No the Mk11 movement holder doesn’t fit, it is bigger , I tried

Thanks for confirming @nickuk99 ! And I dig your MKII project very much! The dial is impeccable!

 

[Ron_W]

OneTwo

Thanks for confirming @nickuk99 ! And I dig your MKII project very much! The dial is impeccable!

As i also just sailed on realizing the same project, very nice watch @nickuk99 !! - great result, i have learned that the rings are different for both, and not interchangable, as the ring for the Speedy Pro case also has to fit the dust cap so it has a step on the innner vertical ring were that cap is pressed on to fixate the movement. The MKII case does not have a cap but uses 2 screws + keepers to fix the movement on the inner caseband. The crown is also different, the MKII one does not reach the case side, so maybe not as WR as the crown for the Speedy Pro. Same diameter i think but thinner so to speak.

Thanks so far @eugeneandresson and others for the inspiration and knowledge out here on OF !!

 

[nickuk99]

Ron_W

As i also just sailed on realizing the same project, very nice watch @nickuk99 !! - great result, i have learned that the rings are different for both, and not interchangable, as the ring for the Speedy Pro case also has to fit the dust cap so it has a step on the innner vertical ring were that cap is pressed on to fixate the movement. The MKII case does not have a cap but uses 2 screws + keepers to fix the movement on the inner caseband. The crown is also different, the MKII one does not reach the case side, so maybe not as WR as the crown for the Speedy Pro. Same diameter i think but thinner so to speak.

Thanks so far @eugeneandresson and others for the inspiration and knowledge out here on OF !!

Yes, the MK11 movement ring has a slightly larger diameter, so it won’t fit into the Speedmaster pro case, and it also doesn’t have the profiled lip to accommodate the movement dust cover, the MK11 has two tabs to hold into to the MK11 case, the speedy pro case does not.

The MKII crown is the same diameter of 6.2mm, but has a different sized case crown tube so doesn’t fit, also a different profile (more rounded on the edge).

 

[Dash1]

I’m very pleased with mine!

 

[nickuk99]

Very nice indeed @Dash1, and super dial, with great matching orange hands.

Can i ask which bracelet? Uncle US flatlink?

 

[perenowell]

This thread just convince me that I need a MkII project...

 

[Ron_W]

Dash1

I’m very pleased with mine!

Crikey, that looks great !

 

[Dash1]

N nickuk99

Very nice indeed @Dash1, and super dial, with great matching orange hands.

Can i ask which bracelet? Uncle US flatlink?

Spot on!

 

[London Fog]

watchcollect

Recently ish… had all of the pieces for this and figured why not. Original 69 case and bezel, added an exhibition caseback. 69 caseback and mark II bits and pieces kept for who knows what.

I really like this monochromatic ghost look!

 

[Risto]

Well, here’s mine. I have 105.012 case. Radialproject bezel insert, didn’t want to use a modern DNN. The crown stem is too long, I am not sure what exactly is the right length. Does anyone know? Other than that it was ca 3h job. I also installed new Omega crystal. First time ever using crystal press haha. Lucky.