Vintage Swiss Army ladies watch

This is one of my eBay bargain finds.

It is a vintage Swiss Army watch. I am not sure about the model but it is a ladies quartz watch. Found out that it has been discontinued by VICTORINOX, owner of the Swiss Army brand. Looking at various websites, I estimate that it from sometime back in the 70s.

When I bought it on eBay it did not have a strap, the crystal was badly scratched and it was not even running. Opening up the rear of the watch was extremely tough and I can see from the scratches on the back that previous owners had faced the same issue.

I finally got it opened and changed the batteries and found out that the watch works fine - keeping perfect time. That's Swiss quality for you.

I then polished the mineral glass crystal and realised that the lume on the watch is really good. Even brighter than most of the newer watches I have.

I then bought a Nato strap on eBay. It was ideal for my wife but she did not really like the watch. My daughter asked if she could have it but the strap was too big for her. Searching further, I finally found an eBay seller in the US who sold replica straps which look exactly like the original. This is the 14mm Gilden Swiss Army Style Nylon & Leather ladies watch band (US $ 20.48 with postage).

Looks great.

Replacing my Swatch watch strap

A couple of weeks back, I posted about the easiest way to upgrade the look of your watch - by changing the strap.

Well, why stop at that.

The old aluminium strap on my old Swatch Irony Chrono watch was showing it's age and I decided that it needed a nice new strap.

I had a nice new black leather strap but the problem is that replacing straps on Swatch watches is not straightforward because of their unique and proprietary 3-prong lug design.

So I decided to modify the strap to fit the watch lugs. I used the original strap as a template and cut away the necessary pieces of leather from the strap using my sharp Stanley knife.

I was confident that it would work and it did - a perfect fit.

Tired of your old watch: Change the strap

Unlike some crazy watch collectors who have several watches, most people normally have one beater watch which they wear everyday. Many don't even use a watch any more. However, if you do wear watches, there is an easy way to change the look and feel immediately : just by changing the strap. All you need is a new strap and some tools.

That's what I did with my old Sekonda watch. It is a Rolex GMT Master homage with a Pepsi (blue and red) bezel powered by a Miyota quartz movement. 

I bought a blue, red and white Nato strap - Royal Air Force colours, on eBay. I hoped that it would match the colours of the Pepsi bezel. Used the strap spring bar remover tool to remove the strap pins and replaced the bracelet with the new strap.

Now I have a watch that looks and feels totally different. The Nato strap feel much more comfortable as compared to the stainless steel bracelet.

What do you think?

Changing batteries on my daughter's Casio MQ-24 watch

The battery on my daughters's first watch which I bought for her on Amazon, has run out. There was no point in changing the battery really. She was ready to move on from her first watch.

My daughter knows what she wants in a watch, or more specifically what "she does not want":
1. An analog and not a digital watch.
2. Clear legible numbers - no dots and not Roman numerals.
3. Not a baby watch with cartoons.

ideally, I would love to give her a Baby G but decided to shop around.

So after searching on my favourite site - eBay, I came across an "almost new" Casio watch that fits the bill perfectly - a Casio MQ24 1330 ladies watch with a pink dial. Though she says she does not like pink, she was delighted when she got the watch.

 That was almost one year ago and the battery ran out. Normally, we would chuck out the old watch and shop around for a new one but I have become more eco-friendly over the years and realise that changing the battery on watches is not such a big deal. However, opening up the back was more trickier than I thought. I found the solution after a quick search on the net.

Bought 5 batteries - Sony Silver 364 (SR621SW), again from a dealer on eBay for just £2.99.

Here are the tools I used to open up the back:
1. Watch case opener knife
2. Watch spring bar remover
3. Plastic tweezers

Steps:
1. Remove the straps using the watch spring bar removers.
2. Just pop up the case from the side using the watch case opener.
3. Remove battery using the plastic tweezer.

Here's the video clip:

Vintage Falcon bike restoration project update 2013

I started the Vintage Falcon bike restoration project way back in September 2011. At that time, the bike was a pile of rusty metal destined for the tip until I happened to cast my eyes on it. This is how it looked then:

It sure has come a long way and now that the snow is gone and the sun is finally out, I thought it's time to start some cycling. I decided to make a few more updates to the bike. For practical reasons, I bought a pair of metal mudguards on eBay for £16 (I do not want mud or worse all over me when |I am cycling).

I also decided to bring back the old pannier rack instead of buying a new one - all it needed was a thorough cleaning with wire brush followed by sandpaper and finished off with black Hammerite direct to rusted metal Paint.

The round red rear reflector on the new mudguard is also from the original mudguards. I am delighted that I decided to keep it a well, though it took me a couple of hours to polish it to the final shining finished product. You will agree that it looks fantastic and I saved myself about £20.

Now I am all set to start cycling to work

Where to find recycled Cycles in Coventry

Updated : 21 May 2013

So far I know of 3 places where you can recycle your old bike or buy a recycled bike in Coventry:

Coventry recycled cycles

Bike Workshop

The Re-Cycle project - Coventry Jesus Centre

I have also seen nice looking bikes on the back of the scrap metal trucks several times. They might be willing to sell it to you for a couple of quid if you are into restoring.

Look at the Freecycle Coventry site. I have noticed people giving away old bikes a couple of times. You will need to sign up. I once got a really nice mountain bike through the site, while I was studying at Warwick Univ.

Falcon cycle restoration project 3

When I started my Falcon bike restoration project in September last year, I never thought that it would take me this long but I have finally done it.

Take a look at the picture of the bike when I first bought it:



And now after the restoration:



During the process, I have learnt so much about bikes, their repair and maintenance.

I found out that there are two main schools of thought with regards to bike restoration project - one group believes that we have to keep the bike as original as possible and even if you have to replace some parts, you have to try to source the exact parts.

On the other hand, there are a number of bike restorers who take the bike apart, completely striping it down to the skeleton frame, and rebuild the bike with modern parts.

I guess I am somewhere in between - I have tried to keep as many of the original parts as possible and apart from treating and repainting some badly rusted patches, have left the bike pretty much as I got it. However, I had to replace the tyres, the brake pads, the chain and also got myself a new comfy Brookes saddle as well.


My new made in India Brookes saddle. Leaving it in the rain was a bad idea.

.
New chain

Alligning the side pull brakes were a real pain but a few YouTube videos later, I finally got them centered and working perfectly. I have removed the pannier rack which was badly rusted (but might be salvageable) and the mudguards. The gears are terrible but I have left them on.

I still do not know the age of the bike - I have tried contacting the Falcon cycle people on their website but   have not received any replies so far. However, I think this is just the beginning.


The bike rides beautifully and I love it but I have realised too late that it is probably a bit high for me - this might be a problem while driving in city traffic. Now I am also wondering whether I should have gone for a new paint job - completely stripping the old paint and have it powder coated as opposed to conventional liquid painting. I would still prefer to have it in black but probably with some custom made stickers. I might also replace the gears for something more modern and practical. The same goes for the brakes as well. They are not really effective in stopping the bike when I am going fast. I guess that's the trade-off - between keeping it as original as possible and having a bike which you can use everyday.

The bike wheels next

In the process of restoring my Falcon bike, I have picked up several skills along the way. Among the few things I needed to replace on the bike were the tyres.

As I wrote in one of my recent posts, there is no such thing as a 100% puncture proof tyres but you can get some tyres which are high puncture resistance.

After reading a few reviews, I finally decided on the Schwalbe HS159 27x 1 1/4 tyres. I found a great deal on eBay for a complete set of 2 Schwalbe tyres (with amber walls) and Impac tubes for just £24.99.



Will be putting everything together this weekend. Look out for the post.

Brooks saddle made in India

My Falcon bike restoration project has been on hold for a while. I was thinking of repairing the saddle - replacing the foam and getting new covers but in the end I decided to get a new one. I have always wanted a Brooks saddle and I have had my eyes on the B17 Special for a while. However, £113 for a brand new one was a bit too much and I went onto eBay to find a deal. The appeal of Brooks saddles is amazing - even ancient tattered ones are going for as high as £40. Some actually cost as much as a new bike.

I bid on a few saddles and I set a limit of £25 and not surprisingly I lost every bid. One day I came across a buyer who was selling Brooks saddles which had been made in India. I was a bit sceptical at first but after doing a bit of research found out that indeed some companies in India used to make Brooks saddles.

So I made an offer of £10 which the seller promptly rejected. No harm in pushing your luck. So I pumped up the offer to £15 and I was delighted when the seller agreed.

A couple of days later I received the saddles nicely packed and was really surprised when I realised that they were in mint condition.







The quality is really good with thick leather and good quality steel. I can't find a similar saddle in Brooks current catalogue (on their website). Really happy that I am the proud owner of a Brooks saddles (even though they were made in India). It will be going on my Falcon bike.

Cycle tyre puncture - prevention better than cure

As you might have guessed from my previous posts, I am really into cycling now. I even borrowed a couple of books on cycles/cycling from the local library (I know there are loads of information on the net but nothing beats a good book with illustrated pictures).

Anyway, one thing I am really worried about is getting my tyres punctured while riding to the University. I got myself a cycle tyre puncture repair kit. Through it has never happened but repairing a tyre by the side of the road is not something I am really keen on. I tried practising at home using the old bike I am restoring - getting the tube out, trying to find the hole and then patching it up. I have seen YouTube videos and they make it look so simple. Prying one side of the tire bead over the edge of the rim was the hardest.

Here is a popular clip on YouTube on how to repair a puncture:


Searching on the net, I came across a site which sells Amerityre tyres which they claim are 100% puncture proof but they are not cheap. On the other hand, Andreas at the London Cyclist Blog says that there is no such thing as 100% puncture proof tyres. However, there are a number of tyres which are said to have high puncture resistance.

While shopping at Halfords I noticed a green bottle - it was the Slime Tube Sealant. I didn't buy it because I was sceptical and wanted to read the reviews first. Apparently this product was really good with so many positive comments on various sites. I noticed that it was also available at the Go Outdoors store. I later took my bike along on my way back home from the university and bought a bottle. The in-store bike mechanic put the green liquid in both my tyres for free. I haven't had a puncture even once but I do feel much better now.

I now want to put the Slime in all my bikes and doing an online search realised that I could have got it much cheaper elsewhere, with the cheapest online at Amazon Here is a comparison of the prices:

Halfords: £8.99

Go Outdoors: £8.09

Wikinson: £4.97

Amazon:

Vintage Falcon bike restoration project 2

This follows on my previous post "Vintage Falcon bike restoration project".


The bike was from the Chris Thompson Cycles shop in Darlington, Durham. Found out that the shop was dissolved in 1997.




Shimano Derailleur gears (Japan)


Simplex gear shifter (France)


Presta vavle on the 27 x 1 1/4 Michelin World Tour tyre.

I took off the rusted panniers, the saddle and the rusted chain and cleaned up the bike a bit.


On the bottom of the Reynolds 531 tubing

Serial No: 2736

Other markings:
TS1
APJ77

Can someone tell me how old this bike is?


Sugino crankset (Japan)


Weinmann Brakes (Switzerland)

Vintage Falcon bike restoration project

A few days back I went to pick up a slide which my wife had bought for the kids over eBay. As I was leaving the lady who sold us the slide mentioned that they had loads of stuff in the garage and enquired whether I would like to take a look. Of course, I couldn't refuse. I suddenly noticed this old black bike and the Falcon sticker. I told her that I would like the bike. Unfortunately her husband was not around and asked me to call up later.

I totally forgot about it until we received an email from the seller later inquiring whether I still wanted the bike and to put in an offer if I did. I offered £20 and he accepted. Later on we had a chat over the phone and he asked for £25. That was a little bit more than I wanted to give him but then one similar bike had gone for little more than £60 on eBay (it was in a better condition though). I had also been looking for a vintage bike to restore and decided to buy the bike.

When I brought it back home, my wife was furious. "What were you thinking?" "I don't want the junk inside my house".

She only calmed down after I explained that the Reynolds 531 alloy frames were going for more than double the price of the bike on eBay.



Here is the lovely looking bike.



I guess this was one of their cheaper models as it only has a sticker instead of the stamped metal headbadge.


The famous Reynolds 531 tubing made of a manganese/molybdenum steel alloy and apparently these are in high demand by fixie bike fans.



Badly rusted pannier rack. I read somewhere that the spokes were cadmium plate units and they must have been shining when they were new. I think all it needs is a touch of metal polish and elbow grease to remove the oxidation and bring the shine back.

It is interesting that this bike has components made in Japan, US, Taiwan, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland and of course, England - truly a global bike.

The cycle has Shimano derailleurs and Weinmann brakes which are in excellent condition. The front tyres are Michillin World Tour 27 x 1 1/4" and still hold air. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the rear tyres (made in Taiwan).

I have no idea how old this bike is as there is very little information about Falcon bike on the net. My guess is that it is from the early 70s - meaning that we might be around the same age.

Initially I was thinking of stripping of the old paint and getting it repainted but I found out that the vintage look is in right now - people actually like the old weathered look on old bikes and have decided to leave it that way with some cleaning and touching up.

Spraying on the plaster

I am really into DIY right now and am picking up the skills by trial and error. I find the DIY programmes on TV really, especially where they buy a dump and turn it into their dream home. Another reason I like to watch these programme is because I would like up to do up my own home one day. For now my DIY work is limited to painting walls and putting up shelves. Anyway, one skill I would liek to learn is plastering the walls.

I recently saw a programme where the plaster was sprayed on instead of the normal hand troweling. It looked much more convenient and is obviously faster. Anyway,if you are looking for plastering tools, check out Mortarsprayer.com. The company which is based in Eugene, Oregon manufactures 3 different plastering tools which should cover all your different plastering needs.

Sponsored post

Hooked on house makeover show

Homes under the hammer, 60 Minute Makeover, Grand Designs - these are but some of the TV programmes I am hooked on right now. I guess the common themes that run in all these programmes is making a house a home.

It surprising because I have never done much DIY work before I moved to the UK - we just hired someone to do it because labour is cheap in Malaysia. Some may disagree but I assure you, it's way cheaper than in the UK.

My wife hates these programmes but I think that it is something amazing - watching people turn a dilapidated house into something beautiful. I think what really appeals to me is watching how these people overcome the obstacles to make their dreams a reality.

Homes under the hammer comes on weekday mornings on BBC 1 and shows how people buy people buy properties in auctions and do them up. Not all of them are successful and I have learnt a number of tips that I should keep in mind should I ever decide to buy in an auction. 60 Minute Makeover is on ITV1 and a team redesigns a house in exactly 1 hour. My favourite is of course Grand Designs. It is on Channel 4 and presented by Kevin McCloud. Watch people build the houses of their dreams (which sometimes turn into nightmares). I have blogged about it before. Read My Grand Designs.

I would have loved to do up this house that I am living in and God knows that it is desperately in need of a huge makeover. I have actually done quite a lot. Unfortunately, I am just renting it and I guess I have to wait until I get my own house.

New Washing Machine

You never know how important something is until you lose it or in our case, it stops working. As you might have guessed from the title, we got ourselves a spanking new washing machine. The 2nd hand Zanussi we had been using for over two years now finally gave up. It was strange because all the lights were on, water was still going in and out and it was making the right noises but the cylinder inside was not spinning.

The clothes started piling up and we even had to wash a few loads at our friends' houses. Thanks Nana, Roby. Did some research on the net and we finally decided on the Hotpoint AQGMD129 Washer Dryer. We decided on this particular model because it has an A energy rating (the most efficient) and a capacity of 8Kg. Another important feature we were looking at was the child lock - absolutely essential because we have a son who loves electronic gadgets with buttons and flashing lights (like father like son, I guess).

We bought the Washer Dryer from TDA - Appliance Bargains. It cost us £397.89 including delivery charges and cost of disposing our old washer dryer. In Argos, the same machine costs £623.59 (with delivery).

They delivered it yesterday. Was a bit annoyed when the delivery guys just wanted to leave it outside. In the end, after some persuasion, they did bring it in to the kitchen. They were surprised when we told them that they were supposed to dispose of our old one as well. Had to call up their office who apparently had made a mistake. They are going to pick it the old washer tomorrow. What a waste of time and fuel.

Fitting everything took me over 2 hours. Mostly due to the fact that the machine was so damn heavy. Removal of the four transit bolts and rubber bush at the rear itself took half an hour. I have no idea why they have to make it so difficult for customers.

Had to put bricks underneath because of the skirting on the wall and somehow push the machine in to the narrow space.

Just take a look at the space I had to fit it in and you will understand why it took us so much time.


Soon had it up and running. The best part is that it is so quiet that I had to check to make sure that the thing was actually working.

We love our new Washer Dryer.

Empty Coventry Ikea store

Just got back from Nottingham where I had spent the night together with the wife and kids. Had a wonderful dinner yesterday at our friend Amrul's house. Not many guys like cooking but it's a fact that some of the best cooks are men. Amrul happens to be one of them. He loves cooking. He has a nice kitchen fully furnished with Ikea furniture in the house he's renting. Our small kitchen looks terrible in comparison.

Talking of Ikea, we visited the huge Ikea store here in Coventry on Tuesday. Both my wife and I, are long time Ikea fans and if we had the choice (and money), we would equip the entire house with Ikea furniture and stuff.

Anyway, when we entered the store, we were shocked when we found that there was absolutely no one around - not even the store employees. It was like we had the entire store to ourselves. We did get to see a couple of other customers after a few minutes. But having got used to crowded Ikea stores in Malaysia, it was a big surprise. Made me wonder whether the Coventry store is making any money at all.

We also decided to try out the food here. The food was great and quite cheap. Reminds me of the days in Malaysia when we used to go to the Ikea store for food.

We had wanted to grab a few items but like usual ended up with a whole shopping cart load of items. Looks like more DIY time for me.

Busy and tiring day

It was a bright and sunny day today yesterday (just realised that it's 12:25 am). Decide to write one post before I go to bed. Here's a snap shot of a day in my life:

Sent of the kids to the nursery in the morning. My son fell down right in front of the entrance and cut his lips. few tears. Nothing serious though and he was OK after a few minutes.

Took my in-laws to the University of Warwick campus. Took some photographs. Left after having a cup of coffee at the Viva cafe. Forgot to bring my camera and took pictures with my Skypephone.


The ducks are enjoying the sun as well.

Dropped by the B & Q at Avis park and bought some blinds. It's now my favourite DIY store.

My mother-in-law wanted to buy a shoe and I took them to a shoe warehouse near my house. Spent quite sometime there.

Mowed the lawns in front and back of the house. Really tiring work. Covered in sweat.

Trimmed the hedges.

Picked up the kids.

Fixed the main blinds to the bay window in the living room with the help of my father -in-law.

Picked up the wife from the University.

Fixed the two smaller blinds on either side of the main one. Much faster this time.

Now I am dozing off as I write this. And that was my day.

Metal shed update

Someone left a comment on my 'DIY metal pent shed' wondering what the shed would look like if it was blown down (deleted because no name was given).

Well! I don't think that's going to happen because the shed is anchored to the ground with screws on concrete. As you can see from the pictures, there was already a brick floor in place left by the previous tenant. My guess is that there was a garage long time ago.

I dug some holes and used quick drying mortar mix for the purpose and fixed screw holders in it. The shed is fixed using the anchoring fittings that came along with the shed. I think it should hold.

It would take gale force winds to blow down the shed and of course, it definitely won't be a pretty sight.

DIY tool tips

As a budding DIY enthusiast, I am slow but steadily building up my collection of tools. One mistake I made in the past was going for the cheapest in the market. I now realise that I should have gone for the branded tools.

A good example are the cheap screw drivers I bought sometime back. I got blisters using them while building my shed and they are practically useless now after the heavy duty usage.

I also found out that branded names are not necessarily costly and that it's possible to get them at rock bottom prices during discount sales. I am now always on the lookout for some good deals on the net.

Besides the normal tools, like hammers, screwdrivers, drills, etc., another essential piece of equipment that every DIYer must have is a workbench. It must be robust, durable and adjustable. I found a good bargain for the Black and Decker Workmate WM825 on the on godfrey-diy.co.uk site.


At only £54.99, this is among the lowest prices for this great work bench. Easy to use and hight adjustable, it folds away when it's not in use. Would definitely love to have one.

DIY metal pent shed

For quite sometime we had been using the second toilet outside as a storeroom but finally decided to get a shed as we need to use the toilet sometimes .

We finally decided on the Yardmaster 6' x 4' Metal Pent Shed. We bought it online and it cost us £119.00 plus a delivery charge of £4.85.

Argos also carries a similar shed and at a slightly lower price but we decided on the product from Tesco because it comes with anchoring fittings and work gloves.

The shed was delivered this Monday and I straight away started on the roof. It took me 45 minutes to assemble it.



Next day, the weather was quite bad and it rained intermittently through out the day. Thank God! my father-in-law who's visiting, was there to help me. We took several breaks and I had to buy a new screwdriver from Wickes and a cordless power screwdriver from Woolworths halfway through the assembly. Wish I had made the decision earlier as we would have got though it much faster.


Without the roof and the front walls.



Now all I need to do is to fix the anchorings and put some grease on the door rollers. My first major DIY project completed successfully.

The shed is not really big and I realised one major disadvantage of buying a metal shed - fixing shelves on the wall is going to be really difficult if not impossible. That means that I am got to look for some metal shelves.

So what do you think?