Repair + Service: Bulova 10BPAC

This rather sorry looking Bulova was sent in by Paul. No winding stem, no crown, the crystal is a mess, and first impressions aren’t great…

Neither are second impressions – I can already see some rust.

Ouch. Lots of rust.

This is just about salvageable …

Rust everywhere.

After a lot of cleaning, I start reassembly with a new mainspring.

All nice, clean and rust-free.

Top plate done.

Now it’s time for the bottom plate.

The auto-winder assembly is mounted on top.

Now it’s time for the dial and hands.

And the movement goes back into the case.

I couldn’t find an original crown, but the generic one I could get hold of doesn’t look too bad… Compare this to the “before” photo …

10 thoughts on “Repair + Service: Bulova 10BPAC

  1. I have a 1957 / 10BPAC, It is not in as bad of condition as the one you showed for service. I was wondering on what it might cost to get mine running again??
    It appears to be all intact and has not been taken apart since date of manufacture..
    I can send pics..

  2. Hello Christian,
    I’ve just acquired one of these 1955 23’s and I’d like to get a new crystal for it (my first try at replacing a crystal). Can you tell me what style and size of crystal this 23 takes, please?

  3. Hi Christian! Thank you for another great overview of your repair work! May I ask where you sourced a new mainspring? I’ve been told since the 10BPAC has a “sealed” barrel no replacements were made available for this specific caliber. Did you use another Bulova caliber mainspring? I’m currently testing a 10AN, which seems to be working so far, but would prefer if I could get the correct part!

  4. May I ask How the keyless goes back together? I’m having a hell of a time. I can’t seem to get the set lever screw (I think) back in. It’s driving me nuts!

  5. Christian, many thanks for the great work on this cheapie Ebay buy. It is keeping great time and is actually getting wrist time despite how small it is compared to the modern standards!

Leave a Reply to Robert MacDonald Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.