I purchased a bag of junk parts with several watches in it including this old Ingraham. I have named it Grandpa Viceroy an 18s. I spun the balance and it wobbled through a few turns and stopped. There was a shredded paper dial, no hands, no crystal and a bent back. The winding was very hard to turn but did work. You have to unscrew a a small screw in the back to operate the unit between set and wind.
I had never ripped a PW to bare bones and put it back together before and I had this "Free be " in front of me so I had a go at it. Everything went into the ultrasonic cup and into the machine. I have read that you should never choose a full plate to be your first rebuild but what the he**. it was free. I have an excellent memory, it's just short so I take pictures of each step and put all the parts in a numbered tray. I also color coded some of the parts. I soon learned why they said not to use a full plate for your first project, but persistence and a number of walkaways and it fell into place, all but the escape wheel and the Balance assembly. I went to Fred Meyers and bought a head lamb and strapped it to my forehead so I could see, and then with two screws loose, (On the watch not me )and a good pair of Swiss tweezers I got those units to get into their holes. Tighten the screws and a twist on the winding mechanism and off it went Tic- Tock. I wound it almost full and it is still ticking away as I type this. 18 hours later.
Grand Pa survived his surgery!!! I was kind of Giddish and had to listen to it several times that night.
UP-UP and away to my old Elgin 16s. YE-HA.
Patrick 1616

Patrick,

I think you will find the Elgin much easier to work on.

Go for it!
Good luck!
Steve

So gratifying when that first 'rebuild' ticks into life eh?

Congrats

I remember the first one I brought back to life, sure was a thrill, congrats, the Elgin will be easier.