69 Corvette Clock

[Thomas F.]

My clock has not worked since I have owned this car, about 15 years. The other day I took it out and took it apart, everything looked clean and new. I oiled it lightly with some light machine oil hooked it up to my external 12 volt power supply by hooking the positive lead to the single terminal on the back of the clock and the ground lead to the metal gauge cluster housing. Presto! the clock was running fine, the white second hand was moving just fine at the right speed. I was happy so I disconnected the power source and to my amazement the clock kept running as if it was still connected to the power source. It continued for about a minute or longer before stopping. How can this happen? Does anyone have any technical information on these C3 clocks. Am I in danger of destroying my clock? I will continue to experiment with this by checking the voltage at the wire that connects to my clock from my car. I assume the clock is grounded someway to the metal center cluster. Thanks for reading and any help is always appreciated.

[Don H.]

Re: 69 Corvette Clock

Tom
original mechanical works repeatedly wind them selves while running. When you disconnect power, it always takes a little longer than a minute for the clock to unwind, and finally stop running. What you report is normal for original mechanical works. When a clock is converted to quartz, there is no such mechanical winding. Quartz clocks stop immediately when power is cut.

[Edward J.]

Re: 69 Corvette Clock

Tom, I have done the same thing to my 72 clock, and it started working after I put some 3n1 oil on the movement without any power attached to the clock it started moving by its self. So I guess the movement just needs alight oil once in while. At the time I decided to clean the points. The clock has been working for 5 years now.

[Stephen L.]

Re: 69 Corvette Clock

As stated, the clock is a mechanical spring driven clock. There is a solenoid that rewinds the spring about every minute or so. As the clock spring winds down there is a set of contacts that close supplying power to the solenoid which again rewinds the spring AND opens the contacts. After years of use the contacts become pitted/corroded and won't pass current and the clock stops. This can be a quick fix by filing the contacts. If you don't drive the car much a battery disconnect will prolong the life of the contacts because there is no power. If you still have the clock apart you might want to check the contacts....

[Terry M.]

Re: 69 Corvette Clock

Just an FYI for those of you who are not schooled in automotive clock repair.
The mechanical movement in the clock is mounted in small O-rings that are made of a material that does not like petroleum based products. There is a clock lubricant that is designed for this kind of use, but I have no idea where to get it -- other than a professional clock repair location. Using petroleum based lubricants will eventually lead to that oil seeping to the O-rings and their eventual deterioration.

Many sleeps ago there was a Restorer story on the subject in which Ron Dembowski and I interviewed a AC Delco trained and certified clock repair person. I am sure the above information was in that story, along with a lot of other helpful clock repair information.

[Thomas F.]

Re: 69 Corvette Clock

Thanks to everyone who responded to my call for help. This has been a learning experience for me. Someone mentioned an article or two that might have appeared in the RESTORER and I remembered I had purchased the NCRS 35th Corvette Restorer disk for the 68-69 Edition, Version 36.4 2010 so I loaded my disk and it had two good articles about corvette clocks. Looks like I might have used the wrong type of lube on my clock but at least I know it will run. I plan on taking my clock to a local jeweler and let him clean off the lubrication I used and lube it for me with the proper lube.