'78 Clock Restoration

[Greg A.]

Hello Everyone...it's been a while since I've visited the forum....kids, divorce, job changes, etc...it all interrupted my focus, but I still have the car! I recognize a lot of names here and there are a lot of new ones. I hope to have more time when I retire this summer to visit often and get back into the hobby.


My immediate question is regarding who is recommended for clock repair these days. Back in 2003 I had the clock in my '78 Silver Anniversary restored by The Clock Works. It quit running last fall. I'm not sure if Jerry Magayne is still involved with the company or if they are still someone recommended for this type of work. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Greg.

[Mike F.]

Re: '78 Clock Restoration

The Clock Works did my 70 a few years ago, still ticking. I recall reading an article showing how to repair your own clock recently, maybe in a not to distant past Restorer?

[Lynn H.]

Re: '78 Clock Restoration

Little know fact that may be of some assistance (and save you a few bucks). Besides dirt and lack of lubrication over time, the single biggest cause of clock "stoppage" on mechanical clocks is due to the battery in the car "going dead". If the power is "shut off" by a method such as a battery disconnect your clock is fine, but if the car sits and the battery is allowed to run down just sitting, this will cause the contacts on your clock to "stick". This is due to the lower amount of current as the battery drains, the contacts weld together and, it does not have enough "power" for resetting the mechanism, required to keep the clock running.
In MOST cases, if you carefully remove the clock you can see the contacts, and separate them rather easily. You can them clean them lightly with very fine paper or diamond file. Be careful with residue, a couple of properly applied drops of oil and your back in business.
This is why so many older vehicles, (and restorations after having clock repaired), suffer clock "stoppage". Just about every vehicle has had the battery run dead over the winter or what not. This would kill the clock in a brand new car "back in the day".
You can run on the bench with 12v to test, but in very high% of the clocks I have taken on THIS WORKS!!
Lynn

[Patrick B.]

Re: '78 Clock Restoration

Adding to what Lynn said, another common result of the points not opening as the battery goes flat is that the coil becomes overheated and melts. The overheating coil can even discolor the clock face. Both my original 67 clock and a spare clock I bought at Carlisle had melted coils. I sent them both to Clockworks and asked that they combine the best parts of both clocks and install a new coil. They did it for a very reasonable price of about $100.

[Patrick H.]

Re: '78 Clock Restoration

I found that the best deal (least money) is to buy the clocks direct from ISI (Instrument Services Inc). They make them brand new, allegedly from the original tooling, and they cost less than having one rebuilt.

http://www.clocksandgauges.com/gpage.html