Hey guys, can anyone reccomend a place that rebuilds old auto clocks? I dont want a quartz conversion or anything just want my original to work. Thanks It is a 1962 chevy impala clock
Have you tried anything yourself yet? They're actually pretty easy to work on once you get them apart. Try removing the guts from the housing to get a good look at what's going on with power hooked up to it. You should see some movement. If you've got that, the rest is easy. Soak a Q-Tip in some WD-40 and CAREFULLY wipe off any stuff you see caked on anywhere. The WD-40 will both loosen up the buildup and lubricate the gears at the same time. Use the time set knob on the face turn the gears a few full rotations, making sure you got any crud off. It really isn't hard, and those clocks are pretty durable. Worst case scenario, PM me and I'll send you my address. I should be able to get 'er going in an hour or two. And I'm cheap.
There used to be ads in Hemmings for places that repaired clocks. Haven't looked there in a while. Sounds like RagtopBuick66 has the right idea though.
Many of the old clocks were actually powered by a main spring like the old watches that you need to wind up repeatedly. The electrical part of the early ones was simply an automatic clock spring winder. If you ever tried to sleep in an old car, you would hear a noise in the middle of the night. When the spring wound down, electrical contacts were made and a solenoid wound the spring making that noise. A local clock/watch repairman may be able to fix your clock.
Also, do a search on ebay. Mine was pretty messed up so I bought a refurbished one from a guy on ebay... I wish I had remembered his name. I just kept doing searches for it everyday until one was listed. Good luck!
I too have a 62 Chevy with an inoperative clock. Recently there was a thread on www.chevytalk.com on this very topic. It tells you why automotive clocks become inoperative. Search chevy clocks on chevytalk to find it. After reading why they become inoperative, I've decided to leave mine alone. It's a waste of time and money to fool with a clock. Spend your money on something else.
Sometimes you just need to clean the points; that's what I had to do and mine has been running for at least 10 years. It takes a lot of back-and-forth to get it to keep good time. (setting the time back makes it run slower, setting it ahead makes it run faster, that's how you adjust at least some of these. But daylight savings time screws things up. Probably better to unplug the clock for an hour or 23!)
Thanks for the info guys. I pulled the housing off and the first thing I noticed was the power wires connection was broken... I resoldered it, oiled everything up and hooked to 12 volts and it went *clink..tictictic* it's working! Now I just need to figure out how to wire it (My car originally had a clock delete plate)
Try Ron, very nice guy, knows his clocks and is very reasonable! [email protected] PM me if you would like his number Rich Oops, just noticed you fixed it...
An assembly manual available from any Chevy parts house will show you where the wire goes and all the clips etc. that the factory used for the many options. I reassembled a 66 SS396 Chevelle that was in pieces and two different wiring harnesses only one was the SS harness and it would have been a bitch without the assembly manual.
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