I have a 36 Chevy car glove box door that has a clock that is painted and ready to go in but need to get the clock working,anyone know of anyone that can either restore the clock and convert to 12 volts or do a quartz movement conversion.
If you were closer I'd recommend the business that did my 46 Olds; new decals, paint, facia lens and chrome along with a quartz movement for the OEM look. However, I couldn't get the adjusting knob in OEM position, c'est la vie.
I bought one of the clock kits from Walmart or Hobby Lobby that takes a AA battery and replaced the movement in mine. I kept the factory hands, they fit the new movement fine. The shaft bolted down through the original face just like the factory one. Just have to change the battery every once in a while. Mine is easy to get to, if yours happened to be in a hard to get to place you could get one of the movements that have the battery case connected by wires, extend it and put it in an easily reached place.
I did the same as Bamamav, used a $3.00 movement with a remote mounted "AA" battery (Which lasts a couple of years.) Only problem is that the time adjustment on these is on the back, which may be impossible to get to when mounted up. Just put the battery in at the time where it is stopped.
I agree with Bamamav. My repro '40 Ford clock's guts are like that with the "AA" battery in back. The adjustment knob on the front is strictly ornamental.
I posted this in another thread, but it applies here so here we go again. I usually clean and lube the clock guts, sand the points, and then run them on 12 volts. They only use the 12V to wind the spring. When the spring runs down a set of points come together and a electro magnet pulls the winding mechanism back to rewind the spring. This happens about every 3 minutes for just a split second, so the 12 volts on a 6 volt clock doesn't hurt it. I have run my 49 Buick clock for 2 years now and it still works just fine. What kills the old clocks is no lube and a run down battery. If the battery is run down, the points sit together and burn as there is not enough power in the electro magnet to rewind the spring. So don't let your battery run down.
Why not put a resistor on the power feed to the old clock to drop the voltage to 6volts. Guaranteed not to hurt the clock then.
Do you know the 6 Volt current flow (Amps) for the split second that the clock is rewinding? This current is required to calculate the resistance (Ohms) of the series resistor. EDIT: p.s. If the resistance is to great, the points will burn, just like the low battery problem mentioned above.
I read that if the clock turns on when powered up but only cycles a few times, the mechanism is not reparable. I’m not sure if this is true but it makes sense that if the mechanism is binding then it would have to be completely disassembled to find the problem. I tried to clean and lightly oil the clock in my 59 Ford but it didn’t change anything. Thanks for the tip on getting an inexpensive movement from a department store. Maybe I’ll try it.
I’ve kept the original movement because each vender I contacted said in the last 15 years the quartz movements are “junk” that they are getting over seas. I’ll try to find the last shop that did it. They were in the northeast…
This isn't a good picture but I can't be bothered. I had Classic Instruments paint my clock to match the cluster and install new guts and lights. I don't know why I bothered, I turn off the battery switch at night, the clock has never had the correct time on it and likely never will.
Any good watch/clock repair should be able to fix it. Friend of mine does just that and has fixed several car clocks for me.
I did that on my 57. The points needed cleaning , then I sprayed the whole guts with contact cleaner. I sparked mine up on the bench with a 12v AC adaptor [vultured from a cordless phone] It kept good time for about 3 day then the time would drop off. I then took the clock to a horologist [who specialized in mechanical cuckoo clocks] He pulled it apart and cleaned it properly and set the tensions so it kept good time. This cost me about $60 Finding a horologist [any] is difficult these days , luckily for me I live in a city full of retirees My horologist is a 4th generation horologist who undertook his training in Switzerland. My biggest issue was the wait time! [not him doing the job, but he was off in his RV all the time, and he didn't do emails] With hind sight , I could chance the movement to a "ticking" quartz movement [about $2] then the clock can stay running for a couple of years on an AA battery while the battery gets disconnected in the car. But on the 57 the time set knob is on the front. whereas the quartz movement has a wheel on the back [so this was too much of a challenge] If anybody is considering changing to a quartz movement, solder a couple of wires to the battery terminals and use a remote battery holder [hidden in a kick panel etc] These things will keep ticking away until a 1.5v AA battery is down to about 0.35v and they badly corrode the Neg terminals while doing this. [and they'll start dripping] I have replaced the movements in me decorative clocks in my house because of this
The new replacement movements now do not "tick", but are a slow constant movement. I used to install them into old wheelcovers . A switch in line with the power lead from the AA battery is a good idea, it lets you turn the movement on at the right time if you can't get to the rear adjuster.
Did the same as these guys-mine actually turned out better looking that i anticipated, . Neat just having a single battery that rarely, super rarely, needs changing.
I've reread this a few times already, and maybe I'm misinterpreting things. But from where I'm standing it sounds like you may have already found your problem, at least if you're still using an OEM style clock movement. Or even an upgraded movement if it still gets its power from the car's electrical system.
Yes they do, if you buy the correct one. That price is NZD [USD $4-14] The last one I purchased online was $2 I'm listening to it ticking away while I'm writing this Don't confuse Horology with Horoscopes [astrology] Even though the both are about time ...... One is reading the present and the other is reading the future.[so they claim]
Correct. CI installed an electric movement and LED lights to match their cluster. I could install a battery back up that plugs into the power port under the seat but the clock was more of a design feature for my build than a time piece.
If there anything to be said about cheap components..... your putting a cheap, cheap substitute to make believe it works. I rather have a non working Jeager clock. I've gotten my 57 Ford clocks to work with a bit of fiddling and cleaning If you're not constantly using the car, the car will always go off time. The clock in my daily wagon always needs a little bit of an Adjustment. alternative is to find someone that is selling a working version of your same clock on eBay or elsewhere. Just buy it and put it in.
The Jalopy Journal
