Re: Clock Hands

[Tony H.]

I have disassembled my 1970 mechanical clock. Everything apears tobe in order except the points. Looks like one point surface is pitted and the other point surface has extra material on it. All the gears seem good.

What is the repair for the points? I can clean the one that has extra material (probably melted from the other) with a file until smooth but what can be done to bring the other (with a crater) back to snuff? What material are these points made of? Can something be soldered in this depresion and results in a good repair? Will ignition points work somehow?

I've also noticed a spring end broken off. This spring is the one that tensions the gear that is attached to the moving point. There are three notches which this spring could attach on the outer edge, middle plane of the mechanical assembly. Which one should the spring be attached to? Thanks for any help.

[Tony H.]

Re: Clock Hands

I forgot to ask, what lubricant should be used during reassembly? Would graphite work well or be appropriate? My guess is the contacts are bad but the broken spring is what stopped this clock.

[Mike Hom]

Re: Clock Hands

I recently rebuilt the clock on my 65. Now that you have the clock out, it would seem easier and more reliable in the long run to replace the mechanism. Zip sells rebuild kits for about 60 bucks. With broken springs and badly burned up points it would seem that this the way to go. As far as lube, I used wd-40 to clean up and lube shaft surfaces which were carried over from the old mechanism. Good luck. Oh btw, you will have your couce of original mechanism or quartz movement. The original is easily detectable by the sound. You will lose points for quartz. As far as the better reliability of the quartz - if you disconnect your battery when not using the car, the mechanical movement should last for a long, long time.