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Clock repair?

Printed From: TheAMCForum.com
Category: The Garage
Forum Name: Electrical - non engine
Forum Description: Charging systems, lights, non-ignition system, it goes here.
URL: https://theamcforum.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=108050
Printed Date: Mar/28/2024 at 3:28pm
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Topic: Clock repair?
Posted By: GAclassic65
Subject: Clock repair?
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 3:39pm
Anyone know about the AMC clocks? I took mine out to repair and 2 of the tiny screws that keep the guts intact were off, and so it fell apart a bit as I took it out of the housing. I managed to get it all back together, but I had to rewind the metal coil that keeps tension on the moving point. Both the moving point and the stationary point were dirty/fried ... and flat/concave. When they make contact the clock stops ...I can pull back the tension point and it will move again back towards the stationary point. I figure when power is applied the points will fly apart when they meet, but when I tested it w/ power nothing happened when the points met. What am I missing? My clock is from a '65 Rambler classic





Replies:
Posted By: ramblinrev
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 5:09pm
The coil could be burned out.

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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)


Posted By: mmaher94087
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 6:25pm
Is it grounded?

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Mike


Posted By: ramblinrev
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 6:59pm
Good point! Always look for the simplest cause first!

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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)


Posted By: dltowers
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 7:05pm
Ryan, FYI....

(Clock Quartz Conversion and Guage Repairs) Instrument Services, Inc.

11765 Main St, Roscoe, IL 61073     (817) 623-2993/800-558-2674

http://www.clocksandguages.com/" rel="nofollow - www.clocksandguages.com      mailto:sales@clocksandguages.com" rel="nofollow - sales@clocksandguages.com



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Original Owner, 1974 Javelin:
360ci,2v,727TC. Motorola Multiplex with 8-Track.
G4 Plum exterior with 421Q Black Uganda Interior. Purchased on July 16, 1974 from Hooker AMC, Sherman, TX for $4500.20


Posted By: JGRANTAMX
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 7:14pm
 I sent my clock to Kennedy AMC had it converted to quartz.

J


Posted By: ramblinrev
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 7:44pm
If you want it restored, reasonably, to factory: http://www.theclockwks.com" rel="nofollow - www.theclockwks.com



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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)


Posted By: tomj
Date Posted: Nov/01/2020 at 8:50pm
They're horrible things.  The windup mechanism is a crap design, the spring when new runs it for what, a minute? THe contact closes and CRRRRKKK a big spark sprays a small mist of aerosolized metal throughout the clock housing.  Just great. The spring is short, it fatigues in a few years. ALso the solenoid draws 10 - 20 amps in a brief pulse (average power is very low) so the solenoid heats internally and it does require a solid ground.

They're comically bad designs.

I had a working one in a 62 Ambassador 400. I did my first cross country road trip (Mass. to Bremerton WA, round trip) in it in 1974 when I was 19. I slept in the car. I still remember the tick tick tick tick... get quieter and quieter then.. CLACK TICK TICK TICK tick tick ... as the winder wore down.



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1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5
http://www.ramblerLore.com



Posted By: S Curry
Date Posted: Nov/02/2020 at 8:23am
My brother does clock repair. I gave him my clock for my 70 AMX. He just did some cleaning and uses a wall wart 12 VDC power supply to run it. It has been running on his bench for 3 months now. Gains about 2 minutes a week. Can't get it to slow any further without major overhaul. I'm good with that. Like he said, they are made to last about 7-8 years...about the normal lifespan of a car out of the '70's. NO, he is not available for repair of car clocks. He is about 18 months out with what is in his shop right now.

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SC


Posted By: bigbad69
Date Posted: Nov/02/2020 at 8:26am
Unless you want the car 100% dead nutz stock, the quartz conversion is the way to go.


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69 Javelin SST BBO 390 T10


Posted By: george w
Date Posted: Nov/02/2020 at 2:32pm
I second the idea of the quartz conversion. Just the case, face and hands are kept so no worries about any lost or worn original parts.

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Long time AMC fan. Ambassador 343, AMX 390, Hornet 360, Spirit 304 and Javelin 390. All but javelin bought new.


Posted By: RandyB
Date Posted: Nov/02/2020 at 4:01pm
Going to convert my clock, thanks for the link.

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Randy B
68 Javelin SST 343
73 Charger Rallye 340 triple Blk


Posted By: tomj
Date Posted: Nov/02/2020 at 10:44pm
Originally posted by bigbad69 bigbad69 wrote:

Unless you want the car 100% dead nutz stock, the quartz conversion is the way to go.

It would be cool to add a sound module that made the right sounds, and also a switch to make it run fast two minutes a week, you know, to get that OEM feeelz going.

(Technology-wise, it would be easy to do!)



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1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5
http://www.ramblerLore.com



Posted By: First_Gear
Date Posted: Nov/17/2020 at 5:32pm
I was able to successfully repair my little clock. I replaced the points with some contacts salvaged from an old pinball game. The coil is good though it looks a little dark and I might rewind it.. I carefully cut the salvage relay leaf and popped the contact out. I drilled the old one out of the clock and carefully dremmeled the new one until it popped into the old hole then I swaged it over with a punch. I think I'll add a snubber capacitor to keep the spark down.


Posted By: tomj
Date Posted: Nov/17/2020 at 9:58pm
Originally posted by First_Gear First_Gear wrote:

I was able to successfully repair my little clock.

I hope it stays running!



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1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5
http://www.ramblerLore.com



Posted By: S Curry
Date Posted: Nov/18/2020 at 9:48am
Mine is still running on my brothers bench. Still gains about a minute a week.. due to him and his family getting Covid I haven't been able to pick it up....

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SC


Posted By: motorhead_1
Date Posted: Nov/18/2020 at 2:04pm
i used redline gauge works for speedo and clock conversions
they can convert your stock speedo to GPS as well


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69 SC/Rambler tribute 401/th400, 68 Rebel SST LSA, 66 F100 460/c6, 88 Merkur Xr4Ti, 71 Jaguar XJ6 LS1, 08 Supercharged Tundra


Posted By: bikerfox
Date Posted: Nov/19/2020 at 12:50am
Bought a clock from Galvin's and it intermittently worked.
Found a clock resto shop nearby and the guy lightly oiled
it and bent back a couple of metal areas that shouldn't have
been bent. Instead of letting it run 24/7, I installed a battery
cut-off switch and when the car's in the garage, the clock
doesn't run, thereby extending its longevity.  Works for me!


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1969 Rebel SST (1970-1987)
1968 AMX (2005-2011)
1969 SC/Rambler (2011-2019)
1970 Javelin (2019 to ?)"Jane"


Posted By: ramblinrev
Date Posted: Nov/19/2020 at 10:23am
Thanks, Matt! I like the sound of a ticking, re-setting clock, too!
I had my AMX clock restored 35 years ago....put a 1 amp fuse in the line, as the rebuilder suggested (to prevent coil from burning out if points stuck), and it still works fine!

AMC used Borg for a long time: All the 68-70 AMX/Javelin clocks and 61-63 American clocks, that I know best, are Borg.

I had two 68-70 clocks restored this summer for a reasonable fee. One is going to be my brother's retirement gift (he'll have "time" on his hands to enjoy his '69 AMX). The other is my back up clock.
Then I have an NOS Hornet clock to put in my '74 California Hatchback X. (My 'forever' 74 has a factory tach, so no room for the clock!)

Stay well!

Paul


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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)


Posted By: bigbad69
Date Posted: Nov/19/2020 at 3:45pm
FSJ's post was excellent! Can it be made a sticky somewhere? I would hate to see it lost in the bowels of the forum database.

Does he know a moderator who could do this? Wink


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69 Javelin SST BBO 390 T10


Posted By: ramblinrev
Date Posted: Nov/19/2020 at 6:52pm
FSJ's post about how to actually renovate one of these clocks is now in the Restoration Stickies area.


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74 Hornet Hatchback X twins (since 1977)
62 American Convertible (still worth the $50 I spent in 1973!) AMCRC #513, AMO #384
70 AMX 360 4-speed (since 1981)


Posted By: FSJunkie
Date Posted: Nov/22/2020 at 1:32am
Originally posted by ramblinrev ramblinrev wrote:

Thanks, Matt! I like the sound of a ticking, re-setting clock, too!
I had my AMX clock restored 35 years ago....put a 1 amp fuse in the line, as the rebuilder suggested (to prevent coil from burning out if points stuck), and it still works fine!

You probably sent that clock to my former professor who taught me that trick in the first place. He restores old car clocks and radios on the side as a hobby. He is a truly remarkable man. He was an engineer at North American Aviation in the 1960's and played a pretty significant role in developing the Apollo spacecraft command module. Many students tried to get on his good side by buying him a bottle of Glenfiddich.

You are all welcome. Happy to help. 


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1955 Packard
1966 Marlin
1972 Wagoneer
1973 Ambassador
1977 Hornet
1982 Concord D/L
1984 Eagle Limited


Posted By: RandyB
Date Posted: Dec/03/2020 at 8:26am
Sent mine to Instrument Services Inc and they told me 6-8 wks for the conversion to quartz. Will let you know how it turns out.

-------------
Randy B
68 Javelin SST 343
73 Charger Rallye 340 triple Blk


Posted By: mbwicz
Date Posted: Dec/03/2020 at 9:52am
I converted mine myself. Bought the kit from Instrument Services and took a few hours to disassemble, install, and test. I also learned that an orange paint pen is remarkably close to the original color of the hands on my clock.

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1970 AMX, one step forward, one step back. Both steps cost time and money.


Posted By: RandyB
Date Posted: Dec/03/2020 at 10:53am
Originally posted by mbwicz mbwicz wrote:

I converted mine myself. Bought the kit from Instrument Services and took a few hours to disassemble, install, and test. I also learned that an orange paint pen is remarkably close to the original color of the hands on my clock.

My eyes are bad, so I would not trust myself. Cry


-------------
Randy B
68 Javelin SST 343
73 Charger Rallye 340 triple Blk



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