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Old 12-07-2019, 11:02 PM
tjs72lemans tjs72lemans is offline
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Default 72 clock malfuntion

I have no history on the function of the clock. But, with power to car, the clock doesn't work. It has a good fuse. Are these clocks notorious for not working over time? Are they fixable If bad? Or where should I look. I haven't looked under dash for a wire.

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Old 12-07-2019, 11:41 PM
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Bentwheelbob Bentwheelbob is offline
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They are notorious for not working. Especially after 47 years. Do a search in any tech section for “clock” - this one or ‘70 - ‘73 Firebird. Quartz conversion is most common, but there are things you can do if talented enough to try to get the original going. I’ve done the conversions because that is a longer term fix.

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Old 12-08-2019, 08:54 AM
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indymanjoe indymanjoe is offline
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took my dead clock apart and cleaned everything including the contacts. oiled it up bench tested it for a week. Put it back in and less than a yr later it quit again. I wanted the "sound" the old clocks make. Now im going to do the quartz conversion and be done with it.

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Old 12-08-2019, 01:41 PM
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Peter Serio Peter Serio is offline
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The old brass gear car clocks from the 1960s and 1970s never work. Those were made inexpensively and use a 12 volt electromagnetic winder that engages to "wind" every 70 or 75 seconds. Very trouble prone after many years.

Those clocks all have a distinctive stutter-step to their second hand that some people really like but a new quartz movement is really the best fix. An A body clock is not too hard to remove from the dash but when you get into one of those 2nd Gen trans am clocks, those are a bear to access!!!

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Old 12-08-2019, 07:44 PM
1969GiPper 1969GiPper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by indymanjoe View Post
took my dead clock apart and cleaned everything including the contacts. oiled it up bench tested it for a week. Put it back in and less than a yr later it quit again. I wanted the "sound" the old clocks make. Now im going to do the quartz conversion and be done with it.
If your only looking for the “sound” and not the stutter-step movement of the second hand then why not install a more reliable quartz clock in the instrument panel and then put a second non-quartz movement (without the bezel, lens, housing) somewhere in the car (e.g. glovebox) that allows the ticking to be heard. The movement by itself isn’t that big. A place that is easy to access when it stops working. Just run a fused power wire and a ground to it.

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Old 12-08-2019, 08:14 PM
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Originally Posted by 1969GiPper View Post
If your only looking for the “sound” and not the stutter-step movement of the second hand then why not install a more reliable quartz clock in the instrument panel and then put a second non-quartz movement (without the bezel, lens, housing) somewhere in the car (e.g. glovebox) that allows the ticking to be heard. The movement by itself isn’t that big. A place that is easy to access when it stops working. Just run a fused power wire and a ground to it.
Good idea. But I like to have everything working as designed. Really the only time you can hear that sound is when its quiet. like when im alone in the garage in the car with an old country station on. Nostalgic at best. Just one of those things I guess.kinda like watching AM flip to FM lol

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Old 12-08-2019, 08:30 PM
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Stuart Stuart is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by indymanjoe View Post
took my dead clock apart and cleaned everything including the contacts. oiled it up bench tested it for a week. Put it back in and less than a yr later it quit again. I wanted the "sound" the old clocks make. Now im going to do the quartz conversion and be done with it.
What often happens is those electrical contacts will weld together. They can be pried apart and filed smooth, but they were plated originally and the filing just removes whatever plating was left. So, it becomes a battle of diminishing returns - the clock may work again for a while, but the contacts will probably get stuck together again soon.

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Old 12-08-2019, 08:39 PM
tjs72lemans tjs72lemans is offline
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Where do you find the quartz replacements?

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Old 12-08-2019, 09:29 PM
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What often happens is those electrical contacts will weld together. They can be pried apart and filed smooth, but they were plated originally and the filing just removes whatever plating was left. So, it becomes a battle of diminishing returns - the clock may work again for a while, but the contacts will probably get stuck together again soon.
exactly what I found.

quick google search

https://www.clocksandgauges.com/quartz-conversion.html

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