clock disassembly

[Budduncan]

I have a couple of clocks neither is running. It appears that the outer bezel of the clock is pressed and crimpted over the body. Has anyone taken one of these apart and if so successfully put back together? I have not tried it yet. I am pretty handy but this looks like a job for a jewler or Conan the Destroyer.
Bud

[donm]

I guess I must be somewhere between Conan and a jewler but I've done it.

My clock was working but it was so noisy it was competing with the radio, almost. I was planning to disconect it anyway so I figured I have nothing to lose if I try and fail to fix it. I took a small screwdriver and carefully uncrimped the cover, put a tad of wheel bearing grease on the escapement gears, put it back together and It's been working great ever since with no noise. And that was last winter. So it is possible to take them apart and put them back together. Good luck.

[aj81spider]

There's a member of this board (search on Radiopilot and clock) who does restoration. I did my first one myself and used him for a second. His came out much better, but mine is passable. You need to expand the bezel slowly and carefully. Also be careful when taking the knob off the shaft used to change the time. Hold it with a needle nose. I did this poorly and pulled the shaft out, leading to much time spent figuring out how the gears all went back together.

If you move slowly (not a strength of mine) it can be done without too much trouble.

Also, if you are going to repaint the bezel my experience was to repaint it after the clock is back together (with lots of masking!). I painted the bezel first, then marked it up good when reinstalling it on the clock. After re-sanding and re-marking a couple of times I finally reinstalled first, then painted.

[drovak]

I took mine apart to replace the fogged crystal. It wasn't too bad. I removed the three small back nuts, then pried the surrounding bezel off from the front. Mine popped off fairly easily. Then, using a pair of needle-nose pliers, I pulled the knurled knob off the set shaft. After that, the crystal was removed and replaced with some acrylic I cut out. I went ahead and carefully removed the hands so I could fix the set gear. It was slipping on the shaft, so I just put a dab of superglue on it. After that dried, I was able to set it just fine. While the clock was mostly apart, I noticed that the first gear off the motor was broken slightly. One end of the molded-on shaft was broken, so the gear could wobble quite a bit. It turns out that in normal horizontal operation, it works just fine. However, when the clock is tilted vertically or rotated 90 degrees or so, it would stop working. I guess it works well enough for it to be put back in service, but I'll probably need to replace that brownish-orange gear at some point.

Crystal before: http://i.imgur.com/dqAsx.jpg (I just rested the old crystal on the "after" clock, FYI)
Crystal after: http://i.imgur.com/CAkPF.jpg

I thought it turned out well enough for an hour or two's worth of work!

Kyle

[fiat218]

how did u get the bezel off, then back on with out wrecking it ?

[rlux4]

It has to be done with a small bladed screwdriver, very carefully. I didn't have any problem but I've heard that in some cases the aluminum is so brittle that it breaks during removal. Denise wrecked two clocks before she gave up and sent the next one to Radiopilot for the repair.
Ron

[azygoustoyou]

I was able to take the bezels off and put them back on. Problem is you could stretch the bezel a little and may have to use a little glue. I decided to buy new chrome bezels and replace the black. They made your hands sore putting them on but they look really nice in the end. Just make sure the glass is sitting properly in its position or the glass will definitely break.

[majicwrench]

Drovak, that looks really good. MY fuel, temp and Oil gauges are fogged, and was wondering if I can remove and clean them, or if they need replacement. Did you try to clean the old crystal??
Keith

[drovak]

From what I can tell, only the clock uses some kind of acrylic/plexiglass instead of glass. It's the only one that's fogged in my case. Maybe your fuel, temp and oil gauges are just a little dirty. I believe you can remove them in a similar way to the clock. I haven't tried, as all other gauges are quite clean and don't require disassembly.

The crystal in the clock is not just dirty. It's fogged within the plastic. It seems to be breaking down, most likely due to ultraviolet light. Replacing it with glass would be the only long-term solution, as even the new acrylic I put in will fog over the years. However, drilling the glass for the set shaft can be a big challenge, so it's not very practical for this particular clock.

Kyle

[fiat218]

im going to try take the bensel off one and see what happens\

[Exit98]

I wanted to try restoring the gauges and made a practice attempt with an old fuel gauge. I had some issues and was unhappy with the results but in retrospect I think I was on the right track. I'd like to try again.

I ended up shipping out all my gauges to Radiopilot and he did an amazing job and my dashboard looks great.

Here is what i learned. Prying off the aluminum bezels takes great patience. There is no excess material to work with. Gently bending back the material with a small flat bladed screwdriver seemed to work best. Once the bezel is off it is just a matter of cleaning the class inside and out and gently dusting the face of the gauge. I'd be very careful using any liquid on the face but if anyone has experience with a proper cleaner chime in.

The trick is reinstalling the glass face and bezel without scratching the black bezel paint. I made a little jig. I took a 1' x 1' or so piece of plywood and tacked a piece of felt on the surface. Then a took a little piece of 1/4 in. plywood and cut a half circle out of the edge and attached the curved wood to the base. I turned the instrument with the glass and bezel loosely in place upside down on the felt and into the wood circle. This is to hold the gauge in place as you tap the bezel back down along the back edge of it. (Clamp the jig to the workbench/table.) I used a small flat tipped punch and a light hammer. Be very patient.

The first time I completed it everything looked good, but I noticed that the glass face had some movement; it wasn't totally tight to the unit. I didn't think that was right. So I took it apart again thinking I could get it tighter. Bad idea. Once you start taking it apart and putting it back more than once things go down hill.

Turns out that there is slight movement on the glass. Check out your fuel gauge and you might notice it. So actually I don't think I did too bad after all.

[Budduncan]

What great comments! I see why everyone loves this website. Thanks to all of you for your contributions. Another weekend coming up and rain in our forecast, so looks like some Fiat time will be in order.
Cheers,
Bud

[Dougieb]

Hi,

I need my clocks repaired. I have PM'd Radiopilot twice and have not heard any response. Everything I've heard about his work is outstanding. But for whatever reason, I have not been able to get to him.

So, is there anyone around that repairs clocks and/or restores gauges?

I would really like to know what time it is. (ha ha)

Thanks
Dougieb
'74 Spider

[JFreeman]

You can replace a fogged clock crystal with a glass one. Years ago you could actually get the glass replacement as opposed to plexiglass one, but no one sells them now. I crafted one from the glass off a donor gauge using a diamond coated drill bit to cut a slot in the glass. You have to go very slow to avoid breaking the glass or better yet rig up someway to cut it under water, which is what I did. When done right, this avoids the need to remove the adjustment shaft since the slot in the glass allows it to slide over the shaft. A repaired clock under real glass looks sharp, plus you can freely clean the crystal without fear of scratcing it.

[Budduncan]

Thanks, guys. This has turned into a very useful thread on instruments. I will probably give my clock a shot at repair when the rainy season starts. For now I will live with it not running, but looking cool. I had a new instrument dash made and it looks outstanding, but my friend cut the instrument and tach cutouts a few thousandths too small. Since it is now finished, I will take a small drum of sandpaper in my drill press and carefully enlarge. This is another winter project. At least all of my instruments and lights are now working, including the trunk light and engine bay light (that only come on with the parking lights on). I still cannot get my shift knob off and I know I will break it to do so, but that will have to happen as it is the only way to get my new boot installed over the shift lever. I have some nice pictures of my 71, and I will get them posted shortly..have a great weekend. Our forecast is for at least another top down weekend in Seattle.
Cheers,
Bud