The clock in my '80 has only been correct twice a day since I bought the car. I was getting tired of seeing 8:12 AM or PM depending on the location of the sun so I decided to do something about it.

I found an article somewhere about how to disassemble the clock and clean/lube the movement so I decided to try it on a clock from my 77 parts car. It was simple to remove the hands and bend up enough little metal tabs to remove the back of the case. After a few moments of intimidation upon inspecting all the little gears and such I buckled down and found the arm with the contacts. It looks like a little set of ignition points. Mine looked fine but I took a points file and dressed them ever so slightly just to clean up the corrosion. The arm that moves basically is what gets "wound" by the electrical parts to tension the spring and keep the clock running. It wasn't moving back if I spread the gap between the points. Stuck for sure.

The instructions I found said to soak the movement in alcohol to remove the gunk. That didn't seem to help at all even after soaking overnight and lightly spraying canned air through it to blow the crap out.

I found something that really worked great! From a previous vehicle I had Mass Airflow Sensor Cleaner. You have to buy a big spray can of it and use it once in a blue moon so I had plenty. After a few sprays I heard a click and the clock started running! I had actually set the movement while messing with the contact arm and now it was running! I applied a drop of very light sewing machine oil in a couple of key spots and played with it a few times to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

I reassembled the clock and set it aside to put it back in my 77. I repeated the process on the clock from my 80 about two weeks ago and it is still running and keeping pretty good time.

It may not work every time but it worked for me.

 

Cool. Can you proviđe the
instructions you mention? My clock doesn't work either.

 

Trying to find the specific instructions. I can't remember if is was a YouTube or a printed document as I did most of it from memory. It's not hard. The worst part is getting it out and then being very careful bending the little tabs enough to remove the back case. They are fragile!

 

Good info. I was told of the "filing" trick over 30 years ago but never owned a "luxury" car that had a clock

 

I removed my clock and cleaned it/filed the points/fixed it....................

it was working great.............

then the A.D.D. took control..................

FYI-----don't "mess" with the mainspring

 

Google or Bing Vettetip/FixC3Clock

 

Thanks mine is fubar as well

 

I posted the following when I fixed my C3 clock. Still working perfectly....

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...k-working.html

Lots of luck, Russ

 

Internals of my clock were beyond repair so I fitted a new mechanical mechanism from a site sponsor. Bench tested it for a few days, all seemed well, refitted to the car and about a week later it stopped. Dismantled it again and found internals were stuck, the contacts had remained closed and sufficient current passed to overheat everything and ruin the whole mechanism. Clock now set at 3:50 to match engine size. Was an expensive exercise and waste of time so to speak. Perhaps one day I will try the quartz movement.

 

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who prefers the original mechanical clock over the quartz, despite the overwhelming sentiment that quartz is better, more reliable, less battery drain, etc. On the other hand, when I repaired the non-working clock in my '79, I thought I was special. Now I find I'm just one among the crowd. Well, maybe I'm the only one to have repaired a non-working clock in a '79 Vette....black....with red interior....in Central New Jersey....in December, 2013. See, I really am special.

 

I would much rather have the original clock in "working" condition. But, that last part is the most difficult aspect and seems to be elusive for more than a couple of years. Too much trouble to keep, IMO. When I get around to opening up the bezel area, it will finally be replaced with a quartz movement.

 

That is the article I used when I started on this little quest. Alcohol did not help my clock so I tried something stronger as I had nothing to lose at the moment.

My clock is still running....

 

Sweet! I'll be doing this soon

 

Do you think brake cleaner would mess up the internals of the clock?