Clock stopped but when I wiggle the stem left to right it make the recoil noise, starts again and runs for an hour so Does this sound familiar to anyone?

It's a rebuilt original unit bought in 13-14

 

Yeah.. sounds real familiar... lol.. The original borg movements in the clocks were junk. You can take them apart, clean them and the contact and if you get six months out of them your lucky.. This was a constant issue even when the cars were new.

My suggestion is to purchase the quartz conversion kit and follow my video on how to quartz convert your clock.... it'll last you a life time. https://willcoxcorvette.com/corvette...sion-kit-63-82




IMHO,

Willcox

 

A quartz conversion is dependable and a good choice as long as originality and judging for originality are not within your interests. The quartz movement has an indexing second hand. The original movement has a sweep second hand. Even a novice judge will be looking for the second hand movement.

If this level of detail and originality is not important to you, I think quartz is the way to go.

Hope this helps.

 

I'm picky but I also pick my battles because I drive the car 1000 miles a year or so. I didn't get a dated windshield because it was twice the price and could get chipped, but I also bought a dated white stripe spare tire that I carry in the car because to me, it belongs there. If correct reproduction parts are allowed I think the car could be judged eventually but I don't think I'm into that stuff so much. I look at the assembly manual and if I see I'm missing something (clip, sticker, fastener, seal) that was there from the factory I get it. In other words, I pick it apart on my own enough. I like listening to the tick tick tick tick tick tick tick but I also know I would enjoy not setting the clock every time I got in it. If I got it judged I wouldn't have a problem putting the original back in but also don't think I would have a problem changing the clock every 2-3 years because it would give me something to do. That being said, I've done the original clock thing once. Now Leaning toward a clock that works. Thanks all.

 

I have the original from my 69. It still works but isn't reliable. I took it apart to clean the movement and it was ok for about a year. I bought a conversion from Wilcox and it lost 14 seconds in the last year.....

 

Car wouldn't start today. Battery dead. My charger said the battery was at 10%. Charged it to 100% and the clock has been running for 4 hours now when the past few weeks it wouldn't last an hour.

Could a run down battery not have enough juice to wind the main spring?

 

Clock made it until 1230 last night. Fun while it lasted.

 

It's not the battery. What you are doing when you wiggle the hands is waking up that 2 contact points in the clock. If they are worn and oxidized eventually it will stop again.
Basically the way the electro mechanical clock works is every minute or so a contact closes that winds the clock for about a minute. Eventually those contacts wear or become oxidized and it won't wind anymore (the pop that you can hear every minute or so).
You have to remove the console cluster and disconnect the clock. That process takes about an 45 minutes. With the clock on a bench pop the hands off gently bend the ears that hold the face on. A note here is that the more you bend the ears the more the metal fatigues and eventually the ears snap. You can now work on the clock. I spray them with contact cleaner then use a bit of tri flow or clock oil on the moving parts. Finally i use a points file on the contacts that open and close to wind. You have to file them perfectly flat so when they come together you get a good contact surface. I bench test the clock for several days with alligator leads. The clocks I have done have lasted 3 plus years so far.

The technology is old like old pinball machines but if you are handy they can be serviced. Good luck.

 

Well, I will definitely keep the old clock but I installed the Quartz clock yesterday.

I'm just kicking myself because I sold my original non working clock a few years back with the face still attached not thinking that it would be an issue in finding a face that matches the gauges. The rebuilt one I just took out has yellowing on the white paint and the new face that came with the Quartz clock is obviously darker and brighter than the rest of the gauges.

Son of a biscuit.

 

So I hooked up the Quartz clock (after I changed the face) and only the second hand moved.

I then went ahead and set the correct time and it started moving all hands.

Put the dash back together, all good.

Couple days ago the hour and minute hands stopped again. Took the dash apart again and inspected it. Thought maybe I had the face too close to the hour stem and it was catching. Adjusted the face, plugged it back in. No luck.

Crack open the case to see what's rattling. Nothing out of the ordinary. Put it back together and plug it in without a face at all and now the second hand doesn't move and all thoughts of returning under warranty are long gone. Oh, and the tabs on the old clock face are now broken off.

So I grab the old clock. Crack it open. File the contact points. The one that's connected to the spring had the texture of a walnut. I smoothed the surface ( but kept its rounded shape) and then smoothed out the stationary one. Then I see a little speck of greasy dust in between two teeth on the red gear. Snapped a toothpick in half and got it out. Separated the points and it spun like new.

Put the new face on the old clock, plugged it in. Hasn't lost a minute in 2 days.

Put the dash back together.

The End. For now.

 

Actually, the Borg movement has the second hand pulsing ever 1/2 second...so there are 120 'ticks' per minute. It is not a smooth sweep movement.

I kinda like the quirky Borg clock...but it is too unreliable for me. Quartz is the way to go.