Does anyone have any pictures or know how the original contact points are supposed to look like? Mine look deformed on both sides. A jagged bunp on one side, and a jagged cavity on the other. Kind of hard to see in pictures but here are mine:



I'd like to fix this as new clocks (original design and quarts) are quite expensive. I'm not afraid to try soldering on new contacts and filing them down, but want to know if I could salvage the current contacts. I'm just not sure how they are supposed to originally look like.

Thanks,
RR

 

Have you tried just taking a points file to them and dress them off just like you would Ignition breaker points?
I've filed points in the old style mechanical regulators with great success as well as ign. points many, many times.
Of course I still have a points file in my tool box cause I'm old.

 

Oh, and those quarts conversion kits are fairly affordable. put one in mine over 25 years ago, still keeps perfect time.
uses your original face and hands.

 

I haven't done any filing yet, as I wasn't sure about what to do with the cavity. I can file down the bump (don't have a points filer, was thinking about using sandpaper or even small dremel attachment), but you can't file down a lack of material.

I looked at vendors and eBay and after shipping a conversion kit to quartz would still be $100... hoping I can salvage my current clock. My current thinking is to file down the bump to make it flat, and to file down the area around the cavity and try soldering a bump there, then filing it down to be flat. That way two flat surfaces will contact each other, then I'd add a small dab of dielectric grease to prevent arcing and hopefully be good to go.

Still wondering what the points initially looked like / what they are supposed to look like

 

They looked like any set of breaker points. They were perfectly flat and smooth when new. I would file them up as good as possible. I really don't like the idea of filling the hole with solder. I'd just leave the hole.

 

I went with a new quartz clock. $200. I didn't want to have to pull the console apart again if the fix on my original clock was troublesome.........

 

Like 4-vettes said, they are like ignition points.
Here's a clock repair post from the past.
Original Clock Repair - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

 

here you go.. with pics and video..
i love the ticking and click of the reset in the car.. very cool..and affordable . Pay attention to the OIL which is needed...also bench test for a day... see post 6
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ck-repair.html

 

There is a vendor who appears at Corvettes@Carlislse in PA every August who rebuilds the Corvette gauges,instruments and even the clocks. He is inside the building where Van Steel is located on the same aisle right across from the Food Court. I replaced mine the first year of ownership just because my contacts were totally shot. My Quartz has been great for the past 30 years and I am happy with the conversion.

You might try and file the surfaces down a bit, clean them real well and then put DeOxIt on the surfaces of the contacts. DeOxIt claims they can restore a good connection if both sides are clean. I have used DeOxIt on relays that have burnt contacts and it has worked every time. DeOxIt can do amazing things on old Corvettes. I was sold when I cleaned one tail-light socket with the DeOxIt and then put the bulb back in and it was brighter than the rest since there was no corrosion left under the light bulb. It is great stuff to have on any old Corvette with weathered and corroded electrical connections. I use it on all electrical connectors that I expose while working on the Corvette. The contacts and connections on my 53 year old Corvette need every bit of help they can get.

When I did my clock I simply bought a Quartz Clock and swapped out my original when I did mine. Just be sure to get the correct color for the clock's background so it matches the other instruments.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies! Tolyman's thread is great... I will follow those instructions. I just got the mechanism working after cleaning and oiling it lightly at the shafts. The adjustment **** is not working... i must not be oiling everything. Will take apart the back side as in Tolyman's thread to troubleshoot. While I'm at it, I plan to add some solder to cavity and file down the rugged bump contact

 

If the metal points got all messed up,,,,, if you put solder on the points it won't last. Solder will melt very fast. You really don't want dielectric grease on contacts.

 

The point made by kodpkd is a very valid one! If you try and replace the metal on the points it will have to be something much harder than solder. I suspect some silver solder or something strong like that might work as the point surface. I would focus on getting a nice flat surface and then polish it smooth as possible.

In the older days when most cars had points there were times when we had to clean their surface to get them to work just so we could get home at times. I was good at cleaning the surface and then setting the gap with a Business card in the dark.

I would be very careful oiling too much as oil attracts dirt and dust which are no-no's in the world of clocks.

Have a good Time!!

 

To update everyone on the thread, I thought long about if I should replace the contacts with solder. I then realized that my clock wasn't working until I put oil on the shafts (the contacts were actually stuck open). This tells me the reason the clock stopped working was not related to the contacts or coil. I also tested resistance of coil and it was only 2ohms, indicating no open circuit. After I oiled it up, connected it to power, it ran just fine. I very lightly sanded contacts with 1000 grit sandpaper, and decided to leave them be. I'll be disconnecting battery every time the car is not in use which will greatly limit the number of cycles applied to the contacts. I also considered that solder oxidizes which may hinder flow of current. For that reason, I will keep original contacts after light cleaning. I ran it for a few hours on bench power supply and it worked fine, so I am happy.

Next steps will be to clean the clear plastic in front of the gauges, I'll be trying Meguiar's G12310 PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner per many's recommendation on the forum. I'll likely start a new thread on interior painting, since I've never painted any part of a car before. I appreciate everyone's help.

 

Greetings, I chose to replace my clear lens. It is too cheap to try to save it IMO: https://www.ecklers.com/1968-1982-co...-120351-1.html

 

read my thread.. you will need to use more aggressive cleaning of those contacts.. and use the oil.. been there done that.. and then let it run for some time..
i used flitz paste on lenses.. amazing results!!! all your gauges will look new!!

 

I used SEM to paint the interior. It is a 4 step process and works very well. Don't take any shortcuts. Will look new.

 

Points restoration. It can be done.
https://forums.aaca.org/topic/299863...nition-points/

 

Wanted to update this thread since many people commented to help me out. I used Meguiar's® PlastX™ Clear Plastic Cleaner & Polish with terry cloth to clean and remove the scratches from the lens, and after 20min it looked near perfect! Still have 95% of the bottle left for future projects. Highly recommend this product if you want to clean your lens instead of buying a new one! Cheaper than buying new one, just takes some effort


Before (note this is after scrubbing it with toothpaste and toothbrush for 10min in warm with warm water. So already attempted cleaning).

After cleaning it

 

Simichrome polish works great on the plastic stuff, too.
Duane

 

wow, nice