Classic Car Clock Update

Time. It seems lately that's all anyone ever talks about. The world is moving at triple-digit pace and everything is light years faster than it was even last week. And because time is such a precious commodity, every car should have a properly functioning quartz clock. Older collector cars can particularly benefit from a quartz-clock update to replace those whose small second-hands quit working within minutes of when the car was driven off the dealer's lot. Many vehicles' clocks probably haven't indicated the correct time for years. The fix is simple. Requiring no special tools, the repairs can be done in an afternoon; although, we recommend allowing a full day in order to clean behind the dash area and to spiff up the instrument cluster.

Clock Death Your original clock stopped because the negative polarity points electrically melted together.
Your original clock stopped because the negative polarity points electrically melted together. The early self-winding clocks have two points, similar to ignition points, that get closer and closer as the clock ticks. If the battery is low or gets disconnected while the points are close together, instead of firing apart to rewind the mechanism, they simply touch and stick. The result is a dead clock.


The '71 Corvette shown here underwent a restoration while still functioning as a daily driver. While the dash was disassembled to replace the clock, we painted the instrument cluster and cleaned the indicator-button lenses. Small scratches in the instrument cluster's plastic lens can be buffed out with a fine-grit polish.

Conversion Kit
The conversion kit comes with a detailed instruction sheet, and some of the gears from the original clock are transferred to the new movement. The job is truly simple to figure out and very rewarding when finished. A functioning clock adds credibility to a classic restoration and adds new meaning to your old time machine.