So figured I'd post a write up on my clock cleaning and restoring as I haven't seen one done for the square Pontiac ones (Or I am just blind)
So I started by taking out the two screws from the back of the bezel and pulling the assembly out from it.
After removing that I flipped it over and removed the time set handle. This proved to be easier said then done as it required multiple pliers and quite a bit of force. Easiest way as some of the members on here told me is to pull the set handle out, grasp the shaft with one pair of pliers, then using a piece of leather to keep the handle from being damaged, I used another pair to turn it and finally loosen it off.
After removing the handle and the plastic lens, which I polished up using leftover materials from a headlight polishing kit I had, I carefully removed the second hand using a pair of needlenose pliers, then was able to remove the minute and hour hand using my finger nails, careful not to damage them.
After this you can just flip it over and unbend the four little tabs on the four corners to remove the faceplate and clean it. Don't use any sort of solvent, it will remove the paint! I used eyeglass lens cleaner and a lint free microfiber cloth to clean mine.
Once that is removed there is three little clips holding the clock assembly studs that you can remove quite easily by lifting one side up with a small flathead screwdriver:
Once the are off you can separate the clock assembly from the mounting plate and finally get to cleaning! On both clocks I did, they both had the same problem of getting a bunch of dirt jammed in the hour, minute, and time set gears which ride on top of each other. Also on both clocks the time set gear had broken teeth and so was useless so I had to remove the gears, clean them, then replace the plastic time set gears.
Then after cleaning the gears and replacing the plastic time set gear I cleaned up the contact pads on the coil and the wind arm, then added a freewheel diode to the coil to give the counter EMF generated by the collapsing magnetic field somewhere to go and in doing so, limit the spark generated so as not to burn the contacts as much.
After it was all done and cleaned, I lubed it all up with a silicone lubricant and then just put it all back together in reverse order. When putting the hands back on I found it the best to align everything at 12 as just putting them on randomly looked stupid when the hour hand wasn't pointing at a number when the minute hand ended up on 12. These clocks are pretty amazing little pieces of machinery and I was quite enthused at being able to work on one and it just goes to show you how well made they were as all the problems literally came down to poor maintenance, not poor quality.
Sorry for the excessive pictures, just pretty happy I got them going again, have had both running for about a week as per this write up.
Thanks for the kind words cdnpont! It was fun to tear into and take pics! The 67 clocks look the same so I can't see why they wouldn't be similar.
Sorry Carl, I already promised 66grandeguy one of them, the one pictured is actually the one I got from him and redid and will be sending back to him! They aren't hard to tear apart, I just am not sure where I am going to get more of those plastic gears, those were the only two I could find. I am going to try and fix the ones that I pulled out of them tho, see if I can't add plastic to them and recut the teeth. See how it goes anyways, used to have an indexer for cutting gears but don't know exactly where it's at nowadays. There is actually one up on ebay now tho that was rebuilt by Omicron clock tho if you are interested. If yours doesn't have a bad gear I can't see why I couldn't fix it otherwise.
I'll take any you can get me, just give me a price. I love to tinker with things! These clocks have proven to be quite enjoyable and if someone can end up with a working clock because of it, everyone will benefit.
The yard is over 3 hours from me (Minnesota) and under snow now so it will only be spring, but I'll add them to my list. He has a number of 66's, including 2 with factory air. Lots of good parts there still. Let me know of anything you might need that would be the same on a US model (Grand Prix).
I know there's clocks there and at least a couple of the cars have all the windows up, so the clocks shouldn't be junk.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Well I would definitely be interested in any sort of factory air set up as that is one thing it needs. Been looking into an underdash unit but would be so much cleaner with a factory look.
I had a couple 1970 B body clocks cleaned about a dozen years ago, they remain in boxes. A buddy of mine sold me an NOS clock, but when power is applied all the hands turn. It likely just needs to be taken apart and ungummed. The step by step instructions above will be my guide to getting it working properly.
Well I suppose that would give me incentive to try and learn how to recover one! Still interested in it! Also, ever come across any passenger side mirrors? I'd assume the drivers side is the same but don't know that for sure. Would like to have mirrors on both sides.
As an update, after running the clocks for a couple weeks I noticed the one keeps perfect time and the other gained about an hour a day. At first I kept trying the 'turn back 24 hours for every 5 minutes' thing but it wasn't helping so I tore back into the clock. Underneath the balance wheel there is a little tab on a crescent shaped arm that slides to the left or the right. Adjusting this arm to the left with the back of the clock facing up will slow down the clock and adjusting it to the right will speed it up. After some tweaking I was able to finally get it just right so it keeps great time. Hope this helps anyone looking to make their clock work and hold time better.
Wow! you are one handy guy! I've never had the guts to pull one of those clocks a parts as it would have likely resulted in their guts spread all over the garage. Good work and a great tutorial. I think you will have a sideline from now on.
As for dash pads, on my 66 AC car i sent mine down to Just Dashes and got it back for about $1500.00 Canadian. (Thats when I actually had some.)
