Hey guys, I’ve been having an auto electrical guy help me rewire my 68 442. The car previously was a quarter mile racer and much was disconnected. I Just got the tac working and now have all of the Rally pack working except the clock. I have power to it but nothing.
What should I look for? Or tell me what typically fails on the clocks and how can i repair it. Thanks. —Billy

 

Assuming you have power at the orange wire (clock power feed) your best option is to remove the tach pod and install a quartz clock conversion. It’s pretty easy to do. The only visual clue is the second hand moves continuously, instead of in a tick, tick motion.

 

Thanks. I’ll probably do that. But does anyone know what mechanically goes wrong with the clock? Can these be fixed. It would be nice to keep it original. —Billy

 

There is a pair of electrical contacts on a spring loaded lever. As the spring winds down, the contacts close, activating a electromagnet. The magnet pushes against the spring, winding the clock and starts the cycle again.

The magnet either gets weak, or the contacts burn up. You might be able to get it going again by filing the contacts, but as difficult as it is to remove the gauge I’d make the conversion and be done with it.

Just wondering, when these cars were new, how long did the clocks work? I have owned lots of old cars and trucks, I have never had a mechanical clock that worked unless it was converted to quartz

 

I took my rally-pac clock apart back in '12 when I bought the car. I filed the points & the clock's been working fine since. Filing the points does damage them though since the contacts have a layer of (I believe) tungsten on them that you're filing away, luckily mine didn't need much of a clean up with my trusty OLD points file!! My clock doesn't run all the time anyway, since I have a hidden kill switch on the car.

 

Thanks. I’d like to take a shot and repairing the original clock. I’ll take it out, try and bench test. If it doesn’t work I’ll go quartz. I got my head under the dash and on the one side I see 2 about 1/4 hex head screws. I assume there are 2 on the other side. What can I expect trying to remove the guage.
I appreciate the advice very much. —Billy

 

Those 2 1/4 inch screws is all that holds it in place. The gauge comes out the front of the dash.

 

Thanks. I’ll give it a try. —Billy

 

Scott Winn restores them and put a quartz clock in for not a lot of money

 

Thanks. I got the clock tac guage out of the dash yesterday. 1 screw on each side. The one on the drivers side was tougher to get at. I took out the defogger duct in prep to be able to get it back in. I probably could have taken the radio out instead. I’m gonna take a look at fixing the clock and if I have no luck I’ll def go with a quartz conversion. Thanks. —Billy

 

Here’s what it looks like inside. There’s a lot going on with the ac needle around the clock. I don’t want to risk damaging it. I think I’ll let someone experienced do the quartz conversion. What is Scott Winn’s user name on here? Thanks —Billy

 

Oldspackrat

 

Scott Winn did a quartz conversion on my Tick Tock Tach. He was very quick and reasonably priced. I highly recommend his services.
I just wanted to let you all know that I could not get the guage back in through the front. The metal flanges stick out like a 1/4” on the guage casing. If I forced it thru the hole it looked like it was going to gouge the vinyl. Instead from the back was easier. I took the radio out to get my whole arm up in there and removed the defogger duct.
I’m very happy that everything on my rally pack now works. —Billy