Old Jaguars with Simiths clocks are famous for have non-functional clocks. So this car's non-functioning clock did not bother me. A few years ago I made a half hearted attempt to find out if anyone could repair the clock. I found a US based vendor who had a website claiming that he could repair these old movements by replacing the internals with modern stuff. I wrote to him only to find out that he had stopped doing this sort of work. So that was that until a recent meeting with a respected and knowledgeable friend. We spoke about the car and he asked about the clock. I told him about my plan to replace the machinery with a quartz movement. He was horrified and advised me to leave it unmolested and unmodified. I took his advice but began seriously researching how to repair the clock. I found this video on youtube of a repair of a Rolls Royce clock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOISsd9GEcE. It is the same Smiths clock as in my car. Back in the day, Brit cars had similar instruments. For example this Smith clock was fitted to Bentley, Rolls, Alvis and a host of other cars.
After seeing the youtube video, I was confidant that I could get the clock to work. After this I researched and taught myself how to service such clocks. But first I had to get the tools for the job:
1 - Loupe
2 - Watch oil - Moebius 8000
3 - Contact cleaner
4 - Jewelers screwdriver set
5 - Fine tweeters
6 - Small crocodile clips X 4
7 - Some lamp wire - to make power supply from the UPS battery to the clock
8 - Long sewing needle for applying watch oil.
I am glad I listened to my friend. The following is the story of how I got my car clock to work.
Clock is seen inside the rev meter
Rev meter was removed from the car and the clock extracted from meter
Clock on the work bench
Checking the clock before doing any work - Clock main pendulum not kicking far enough for the mechanism to work
Cleaning out the muck, degreasing and lubrication.
While lubricating the clock mechanism, the oil has to be applied using a pin. Very little oil is applied. I learned that the oil stays in the clock bearings due to surface tension. Too much oil flows down out of the bearing and so does not lubricate. Picture below shows some of the important parts:
Main problem was the bent 12V electrode providing the 12V impulse to the pendulum
Also found that the electrode that creates the intermittent contact for the electromagnet in the pendulum was out of alignment. Net result - the duration of the kick was too short for the pendulum to swing to its full rotation. Slight bending back of the pin was done and the result can be seen in the short video below
[video=vimeo;113836994]https://vimeo.com/113836994[/video]
Success. The clock works. The last I remember it working was in 1972. It was pretty hard to get a closeup using a cell phone camera. I stuck the loupe in front of the camera lens to get it to focus.
Now the clock has to remain connected to the UPS for a day or so before I am totally satisfied with it. I will also see if it keeps good time. Another day or so will be taken to regulate it..