66 Imperial clock

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

I happen to agree with you Arran, but in the '66 Imperial, the clock is not 
easily accessible. When it needs service, it is very difficult to remove.

Some of my older cars have their clocks mounted near the glove compartment so 
that when service is required, they can be taken out without disassembling the 
rest of the dash. Even early '60s Imperials are not all that difficult to work 
on. The '61 through '63 models are quite easy, but'65 and '66 (and maybe '64, 
but I don't know for sure) Imperials are a different ball game. They require 
that the heavy chrome bezel, and the clear plastic instrument cover over the 
gauge cluster be removed to access any of the instruments including the clock. 
According to the shop manual, to do it correctly, this involves dropping the 
steering column, and to do that one needs to disconnect the transmission 
indicator needle. It is necessary to disturb too many things in order to work 
on the clock in these cars.

For these cars, I would say that any clock that would stay working for a number 
of years without service would be an improvement, but only because of this 
problem with accessibility.

Paul

In a message dated 5/19/2004 1:40:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
monkeypuzzle1@xxxxxxx writes:

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> David,
> Check in Hemmings. there are places that rebuild clocks. They can even retro
> yours with a quartz movement that will work even better than the original.
> George
> 
> Hello All;
> I find that point debatable, the old clock mechanisms, while primative by
> today's standards, were actually cleaverly designed and quite well made. The
> only design flaw that I can think of would be the lack of a capacitor to
> suppress arcing between the contacts for the winding solenoid. In contrast
> many of the quartz movements on the market today are very cheaply made and
> are non servicable.
> The point being that when you send off your dash clock to one of these
> outfits to be "upgraded" you don't really know what you are getting. Besides
> that, the old clocks made a satisfying ticking noise and that to me adds to
> the whole experience of operating an old car along with waiting for the
> radio to warm up. For me there is a certain pride in getting the old
> technology working and showing it off, if I need to keep more accurate time
> I can always wear a watch or pack a GPS unit.
> Best Regards
> Arran Foster
> 1954 Imperial Newport
> Needing A Left Side Tailight Bezele and other trim parts.
> 
>