Electro-mechanical clock

[Mervyn Hyde]

I think I have read most of the posts on these. Mine hadn't worked for 30 years but I persevered, cleaned it replaced the fusible link, re-built the points, checked the integrity of the gears and springs, sparingly used some clock oil on the spindles and pivots, and it has worked well for the last 1-2 years. However the oscillating wheel now has an erratic movement and may have a worn or bent pivot. So, the question is do I bite the bullet and send it off for repair (most probably from Australia to the US each way) or get one of Sierra Madre's quartz replacements?

Or, can you obtain and fit a quartz replacement as a DIY task?

[Mike Wilson]

The challenge will be finding a shop that has the replacement parts. That's the issue I ran unto some time ago. I've had a few clocks retrofitted with the quartz movement.

Mike

[Mervyn Hyde]

Did you have it done or do it yourself Mike? Has anyone used the SM ones?

[Mike Wilson]

I've had mine done by Palo Alto Speedometer. I'm pretty sure North Hollywood Speedometer can do the conversion as well. My guess is that the work requires specialized tools which along with expertise, I don't have.

Mike

[Ben Wainscott]

I had my clock converted to quartz a couple of years back at North Hollywood, as they said the man who repaired theirs could not duplicate the coating on the points (I believe), and they had a number of them come back. Fast forward two years, I talked to them the other day regarding repairing the odometer on our '89 Carrera and as a side note we discussed 356 clock repairs. He said that the quartz movements they were using are no longer being produced, and they had a limited number of them. Also they had a new man doing clock repairs with excellent results. Believe he said the cost of repairing now was $300. The cost of replacing with a quartz movement $400.

[Peter Poulikakos]

Hi Merv
There is a shop in Sydney called Airco that repairs gauges, maybe worth giving them a call.

[Mervyn Hyde]

Thank you gentlemen. Yes, my investigations so far suggest about US$400 to replace the movement with a quartz one, plus shipping both ways. That will close on over AU$600. For a Clock. Hmmm.

The Sierra Madre one for US$170 looks decent value http://www.sierramadrecollection.com/35 ... 27994.html , however, without any knowledge of their quality.

I will try a couple of Australian companies with VDO expertise, Airco as Peter suggests and Howard Instruments http://www.howardinstruments.com.au

I also have 'found a guy' here who has a few original 356 VDO clocks and he is going to send me one.

So this maybe a longer process than I thought ...

[Martin Benade]

I heard the Sierra Madre one does not say VDO on the face. I have been trying to decide if I care.

[Mervyn Hyde]

It doesn’t Martin. I guess the face plates could be swapped over, or just live with it.

[Mervyn Hyde]

Peter, an update - Howard Instruments in Australia can now offer repair of these clocks and will soon be installing quartz movements as well.

[Peter Poulikakos]

Thats good news Merv. Unfortunately i have an A model that has no clock. Did you try Airco just out of curiosity?

[Mervyn Hyde]

Yes Peter this could save the costs of time, freight and currency exchange in sending these gauges to the US. Airy haven't replied but I think they are on vacation still.