Yet another clock resto' thread

[exvalvesetdabbler]

I am in the process of restoring a couple of clocks and been documenting the process as I go in the hope that someone else finds it useful.  Kind of open source bike restoration. I will keep this thread updated as things progress.

The first task was to peel off the crimped rings without marking them or ending up with a screwdriver embedded in the palm of my hand.  After seeing what other folk had done a large hose clip was going to be included somewhere.  After a few test fits, I wasn't happy with the mechanism of the worm drive digging in to the band and marking it, and  plastic sleeve inside  just left some areas gripped less than others and it could easily slip off when applying pressure.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

To solve this, I machine up a collar out of some 10mm sheet plastic and made cutouts to accommodate the hose clamp mechanism and split the collar to allow it to tighten evenly over the band.  It is also stepped to stop the clock being pushed through.



Also needed some way to keep the clock centered in the jig to avoid scuffing the new paintwork during re-assembly. That's the 3 screws and bushes.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Next was the pry tool.  I had to sacrifice my 'paint stirrer' screwdriver by re grinding the tip so the flat blade was angled and rounded on the back side to roll against the clock base.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Regards
Dave

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Ring expanded and open.

I did about 4 laps to get to this point, just lifting up the crimp a little on each pass.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Its important at this stage that the ring is sufficiently open to allow the base to lift out. You could pry it out at this point , but to avoid damage to the restored base and cover its easer at this point to get the ring open to allow the base to lift out cleanly.

The next step is to clean up the base ready for plating using electrolysis in washing soda solution. I used about 2 egg cups of soda in the container size below and a current of about 250 mA.  You can use steel or aluminum as the anode (+ve) with the negative connection to the base.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


And after about 12-16 hours this is what you end up with.  This was the worst one that was heavily crusted with rust and some pitting is visible.  The advantage of this method is that the metal and zinc plate is untouched so they can be left sitting around for a while once they have been cleaned up.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]



Regards
Dave.
 

[Johnny4428]

Nice work on the clock there Dave. I had a go on my 550K3 clocks but although it was just a cosmetic job I decided it was a job for a clock restorer so the internals could be checked as well.

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Weather wasn't up to much midweek  so I got on with a bit of polishing indoors.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

First I took out any noticeable scratches with some part worn 400 grit wet'n' dry and then followed that up with 1200 grit and then on to 2500 grit. Then I took the polishing machine outside and gave them a final buff up.  There are a few pits left where stones have hit but once fitted to the bike they'll be hard to spot.  Polishing machine is nothing fancy, just the main motor from an old twin tub washing machine with the shaft threaded half inch and the mop held on with big washers and nuts.

Regards
Dave

[exvalvesetdabbler]

No stainless JIS screws in the junk box - no problem.

I mastered this method when rebuilding carbs a long time ago when stainless JIS screws were hard if not possible to come by.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

The holder consists of a piece of scrap brass that is threaded for the screw to be machined.  The shoulder on the piece is the guide for the diameter.  To shorten the screw, it is screwed in from the other end.  The protruding piece of thread can be cut back and  left chamfered and tidy.  The screw in aluminum piece stops the screw backing off during machining.  I find this last bit easier than running the headstock in reverse and having to keep moving the tool post.

If these were going to be visible after assembly I would radius the head a little more and give them a light polish as well.




Regards
Dave.

[exvalvesetdabbler]

To overhaul the mechanism there was a few jobs to do,  I should add at this point that these gages were working ok, they had been run on my lathe using a spare tacho cable and having a listen to the main bush.  Calibration was checked by comparing the lathe speed (input shaft speed) to expected readings.  For Honda speedo's 2240 rpm =60 mph , for Honda tacho's  its a 7:1 ratio so knowing the input shaft speed and doing the maths the calibration can be checked.  It will be checked again before final assembly. 
 

Clean up all old grease
re lube the main bush
clean up oil between the trip counter dials
re grease the cogs and worms

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

If needed the clock faces can be removed and the well published two spoons trick worked well here.  First cut up some 0.5 cm squares of electrical tape and put two squares on each of the painted screws holding on the face. The needle should easily pop off but take care to have the edge of the spoons right up against the shaft so that you're not bending it. Have the frame gripped in a vice and push down equally with both spoons.  Watch where the needle ends up or just lay down a 3 inch square of cling film over to catch it.  When removing the screws that hold the face on, use a good quality #1 phillips screwdriver and press down hard. The screws are glued from the back but should come out easily.

Remove old grease from the cogs and worm drives circled in yellow.  I did this with a small brush soaked in white spirit to pick up the grease and wiping it off onto  some paper towel. Turn the input shaft to gain access to all parts of the main worm drive.  Wipe up any migrated oil or grease from the frame using a similar method.  I find those cotton wool pads that folk use for make up removal are handy for cleaning up.

To re-lubricate the bush , I created a puddle of oil in the area marked in yellow and left it upright for a day, just spinning the shaft a few times as I happen to be passing by. Just pour out excess oil and mop up any excess with paper towel.

Fresh grease can be applied to the gears and worms, just a bit on a small flat blade scredriver wiped onto each gear should suffice.  I used Apezion 101 but a white grease should do as  well.

The two screws marked in blue and the plate can be removed for better access.  Just make sure you put a dob of purple Loctite on them during re-assembly.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Clean up oil between the trip counter dials in the next post.

Finding someone local to re-plate the bases is taking up too much time. Most seem to have a 4 week back log or don't want to go anywhere near vehicle restoration parts or have quite high minimum charges.  Was quoted £50 + postage + VAT  by one firm to do 4 bases, not sure if that's reasonable or the going rate now.  Have done some myself in the past but hardly seems worth the hassle for a hand full of parts.  The platers near me that I used to use  for yellow zinc on carb parts ( Bag of bits,  knock on the back door , cash in hand...) closed many years ago.

Regards
Dave.

 

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Damper oil on the bridge and sitting on the bell.

I needed to see if I could gain access to the damper pot to top this one up before I went to the trouble of cleaning off the spillage and ordering some silicone oil.  It seemed reasonable to remove the top bush which also protrudes into the damper pot as the fixed element.  For reassembly I made a note of the height of the bush from the face so it could go back in the same position. No idea how critical that is though.  Unscrewing the 5mm brass locking nut allowed the bush to be unscrewed from the top bridge.  Be careful, the needle post is flapping around within the confine of the M4 thread now.

I needed a tool to set the position of the bush and hold it there while the nut was tightened during reassembly so I got a bit distracted making one.

Damper fixed bush
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

View down into the damper pot.  Should be able to get some oil down there somehow!
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

tool needed for reassembly.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

This is my 'practice piece' from a clock that someone drilled a hole in the side of the case and then mangled the number dials with a pointed object so no great loss if it didn't work out.  I do however have a spare tacho with very little damping and damper oil all over the back of the face that will need attention.

Just waiting for the oil to arrive.

Regards
Dave.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

That's a good write up Dave, an impressive bit of work.

I once replaced a quartz battery in a wrist watch managing to have the hands fall off I was that cack handed.😁

[exvalvesetdabbler]

That's a good write up Dave, an impressive bit of work.

I once replaced a quartz battery in a wrist watch managing to have the hands fall off I was that cack handed.😁

So far I have spent an hour looking for a gage needle that went flying off across the garage behind a set of shelves and today with help from the wife spent ~40 minutes looking for a 3mm brass shim that escaped and made a run for freedom across the floor.  Did some paint spraying a couple of weeks ago and left the piece dangling off the washing line too long, got too warm and the solvent flashed off before the paint flowed and then had a load of orange peel to sand back.  If it's too easy everyone would be doing it.   

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Painting the  'top bit' black.

Made a start on painting a while back, made some orange peel, and started again.

Searching for some way to hold things without wiring.  Turns out that the bottom of a 1 liter fizzy water bottle is just right.  Drill a hole in the bottom and screw in a stick and use that to hang it up and to rest on while the paint goes off.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]



I started off with black epoxy primer topped off with Simoniz Tough black satin.  The original plan was to rough them up and go straight in with the Tough Black since it claims not to need a primer.  That plan was scuppered when zinc plate was found underneath the OEM finish.  Zinc and Alkyd resin paints don't play nice together , hence the epoxy primer as a barrier coat.

Regards

Dave 

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Cleaning up the trip meter dials.

Both old gages that I have opened up so far have had damper oil between the trip meter dials, making it tight to zero and unsightly oil stains on the dials.  My first attempt was to push paper strips between the dials to soak it up.  So far so good, then it reappears a few days later.  So there's no other option to clean them up properly.  The reason the oil ends up on the trip meter is probably due to the angle that the gages sit when on the bike and it seems to have run across the bridge straight on to the trip meter.  Why it ends up on the bridge in the first place is probably incorrect storage. Fortunately the odometer is clean because I didn't want to be removing that.

The trip meter is easily removed by pulling the c clip and the two 'brass strip' circlips.  Remove the drive gear and then the small circlip seen on the right hand side.  All of the dials, spacers and ratchet plates will then slide off the shaft.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Damper oil contamination.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


To clean up these components, I dropped them in a pot of white spirit,  EXCEPT for the dials, these were cleaned with a stiff paint brush and a strong solution of washing up liquid.

Components ready for reassembly.
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.  Take plenty of pictures as there are slight variations.  Older variants have metal separators and a nylon bush stacked with each one.  In this example the separators were plastic and had no nylon bushes in between - or someone at Nippon made these on a Monday or Friday.

Also be careful not to loose anything, I spent ages looking on the floor for a brass shim that goes between the white dial and the circlip. Running a magnet over the floor and under cupboards was no help!


Regard
Dave

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Needle tips.

Nipped in the model makers shop today looking for some luminous red/orange paint and came back with a pot of Revell SM 332 luminous red.  The photo doesn't  represent it well, it is more vivid orange than red and not a bad match and really jumps out at you and also matches with the color on the lid.  The old paint rubbed off easily with some 1200 grit wet'n'dry.  So far it looks like 1 coat will be enough.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

It's going to go a bit quiet on here for a while until I have sorted out getting the bases re-plated and finishing off painting the top bits. Damper oil is on a slow boat from China so there will be more on that task once it arrives.

I would welcome any suggestions or recommendations for getting plating done by post as there is nothing within reasonable distance to me.

Regards Dave

[exvalvesetdabbler]

I have been busy plating and painting and of course found a few other  bits in the to-do box.

I searched around for a few prices to get these done commercially and the price ranged from 50-100 quid + postage and VAT for 4 bases. On top of the risk of them getting lost I was facing a minimum 4 week turnaround.  The plating firm that I used to use, and was in walking distance,  only does anodizing now. Next nearest was a 90 mile round trip and they had a lot of poor feedback in regard of stuff not being done after weeks  or lost.  I was trying to avoid setting up to do this myself just for a few instrument bases but here we are. The risk of them getting lost was too great

I have put a heavy coat on these so hopefully they will last another 50 years or so.  I am tempted to blow a bit of epoxy primer over them for good measure as well.

I keep finding a few other bits as well...........
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


Evidence of previous pitting remains
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]


PS Received my new clock faces and trip reset boots from Marcel last week and they look very good and even managed to get the correct MPH/KPH faces to match the originals

Regards Dave

[Johnny4428]

Absolutely cracking work there Dave on the gauges. Not a job I would tackle myself but if you have the time to spend looking for that small parts that decide to make a bid for freedom why not!😂

[exvalvesetdabbler]

Got around to blowing a bit of epoxy primer over the recently galvanized bases.  Gave them a brief dip in dilute acid to remove any white rust, rinsed them off and dried with a hot air gun and then straight on with the primer.

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Regards
Dave.