Clocks

[Terry64HT]

I'm trying to disassemble several Flairbird clocks and can't get the hand adjusting knob off the front. Any suggestions?
Terry
64HT

[makrie]

Hi Terry,

This is a bit of speculation since I haven't done it myself... from pictures it appears the knob is held on with fine threading. I would assume the clock case has to be removed to hold the shaft to turn the knob? If there's any corrosion an over night soak (the knob) in a high quality penetrating lubricant couldn't hurt. You also could pull the shaft out without disassembly and grab the exposed shaft with a needle nose pliers but I don't know if the shaft would fall into the housing requiring disassembly anyways!?

There are mentions of a couple of clock restorers out there who might be generous enough to share a bit of advice with a quick phone call. An offer to give credit for sharing might inspire some! Good luck and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

[Terry64HT]

I have one of the clocks out of the casing, so the back side is easily accessible. The time adjusting knob pulls out to engage gears that move the hands. There's lots of room to grab the shaft with pliers, but no indication at to how to remove the knob.
I have seen references to clocks having both right and left handed threads on these knobs as well as being glued on, but no specific mention of Thunderbirds.
I'll keep looking. Thanks for the reply
Terry
64HT

[Gary Tayman]

It's the standard, "leftie loosey, righty-tighty" thread.

Pull the shaft out, get some small vise-grips or something that can REALLY hold the shaft, and then use another pair of pliers to remove the knob. Use a paper towel to help prevent scratching the chrome. If you want, try spraying a little JB Blaster into that knob beforehand.

I offered quartz conversions for clocks for awhile. These were typically very easy to do and I enjoyed it. However I got out of it for three reasons: (1) the price to me from ISI was the same price as for any customer, so I had very little profit margin. They offered dealer discounts, but only if purchased in bulk. I might have eventually done 100 clocks, but not 100 1964 Thunderbirds in a row. (2) I could only convert certain clocks made by Borg, 1963 and later. ISI would not offer training, or any support of any kind, for other models. So for customers it was a pot-shot as to whether I could do their clock. (3) My main service is radios -- and demand has been so strong that I simply stopped offering clock service.

That being said, I highly recommend these conversions. The clock movements are wonderful. With just a small amount of skill and patience you can purchase a movement and install it yourself.

[Terry64HT]

Thanks Gary,
That's about what I thought it would be. I bought a box of Tbird clocks a while ago and never did much with them since the one in my car was working fine. Last fall, it quit so I started playing with them. I put a diode on a good coil assembly and mated it with a mechanical half that cleaned up, but the lens is scratched. Someone had tried to disassemble one of the other ones and the knob just spun on the shaft. I wasn't sure if they had messed up the threads or there was some other attachment method. The rubber mounts behind the clock face are in poor shape so this will allow me to change them as well.
I think out of my pile of clocks and pieces I should finish up with 3 or 4 good working ones.
Once more, thanks for your always knowledgeable and helpful replies.
Terry
64HT