Clocks on Ebay

[dldubois]

I've seen several of the 113 clocks on Ebay.   They look just like the original and are quartz.   Looks like they can be purchased for around $200.  

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MERCEDES-113-230SL-250SL-280SL-BRAND-NEW-DASH-CLOCK_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ34206QQitemZ4582822461QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I'm wondering if it be better than sending my non-functioning clock to be repaired?   It's not quartz.

thoughts.

Dana DuBois

1969 280sl auto
blue (906)
Corinth, TX

[hauser]

Your non functioning clock can be converted to quartz and keep its original face.  I plan on doing this with my clock one day.  I will miss its peculiar little sounds.

1969 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[hands_aus]

Dana,
There was an article about the clocks of the W113. It tells about them and possible problems and possible fixes.
I have a copy I could email to you if you are interested.

Why not have your old clock cleaned and adjusted?

I love the sound of the old clock winding up.

Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

[Mike Webster]

Pagoda Scholars,

My origional clock (I assume) keeps pretty good time when I drive my car on a regular basis, say every other day. However, when it sits for about a week, it looses several hours. Any ideas?

Mike in Detroit
1966 230sl silver/red

[George Davis]

Mike,

I suggest getting the article from Bob.  It used to be on the web somewhere, but I can't find it now.  As Bob said, the article details several minor faults that can put these clocks out of action, also tells how to adjust them for better timekeeping.

My clock didn't work when I got the car, but it was an easy fix.  The auto-wind mechanism was just gummed up and got stuck.  A short spray with brake cleaner and it started right up.  I oiled it and played around with the adjustment for several days, and it's now "close", gains about 2-3 minutes a day.  The adjustment is very sensitive.

These old clocks have a nifty and fairly robust mechanism, they're just too cool to simply gut them without first trying to rescue them.

George Davis
'69 280 SL Euro manual

[n/a]

I highly recommend David Lindquist in Whittier, ca:

http://www.autoclock.com/

I recently had my original clock repaired by him and it is now keeping perfect time. He even had to replace one of the wheel and the whole thing came to $60 plus $5 for return shipping. The original estimate was $85-$90 for the repair and it is only $45 plus shipping if you only need maintenance tune-up. It is so nice to hear the clock ticking and see the perfect time there.

Louis 70 280sl Red Auto

[enochbell]

I'm with George on this one, the older mechanism is simply too cool to replace with a modern movement.  The sound you hear every 10 minutes or so from these old movements is an electromagnet resetting (reloading) the drive spring.  There is a points setup that triggers this reset when the spring nears its end of tension.  Ingenious.  No motor, no quartz, no wind up main spring, no weights.  Too cool.

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[Mike Webster]

Thanks Scholars,

I'll pull the clock after changing out my sending unit this weekend (finally got my new lever-float style from SLS). I dread to pull the glove box because last time it took me forever to get the glove box door in alignment with the dash.

Mike in Detroit

[A Dalton]

<< I'm with George on this one, the older mechanism is simply too cool to replace with a modern movement. The sound you hear every 10 minutes or so from these old movements is an electromagnet resetting (reloading) the drive spring. There is a points setup that triggers this reset when the spring nears its end of tension. Ingenious. No motor, no quartz, no wind up main spring, no weights. Too cool.
>>


 yup...way too cool.

 It is an Electro-Mechanical clockworks.
  There are a couple of easy test to do on these to see if the problem is electric or mechanics....
 If you remove the cap and turn the spring wheel drum to open the points , watch for the clock escapement to start working [ there is no need for 12v power for this test]  . If it does not , try some cleaning.
 If the movement works when you have loaded the wheel, then the problem is likely electrical....
The test for this is to hook an ohm meter between the neg terminal and the clock + feed therminal. [ this is a bench test with NO power] You are looking for the resistance value of 13.5-15 ohms.. BUT, one must look and see that the points are CLOSED for this test. If they are and you get no reading, then you look for a break in that circuit. Is is a simple sol, fuse link, points , and feed back to ground. I just did one that had a wire off the feed at the solinoid tab and was a simple fix.
 This is intricate work, but there are those here who can handle this .. just keep in mind that the clock is mechanical and the electric sol. part is  just simple reload to wind the clock each time the point set closes..very nice mechanism and worth a look see before scraping the works......

[Jonny B]

Yes, the little resetting noise from the old clock is cool, but I opted for a replacement of the internal mechanism. I suppose you can catch the little click as mentioned, but I did not pay that much attention to it. I sent mine to Palo Alto and it was $190. I wanted the original face, and the original, more pointed style bezel.

Jonny B
1967 250SL Auto

[Cees Klumper]

My old clock was losing hours per day so I got myself a quartz version from Germany for relatively little money. Still I miss the 'click' which I would always hear when working on some interior project or sitting in traffic. This thread has motivated me to get my old clock looked at by an expert and reinstate it in its former glory ...

Cees ("Case") Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[rob walker]

Cees, let us know how you get on as I would also like to refurbish my original clock.

Rob Walker

1968 280SL papyrus white/green leather
2004 230 SLK silver

[enochbell]

Mike,

A little off topic, but with attention to a few tricks you really should not have trouble getting the glove box to line up properly.  Just recognize that all of the upper and lower trim on the dash actually have quite a bit of float.  I find that the most important piece to get right is the chrome behind the heater/air levers:  set that one first so that there is absolutely no friction given to the levers (I suspect this is often the cause or at least a contributor to broken levers).  From there you can play with the alignment to get the chrome to all line up straight.  The first time I had my dash apart I could not get the glove box trim to line up properly until I discovered that it was not the glove box that was the problem, it was the alignment of the lower/center trim strip.  Sorry for the ramble, just thought I would share,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[Naj ✝︎]

Rob,

 

quote: let us know how you get on as I would also like to refurbish my original clock.

Rob Walker

The place to send your clock to is:

http://www.jdo1.worldonline.co.uk/

Very reasonably priced.

naj

65 230SL
68 280SL

[Eryck]

Since we are on the subject...was thinking about fixing my clock too.  Someone mentioned that the glovebox needs to be removed in order to take the clock out. Is this a fairly simple process (apart from re-aligning it when putting it back)? Also, is installing the radio a big job? Does one need to take the dash out? Just bought a Europa TR and would like to replace that 80's Alpine unit...

1965 230 SL White Manual
Hong Kong

[enochbell]

Eryck,

Yes you need to remove glove box to get to clock and/or radio.  It is fairly simple, with a couple of tips:

Once you have removed the screws holding the glove box in (leave the door completely attached but remove lower dash bolster), be careful when you pull the box out of the dash: the door stays with the box and should be in the "half-opened" position when you extract it so that the hinge and spring in the lower left-hand corner can clear the dash.  Don't forget to disattach the two wires from the right side of the blower motor and fan housing and also remove the knurled nut holding the glove box light switch.

It is possible to remove the radio (this is true for stock but maybe not for aftermarket) without removing the center dash trim, but I don't recommend it.  I have always found it easier to remove the dash trim (start with lower bolsters, then lower chrome strip, then center chrome strip behind heater/air levers, then radio knobs and faceplate, then dash radio surround, then pull the radio out.

But before you do anything, I would check to make sure that your stock radio has the same hole size requirement as your current radio surround.  Older sl models used a smaller height opening and will not accept newer beckers.  This all is up for speculation given that you have an aftermarket installed, but best to know what you have before you tear everything apart.

Finally, the older beckers used an external amp.  I believe these all correlate: small opening on cars with radios with external amp; larger opening for newer sl's with radios with built in amp.  Again, my only point in raising this is so that you know what you have before you tear everything apart.

Good luck,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon