In an earlier post I asked for possible parts sources for '60s vintage
"auto parts store style" Stewart Warner gauges. I received some
promising replies and I would like to thanks those who responded.
In addition to Stewart Warner gauges, Cobras of this period had dash
mounted clocks supplied by Ford. According to Rinsey Mills' book these
were 62 Ford Galaxie clocks, but I've heard that they were common to
other Ford models in the early to mid '60s. Some of you may remember
these old style car clocks. Their guts consisted of cheap escapement
movements and springs that were wound periodically by some sort of
solenoid mechanism. I don't recall my clock ever keeping good time even
when it was running. I disconnected it about 20 years ago because it
kept running the battery down. When I removed it last weekend, I found
a sticker on it from a West LA Speedo repair shop. Since I bought this
car from the original owner with 8 kmiles on it this leads me to believe
that the clock was pretty much DOA at the dealership.
To tell the truth it's pretty ugly. Besides not matching the other
gauges the lumpy shaped face, fluorescent orange hands and fake chrome
looks downright tacky. Mills book implies, but doesn't actually say,
that some SW gauged Cobras had Smiths clocks so I'm thinking about
replacing the Galaxie clock with a Smiths if I can find one that's a
reasonable match to the SW gauges. What I would like is a clock the
same size as the other gauges (52 mm?), with white hands and numbers and
a black face.
I have a catalog which list new Smiths and SW gauges, but clocks aren't
included. Since this isn't really OE, a clock with a quarts movement
would be okay so long as it is a reasonable match. I don't want a
digital read out.
If I can't find a suitable substitute clock, I would consider a
replacement Galaxie clock. It wouldn't even have to work, just look
presentable. Actually about all my old one needs is a new plastic face.
With a new face and a fresh coat of orange paint on the hands it would
look as good as it ever did.
Or perhaps some other useful gauge that wouldn't look out of place. I
already have oil pressure, ammeter, and oil temp gauges.
Roland
cobra@cdc.hp.com
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