Here's a project not for the feint of heart. The original Smith's clock from my '70 1800E never kept time. It was always a matter of having to reset it after I got in the car and then it would be Ok for a day or two. No amount of fiddling with the adjustment would keep it accurate for any length of time. At one point it stopped working and I took it apart and cleaned and oiled the delicate balance wheel pivots. Probably an error since they are jeweled. It still never was accurate and finally, recently, stopped working altogether.

I had the brialliant idea of substitutiing an inexpensive, battery-powered movement and thought it would be an easy swap. So I bought a non-working clock on eBay...balance wheel looked like a pretzel and the "glass" was shot, but the face was OK. Then the fun began, maybe 50-75 hours of it. Talk about an engineering as you go project. First, finding a round movment of the correct diameter was a real chore. Then fabricating the new "glass" and new hands...the orginal hands disintegrated on removal. Probably the worst part was figuring out how to reattach the new guts to the case and maintain the space along the side for the illumination.

Anyway, I persisted, eventually abandoning remote battery and remote setting options in favor of a bayonet locking bezel that will allow removal of the "guts" without removeing the case from the dash. I must say, it really looks good. No one would ever notice that the new hands are a bit wider than stock. Everything else has been retained, including the adjustment and setting shafts. I certainly enjoy the fact that it keeps perfect time. Hopefully I'll only have to take it out and adjust the time twice a year when daylight time goes on and off.

If anyone else is crazy enough to want try this, pictures and advice are available.