Dolomite Quartz clock

[GrahamFountain]

In some ways what would be nice would be to gut the original case and fit a modern mechanism. I have a spare broken clock somewhere, might give it ago

Despite what I initially thought, these £3 65mm Chinese quartz clocks will fit in the original case and give access to the battery without taking the glove box to bits.

I took all the guts out of a Kienzle one that has one of the three clip springs broken and, with a little stilling of the heart, cut the front off the green plastic part. I filed the flange off the clock insert that the clock's original bezel clips to, pealed the face off and Araldited the front of the green plastic to the front of the insert. Then I put the face, the clip for the front glass, the black and silver blanking disk, and the glass from the Kienzle clock into the green part, and Araldited it all together. I also glued up the adjustment mechanism so it can't be pushed and catch the hands.

Then I took it all apart and put on the two hands I'd made from plasticard and the second hand I'd painted mimosa, and glued it together again. The results, after that clock-up are not as good as they were the first time, but it'll do.

So, with the empty Keinzle clock body in the dash, Frankenstein's clock insert fits into it from the front, then the original bezel (my least good one), with the crimp straightened as best I can manage, goes in after the insert, with a 4mm x 54mm ID O ring replacing the dried out seal in the back of the bezel:




The slightly fat O ring keeps the bezel just a bit off the glass so I can get fingernails in to pull the bezel out, then use the knob on the glass to pull the insert out.

The problem that remains is that, even with the bulb that was too bright for the original Kienzle clock, the illuminations are a bit lacking:




I may find a still brighter LED, or fit a couple of small ones up close. But then, it is just the clock.

Graham

[GrahamFountain]

A bit of work on the sides of the insert with a file, and the lighting situation is a fair bit better:



Graham

[GrahamFountain]

On the issue of the chrome rings splitting when you take the clock to bits, i.e. to fix the link to the solenoid or adjust the time keeping or gut and replace the mech: I found this listing for a 65mm chrome ring that looks like it will fit.

It's not quite the same, but if the ring being bust is the only thing wrong with the clock after repairs, it may be an option - if a bit expensive by the time you've added what I expect to be 8 Euros for P&P.

If anybody has a dead one of these clocks, with or without the chrome ring, I could use another for my experiments.

Graham

[GrahamFountain]

The not quite so cheap quartz clock from Minsk just turned up, and fits very well - using the mounting collar that came with it and a jubilee clip to hold that against the back of the dash.



It came with a bulb holder for a BA9 bayonet bulb, but the standard one wedges in the hole well enough to try. The illumination isn't quite right. But I'm sure I can adjust it.



So I shall be using it until I get the fake Kienzle one to light up correctly - waiting for a perspex tube to try and collect more light and pipe it through. Or failing that, use the tube to mount some 2mm green leds round the edge.

[Carledo]

Graham, you have a PM!




Steve

[RichardHyde]

If your clock doesn’t say Quartz or Keinzle, is there any other way of telling if it’s quartz by looking at it ? Are the backs different ?

[GrahamFountain]

If your clock doesn’t say Quartz or Keinzle, is there any other way of telling if it’s quartz by looking at it ? Are the backs different ?

The electrically wound, clockwork ones have a grey plastic ring that slides over three spring clips on the case to locate. Also the second hand sweeps fairly smoothly - I would say it's moving in small jumps no less often than about 4Hz, possibly 8.

I haven't got one of the Kienzle quartz ones yet, but from what I've read and been told, the quartz ones have a U shaped bracket with a single central nut, very like the way the 2" meters in the main dash mount. Also, the second hand moves in 1 second jerks.

Graham

[Mad Mart]

I've got both in my hands and I can't see any differences between them. If your clocks are working then, what I call the hybrid clock, makes a clunk about every 2½ minutes as the points get reset.

[GrahamFountain]

This one says quartz and the mounting is clearly different, so maybe there are multiple types: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Triumph-Dash ... 1438.l2649

The clunk is the solenoid re-winding the clockwork, and 2.5 min gaps implies quite a good one - some are less than a minute. It is annoying and can keep you awake while driving, if too frequent.

For a quick check it's probably whether it sweeps or jumps each second - assuming I've got that right from what Steve (Carledo) told me, who also commented on the different mounting.

Graham

[Carledo]

If your clock doesn’t say Quartz or Keinzle, is there any other way of telling if it’s quartz by looking at it ? Are the backs different ?

AFAIK all the early style electro-mechanical clocks are marked "Keinzle" and "W Germany" and all the ones i've seen have had the clip in fitment.

The later Quartz clocks can have "Quartz" and "W Germany" or either or none. Most have the U clamp fitment but some early models may be clip in. There are 3 variations in my pic above. But it's a pretty safe bet, that if it has neither Keinzle nor Quartz on it and has a U clamp fitting, it's likely to be a quartz type. In any case the Keinzle clock was only used in Dolomites up to around 1975/6 when it was superceded by the Quartz type.

Not to mention the colour of the second hand, which can vary from Honeysuckle to Vermillion, though I suspect this is more due to sunlight degradation than production differences.

Steve

[RichardHyde]

My only clock says Quartz. Does that mean it will keep good time ?!

[GrahamFountain]

Not to mention the colour of the second hand, which can vary from Honeysuckle to Vermillion, though I suspect this is more due to sunlight degradation than production differences.

Steve

Not sure how it could be ageing from sunlight, as the sales literature for the early cars shows a pale yellow one and the other identifiable colours - red and white - in the dash instruments look right. I'd expect it to fade over time from susceptibility to sunlight, i.e. bleach, not get darker. I know Mike Barker went for a pale yellow one, presumably because he saw that as right for the 73 cars.

So I suspect it's production differences more than ageing. But I wouldn't know whether its more or less random for any given time of production or if there's a progression of sorts.

Graham

[new to this]

My only clock says Quartz. Does that mean it will keep good time ?!

It will keep good time twice a day

[Carledo]

My only clock says Quartz. Does that mean it will keep good time ?!

The Quartz type seem, in general, to keep time better than the Keinzle EM type, though that's not saying much! The only one i've actually tested long term is the Quartz clock in the Dolomega. I set it correct against my phone back in April 2020 and have checked it periodically since. Last time I looked, about a week ago, it had gained slightly less than 4 mins (allowing for the change from daylight saving last October) Which is close enough for it not to annoy me!

Steve

[GrahamFountain]

It turns out there's at least two different clock types with Kienzle and W-Germany on the dial. I got two of the three clocks Steve pictured cos you can't have too many bits on the kitchen table, can you? Well, it seem you can, but that's another tale.

The first looks the same as the electro-mechanical ones described before. But inside its a transistorized one, but still with an electronic escapement. I took it apart because it only runs at all when its the right way up, and then loses an hour in four. Unfortunately the main bearing has gone (don't think these can be reground and take over sized shells). So, that's getting the mk2 Chinese quartz insert and looking good so far.











For comparison, this is one of the electrically wound clockwork ones:













The last picture shows the where the link was broken on this one and I jumped it with a blob of solder, dead center of the picture.
This one hasn't much to recommend it other than it runs and keeps good time - the bezel is in bad shape, the hands had already been badly repaired, and it's missing a mounting spring.
The glass has the two black and silver reflectors glued to it because I was on the way to using it in building the Mk2 insert. But the transistor one being, I think, irreparable changed the plans.

I think what differentiates the transistor clock from the clockwork one is the power connection being oriented differently and the chrome bezel being straight sided, not with a bead round the back edge.