A couple of months back there was thread running on clock repairs in
which it was said that someone in the South Australian Humber club could
repair the clocks fitted to Rootes cars. Well, Steve Webber of the
Humber list finally tracked him down His name is Phil Williamson, his
email is philw@sa.apana.org.au and his (Australian) phone number is
08 84315614. Steve has had his Super Snipe clock fixed by Phil and is
very happy with the results. I'm about to send Phil a clock (which
Steve gave me) for the same treatment (clock is not 'concours correct'
for the Alpine but it is a Smiths of the right size and vintage).
Phil has just finished a restoration of a 1946 Super Snipe and its
magnificent, if anyone would like a pic, let me know.
Here's a snip of Phils reply to my initial contact...
"Hi Vic,
I can probably fix your clock as long as it is the same basic
construction as Steve's, ie it has an internal moving contact which
makes and breaks at every clock tick. This is the weak point of the
clock, as it sparks and eventually burns away, and stops making
contact. The clock also needs to be in reasonably good mechanical
condition, as I am not a watchmaker, and cannot clean the internal
bearings, cogs etc as well as they could.
With all those provisos, I would be happy to try and fix your clock. As
Steve probably explained, you will end up with a small box of
electronics attached to the clock by a short cable, which you will need
to locate somewhere behind the dashboard, but apart from that, the clock
looks completely original from the front. I charged Steve $100 and $10
postage.
Each clock takes a few weeks to repair, as I like to keep it on the
bench for some time to check its time-keeping, so I usually only do one
at a time. However, if there are more people interested, and they are
willing to be patient, then I would be happy to oblige."
Cheers
Vic
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