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A world of square body VDO auto rewind clocks! I have to play the percentages on old clocks, so I usually do four of the buggers at a time. Here they are---all apart, but completely cleaned, oiled and ready for reassembly. At the extreme left center is an auto rewind unit. Below the three outer bodies [silver color] are three clock mechanisms [brass color]. Below them are the white plastic back covers. Whole LOT of pieces!
The red object is one of about 100 special tools I've built to use in the reconditioning of clocks, speedometers, wiper motors, etc. This one is a multi-use HOLDER. The arm of the tool [on the right] fits into my vise, to hold the clock steady while I work on it.
AHA! Four of the buggers reassembled and ready to go. I test them for function and time--on my test bed--before I put the plastic "glass" and the chrome outer ring back on. Remember, these clocks are getting close to being 45 years old, so they "enjoy' a failure rate of about 25%. Old age takes it's toll. These are four that "made it."
The red gizmos behind three of the clocks are in-line fuses. I have to re-solder an internal fusible link, and the 3 amp inline fuse protects the coil that actually makes the reset link arm go "ka-KLIK!" and resets the clock so it keeps on ticking.
Ancient V W speedometers, clocks and their mount "pods" seem to find me no matter how good I hide. This shows how they look when I get them....UGH! Nasty! But I guess if I'd been sitting around in an old, musty 1950 V W all these years I'd look a lot worse! Time to make 'em look and work good....
V W did things differently in 1950...above is the flip side of the speedometer pod, and the photo shows the bakelite casting, with the bosses for the three switches and the four warning lights, plus some crusty 1950 wires....
AHA! All better now! New wires, even. This particular V W obviously had an accessory item of some sort taking power off the input connection [No. 30] of the ignition switch. The old, inline fuse holder was kaput so I installed a new one [the red fuse holder to the left of the speedometer pod]. They're ready to go back into the old VeeDub.
[Drumroll...] And here they are--almost as nice as when they were first installed in Der Beetle back in 1950. Cool, huh?
Believe it or not, what you see above are instruments from a 1950 VW Beetle. I received these beat-up buggers from a customer with a plea to make 'em "like new." On the left, two speedometers, on the right a wind-up clock. In the center, two "pods", as VW folks call them, that hold the speedo and clock and then bolt into appropriately sized holes in the instrument panel.
This is the flip side of one speedo, the clock and the pods. Note that the speedo pod also mounts the ignition switch, and switches for lights and windshield wipers. As you can see, 65 years allows pleanty of time for crud to build up on all the bits.
Both pods are cast in bakelite, as far as I can tell. Four idiot light mounts are also cast into the pod. There was quite a bit of brass--for wire connections, etc--to be polished up, and the switches had to be disassembled and cleaned, then reassembled--in the correct order and orientation. The bits only go [correctly] together one way.
The clock--cleaned up and ticking--in its cleaned, primed and painted pod. The shaft at the bottom combines to wind and set the time of the ol' ticker. The new rubber seal [black in the photo] around the pod cushions the unit in the panel.
Here are the pair, ready to go to the owner. Note the switch knobs--very much 1950's style--on the speedo pod. These are to go into a completely restored Beetle, and will probably be the highlight of the interior of the wee bug. They led me a merry chase, but I'm quite pleased with the final result. Good stuff...
