Paul contacted me with a photo of a broken MK2 Ford Escort clock – the cool one with orange hands. He asked for a quote to convert it to self contained quartz. I have never worked on a classic Ford clock before so I was keen to get my hands on it. Following delivery and inspection I realised the cylindrical case was NARROWER than my smallest movements. Put simply – it was a non-starter as my smallest quartz carriage clock movement was 3mm to wide for the casing. Thankfully Paul agreed to be a guinea pig and left it up to me to “have a go”. I removed the out case of the quartz movement and 3D printed a smaller frame – just the right size to fit the Escort clock’s case.
The Conversion Process
Once I had a movement small enough to fit inside the casing I could crack on with the conversion. The first and most important part of any classic car clock conversion is the safe removal of the original hands. These iconic orange hands are a massive part of the Ford clock’s character. Thankfully – with a little persuasion they both came off followed by the original Ford dial. The next tricky part is adapting the hands to fit the new quartz mechanism – different sized spindles. Once the hands have been adapted and test fitted the the movement it’s on to re-assembly
External Power for Time Adjustment
Unfortunately – it is no longer possible to adjust the Escort clock’s time using the external dial. It is still present – but it has to be set away from the new movement by a couple of mm otherwise it could damage the hands / mechanism. To change the time on the converted clock the owner simply turns the clock OFF using the remote on/off switch. Wait for the time on the clock to synchronise with the actual time and turn it back ON again. A little bit of a pain – but not the end of the world. I also had to use the 3D printer to create a small white internal spacer to keep the glass and dial separated by 7mm.
Ford Escort Clock Conversion – VIDEO 1
Here’s a couple of short videos. The first is BEFORE the clock was fully re-assembled. The second is AFTER this Ford Escort MK2 clock had been re-assembled – ready for return to the customer.
Escort Clock VIDEO 2
Let me Convert your Classic Car Clock
If you would like to start the process of converting a vintage dashboard clock to a battery powered movement – please contact me today. Send me a few pictures of the clock and give me some dimensions ( diameter, depth etc) and I’ll get back to you with a quote.