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Clock cleaned and lubed, also ran it on a motorcycle battery for a while, and it seems to be working fine. The time between electric cycles is about 45 seconds. That is, the time between when the points close and wind the clock is ~45 sec. Anybody know if this is normal? I thought I read it was more like 2 min...I could also be over analysing here...
The odometer part of the New Old Stock speedo was frozen with old dried up grease. It took two nights of wd40, and some heating with a hir dryer, and now the whole mechanism turns freely. I would have been a litte bit upset if I broke my 'new' speedo on the first drive...
Still on the fince about painting the faces back to the original red. Good winter project I guess.

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Heat and naphtha? Not easy to pool their strengths.

well, the naptha/wd40 had time to work in, then the hair dryer came in a day later and warmed up the dried up grease in the speedo. That's my theory anyway....At least it spins freely now.
However, I am still not happy with my clock performance. The time between electric winding events is about 40-50 seconds. I opened the case back up, and I can see that the mechanism is only winding about 1/3 of the way when the contacts close and electrifies the electromagent. It could be that the 1.5ohm 100watt resistor I am using is not quite right. I read that Big Kev has used a 2ohm on his clock...back on page 89 of his blog.
Not sure if the higher voltage is causing the clock to wind faster, but not as far, or if anybody has a better idea?

Here's a pic of my 'new' kmh speedo and old faded gauges. Actually looks kind of cool with mixed colors.
I found the little gear to set the clock, and will have to put that back on the shaft of the pull knob. At least I found the parts stuck to the grease of the speedo!

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Man I wish I would have seen this when my gauges were out of my car and I would have done as Ross suggested. I love that red tint!

well, I found the plans to build a voltage reducer from 12 to 7.2 volts on a stude website, where I also saw a few names I know from packardinfo!
http://www.studebaker-info.org/rjtechx4.html

Here is a pic of all the parts I bought at the local electic supply shop. Total cost 10?. Started putting it together last night. Tricky stuff these small wires! When done, the transistor is rated up to 15 amps, so that will be plenty to power my clock and dash... Still have to figure out mounting things on the heatsink.
Hope the correct voltage is gentler on the clock, and this should make the circuit to the clock pull less amps. Whith resistors inline, I think that was putting more load on the clock contacts. Hope to get it functional soon, and can report how it works.

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Smoked The 7808. that is what is Supposed to regulate the voltage down to 7.3 volts. Learning as I go here. At least a new 7808 is only 67 cents. Will buy some more tomorrow

Well, got some things soldered together. The little black square 7808 regulates the 12 volts down to 7.3 volts, then the diode drops that down to 6.7 which is right in the normal zone for a 6v system. Then the round transistor takes the 'signal' voltage from the 7808 and puts that out with a higher amperage for your 6 volt things. There are also 2 small caps and a resistor in there to keep the signal volatage stable. Tested ok last night with my multi meter, and will soon try a test run with gauges and clock. In the pic you can also see my dash gauge voltage regulator.
The casing of the 7808 is conected to ground, but you don't want to actually ground it, that is what pin 2 (middle) is for. I think that is how I smoked the last one, Also, don't swap polarity. I still have to mount the 7808 on the cooling ribs somewhere and insulate with plasti dip. Then hide under the dashboard.
Hope it works.

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A couple of things.

First, you don't need a voltage drop circuit for the gauges. Your gauges are actually 5v, and there is a "chopper" voltage regulator on the back of the Packard cluster that regulates the power to 5v. But that same part number was also used on the 55/56 cars, and it crosses over to a Ford instrument voltage regulator available at NAPA that was used by for into the mid 1970s. Basically, that chopper voltage regulator takes in 6-14v and converts to 5v regulated. So use that.

Second, if you watch the clock winding circuit through a amp meter you will see that it has a momentary 2-4amp surge when the points contact and the solenoid winds the clock. That may destroy that solid state circuit. I really think that the clock should be just fine on a straight 12v. The points fry from low voltage arcing as opposed to high voltage arcing. If you wanted to get really protective about it, use a ballast resistor like they do to protect the points on a distributor.

Just my $.02

Hi Kev,
Thanks for speaking up. Looking through the archives now, I also see that has been discussed. Good to know that the voltage chopper for the instrument cluster can be used with no problem. One less thing to worry about.
I am still not convinced about the clock on 12 volts or in series with a resistor. I'll give it a shot with this voltage reducer I made and see if it works better or if I blow things up.
Referring to Ohm's law, and that if I put a 2 ohm resistor inline with the clock, then I will be pulling 2-4 amps through the clock and 6 amps because of the resistor. I=V/R That would put 6 to 10 amps through the circuit, which I think is a lot for the contact points. Or is the amperage less becasue this should be treated as a transitional circuit? I have a crafstman multi meter at home, but no o-scope. Is your 2-4 amp number with or without a resistor inline?
When running my clock on the bench with 12v and a 1.5 ohm resistor inline I had the effect that the clock only wound about 1/3 of the way, and becasue of that is was charging/winding every 45 seconds.
It could also be that the winding mechanism on my clock is not up to snuff. Is there a point gap spec for clocks? It seems like the contacts close, and open again when the clock is only 1/3 wound. Perhaps I can adjust/bend something so that the contacts open again later, after the clock has wound further? (sounds like it is almost clock kaputt time if I start bending things)
It has been a long time since I took the intro electrical engineering class back in school. Trying to use that faded knowledge might be dangerous...