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The clock in my 1941 120 Club Coupe is not working (unlike all the other instruments, which are in good health). The clock looks fine, but has just stopped working. I gather this is a reasonably common problem. The car was converted to 12V a while back, and I wonder whether this may have damaged it? What is the best approach to fixing this? Try to fix the existing mechanism, or replace it with something more reliable?

Cheers

Given the 12 volt conversion, probably the best choice is to have it converted to a quartz mechanism powered by a AA or AAA dry cell. This is a fairly common job, several places perform this work.

The quartz movement can be installed on most Borg clocks and runs on the regular power supply voltage so no need for batteries. If you are into authenticity, there are a couple of give aways that if you go in for judging could result in a point knocked off. The quartz movement is silent so no ticking or periodic winding clicks and if the clock has a second hand it moves in a smooth continuous motion rather than the small jumps of the wind up.

Several places do the conversions. The cost and whether they will or can do it depends on if your time setting knob mechanism needs extra work. They advertise an easy job on 60 and later Borg clocks but on my 56 they had to add a support plate and an extra gear to get from the knob shaft end over to the clock works. I expect your larger prewar clock would need the same if not more work so you may need to call and discuss the year with them to make sure it can be done.

I had mine done several years ago at Instrument Service in Illinoisclocksandgauges.com The clock works in Wisconsinclockwks.com/Quartzx.html and some others also do the conversions.