VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Speedometer & Clock Hands

Both my speedometer and clock have clear hands. Also have a couple of spares of each with clear hands. Were the originals red? And mine have just faded out? That is all I can find at the suppliers.

Hi Keith, good to have you drop in over here.

Yes, should be red/reddish. Check COT40's and TFS catalogs.

Thanks Russ. Hard to believe there is not a trace of the red left. My clock isn't working and had a broken hand. I have another spare clock with good hands. Anyone have a procedure to overhaul the clock. I would like all of the hands to be the same and don't feel like pulling the speedo just to change the hand.

I just had a retired clocksmith put new hands and faceing on 2 clocks for me, u might drop him a line bobspil@comcast.net see if he is interested..

Yes, they were both red...Mine are also faded to white...Sitting in the sun for years will do that...My clock minute hand is even a little warped from it...

I'm going to have to disagree here. The '46 hands were red, but the 47/48 needles are what I would call an amber color. They are definitely not red (in my humble opinion). :-)

Hi Dale,
A name, what's in a name? A picture is worth a thousand names.

Old on left, "new" NOS on right. Just the way I took it out of the box. Red, reddish, orange-red, amber, or what-ever. Just not clear as my old shows.

Just to verify another 47-48 nos clock

Ok. I am going to try to repair it myself using the hands I have.I have the front ring and the glass loose. Now I have the plastic knob off (broke it off). What is left is a knurled knob on the windup stem. Does the knob unscrew from the stem? Looks rusted on.

I find that odd...Never seen any originals that weren't red...Guess will have to check the FS catalog...

I'm guessing here...But I would imagine you have to use some "blaster", and let it soak and then pull the leftover metal straight off and get a new knob from FS...Anyone else have this problem...? Be careful...Maybe Russell knows...
Man, I guess that had been in the sun for awhile...Good enough reason to keep the car in the garage, huh...?

Keith, just for you. I gave the stem a shot of "blaster". Waited a few minutes. Pulled the stem out as far as it would come. Grabbed the stem with a pair of needle nose and the knob with another and gave it a twist (CCW). It came loose. Yes it is threaded. Good luck.

I second Russells advise,but be real carefull,the winding shaft is very thin and you will need a real good grip with the pliars.there is a threaded grommet inside the knob and thats why its rusted on so badly

I am working on my parts clock as it has the good hands, but is rusty like the one Russ posted. It is my guinea pig.

I kind of suspected as such...Hope you have a good pair needle nose...

I throw out the warning because most clocks have extremly small threads and if rusted tight the threaded part of the shaft will just twist right off...Soak it for several days!

If one does not want to take the hands off (clock & speedo)or do not have replacements, I would think the right shade of fingernail polish would be a fix. Heck the bottle even has it own brush.

dick

I like the idea!

That's what I did to mine was use red finger nail polish.
It worked GREAT and cant tell it from original.

Works good on your metal trim badges door handles, Chevrolet letters on the grill Ect.

Thanks for the tips. I haven't worked on it anymore. Plan on pulling the hands off of the rusty one and put on my original clock. Will just leave them clear, as I am not going to pull the speedo right now. My do it in the future. Am in LA right now as had an emergency with wife's brother and sister in law.

Me,too...Unless of course, the hand(s) are warped like mine are...

Was there any futher thoughts on the correct color of the 48 clock and spedo hands??

I prefer "hot pink"...Not correct, be she thinks it's cool...Besides, it's the only nail polish she has...

Seems like the general consensus is they were red. Still seems hard to believe that there is no trace of red on any of the hands I have on the extra speedo and clock or the originals. Of course the hands on the ammeter, oil pressure, temp and gas gage are all red. They should probably all be the same color.