Rover Sports Register Forum

Hi. Just taken delivery of my 1937 Rover 12 Sports Saloon and I am wondering how to adjust the Jaeger clock?

Also would it be wind up or electrical?

If this is FPD, someone has been at it already and fitted a quartz movement. These are usually powered by an AA battery but a cleverer arrangement can be made with a transformer down from 12v to 1.5v, to save guddling about behind the dashboard.

It should be a wind up Jaeger,look for the right one to match the lettering on the speedometer (and the existing clock, but the hole for the hands will probably have been made bigger for the quartz mechanism).
There are a plethora of small variations, year to year. You also want one with a winder/adjuster at about 7 o'clock and longer, rather than 6 o clock and shorter. An alternative might be to find a Smiths one (they are the same mechanism as in the Jaeger) and change over the mechanism but the hands might not be right and the price difference not worth it., also most of them tend to have the adjuster at 6 o clock. I am sure I have changed the orientation of a winder in the dim and distant past.

The electric clocks from 1940-47 are bigger in the face and, in their original configuration, can have reliability issues compared to the generally excellent reliability of the pre war mechanical movements.

Yes SHyslop the car is FPD 357; so you think someone has previously fitted a quartz movement and I'll need to establish if it battery or supplied directly. I'll have a rummage around behind the dash and see what I can find.

If I do locate it, will that no doubt also allow me to reset the time, or is that done differently?

All will be revealed once you get into it! (Personal biased views following !!) Quartz movements are a quick fix for a non working clock but the standard quartz movement has a sort of nasty 'crunch-crunch' sound compared with the nice 'click click - click click' of the original.
There are quieter newer quartz movements, to be fair. The giveaways are the oversized hands and the large nut holding the mechanism to the face, and that's what it looks like in the photo. The problem on these Rovers with quartz mechanisms is the inaccessibility of the clock from within the car which means you can't readily get to the hand adjustment screw, plus the battery is to renew or recharge once it goes flat.

If this is your first time with these cars, you'll find that access to the back of the instruments is through two panels in the bulkhead held on by two screws each - four on later cars. Access is not the best but just watch out not to catch something accidentally while investigating. Having said that, I am assuming that the cover is present (board covered with material) on at least the clock side of the dash, following the curve round of the dash inside the car. If that cover was absent and the clock mechanism was exposed, you'd be able to have access to both a battery and adjuster - possibly with a healthy dose of wiring spaghetti too but it depends who has done what ! I'm not meaning to sound vague, just it's hard to be precise when the items aren't right in front of you.

Great advice. Having had a quick look the borads covered with material around the instrument panel are present but have obviously been pulled back for access, so I may be able to gain access that way. As for the hands size and nut I'll need to have a closer look once the weather improves and I can get her out as she is all tucked up under her cover for now.

Forgive my ignorance but would adjustment of the clock be via the quartz movement or a thumb turn?

It's hard to be precise without seeing but the two things to reconcile with quartz movements are :1) fitting the movement to make the battery and adjuster accessible and 2) retaining the original clock case to maintain the fixings points for the original clamp.
2) seems to usually win out over 1) so the adjusting knob - plastic on the back of the movement - is hidden in the original metal case as is the battery. A separate AA battery carrier can be fitted and wired to the movement so if you remove the battery at a convenient time, it can be 'set' simply by reinserting a fresh battery and if this is done when the clocks change anyway, you only should need to intervene twice a year - in theory.

However, someone may have done some dentistry on the back of the original case to make the adjuster accessible. The mounting studs could be left on a bar in a cross shape with the four quadrants cut away to give some degree of access. In theory.

Thanks. Time to have a look at the back of the dash by removing the bulkhead panels and seeing what we have.