Want a Smiths clock for a 289 Cobra?
 

Browsing in EBay and found this Smiths 60mm clock....

Smiths Vintage Clock English classic Car ce 2194/07 part guage

....which are hard to find ;)


Cheers,
Glen

Are you bidding on it?
Larry

If I was, I'd tell you about it afterwards :D

I already have one; bought it several years ago for 40-odd dollars.....was advertised as "suitable for Morris Mini"


Cheers,
Glen

I'm back and forth about bidding on it. It's not the right one for my car and in fact, I have three of the Ford clocks, restored and boxed! I just have a weakness for old rare parts!
Larry

I know what you mean.....it's a compulsion....

IMO it's far better looking than the Ford clocks, but it's not correct for a SW-gauged car


Glen

No, I didn't buy it! Didn't bid on it either! Went for $122USD though. Not too bad of a price for both seller and buyer.
Larry

I thought the correct part number for the Smiths clock was CE.2194/08 or CE.2194/09 one top adjust the other bottom... I bought a top adjust a couple of years ago for £30 and I'm still looking for the bottom adjust version for my 289 sports.

Mark, are the part numbers that closely researched? This one looks exactly right for a COB car to me. Every COB car I've managed to research has had either top adjust or bottom adjust, doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. I'm pretty sure they will just have used whatever Smiths sold them.
I hope the new owner of this one is careful to change (or at least register) the positive earth polarity...

The owner of a CSX20xx car bought the clock in the original post. It probably won't be used any time soon as he has started a long term hunt for parts his car is missing.

On top or bottom adjust.

Because no one took pictures of every new Cobra’s instruments when new and passed them along, five decades later owners and restorers go on what patterns can be established.

Problem one, can you find pictures of new car dash boards that you know the chassis number for. A few yes but most no.

Problem two, not every “unrestored” car you find pictures of is significantly as delivered, in this case instrumentation and specifically clocks.
1) For whatever reason many Cobras have had their original clocks replaced.
2) Many cars have either a totally different clock (nothing from AC Cars that is) installed
3) or some other type instrument (example: fuel pressure gauge. I have come across several Cobras with aircraft altimeters installed where the clock use to be and one with a compass.) installed in that location.
4) Many “restored” cars (The first people to buy crashed Cobras for rebuilding as commercial enterprises started in the USA in 1963!) received whatever the shop doing the work could find after numbers 1, 2, and or 3 happened. Also bear in mind that “originality” in Cobras has only been an issue in perceived desirability in the last dozen years or so for most potential buyers. (Originality of small details will not matter if you plan on vintage racing for example. I know of one Cobra and one 427 Cobra that were parted out not long ago to be converted to race cars; i.e. keep the main frame, serial tag as applicable, and outer skin and replace everything else.)

Using filter criteria of (a) factory photo or (b) new car road test photo or (c) unrestored car that when photographed didn’t show evidence of being modified in the area of interest, I have this pattern to date:

SMITHS marked
CSX2019 top adjust (PR car and first Dragonsnake)
CS 2030 top (factory new car picture collection of first rack and pinion steering chassis and first right hand drive chassis)
CSX2034 top
CSX2047 top
CSX2048 top
CSX2053 top
CSX2055 top


JAEGER marked
COX6126 bottom adjust (sold as incomplete chassis)

This does not prove much of anything for any given car unless there is a suitable photo of the car before shipment to a selling dealer.

CSX2142 has a top adjust Smiths clock. Doesn't really mean much as it one of the most modified Cobras there is. Professional racing, accidents, rebuilds, private and vintage racing, more rebuilds and modifications... I just thought it interesting that being a race car it's whole life and all the wrecks/repairs done to it that today, it has a top adjust Smiths clock. Is that from the beginning or not though? Who knows!
Larry

Most common reason for early replacement of clock: Smiths clocks of the period (mostly all with the same movement, regardless of case style) only worked for a few months before failing.
This top/bottom adjust style with the rounded bezel was designed for the Zephyr/Zodiac range, if memory serves.

The Ford USA sourced Cobra specific clock for CSX2201 and later cars was not very robust either. The cases were not tightly sealed and just a little dust or moisture could foul them enough to stop the weak mechanism. Dust in an open roadster? Moisture? Just kidding my cars get lots of dust and on tours lots of moisture (and snow in the cockpit a couple of weeks ago). I gave up trying to keep the original clock in my black car going back around 1986. The clock for my red car is stored away for someday while a fuel pressure gauge occupies that location.

Glad to hear that it's going into an early Cobra.

There's another one available on EBay; it's a CE2194/08 (top adjust). Who said they're hard to find :D ?

V. RARE! CLASSIC SMITHS AC COBRA CE2194/08 TIME CLOCK FORD ZEPHYR ZODIAC MK2 | eBay

Cheers,
Glen

There not that hard to find in the UK.... another one up for sale
SMITHS CAR CLOCK CE 2194/08 SUNBEAM TIGER S1 ALPINE COBRA GENUINE AND WORKING. | eBay

The bottom adjust seem to be harder to find...

and another but slightly yellow arms

Smiths Ce2194/08 Dashboard Clock Alpine | eBay

I think that's a CE3030/00, with red hands that have faded somewhat. Hands could easily be painted white though.

That one is very nice :)

Not mine but thought it might be of interest...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smiths-CE...cAAOSw~3paeIhZ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smiths-CE...0AAOSwMfhafczk