Tic Toc Tach Rebuild or buy Reproduction?

[VegasCharger]

Hello, I have heard both sides of this topic reffering to OEM Tic Toc Tachs if you should have it rebuilt or buy a new reproduction one. On the side of buying a new one would be the purpose of you switching your car from points to electronic ign. Saying that it's better if you go repop. But nothing like having your OEM tach if you can have it rebuilt. So what would the cost comparison be? I would like to have the clock converted to quartz, so that also adds to the equation. Just looking for opinions. I have my original Tic Toc Tach but it's fried and the clock doesn't work. Would like to have it in working order plus switch the clock to quartz. Also I've converted to elec. ignition. I already have new face decals to put into place if I get my tach rebuilt.

Thanks

[fy469rtse]

Had one Rebuilt once , swore never again ,
It only lasted a couple of weeks , have used the reproduction electronic ones from charger speciality's ,
Had one not take the punishment in transit to me , was a great help and swapped it out,
Got one in my recent car , no fuss works great , looks correct

[Ghoste]

I have a repro and the clock works great but the face jumps around when you change the time.  The tach quit for a little while and then suddenly started working again but other than that it operates fine.
I had an oem one with electronic too and had no issues with it.  I think the oem ones have bigger issues with things like MSD units?

[VegasCharger]

fy469rtse & Ghoste thanks

Do either one of you know if the repo clocks of the Tic Toc Tachs are quartz or are they just like O.E.M. but built better

[Ghoste]

Quartz.  And the thing I like about mine is that it still has that tick, pause thing going on instead of a constant sweep with the second hand.  It reminds of the oem one.

[VegasCharger]

Quartz.  And the thing I like about mine is that it still has that tick, pause thing going on instead of a constant sweep with the second hand.  It reminds of the oem one.

Awesome
Looks like Charger Specialties Tic Toc Tach version is the way I'm leaning.
Do they warranty them for any period of time from purchase date?

Thanks

[BJ8Healeys]

Hello, Everyone -

Original owner here.  Back in the late '70s when the clock in the Tic Toc Tach finally gave up the ghost, I had it repaired.  The technician told me that the clock works had a set of points inside that, when the clocked ticked down and they closed, would be electrically kicked open again and wind the mechanism for the next cycle.  The points had worn out, and that's why the clock wouldn't work anymore. 
O.K., I thought, if the clock is going to run continuously as long as battery power is applied then I better put a switch in the circuit so I can disable the clock during those periods when the car is parked and I don't need the clock.
That worked great until one time in the late '90s when I forgot to turn off the switch.  The clock continued to work while the car sat idle in the garage for months and eventually it quit again.
In June 2012, I had the clock repaired again by Autoinstruments.com ($95.00 + $10.00 shipping).   I chose to keep the clock original and not have it converted to quartz.   I make sure that I turn off the switch now when I don't need the clock.

Steve Byers
XP29H9B280166 (383, 4-speed)
North Carolina

[Ghoste]

Quite correct, and as the mechanism ages it slowly begins to oval out any holes in the support portions through which any of the shaft portions operate.  At some point this allows enough misalignment to occur where the points will close but not be able to come apart allowing the current to burn and weld them together for a failure.  Or so I'm told.

[VegasCharger]

Okay I see your point but let me add to this equation. If by shutting off power to your clock when not in use doesn't that mean you will put more wear and tear on the clock time setting adjustments? Eventually wearing those parts down? Here would be my ideal set-up for a factory clock. Have it run like OEM and supply some sort of power to keep it running even after you disconnect the car battery in which many MoPar car owners do even with new wire harnesses. That would be ideal for me. If it means having the fluid motion vs the tick motion to make it last longer I'm game. That means you would only have to adjust your clock twice a year for DST. 

[Ghoste]

Only power it up when its the correct time. 

[VegasCharger]

Hey, now there's a thought

I had to do that method on a beater '95 Ford taurus one time because for life of me I could not figure out how to set the time on the aftermarket stereo head unit. It was already there when I bought it, so no manual to fall back on. I even looked for it on-line but no luck. And I'm usually good at figuring settings w/o seeing the instructions. Yes I was that guy in the family that could set the timer on a VCR without reading up on it lol.

[histoy]

Had one Rebuilt once , swore never again ,
It only lasted a couple of weeks , have used the reproduction electronic ones from charger speciality's ,


The same thing happened to me.   I would go with the repro one.

[bill440rt]

Had one Rebuilt once , swore never again ,
It only lasted a couple of weeks , have used the reproduction electronic ones from charger speciality's ,


The same thing happened to me.   I would go with the repro one.

My experience has been the direct opposite. My rebuilt OE's are still going strong after over a decade, so is the clock.

My Charger Specialties unit however, is junk. If you are set on purchasing a repro, I do not recommend the C.S. unit.
Pros: The tach seem to work fine.
Cons: 1) The entire thing is made plastic, including the housing. 2) The font/number spacing is not correct, it differs from an OE tach. This might not matter if correctness is not a concern, but compared side to side there is a difference. This was a problem in my case because I had all the gauges done in white by Redline, so it became a custom screen job. 3) After buying it I heard stories about the clock being junk. Well, mine was and stopped working after a month. Seems the clock mechanism is crap and stops working. Also the needles kept falling off.

It's still in the car, with a broken clock. I'll probably take it out once again & send it out for a clock conversion.
If I had to do it again I'd either find a nice used one & have it rebuilt/restored or buy a OE brand repro one.

[VegasCharger]

My experience has been the direct opposite. My rebuilt OE's are still going strong after over a decade, so is the clock.

My Charger Specialties unit however, is junk. If you are set on purchasing a repro, I do not recommend the C.S. unit.
Pros: The tach seem to work fine.
Cons: 1) The entire thing is made plastic, including the housing. 2) The font/number spacing is not correct, it differs from an OE tach. This might not matter if correctness is not a concern, but compared side to side there is a difference. This was a problem in my case because I had all the gauges done in white by Redline, so it became a custom screen job. 3) After buying it I heard stories about the clock being junk. Well, mine was and stopped working after a month. Seems the clock mechanism is crap and stops working. Also the needles kept falling off.

It's still in the car, with a broken clock. I'll probably take it out once again & send it out for a clock conversion.
If I had to do it again I'd either find a nice used one & have it rebuilt/restored or buy a OE brand repro one.

Thanks Bill, I do still have my OEM Tic Toc Tach but I do not know of any reputable shops to restore it. If and when I do are they going to stand by their work? For how long? Is shipping cost gonna be covered on warranty work? All of these factor in when it comes time to deciding on what path to take. May I ask where you had your's rebuilt?

Thanks

[bill440rt]

My experience has been the direct opposite. My rebuilt OE's are still going strong after over a decade, so is the clock.

My Charger Specialties unit however, is junk. If you are set on purchasing a repro, I do not recommend the C.S. unit.
Pros: The tach seem to work fine.
Cons: 1) The entire thing is made plastic, including the housing. 2) The font/number spacing is not correct, it differs from an OE tach. This might not matter if correctness is not a concern, but compared side to side there is a difference. This was a problem in my case because I had all the gauges done in white by Redline, so it became a custom screen job. 3) After buying it I heard stories about the clock being junk. Well, mine was and stopped working after a month. Seems the clock mechanism is crap and stops working. Also the needles kept falling off.

It's still in the car, with a broken clock. I'll probably take it out once again & send it out for a clock conversion.
If I had to do it again I'd either find a nice used one & have it rebuilt/restored or buy a OE brand repro one.

Thanks Bill, I do still have my OEM Tic Toc Tach but I do not know of any reputable shops to restore it. If and when I do are they going to stand by their work? For how long? Is shipping cost gonna be covered on warranty work? All of these factor in when it comes time to deciding on what path to take. May I ask where you had your's rebuilt?

Thanks

Those are questions you are going to have to ask the shops that do the rebuilding.
I had the white gauges done by RedLine, very pleased with their work. Another company that comes to mind is Instrument Specialties.

[Brock Lee]

I recently went through an original. Completely disassembled it, cleaned and lubricated everything. The clock was kind of scary at first, but it all went back together easily enough. Applying the stickers was easy too once it was in pieces.

I am trying to remember exactly what was up with the original adjustment stem. it was sloppy and loose, but it was something I fixed while I was in there. It was something silly, like little compression rings that shifted and had to be slid back. It works fine. I just wish I had something to calibrate it with as there is a small adjustment potentiometer on the tach board I had to clean. I did my best to put it back to its original spot, but may have been off a hair (and I am not sure how sensitive it is).

[BLK 68 R/T]

Do the new reproduction tachs from Charger Specialties work with any electronic ignition, including MSD style ignition, or do you still have to buy the adapter or a new circuit board to make them function properly?