During a Man Cave remodel last month, I happened on this 35 year old cigar store clock that I've had since college. It stopped working long ago, so I put it in storage. The fluorescent backlight went out, and the ballast was a weird, impossible to find type (this was before Google). The clock motor seized. The galvanized case was low quality, and began to oxidize & corrode. Even the bolts holding it together were rough and stuck out too far, badly scratching any shelf the clock would sit on. I loved the piece, so I just put it away for later attention.
As you can see, it's now fully restored, and is the centerpiece of the Man Cave, sitting on a prominent shelf in the Home Theater.
A great BOTL restored the case by using a light touch on an orbital sander, then polishing with paste wax; this retained the antique nature, but cleaned it up beautifully, and left a warm patina.
Had to wait 2 weeks to get the specialty ballast delivered and installed. During the lighting repair phase, I also had installed a switch, so the light can be switched on or off, while the clock stills runs. (Before, the light was always on, as long as the clock was plugged in.)
The clock motor manufacturing company went out of business years ago. I didn't want to use a battery operated model, so I persevered, and found a brand new (!) OEM motor online. The motor also came with new hands; the old ones had a cool deco shape, but were pretty beat up, and not what I wanted for the restoration. However, the new hands were too large to fit within the confines of the clock case, and of a dopey shape. I trimmed and shaped them, and they are now identical to the originals.
It's a wall clock, but the perfect place for it in the new Man Cave is on a shelf, so I installed rubber feet.
I plugged it in and it works perfectly. Now that it's after dark, I can see the internal wiring is casting shadows on the face, so I still need to trim and reroute the wiring harness. But you get the idea.
I'm quite pleased. The Man Cave is now fully operational!
On a related note, during the cleanup and remodel, I found a mid-70s era Lava Lamp that my parents bought for me when I went away to college. I felt it was too nice to set up in any of the dumps I lived in during those years, so I decided I'd just store it until I had a nice place. Then I forgot about it.
It was still in shrink wrap, but is also now set up in the new Man Cave, so the vintage cigar clock has a vintage companion piece. Made in the USA, not that Chinese crap they sell today. I was concerned that age would render it useless, but it works perfectly.
I gotta say, I'm pretty effing pleased.
