how to remove the clock from a 1976 ford thunderbird?

You'll have to remove the face trim panel that covers the clock, speedo and fuel gauge. This should come loose from the dash with small phillips head screws. You should find them all along underneath the dash pad and actually on the face plate in a bunch of different spots. Tilt the steering wheel down first to give you more room. You'll have to fanagle the faceplate of and out of the way. You might ve to drop the column, If so there is four big bolts holding that up under the dash. I think they are 11/16". Once the face plate is out of your way the clock should be held in place with more small phillips head screws or they might be small 11/32" hex head also. It's been years so I don't remember exactly which screws Ford used to hold in the clock. Then 's just a matter of pulling it loose from the dash, disconnecting the plug on the back of the clock. You can have the original clock converted to quartz movemet so it wibe accurate and never need repair anymore.Your original clock stopped because the negative polarity points electrically melted together. The early self-winding clocks have two points, similar to ignition points, that get closer and closer as the clock ticks. If the battery is low or gets disconnected while the points are close together, instead of firing apart to rewind the mechanism, they simply touch and stick. The result is a dead clock. The conversion kit comes with a detailed instruction sheet, and some of the gears from the original clock are transferred to the new movement. The job is truly simple to figure out and very rewarding when finished. A functioning clock adds credibility to a classic restoration and adds new meaning to your old time machine. Or you can have the clock serviced by someone else like The Clock Works located on the net at http://www.clockwks.com/Quartzx.html A working clock add a lot of dollars to the value of your car, plus you'll know you have an accurate working clock in the car. Good Luck, Kenny/MrBlueOval

Once the clock is out the first thing to do is to clean it. Often times, it is dirt that has gummed up the works on these clocks. Compressed air to blow out the dust, and contact cleaner to clean the electrical parts, then let it dry. When you remove the clock you will also have to disconnect or unplug the light bulbs (normally 2) that illuminate the clock face at night.