I'm back with the tutorial to bring back the ghost clock from the dead.
I bought the Levine clock / AC buttons from Gumtree. It looks like this:
It has a visible cross on the top, to the right of the numbers. The ghost clock on the other hand only has the vertical mark.
Now, let's remove the dash from the car.
1. Remove the 3 AC twisters and the air (non)recycle knob to the right of the ghost clock. Unscrew 2 screws, one on the left and right most AC twister panels.
2. Starting from the bottom and moving to the top, carefully pull the dash away towards you, unclipping it.
3. Unplug the power from the ghost clock / AC buttons.
4. Plug in the real clock and check it lights up and all the buttons work, including the lights on the AC buttons. This will be a real pain to take out if it doesn't work in the end.
5. Unplug the 2 plugs (yellow and grey) and the light globe from the cigarette lighter / ash tray in that order. Yes the yellow plug does come off. The black knob connects to a light globe which I had trouble disconnecting but came off finally when the whole dash eventually dropped on the floor :). It helps to put the gear in reverse if you have a manual.
Now you should have the whole dash disconnected. And are left with this:
6. (Optional) Unscrew the container while you're at it and clean off the 20+ years of dust and dirt. I had a squeaky container lid which I fixed with some oil on the coil/spring loops which sits on the left side.
7. Take out the ghost clock. This is a real pain. There are 4 clips on the ghost clock / AC buttons which you need to loosen by bending the plastic on the dash. The plastic should be pretty strong but be careful not to snap it. I got the top most clips holding the ghost clock out first from left to right from the point of view in front of the dash. Then afterwards the bottom two holding the AC buttons in. I recommend a pen lid or plastic watch band as every day items to help pry back the plastic. Be prepared for a 30 minute battle.
8. Swap the grey buttons on the ghost clock's AC buttons (right) with the black one's from the Levine unit (left). Otherwise, the black buttons won't match the rest of the dash.
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9. Pop in the real clock with the grey buttons into the dash. This is starkingly easy compared to taking it out.
10. Put everything back in reverse order. Enjoy :).