Has anyone had success dismantling these Smiths gauges.

I'm thinking about cleaning the glass and painting the needles.

Tried to clean a similar gauge years ago but managed to peel off some of the paint on the top part of the gauge which had become stuck to the inside of the glass. That gauge had been submerged for a time, so that might have had an effect on the paint layer.

Not personally, but I'm told you can prise off the chrome ring. There is a rubber gasket/ring in there that might need replacing.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

easy to do, the ring has about 4 small tabs, lift them with a screwdriver and gently take off the ring ,the rubber under the ring will have hardened scrape off all the old rubber and when replacing the ring use a SMALL amount of silicone then fit ring and bend tabs. If the old rubber is ok no need for silicone.
Allen

Its 52 year old patina Bill. I have done it before too, like Allen. Be very careful prising off and replacing the chrome ring, the small tabs on the one I did were quite fragile when re-assembling - lucky I have a few spare gauges. I'm leaving the original car gauges alone for that reason. I have period (Smiths Australia) round the dial gauges to put in mine. Ken at Able Instruments in Brisbane does a very good job so I'm told, though 3-6 months behind doing restoration work on gauges.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration

No need to prise the tabs up fully to release the bezel. Just rotate the bezel until the tabs line up with the slots in the case. The bezel and glass will then lift off. Those tabs will likely break if you lift them fully. Please DONT use silicon to glue the glass to the bezel, no one will be able to save the glass or the bezel in the future. There are proper seals that can be purchased for this purpose.

Dont be temped to use any solvents if you decide to clean the dial face it will just dissolve the lettering. Use water with a very little dish wasing liquid (1 drop in 1 litre) and a cotton bud to carfefully clean the face.

If you're not sure about doing this, please send them to someone who knows what their doing to save these valuable and non replaceable instruments.

Thanks for the replies. Ausdino and wild_willy have the same sort of doubts I have about if something goes wrong. I have rebuilt a Mk1 speedo and converted a tacho to RVC but these gauges are not replaceable.
I wasn't planning on touching or even brushing the matt black/grey dial in case it left scratch marks.
Might make a trip to a recommended instrument repairer in Wollongong.

Humphrey's at Unanderra does a great job. Last time he only took a few days to sort out my speedo

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Thanks Tim. You must have read my mind - had a mental blank trying to remember their name and wondering if they are the same people running the business. John Robertson at Lionel Otto in Qld was very good too, but it involves mailing things back and forth. Face-to-face contact seems to work better.

They are just near where I work, and they appear to still be open. I’ve been there in the last few years as they had plastic screens up around the counter

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