Can you dismantle a speedo

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I once dismantled and reassembled an Angenieux 25mm - 250mm zoom lens, with good results.
I would attempt that again before a taking on a Smiths speedo.
I gave the speedo from my 60' Healey a try and ended up sending all the parts off in a box to the local Pro's from Dover. Quite a few specialized tools needed.
 
okwebb said:
Is there any way to take a speedo apart without screwing it up?
Thanks
Click to expand...
If you are talking about a magnetic Smith's then yes you can carefully prize the bezel off
You need to work very slowly and carefully
You can buy a kit that includes the glass the seal and bezel if you've damaged any of these parts
You will never get the factory rolled finish on the underside of the bezel but if it's for a commando it won't be seen when mounted in the pod
While the clock is apart drill a hole in the case where the adjustment screw is and you can strap a satnav on and calibrate the Speedo perfectly
 
VintageBritishCables .... they rebuild smiths , excellent work ... Alberta Canada ....
 
I did mine, it's easy.
The gear was gummed up and inoperable, I freed it and it works like new.
Ordered new bezel, rubbers and glass from Vintage British Cables (thanks Craig) as well as proper tach and speedo cable. Recommended.
 
I have a speedo from a 1970 Commando in really good condition, apart from the small fact that it doesn´t work.... Here in Sweden there´s only one company that can fix these old clocks, I asked them and they said that there´s a damping oil in there somewhere that get thick and hard over time. So you have to take it totally apart. They wanted almost 200£ to fix it...... Not interested in that. But from some of the replies above it seems you can do it yourself, I have the set with new parts for it. Maybe give it a go?
 
NPeteN said:
I did mine, it's easy.
The gear was gummed up and inoperable, I freed it and it works like new.
Ordered new bezel, rubbers and glass from Vintage British Cables (thanks Craig) as well as proper tach and speedo cable. Recommended.
Click to expand...
Can you tell how you freed it, did you take the whole thing apart? I have the same problem it´s stuck.
 
fiatfan said:
.... Here in Sweden there´s only one company that can fix these old clocks, I asked them and they said that there´s a damping oil in there somewhere that get thick and hard over time. So you have to take it totally apart. They wanted almost 200£ to fix it...... Not interested in that. But from some of the replies above it seems you can do it yourself, I have the set with new parts for it. Maybe give it a go?
Click to expand...
Who are they? Need a renovation for a 99.8% original bike.
Only one I know of on the right side of the pond is https://www.classic-speedometers.com/
Not to offend anyone, right side is as seen on a map. ;)
 
fiatfan said:
Can you tell how you freed it, did you take the whole thing apart? I have the same problem it´s stuck.
Click to expand...
Nope, just opened up the clock, removed the main mechanism and worked the gear slowly back and forth through the cable drive until it loosened up, probably used a little lube. Once you have the guts out it's plain to see.
 
baz said:
You will never get the factory rolled finish on the underside of the bezel
Click to expand...
If you have a Lathe you can make a fixture to hold the speedo/tacho with the bezel and rubber compressed and then you can roll the bottom of the bezel over the lip of the main case.

 
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kommando said:
If you have a Lathe you can make a fixture to hold the speedo/tacho with the bezel and rubber compressed and then you can roll the bottom of the bezel over the lip of the main case.

Click to expand...

It's basically called metal spinning or spin forming...look it up!
You don't use a tool post, but a handheld tool like you are wood turning.
A skilled person would have done six speedo bezels on the time it took to make this video.
 
my 2-cents -- before starting anything, get a copy of this book...

Can you dismantle a speedo
 
Bernhard said:
It's basically called metal spinning or spin forming...look it up!
You don't use a tool post, but a handheld tool like you are wood turning.
A skilled person would have done six speedo bezels on the time it took to make this video.
Click to expand...
I have a hunch that kommando knows all about metal spinning
 
Always wondered if you could make a crimper for the bezel out of a rotating PVC pipe cutter tool by replacing the cutting discs with small brass pulleys to create a crimping radius.
 
kommando said:
If you have a Lathe you can make a fixture to hold the speedo/tacho with the bezel and rubber compressed and then you can roll the bottom of the bezel over the lip of the main case.

Click to expand...

That's brilliant
I had wondered how it was done keeping the rubber seal under compression
 
I've got both mine apart at the moment, but I'm working on some way to roll that bezel back on without a lathe. I haven't come up with a good solution yet, but I'm thinking about it. All I had to do was replace the rubber gaskets around the 3 screws and I got new bezels and glass while I was at it. EuroJamb sells a whole kit with bezel, glass and SS screws and rubbers. I had worked on one a long time ago and I just crimped the bezel on with some channel locks.
 
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