Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?

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Fantastic work, Peter.

Just curious, any shots of the internals before & after?
 
I was able to worry the bezel and cracked glass off the SS clone's speedo earlier this year and replace the glass. Don't know if I'd try to tackle rebuilding the internals. Parts could be a hang-up.
 
OldBalz said:
Does anybody know of a company that rebuilds/reconditions Smiths speedos and tachs here in the U.S.A?

Thanks......
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Check out these people. I purchased a voltmeter and an oil pressure gauge from these folks in England. The price, including shipping, was cheaper than the Smith gauge seller in the US. By cheaper I mean I paid less for both gauges, delivered, than the price of just the oil pressure gauge from the US supplier.

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/instruments-gauges/smiths-cobra
 
grandpaul said:
Fantastic work, Peter.

Just curious, any shots of the internals before & after?
Click to expand...

Thanks!

The dismantled tacho looked like this:

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
TachoDismantled by peter_hatfield

You have to be very careful cleaning the faces - it's very easy to damage the thin paint.

As it was working reasonably well, I repainted the ring (bottom right) black, and reassembled it.

After:

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
InstrumentsRefurbed by peter_hatfield

There was no need to paint the instrument cover, as it lives in a cup/bucket.
The cups/buckets had suffered from road rash, the bike having been down the road on both sides:

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
InstrumentCupsBefore by peter_hatfield

(Dropping the bike was a previous owner's efforts, I hasten to add.)
 
It may be already posted but got a copy of this book after reading a recommendation on 'BritBike.com (IIRC)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Smiths-M...chometer-Revcounter-Repair-save-/322863616087

so will have a look at some spare gauges some time.

I did get a pair of 'rebuilt gauges off the eBay seller mentioned already in this thread, still unused so have no idea of their performance as yet but the crimping is very rough but out of site.
It was an odd experience, contacted him about rebuilt gauges outright but with the present mileage on them (instead of the usual zeroed) no problem was the answer so payed.... a week or so later I see my credit card has been refunded to the purchase amount ? .... no reply to emails sent so ended up getting pair off his eBay auction.
I do have some doubt about who is actually doing the work.

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
 
Time warp, thanks for that link for the smith gauge book

I've already built a test rig to drive my gauges with a portable drill.

My speedometer is working perfectly, being driven off my front wheel with a rear wheel gearbox which I reversed the spin direction on to make it work on the front wheel's left side. It reads the same speeds as my GPS which I mounted between the gauges. So the speedometer is good.

But,... my tachometer is whacked, so I need the book and probably a few parts that I hope I can get a nissenger to fix my tach myself.
 
I will add my experience with Joel Levine at Precision Instrument Repair. The speedometer I received from him was reading 20 mph too high. I called him to let him know there was a problem with the unit and would like to send it back. I was very polite and just wanted him to fix it correctly. The cursing and accusations I received from him were totally out of line and extremely discourteous.I have since talked with several others who have had very bad service from him. There is a reason he never attends any rallies or events, as he would have a very difficult time with the attendees. In my 45 years of dealing with numerous British parts suppliers he is the only one that cheated me. I had Nissongers fix the speedometer!
 
BillT said:
My local guy had an issue with Nissonger over a decade ago, and hasn't been back. He deals exclusively with Joel Levine.
He sent my grey face speedo from the P11 to Joel for a rebuild. The trip meter wouldn't work when I got the bike running. Wes sent it back to him and he claimed to work on it, the trip wouldn't work. He sent it back a third time, thing still doesn't work. I gave up. I ran the bike around for three months without a speedo waiting for Joel, and just figured it wasn't worth the hassle. One of Joel's rebuilds runs $225-250, and the turn-around is usually a couple of weeks, but I'm not very happy.

I guess its a crap shoot whoever you use, and they're only as good as the last time you use them. If you do eight jobs with a guy and job number nine goes bad, the guy's done.
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I had a speedometer rebuilt by Joe many years ago. It died just after the warranty was out. Had another place rebuild it and they claimed to find faucet seals instead of the correct rubber parts under the "shock" mounts that hold the mechanism to the case. I don't use him any more. Did just get a copy of Matchless News and there is an advertisement for Smiths Magnetic and Chronometric Instrument Repair in it. Scott@smithsgagerepair.com I don't know the quality of work he does never having used him.

John in Texas
 
bucksfizz said:
I prefer to do all my own work where possible, and it is possible to restore the instruments.
As other have said, if they're working OK but are cosmetically bad, it's actually quite easy.
My tacho before:

TachoBefore by peter_hatfield

The instruments are easy to dismantle - don't lose any parts:
The cups/buckets were knocked about, but they are easily filled and painted:

InstrumentCupsPainted by peter_hatfield

New seals and bezels are readily available from any Brit bike shop, and cost peanuts.
Now the interesting and imaginative part.
We made up some mandrels with an old wood-working lathe, and used the lathe to compress the rubber seals:

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
TachoInLathe-1 by peter_hatfield

This will make the bezel protrude below the instrument housing.
Using an old bearing attached to a length of steel, start the lathe running, and press the bearing hard against the bezel:

Who Rebuilds Smiths Gauges?
TachoInLathe-2 by peter_hatfield

The finished result:

Instruments&CupsRefurbed by peter_hatfield
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awesome! I am going to try that lathe trick, one question; where do I get decent glass, bezels, and seals? How about these?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/UK-MADE-SM...ash=item5441b16063:g:TnwAAOSwGtRXzwiy&vxp=mtr
 
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jimbo said:
awesome! I am going to try that lathe trick, one question; where do I get decent glass, bezels, and seals? How about these?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/UK-MADE-SM...ash=item5441b16063:g:TnwAAOSwGtRXzwiy&vxp=mtr
Click to expand...

That kit looks to be correct.
You require two seals: one for the bezel to glass, and one for the instrument housing to glass.
I bought mine RGM: https://www.rgmnorton.co.uk/buy/chromed-smiths-magnetic-speedo-bezel_2178.htm.
They were somewhat cheaper last year, though.
 
N0rt0nelectr@ said:
I had a speedometer rebuilt by Joe many years ago. It died just after the warranty was out. Had another place rebuild it and they claimed to find faucet seals instead of the correct rubber parts under the "shock" mounts that hold the mechanism to the case. I don't use him any more. Did just get a copy of Matchless News and there is an advertisement for Smiths Magnetic and Chronometric Instrument Repair in it. Scott@smithsgagerepair.com I don't know the quality of work he does never having used him.

John in Texas
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I used Scott about two years ago for my speedo. He replaced the glass and bezel, cleaned out the spiders, replaced the rubber grommets, lubed the internals, and checked and adjusted calibration. I'm not sure what other magic that he worked but I'm happy. Since getting it back I've put about 3500 miles on it and all has been perfect. Great work at an affordable price. Also about a one week turn around. After the first season of riding I put the bike away for the winter and because of some life changes the winter storage turned into a one year lay up. Just got it running on Friday in preparation for the Arizona winter riding season. It's still spot on per my GPS.
 
JCD said:
+1 on Palo Alto Speedo. They've skillfully restored speedometers, tachometers and clocks for my old Nortons, BMW/5 projects,and Triumph sports cars. Very particular about the quality of service they provide.

Another +1 on the EBay guy, aprivatepeace. What a crook. Shit work, shit service. Took almost 90 days on a Buy It Now auction...finally got the gauges and the numbers had been painted on with what I could only decipher as "white out". No communication what so ever. So his first negative feedback was from me. Left me no choice. Only got a response from him after weeks of calling him and emailing, when I left negative feedback. Steer clear of that seller.

Conversely, Andy Patterson at vintagebritishcables (eBay user ID) has been another very valued source for top quality work and service. Like Palo Alto Speedo, it's a bit pricey, but I wouldn't flinch the next time I needed something from him. He answers the call.

Just my 2 pennies worth.
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I've had many redone by http://www.vintagebritishcables.com and have been happy with all. He is a wealth of knowledge and has always answered my questions quickly. On request, he can keep the odometer reading the same - important when restoring an actual mileage device. He is also a good source of cables (kind of obvious from his URL!).
 
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