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Tacho Restoration

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:30 am
Author: duckman
I've just taken my clocks apart for restoration. The damping is OK so I just need to clean up the visuals. The glasses are dirty and pitted on the inside (how does this happen?) but they will clean up OK. My question is about the tacho redline area which is well faded. Is this a decal? If so does anyone know where I can get one. If this is not possible I'll have to carefully paint over the red parts. Anyone done this that can give some tips. TIA

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:00 am
Author: mick znone
you can buy the red line kit off eBay, or you can buy the whole face. regarding the glass, is it possible that they have been repaired before and whoever did it turned the glass around, this could explain the damping being ok. :?: :idea:

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:00 am
Author: Steve S
There was someone that sold decals on e-bay but don,t know how good they are,maybe someone on here can enlighten you.I,m sure you could get a good finish by painting it if you have a steady hand and the correct paint. :D

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:01 am
Author: Pigford
Will (aka: Big Fluff) does this sort of stuff.... :wink:

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:01 am
Author: Steve S
Hows that 2 answers at exactly the same time....this site is awsome.

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:01 am
Author: mick znone

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 11:03 am
Author: mick znone
i was there first, you pair of anoraks :lol:

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:33 pm
Author: duckman
Fantastic. You guys are stars!

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 8:12 pm
Author: Steve Cooke
I opted to restore my own clocks as I couldn't bring myself to pay £300 odd and it's not that difficult, I stripped cleaned and lubricated the internals, cleaned the faces and very carefully touched in the redline using an indelible illuminous red marker and a magnifying glass, it 's also possible to re-polish the glass if they're not too bad, failing that just get new ones cut.
I also chose to retain the original mileage on the clocks and noted the mileage at rebuild, it really bugs me when the clocks are zeroed as I find that pretty naff and phoney.

Posted: Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:42 pm
Author: Steve R
Steve, did you restore the needle damping stuff and if so what did you use and did it work??

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 4:42 am
Author: Steve Cooke
Steve, I didn't need to renew the damping as my clock needles where stable, although I doubt that it would be too difficult as it's just a case of finding a fluid of the correct specific gravity, I would have tried one, tested and tried again until it was right. I set my clocks on a bench so I could run them using a variable speed drill and introduced vibration to simulate riding conditions.

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:48 am
Author: Steve R
I think it is a bit of a problem getting the correct damping fluid from reading other forums.
I need to take mine apart to clean the back of the glass, is it very difficult getting the ring that clamps them together apart? Is there a gasket there that needs replacing?

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:48 am
Author: Big Fluff
Al Marshall has the ability to re-crimp original black covers back on to the clocks with a new crimping ring.
He can also help and supply with many speedo/tacho parts.

Will

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:05 pm
Author: mick znone
Steve R wrote:I think it is a bit of a problem getting the correct damping fluid from reading other forums.
I need to take mine apart to clean the back of the glass, is it very difficult getting the ring that clamps them together apart? Is there a gasket there that needs replacing?
i took a spare tacho apart Steve, not difficult, there was no gasket.