Help! Loose Screw Making Planecrazy Plain Crazy!!

[Planecrazy]

OK ... unhappy update:

I wisely decided to practice/experiment on the broken speedo sitting in the garage. Mounted it on a vise, lined up the drill bit, and started to drill -- high speed/low pressure. Things started slowly ... lot of smoke but not too much progress. That got me suspecting that something was different than expected. Continued drilling, and when it seemed I was close to going through my s u s p i c i o n s were borne out...

The lens is not poly ... it's GLASS! :x :x

Needless to say, I'm glad I cracked the junk lens and not the one on my bike! I'm going to have to rethink my approach. I think I'll still try to drill through, but this time using the proper kind of bit, better preparation on the lens, and lot's of patience...

I'm also going to temporarily solve my problem by sticking a magnet on the bottom of the lens so that the loose screw doesn't bounce around during the Galena trip. No chance I'm going to try drilling again before winter...

I guess I'm glad Suzuki used non-yellowing glass on our dials, but I have to admit I was surprised -- thought for sure it was plastic.

Regards,
Steve 8)

[first timer]

hey steve, try taking the metal band off the busted speedo. get tricky and try to take the busted speedo apart and put it back together, take notes see what works.

-ryan

[Anonymous]

I once saw a forum post from someone faced with a similar problem. His solution was to cut around the housing with a fine-tooth saw just under the chrome ring. After his repair, he epoxied it back together. He said it worked out well for him.

FWIW,

[Nerobro]

Planecrazy, Here's how you drill through glass..... You don't really drill through it. You abrade through it. Though you don't want to get crud into the guage cluster... this could be a problem. You need gravity to keep the grinding slurry near the cutting point, and you need gravity to keep the stuff from going INTO the guage.

Though if you can come up with a way of not acutally going all the way through the glass, or maybe we can bet on it not dumping all the cutting fluid through, here's how you do it.

Get a brass rod. nick the end. Make a little pond around wher eyour'e going to cut the hole, and fill it with polishing compound. You can thin it out. Put the guage under the drill press, be sure to set the dept guage so you don't go right through the back of the guage, and just through the lens.. barely. And then put a very very light weight on the lever that move the quill in the drill press. Start up the drill press on a low speed, and walk away. the weight will keep the tip of the "drill" working. The pond will keep it supplied with fresh cutting compound. And the glass will give way to abrasion.

In the end you get a very very very smooth cut. But it takes time.

Methinks it's time for a new guage cluster ;-)

[KEITH KRAUSE]

I once saw a forum post from someone faced with a similar problem. His solution was to cut around the housing with a fine-tooth saw just under the chrome ring. After his repair, he epoxied it back together. He said it worked out well for him.

FWIW,

I've heard this is the way to do it too. It will work and you can't see where you worked on it either.

[Planecrazy]

All interesting suggestions -- thanks!

I think, in light of the risk of glass grit getting into the gauge I will probably try the "cut the ring off and epoxy it" trick. Having the other gauge to practice with will be a plus, of course.

Watch for an update this winter.

Thanks again,
Steve 8)

[TheNose]

I have taken my gauges (3 of them) from two different bikes apart and repaired them. I pried the metal flange back with a screwdriver and then used pliers to bend the flange back all around the gauge. After doing the repair work, I bent the flange back and put it back into the housing. You can't tell that I worked on it.

Terry

[Nerobro]

the screw on the face of my tach fell off tonight...... *shakes head* this bike.. is going to keep me busy forever :-)

[Anonymous]

I'm with The Nose.

You can pry around the back of the metal retaining band (that holds the glass onto the housing) and get the glass off. I had to make a fine cut on the bottom of the metal band to get the prying going, then it was easy to loosen it up with a screwdriver. With the metal band crimped back in place and the speedo back in the housing you can't tell that it's been worked on.

[kdchart]

Same problem 82 1100G

Anyone know how this saga turned out. Pry it out, cut around and epoxy, or drill the glass?

I just started another thread, but also found this thread.

Kevin

[kdchart]

Answer - Pry it off

Well I could not leave well enough alone so I started to pry the metal rim off with a small screwdriver. All went well. Got the glass off and put back the screw.

Used a pair of plyers to re-crimp the rim back on.

After it was put back together, you can not tell is was ever taken off.

It was sort of like opening a can of tunafish with my swiss army knife, but it worked.

Another example of this great site.

Kevin

[DimitriT]

Yea. I also smear some silicone sealant in the crack to ensure a water tight seal.

[Nessism]

I did the same thing on both my 450 gauges; pried the metal band off with a screwdriver. To crimp back down I used a small drift and hammer. Takes a while to work your way around the bezel but the band crimped down nice and tight and there are no plyer marks on the front face of the bezel. Works great.

Ed

[8trackmind]

You guys did notice this thread is two years old, right?

[Planecrazy]

...and ironically, I uncrimped the metal ring on my "practice" gauge just last week, Jeff!

I WILL properly fix the good one soon!

Regards,