Instrument bezels and glass

[MickeyMoto]

I was corresponding with 'Tom' on the forum and asked if he had any bezels for the earlier Vagueliar instruments. He gave me the name of a company he had used that led me to BGBM Ltd. They have 88mm bezels and glass. I ordered two of each on Wednesday and the parts arrived today (Friday).

The vagueliars were used on late model Triumphs. I have not tried fitting them yet.

What I do need are the rubber seals to hold the glass to the instruments and does anybody know where I can obtain a mph transfer for the face of the Speedo, please?
I have tried the kph to mph gadget but that means only the first part of the Speedo is used and the gaps between the 10s is small. My eyes are not what they used to be!

Mike

[simonnorthroad]

How do you propose crimping your new bezels on, out of interest Mike?
"following" haha
Could you not order custom O rings (easily found on Fleabay) and use those in the absence of flat sealing rubbers?

[julianharty]

Mike,
Doug at mdina does list a rubber seal and has stock currently https://www.mdinaitalia.co.uk/instrumen ... ubber.html however you'll probably want to check with him whether this is actually suitable for the 88mm veglia rather than the 90mm smiths bezels.

What about considering using cord seal and cut it to length? https://www.autoelectricalspares.co.uk/ ... 3-68-c.asp lists several thicknesses, sadly neither's in stock there, but it provides an idea of what might work. There are various options available at https://www.mgcarspares.co.uk/rubber-42-c.asp and they're not expensive per metre so could be worth a try... His contact details are on https://www.mgcarspares.co.uk/about-us-69-c.asp he might even have suitable rubber ring gaskets.

https://www.eurojamb.com/products/vegli ... uzzi-black has complete sets in black for £12; you'd end up with spares (or practice bezels in black ) The reviews are mixed, e.g. one reviewer says they didn't fit their guzzi. Postage for 2 sets is £17 so not cheap I was going to buy 2 sets but will hold off given the postage.

https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=89589.0 has a long discussion about removing and refitting bezels and an early 3 1/2 even features in the discussion.

All the best and please post updates here.

Julian

[MickeyMoto]

How do you propose crimping your new bezels on, out of interest Mike?
"following" haha
Could you not order custom O rings (easily found on Fleabay) and use those in the absence of flat sealing rubbers?

Hi Simon,

That is the next project. The instruments have been repaired and the bezels are not present, so jullered on disassembly. I have an idea of how to crimp them, but need the seal. The seal is 'notched' to hold the glass and to fit the instruments.

It'll be a while, as I am banned from the garage for a few weeks.

[MickeyMoto]

Mike,
Doug at mdina does list a rubber seal and has stock currently https://www.mdinaitalia.co.uk/instrumen ... ubber.html however you'll probably want to check with him whether this is actually suitable for the 88mm veglia rather than the 90mm smiths bezels.

What about considering using cord seal and cut it to length? https://www.autoelectricalspares.co.uk/ ... 3-68-c.asp lists several thicknesses, sadly neither's in stock there, but it provides an idea of what might work. There are various options available at https://www.mgcarspares.co.uk/rubber-42-c.asp and they're not expensive per metre so could be worth a try... His contact details are on https://www.mgcarspares.co.uk/about-us-69-c.asp he might even have suitable rubber ring gaskets.

https://www.eurojamb.com/products/vegli ... uzzi-black has complete sets in black for £12; you'd end up with spares (or practice bezels in black ) The reviews are mixed, e.g. one reviewer says they didn't fit their guzzi. Postage for 2 sets is £17 so not cheap I was going to buy 2 sets but will hold off given the postage.

https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=89589.0 has a long discussion about removing and refitting bezels and an early 3 1/2 even features in the discussion.

All the best and please post updates here.

Julian

Doug has the following:

https://www.mdinaitalia.co.uk/Veglia_Be ... _88mm.html

But not at that price, I paid less than half for two bezels, two glasses and delivery.

[George 350]

Hi Mike,
I have had my Norton's 'Smiths' rev counter rebuilt and when refitting the bezel, the guy doing it used a lathe! Very cleverly mind you.
He held the speedo body in a fixture in the chuck, a large 'pad' in/on the tailstock was used to hold the bezel in place, and a tool with a small bearing on the end went in the tool post.
Turning the chuck by hand, he moved the 'tool' in against the bezel and gently rolled the bezel into shape. Took less than 5 minutes, and not a mark on the bezel, glass or case.
If you can replicate that then you will be onto a winner.

Let us all know how you get on.
Regards,
George

[simonnorthroad]

How do you propose crimping your new bezels on, out of interest Mike?
"following" haha
Could you not order custom O rings (easily found on Fleabay) and use those in the absence of flat sealing rubbers?

Hi Simon,

That is the next project. The instruments have been repaired and the bezels are not present, so jullered on disassembly. I have an idea of how to crimp them, but need the seal. The seal is 'notched' to hold the glass and to fit the instruments.

It'll be a while, as I am banned from the garage for a few weeks.

Roger Rog

[MickeyMoto]

Hi Mike,
I have had my Norton's 'Smiths' rev counter rebuilt and when refitting the bezel, the guy doing it used a lathe! Very cleverly mind you.
He held the speedo body in a fixture in the chuck, a large 'pad' in/on the tailstock was used to hold the bezel in place, and a tool with a small bearing on the end went in the tool post.
Turning the chuck by hand, he moved the 'tool' in against the bezel and gently rolled the bezel into shape. Took less than 5 minutes, and not a mark on the bezel, glass or case.
If you can replicate that then you will be onto a winner.

Let us all know how you get on.
Regards,
George

I saw a video on YouTube with that method. I don't have a lathe, but an enquiring mind!

[3potjohn]

What’s all this “ banned from the garage” business?
Have you not learned to march into the house with muddy boots , switch the heating on because you are cold, change the radio to one you prefer, rip through the fridge leaving a mess in your wake and at a pinch pee on the toilet seat.
Works for me.

[MickeyMoto]

I do all of those but I am temporarily inconvenienced

[BumbleBee]

Mike, I have a pukka machine for putting bezels on the Veglia speedos/tachos as fitted to most 31/2 Morinis. I also have some new chrome bezels (you don't need) but no rubber seals. If you've never seen the rubber seals, they are not just a simple ring they wrap around both sides of the glass.
G&A

[MickeyMoto]

Hello,

Ooh, that sounds useful. I have an idea of how to do it but a tool for the job would be better. Just need to sneak out to the garage to have a look.

The rubber seal is intact, but it looks like it does a few jobs like hold the glass and seals around the edge of the instrument. The only place I have seen the seal is with the Mdina kit, be useful to be able to buy the seal separately. I'll start a search on Triumph sites.

[huub]

if you are not desperate about originality , i fitted 80 mm VDO glass and bezels to my 350 sport
Cheap on ebay. but a slightly different profile
and you need to file off half a mm from the rim

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10zHdbb ... BmQqJ/view
you can simply bend in the backside in , by slowly going round and round
i press them together in the lathe , but a C clamp should do the trick
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10zHdbb ... BmQqJ/view
end result
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AoVRpS ... YNwg4/view

[MickeyMoto]

Ok, i will look at the 80mm rings.

I do have a plan to clamp the bezel!

[BumbleBee]

The glass and the shadow ring go face to face and they fit in the groove in the rubber. Then the rubber sits on top of the "can" that is the outside of the speedo/tacho. Then the bezel goes over the top and is either pressed or rolled down over the lip to hold it in place. I've done maybe 15 of these so far. I have several rubbers (+glasses etc) on my bench but they don't belong to me. Some are from properly broken instruments so their owners might sell them to you if you asked.
The bezel fitting tool does make a very tidy job of fitting the bezel but it's not postable (too big). If you are down our way sometime it only takes a few minutes with the tool it's easy.

G&A