Smiths chronometric speedo S.433/3/L

[Greenfield]

I'm looking to replace the bezel on a Smiths chronometric speedo, S.433/3/L. I've been looking at various ads and there seems to be different sorts of bezel and kits with a bezel, glass and rubber seal, but how is the glass fixed into the bezel? On mine looking from above it looks as though there's black sealant oozing between the glass and bezel, and from below it looks as though the edge of the metal it turned over to retain the glass. Does anyone know if it's possible to separate the glass and bezel or was it pressed together in the factory?

[Catz]

Doesn't it screw together? I took mine from my A10 to http://chronometrics.co.uk/ and saw the man unscrew it with a strap wrench.

[Greenfield]

The photo shows inside. I can't see a way that the glass retainer could be screwed or unscrewed.

[Catz]

Yep, sorry my mistake. You've alreay unscrewed it.

[idie]

Under bezel is a rubber seal then the glass which should be sitting on a stepped ring pushed onto the body. With age the rubber breaks down and goes soft. That's why it looks like a sealant.

[Derek996]

Under bezel is a rubber seal then the glass which should be sitting on a stepped ring pushed onto the body. With age the rubber breaks down and goes soft. That's why it looks like a sealant.

Exactly. In my younger days the glass from a tax disc holder was a perfect fit to replace it. 4" I think.

[idie]

You are right. I broke the glass on one of my speedos and found as you have said that glass from tax disc holder fits ok.

[Greenfield]

Just for the record, after soaking in WD40 for a couple of days to ease the glass retaining ring (nearest in the photo), I discovered that the retaining ring is a flattened 'S' shape in cross section, holding the edge of the glass against the black sealing ring under the bezel when it's screwed onto the speedo body. The bezel on mine has been much loved and there's little of the original chrome remaining. I suspect that the rubber sealing ring failed at some point in the past and was replaced by some of the black mastic that was available in the 60's pre silicone. This had glued the three sections together.
I now need to decide what to do about the lack of chrome plating.

[Dean Southall]

Talk to Russell at Chronometrics
http://www.chronometrics.co.uk/

[Greenfield]

To bring this to a close, I polished up the bezel with a view to nickel plating it. However, there were deep notches, probably where a previous uncaring owner had removed the bezel with a hammer and screwdriver; too deep to polish out. I phoned chronometrics and they knew straight away which bezel was needed. It's now fitted and certainly adds a bit of bling to the old bike.
The attached photo shows new and old.

[MJM_58SR]

Russell at chronometric Instruments in Nottingham is top class and very helpful. He has spares too