How do I restore the Speedometer front plate

I would like to dismantle my speedometer housing and give the front plate some new paint. it looks pretty bad with rust and cracked paint.
The bike is a '83 XJ750 SECA
I found a picture of one just like it here
in Nicks gallery on the site
Have any of you don it? How do I open it? Are there anything I should watch out for?
I was thinking about making a new plate in aluminium, using CAD-CAM and a CNC-millingmachine, can this be recommended?


Andersen

 

One day I plan on getting at that inner plate and giving it a new coat of black. Unfortunately I'm not certain when that day is going to happen.

I recall another member trying to take his apart and ended up breaking the outer glass cover.

 

I have sucessfully disassembled my instrument cluster off of my 81 Seca but it was years ago, can't recall any problems in the process. As for the manufacture/use of a milled plate of aluminum, why not? So long as you have the original to get the specification off of, go for it! Best of luck to you Anderson. Be sure to keep the program handy if you are sucessful, I'm certain there are a few folks out here who would love to get their hands on either the program or a finished plate.

 

Lots of folks out there with faded plates, you could make a few bucks there!

 

So I got it out. Had to break off, a plastic frame that keeps thepanel and the glasscover in place. The glasscover is real glass and VERY thin. Cleaned the panel using a glassblower. Theres some injuries from rust, so im moving on with the new one in aluminium.
There'll be pic's in my gallery.

Andersen

 

Ya those are a pain in the a$$ to get apart. I've had mine apart just to see where all those wires go. I don't really care for that big square housing sitting up there on my chopper, so I'm thinking about repalcing it with a small round speedo and forget about the tach (I don't feel the need to get close to redline anyways)
Now to figure out what to do with all those wires and which ones I can do away with. I do kinda like having a gas guage but a trip speedometer will work good enough too.

 

Here's one of the best suppliers for instrument cluster glass.

They make replacements for instrument cluster covers that you can order ... Flat ... or, Convex.

http://www.timesavers.com/

Rick