Silver993

Apparently, my tachometer was not made to withstand 993 acceleration levels and so the plastic, around which the lens attaches, broke loose while I was moving away from a stop and the lens and ring fell off. Searching the board found that a few others have had a similar experience.

Has anyone had luck with gluing the plastic back together? what type of glue might work best?

They used to make these things out of metal.....

Silver993

AOW162435

'Tis a bit odd, as the black aluminum bezels are crimped around the perimeter of the plastic housing. I wonder if someone removed the bezel at some point but did not re-crimp correctly?


Andreas

nile13

Andreas, it's more likely that OP's tach housing broke (I have one sitting here in such a shape). The barrel of the housing cracks and breaks and the entire face (glass, crimped bezel and the plastic that bezel crimps to) just falls off. Only happens on tachometers, not other gauges. Probably because it's the largest housing, possibly with the thinnest walls.

Anyway. I have not figured out what to use to glue my extra tachometer back together. The issue is that when you put it back into the dash it'll experience a lot of torquing and pressure and will likely fall apart at the glued joint.

Andreas just might glue it together and use it in a block of wood with the needle going up and down from idle to redline and a speaker playing recorded Fister IIIs. Eh? I'm sure Rennlisters will have a line forming quickly

Silver993

No, it looks like the white plastic that the the bezel crimps around broke and came off with the bezel. There is a ring of white plastic held in the bezel and it has rough edges as it likely broke off from the rest of the tach housing. I was thinking maybe to try gluing?

Silver993

like nile13 said.

nile13

You can try superglue and see if it holds as you wiggle it back inside the housing.

mhm993

Resurrecting this old thread....has anyone successfully repaired the broken tach housing --attaching the body of the case to the broken off circle of plastic still in the bezel--with superglue, epoxy or anything else?


Replacement parts are nowhere to be found, and the cost of repair by the pro's is pretty significant.

gonzilla

I was lucky enough to get a donor housing from a very nice RL'er when this happened to me. Out of curiosity, what is the pro's fix? And how much are they charging for this fix???

ToreB

I have repaired this many times without any problems.
The housing cracks when the instrument ring is pulled too hard when trying to get the instrument out of the dashboard opening.
Use slow-curing two-component epoxy glue, (NOT super glue!) apply sparingly on both parts and remove any excess glue after pressing them together. Let cure overnight in pressure.
Be sure to do this in a clean environment to avoid dust on the instrument dial face. You could also clean the glass inside to remove any haze-like dirt. Do not touch the instrument dial or needle, the matte surface does not like greasy fingers.
Cheers,
Tore

nine9six

Tore beat me to it...

I would rough up both the outside and inside barrel of the tachometer, with some 220 sandpaper, for a clean and bondable surface and joint.

I have used J-B Weld, a two part epoxy, with great success, but JB also makes a plastic weld, two part epoxy as well.

If youuld like to reinforce the joint, cut open an aluminum can with a pair of scissors and make yourself two 1-inch bands to extend around the circumference of the gauge body once the epoxy has been applied. You can secure the bonded joint with a hose clamp until cured.

P.S. The original JB weld makes the stronger bond

mhm993

abiazis

E6000 adhesive is good stuff that I have used....clear and only need a little bit.......waterproof and long lasting.....use of all materials...metal, cloth, plastic, wood, etc.....

BobbyT

I think the stuff Tore is talking about is "Araldite ARA-400001 Standard Heavy Duty Adhesive/Ultra Strong 2-Part Glue" available on Amazon but not widely sold in US.
I used it to glue some fragile glass pieces together and it worked when several types of super glue had failed. Be careful not to leave excess on the outside, which might make reinstall difficult. I'm also a fan of J-B Weld, but this stuff may even be a little stronger. A little goes a long way.

When you reinstall the tach, you may want to lube the outside lightly with something a bit slippery that will evaporate quickly, Windex or similar.

mhm993

BobbyT

Yes, insert with gasket already on the tach.