Drew,
It’s been a long time since I replaced mine but I do not recall bending the tabs. JM2CW
Cheers,
LLynn
Tip…
You know the rubber thing to loosen the pickle jar
It helps a lot!
Gtjoey13-4
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I ordered the new glass from Nisonger. $16.95 plus shipping and I did not have to go inside a local glass shop in the middle of a COVID-19 surge here in Texas.
–Drew
I’ll post some pics when I put things back together. The tabs don’t have to be flat, but they do need to hold the tach body in place – without breaking the effin’ glass.
–Drew
The tabs should never be bent, in or out. Just twist.
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They are available in acrylic. I used one, cheap.looks great, won’t crack.
Won’t last looking great for very long though.
The SIII XJ had acrylic instead of glass on the speedo, guess it was too expensive for them to drill the hole for the Trip Reset, and after some years you had a bright eye and a not so bright eye…
Ditto the clock in later E-types - often the only ‘lens’ with a noticeable ‘cataract’.
I received my new tach glass from Nisonger and it is the same size and thickness as the original. I simply cannot get it into the bezel without bending several tabs.
—Drew
Are you fitting new rubber bits between the glass and bezel?
I wonder it is too thick.
Charles, meanwhile back to your original question, I have a couple of spare S2 speedometers that probably share the same size glass. I could pack up the glass and mail it to you NC. PM me if you want it.
BTW, don’t feel bad about breaking it. I was polishing the plastic face of my S2 clock, and in a moment of inattention, lost my grip on it. The polishing wheel shot it across the bench and slammed it into the block wall of my shop. Not pretty!
Anthony
John, I have a new foam seal from Nisonger that goes between the glass and the bezel. It is not the problem. The glass will not go into the bezel unless the tabs are bent back.
Thanks so much Anthony. It is installed and working so I am on to the next issue with this car.if and when the plastic lens starts to go I will deal with it at that point in time. It is very generous of you and much appreciated.
OK, now I understand what the problem is. I was thinking you had the glass and gasket in place and couldn’t compress everything enough to allow the bezel to rotate into the locked position. I don’t think you have any alternative but to carefully, gently, bend the tabs to work the piece of glass in place.
So even without the gasket material it won’t fit? Have measured the glass thickness?
If it will go in without the gasket and it is snug enough to not rattle then you can omit the gasket. It’s just there to prevent rattles. If is does rattle a bit you could insert a couple little snakes of dumdum (butyle rubber) into the bezel before screwing on.
Erica, the bezel tabs have to be bent for the glass to fit with or without the foam seal. This time I’m going to be very careful bending them back after putting in the glass.
Plus I’m tired of posting on a thread with a title that starts out “I am a dumba$$…” Fitting for me perhaps, but I’d rather be done with it. 
–Drew
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