I may be mistaken but I thought there are slots that match the shape of the tabs, such that if you rotate the rim the tabs will line up with the slots and release it, without having to bend the tabs back.
Woo Hoo! That did it, thanks so much!
I got a lapful of dried, crumbled old o-ring material (sat in the groove of the rim against the glass), feels like cork, maybe? I think I read in an old post about how to replace that.
Very exciting. Now I’ll probably take them all out, clean them all, and get some, Black Forever (thanks BobK), to clean up the dash.
If J-Lers haven’t done so – you might want to click twice on Ed’s avatar to see his profile and the amazing original California black plate that came with his car.
One chance in 17,576 I’d say (or actually, 1000 chances in 17,576,000).
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I honestly didn’t even notice the plates on the car the day I negotiated the purchase. It wasn’t until I got it towed home the next day, that I noticed.
I bought the car from the guy whose listing and pictures are on XKEdata.com.
He took over his Dad’s used car business in 2014, and needed to sell off the old cars his Dad left behind, but had never gotten around to fixing.
I don’t know if there’s any way to really prove whether or not it really sat in storage since 1972. But it shows really low mileage, almost everything works. I just feel lucky to have it.
Might be related to what you are trying to remove. .Bird shit is easy. Shellac or catalysed paint not so.
Plus, I don’t know but suspect, that windshield glass is a lot harder than instrument glass.
Lysdexia: a waist is a terrible thing to mind.
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Just wanted to post about my results.
For everybody who is a parent, or has been a mentor or leader, you know how amazing it feels to do something which enables somebody to be proud of themsleves. Well, tonight, I am proud of myself. Thanks to many of you.
I ended up taking out all 4 gagues, and the clock, cleaned them up, and got everything back together and working. I couldn’t get a good picture of all of them, but these 2 were the worst, and look like new again.
I didn’t break anything, and I didn’t kill myself. Full disclosure, I am literally, really new at this stuff. I was (properly) advised to disconnect the car battery before getting started, and in the process, allowed the wrench loosening the nut on the positive pole, to touch the bottom of the heater box, which threw a few sparks. DOH!
The one thing I wish I would have done is to draw a line on the side of each gague, connecting to the metal plate on the inside of the panel/door, so it would have been easier for me to make sure all the gagues were “level”, so that all the “SMITHS” logos were even. I spent too much time adjusting them by eye.
Two minor things I am not sure about.
First, I bought new bezel gaskets and dashboard gaskets from Nisonger Instruments. But I found the dashboard gaskets (which are flat, as described in existing threads) to be a strong 1/32 inch wider than originals.
The originals were ‘horizontal’ against the bezels when I took them out. But with the wider profile, that extra width made the gaskets very visible when I put them back in. I ended up putting them ‘vertical’, which worked pretty well. It was a little difficult to press them in all the way. The new gaskets tuck down between the gague and the bezel pretty well, except around the 3 tabs which are part of the bezel, but everything looks fine this way.
The other thing I noticed was just by accident, looking down into the gague through the tube where the lightbuld goes:
This one was the worst of the four, but clearly, the heat of the bulb burned a minor hole in the circuit board inside the gague. All 4 gagues have the exact same bulb:
Which appears to show, “oSRAM 12V2-2W ENG”. I hope the PO didn’t put the wrong bulbs in, trying to increase the nighttime look.
Anyways, I am clearly the polar opposite of Mr. @Wiggles, who is consistently pithy and funny. But I am trying to share what I learn, and also want make sure you all understand how valuable your time is, helping those of us who are still building confidence with fixing our own cars.
I really gained a lot of confidence here, and am learning almost every day from the years of valuable history in all these archives. I honestly believe I can now cleanup my ugly rocker switches.
Thank you, to all you patient souls!!
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If you mean by “circuit board” the burnt green material, that’s actually a green color filter for the bulb. The stock illumination has a greenish light, provided by those filters. After all these years, many of them have burned out.
You can obtain replacement filters, or switch to green LED bulbs if you want the OEM greenish tint (which I happen to like, since it evokes in me memories of the cars of that time.)
Dave
I removed all the filters, and use green LED bulbs instead of incandescents. LED’s are a nightmare of non-standardization and poor quality control, but when you get a good set it’s so much better.
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Battery negative should be disconnect first and last to get reconnected (on negative ground systems)
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Always disconnect ground terminal first. If your wrench hits any part of the body while you are doing it no harm, no sparks. Likewise, put the ground terminal back on the battery last.
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Excellent work, Ed! You have reason to be proud!! Your confidence will continue to grow and before you know it, you’ll be spending all kinds of money on Jag projects! 
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Yep: that’s why all the race cars–from Tweety, on down-- had master kill switches on the ground side.
From the photo , the rockers look like they could use some good plastic polish. Amazon has the Novus line, which I have used on all previous brits, as well as the E. Use an old t-shirt, it may take a few repeats, but I think you’ll like the results
I clearly agree when we disconnect the battery, we disconnect the ground first to avoid wrench sparking. But we discussed this before on JL, a race car which has an emergency disconnect, a car with a negative ground needs to have the kill switch on the positive side.
Tom
And, as before, we will disagree. Ill not go into the reasons AGAIN why.
The ground kill is safer.
You know I have a short memory, so why?
A kill switch for racing should disable the car. On a negative ground car, if one interrupts the negative battery cable, the car will continue to be powered by the alternator, so the engine could continue to run. If the kill switch is on the positive side, the alternator positive can also be disconnected, shutting down everything. Since the negative side of the alternator is grounded through the frame, it would be much more difficult to isolate. Now if the race car did not have an alternator, that may not be relevant.
There are, of course, different ways to accomplish a goal. How did you handle disabling the electric system on Tweety on the ground side?
Tom
It’s also a good practice to cover the battery with a towel if you are working near it; accidently bridge the two terminals with a metal tool and you’ll know why. And for the same reason never use the battery as a place to sit tools.