Hi Guys, just joined up here so I thought I'd kick off my first post with something that may help some Messko owners.
I recently purchased a dual scale messko gauge from the states pretty cheaply because it had no plastic lens cover. Dial was good and apparently so was the bakelite body. When it arrived though I noticed there was a small fracture in the bakelite, which you could probably get away with but still I knew it was there!
As I needed a new plastic lens, I had also purchased a non porsche Messko in excellent condition, face and Bakelite perfect, just different dial scale and valve attachment (looked like a bicycle one) - $30
I searched and searched all the forums looking for info on correctly disassembling them in case I busted something, and ended up getting some advice from one of the tool experts in the US.
So firstly I had to remove the plastic lens from the bicycle Messko gauge - The way to do this is to get a kitchen hook with a suction cup - I tried a small one which didn't have enough grip so I got a larger size and trimmed it down to the size of the lens with scissors, moistened it and pulled, repeated. Wouldn't budge. Decided to run a small spray of WD40 around the edge of the lens and let that sit for 10 mins, then pulled again and out it came!
I then used a small screwdriver to release the metal clip that runs around where the lens locks in, and then was able to pull the dial gauge out by carefully gripping the hub of the needle and pulling.
I repeated this process of removing the dial and needle on the Porsche gauge (It already had no plastic cover) and saw that the internals were identical.
It then was a simple matter of inserting the dual scale Porsche dial into the other bakelite body. When doing this you need to keep the reset button pressed so you can locate the point of the needle hub into the hole in the housing.
Next I replaced the metal clip that surrounds the dial, then carefully located the plastic lens back into the housing, working from one side and gently flexing it in to place.
Lastly I unscrewed the bicycle valve attachment and screwed in the car valve attachment from the Porsche gauge. Everything is interchangeable.
Ended up with a really nice looking Messko!! Tested it and it worked accurately!
I doubt too many people would need to do surgery like this, but if you have an old Messko that has a badly scratched or cloudy lens, you could simply remove the lens and try plastic polishing it to give it a new lease of life? - Many of the dial faces also seem to get a bit dirty underneath so you can give that a careful clean while you're at it.
Any old similar shaped Messko gauge's plastic lens will fit if you need a replacement
I've attached a few pics of the internals of the gauge in case that's of interest, plus my finished product.
Hope it helps someone!
Cheers
Tim
I recently purchased a dual scale messko gauge from the states pretty cheaply because it had no plastic lens cover. Dial was good and apparently so was the bakelite body. When it arrived though I noticed there was a small fracture in the bakelite, which you could probably get away with but still I knew it was there!
As I needed a new plastic lens, I had also purchased a non porsche Messko in excellent condition, face and Bakelite perfect, just different dial scale and valve attachment (looked like a bicycle one) - $30
I searched and searched all the forums looking for info on correctly disassembling them in case I busted something, and ended up getting some advice from one of the tool experts in the US.
So firstly I had to remove the plastic lens from the bicycle Messko gauge - The way to do this is to get a kitchen hook with a suction cup - I tried a small one which didn't have enough grip so I got a larger size and trimmed it down to the size of the lens with scissors, moistened it and pulled, repeated. Wouldn't budge. Decided to run a small spray of WD40 around the edge of the lens and let that sit for 10 mins, then pulled again and out it came!
I then used a small screwdriver to release the metal clip that runs around where the lens locks in, and then was able to pull the dial gauge out by carefully gripping the hub of the needle and pulling.
I repeated this process of removing the dial and needle on the Porsche gauge (It already had no plastic cover) and saw that the internals were identical.
It then was a simple matter of inserting the dual scale Porsche dial into the other bakelite body. When doing this you need to keep the reset button pressed so you can locate the point of the needle hub into the hole in the housing.
Next I replaced the metal clip that surrounds the dial, then carefully located the plastic lens back into the housing, working from one side and gently flexing it in to place.
Lastly I unscrewed the bicycle valve attachment and screwed in the car valve attachment from the Porsche gauge. Everything is interchangeable.
Ended up with a really nice looking Messko!! Tested it and it worked accurately!
I doubt too many people would need to do surgery like this, but if you have an old Messko that has a badly scratched or cloudy lens, you could simply remove the lens and try plastic polishing it to give it a new lease of life? - Many of the dial faces also seem to get a bit dirty underneath so you can give that a careful clean while you're at it.
Any old similar shaped Messko gauge's plastic lens will fit if you need a replacement
I've attached a few pics of the internals of the gauge in case that's of interest, plus my finished product.
Hope it helps someone!
Cheers
Tim
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