AJS & Matchless Owners Club

Ordered the above part from club spares and found that the lower part of the stepped ring will not fit through the opening in the headlamp shell – only just enough room for the speedometer body itself. It appears that for my 1962 G3 an O ring of the correct size would be the appropriate part.
The part is listed as for ‘55 on - did the size of the opening in the headlamp shell change at some point after 1955?

The grommet doesn't fit in the aperture, it sits under/around the chrome bezel of the speedo and then compresses to form a seal when you tighten the speedo clamp.

Stuoyb wrote:The grommet doesn't fit in the aperture, it sits under/around the chrome bezel of the speedo and then compresses to form a seal when you tighten the speedo clamp.

Thanks Stuoyb – The problem I'm having is that as soon as I tighten the speedo enough to get a seal, the grommet distorts.

I searched the forum for info and found at http://www.jampot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2644
“Yes, there is a grommet between the speedo and headlamp shell. It is a reverse L-shape, partno. 021798, which fits right under the bezel. The long leg of the L goes between the speedo housing and the edge of the hole, whereas the short leg goes between the underside of the bezel and the headlamp shell….”
Which I read as the narrower part of the grommet fits into the hole in the headlamp shell and thus makes the seal between the body of the speedo and the edge of the hole in the shell.

Has the speedo got the correct bezel?

Rob Harknett wrote:Has the speedo got the correct bezel?

Yes, it's the flanged type bezel.

well the 1960 parts list specifies part no 021798 for headlight mounted speedos. After that its supplements for 1961 and 1962 and no change in grommet is specified. So if it does not fit there seem to be two possibilities. 1 you have a headlamp that is not AMC or is a pattern part with the wrong sized hole. 2 and this seems much more likely, you have the wrong sort of bezel. There were three types, a plain bezel fitted to fork mounted speedos, a flanged bezel which looked very similar but had a small recessed flange. These were fitted to BSA and Triumph. The AMC type of flange has a flat piece protruding out the side of the bezel. If you have the BSA/Triumph type the grommet will not work.
the BSA/triumph flanged type the AMC flanged type

I have the bezel Clive shows as AMC . I used a club spares rubber, although that was in the late 80's. Same pt. no. so should still be the same now. Bit wrinkled now after 30 years.

The headlamp and speedo are original to one another.
Here's a picture of how the grommet is situated without being tightened - all of it sitting on top of the headlamp shell. Is this correct?

Looks OK to me, just needs going in flat all round, and tightens down equally all round.

Rob Harknett wrote:Looks OK to me, just needs going in flat all round, and tightens down equally all round.

Thanks, I'll persevere. Looks like all that is required is a little more patience!