I decided to forge ahead without the benefit of other peoples experience. Here is what happened.
As the article originally written by Kent states, it is easy to remove the meters from the transformer case. The tabs holding them in bend easily, and it does not seem like they would be prone to cracking.
I found that the face frame was very tight against the meter body and could not be rotated until I loosened the tabs slightly using a jewelers screwdriver to pry them up just a bit. I put a dot of magic marker on the meter body and one tab so I could get them in the same spot on reassembly.
Then the face frame and glass came right off.
I had to carefully remove the paper meter face with a tool inserted in the window opening of the face.
My paper faces were so warped that they interfered with the movement of the needle. The meter seemed to work ok without them in place. I moistened the backs of the faces with a light spray of water and shook off the excess. I put the first one between two pieces of index card (plain side) and used an old clothes iron on "wool".
The face came out nice and flat, but unfortunately, a bit of the silver face stuck to the index card. (Too bad).
For the second face, I decided to add a piece of wax paper between the silver side of the face and the index card. Bad idea! I lost more of the silver face this time.
After cleaning the meter glass with glass cleaner the meters went together easily.
When installing the face frame note that there is an obstacle to freely rotating the ring at one point. Just avoid trying to rotate it past that point. Since I had loosened the tabs slightly, I did a very slight recrimp. It does not show on the front.
Remember, when loosening or tightening the terminal post nuts, hold the lower nut to keep the post from turning.
So the 30B transformer now has meters that function. However they are very inaccurate. I guess I could add an external resistor to get better readings. I don't think I will bother.
I still would appreciate reading comments and/or seeing photos of any transformers that have had their meter faces replaced with the reproductions from Port Lines, or have had the original meters replaced with the ones Port Lines sells.
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