[R-390] Painting International Meters - need some advice

[John KA1XC]

Has anyone ever painted International meters?
Most 390 meters I've seen have a metal faceplate that easily detaches and is
no problem to refinish.
Now I've got a pair of International meters I'd like to do but they are
built differently.

They have a rather solid (milled?) faceplate that can be removed but the
glass stays attached.
First you have to pry out the rear rubber gasket that's between the round
meter case and the faceplate.
Then there are 4 reverse threaded hollow-center fasteners to remove.

Now the faceplate + glass is free from the meter case and the meter
"innards" are exposed, which is usually something I prefer to avoid. But the
real problem is that the glass is still attached to the faceplate with a
gasket, and I don't know if it's permanently glued in or not. And with the
glass still attached, the faceplate is really not in any better state to
refinish than if the whole meter was simply left intact and the glass masked
off.  What to do??

Here is a pic of the meter when I had it apart a few weeks ago to take a
peek, the glass really is in the faceplate but it's not visible in the pic:
http://img198.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img198&image=dscn0038c5gy.jpg

thanks,
John