Two wheeled stool - Lambretta bitsa

[4wheeledstool]

It's amazing how little is left when you strip all the bits off one of these. Does the tubular frame provide all the structural rigidity on a scooter like this? It looks like it would bend in the middle if you picked it up too roughly!

The frame tube does indeed provide all the structural rigidity - the wall thickness is about 3mm. It certainly takes a fair old collision to bend it!

[4wheeledstool]

Just been replacing photobucket links with imgur ones - massive PITA - no more progress on this due to finding out that my legs now bend enough to ride this again.

 

It's getting the full works at the moment!

[4wheeledstool]

Getting there, slowly!

Shouldn't be long now.

[4wheeledstool]

Finished - can finally get back on the scooter

 

[4wheeledstool]

Finally got my arse in gear and made a start on the body work today.

 

I didn't get long on it (15 minutes!) as I had to go back in to work unexpectedly, but it was long enough to cop for a rogue wire off the wheel straight in the cobblers.

[UltraWomble]

I love this "bitsa".

 

I wish I had the mechanical nouse to do something like this myself.

[bezzabsa]

my only scooter experience was a Vespa Douglas 50cc with a 70cc kit on it...rode like a donkey...and about as fast..made a nice 500% profit on it though

[4wheeledstool]

On 6/4/2018 at 6:52 PM, UltraWomble said:

I love this "bitsa".

 

I wish I had the mechanical nouse to do something like this myself.

Cheers! Most Series 3 Lambretta stuff is interchangeable, so a mish mash is pretty easy.

 

On 6/4/2018 at 9:50 PM, bezzabsa said:

my only scooter experience was a Vespa Douglas 50cc with a 70cc kit on it...rode like a donkey...and about as fast..made a nice 500% profit on it though

Was it a PK? I had one when I was 16 - did 17000 miles on the poor thing! Other than needing a rebore + piston it withstood the spanking well.

 

Finished stripping the outside of the mudguard earlier. It's pretty unpleasant in my unit when the weather is nice, but it looks like the warm and dryness is set to continue a while yet. I'll most likely sand blast the inside of the mudguard at work so I can hit it with the POR15, but for the moment I want to get it good and straight first.

The off side is pretty much spot on

The near side is sporting some piss poor panel beating

 

I was aware of the dentage, but had hoped that whoever my old fella got to paint it had done a better job! Not to worry though - this and the nearside rear floor board will be getting a bit of hammer/dolly action at some point.

[4wheeledstool]

I got a bit more done this afternoon - the heat in my unit was unpleasant, but no-one else offered to do it!

Alloy parts are being stripped by hand, the steel bits will be getting media blasted at sone point. Nitromors was used to soften the paint on the horn casing - here you can see the colour it was painted in 1990.

After a goodly amount of scraping and sand papering it.

The same process was employed on the horn grill - proper fiddly!

And the tail light housing - pretty fiddly!

The top and bottom handlebar castings will also need doing, but they're at a friend's place having the headlight rim threads welded up and repaired.

[4wheeledstool]

Like a complete gonad, I deleted the "before" pictures instead of uploading them.

 

The rear floorboards required a little welding - there was a split in the nearside one about half an inch long. Not now!

I had made a semicircular cut out in the back of the offside one to facilitate the fitting of the Micron pipe many years ago. Fortunately I had kept hold of the piece, and was able to stick it back in!

Need to get all the steel bits blasted now - may be a while due to an imminent week away.

[PiperCub]

Can't get too enthusiastic about scooters generally especially Vespa's, so why do I like Lambrettas? It's weird.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Can't get too enthusiastic about scooters generally especially Vespa's, so why do I like Lambrettas? It's weird.

I used to ask myself the same, whenever my Lambretta wouldn't start.

I can't believe you managed to keep hold of, and find the cutout from the rear floorboard after all these years!

[4wheeledstool]

I can't believe you managed to keep hold of, and find the cutout from the rear floorboard after all these years!

I'd put it on a shelf full of engine parts that hasn't been disturbed for over 20 years. Although I sold a lot of stuff at parts fairs in the 90's, I did keep a reasonable selection of Lambretta junk "just in case I needed something". I really should make the effort to move most of this stuff on one day.

[4wheeledstool]

Bugger all has been achieved on this still - the heat in my unit is keeping me away. Other two wheeled stool is being enjoyed instead.

 

The "cheating" option of paying someone else to paint it looks the most attractive at present - I just need to scrape a bit of wedge together!

[4wheeledstool]

I'd left the handlebar top and bottom with a mate so he could stick some aluminium weld on the goosed headlight rim threads back in June. I only got them back a few weeks ago, and have only just got round to drilling and tapping some new threads into the welded up lugs this afternoon. With that done, I can now get a load of parts off to a painter - there's a fair chance that this thing is gonna get done this year! (Hopefully before Summer )

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Result!

Only just seen your post with the SX and TV photo. Are they also yours? Prior to buying my SX150 a decade ago, I owned (amongst other classic scooters over the years) a 1970 GP 150, which was in fantastic condition. When I was looking to buy it, I also looked at Specials and a TV 175 in Weymouth - all similar prices at the time.

Since that, though, I'd say the value of the TV 175 has rocketed the most. Conversely, SX200 values seem to have levelled out a bit.

[4wheeledstool]

The SX + TV are the same ones featured earlier in the thread - definitely still owned by myself. The last time I saw a TV200 for sale, the asking price consisted of five digits! TV175s don't seem to be all that far behind, its getting more ridiculous year on year!

[Cavcraft]

The SX + TV are the same ones featured earlier in the thread - definitely still owned by myself. The last time I saw a TV200 for sale, the asking price consisted of five digits! TV175s don't seem to be all that far behind, its getting more ridiculous year on year!

 

The 'common or garden' models seem to have taken a small nose dive fairly recently. They do drop in winter anyhow, but for the last few months there's been quite a few decent looking Italian Li models at a fair price. A lady at work bought a belting looking 125 with a 186 (Mugello?) kit on it for a great price. 

Suppose none are especially reliable (in general terms) but a mate has an Indian GP that's been horrifically bad, never seems to run right and always packing up.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The SX + TV are the same ones featured earlier in the thread - definitely still owned by myself. The last time I saw a TV200 for sale, the asking price consisted of five digits! TV175s don't seem to be all that far behind, its getting more ridiculous year on year!

Damn memory - forgot what you'd previously posted! You've certainly got a half-decent pension plan sat in the form of your SX and TV 200s, if you ever needed to release the funds. It'd be a shame to sell them on after all this time though.

I keep on eyeing up Spanish S2s at the moment. I've always liked the lines of the S2, although the turning mudguarf of the Spanish model trumps it for me. Not sure their values will ever shoot up like their Italian counterparts though.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

The 'common or garden' models seem to have taken a small nose dive fairly recently. They do drop in winter anyhow, but for the last few months there's been quite a few decent looking Italian Li models at a fair price. A lady at work bought a belting looking 125 with a 186 (Mugello?) kit on it for a great price.

Suppose none are especially reliable (in general terms) but a mate has an Indian GP that's been horrifically bad, never seems to run right and always packing up.

The 186 is likely to be the Imola kit, which is what's fitted to my SX. When I actually rode the damn thing, it was ultra reliable. I also think electronic ignition is a must-have for anyone wishing to travel more than 500 yards on a Lambretta.

[4wheeledstool]

Repaired headlight rim threads

Stripped all the paint off to check for cracks, then checked that it still fitted together nicely

 

The white paint was an absolute knacker to remove - who'd have thought that Halfords bodge tins would be so durable!

[I_am_Diesel]

I fitted a Variotronic electronic ignition to my Li 150 and it starts a lot easier now.

[4wheeledstool]

I fitted a Variotronic electronic ignition to my Li 150 and it starts a lot easier now.

Variotronics are a bit new fangled to me, although if my AF Electronics ever gave up the ghost, its most likely what I'd replace them with. How many degrees do they alter the timing by throughout the rev range?

[4wheeledstool]

A bit more stripping today

 

 

It was just as much of a pain in the fundament as it was last time I did it over 20 years ago!

[Tamworthbay]

Love this thread, I have never owned a lambretta or Vespa (I went the other way with bikes) but have been getting the urge to buy a project one for ages but no idea what to start with or where to look.

[Fabergé Greggs]

Lovely! Lambrettas are so bloody nice. I wish they weren't $$$$$

[I_am_Diesel]

Variotronics are a bit new fangled to me, although if my AF Electronics ever gave up the ghost, its most likely what I'd replace them with. How many degrees do they alter the timing by throughout the rev range?

I’m not too sure to be honest, the literature that came with it is in top of the garage. The electronic kit that had previously been fitted was faulty and caused a bad misfire when the engine warmed up.

[4wheeledstool]

On 1/20/2019 at 4:57 PM, Tamworthbay said:

Love this thread, I have never owned a lambretta or Vespa (I went the other way with bikes) but have been getting the urge to buy a project one for ages but no idea what to start with or where to look.

 

Have a look in a "Scootering" magazine - theres occasionally some worthwhile projects for sale, but the best bet are the parts fairs (advertised in the mag) where cheap parts/scooters can often be found.

 

On 1/20/2019 at 5:06 PM, Fabergé Greggs said:

Lovely! Lambrettas are so bloody nice. I wish they weren't $$$$$

It's a bit of a piss take what the things are worth at the moment - I still view them as budget transportation. It's what they were designed as, after all! I guess its a similar situation to MK1/2 Escorts - far more people want one than are left, pushing prices up.

 

On the subject of Vespas, there are a couple in my twowheeledstool fleet. A T5 millennium (run out special) bought new in September 1999, and one of the last of the line PX200s (not run out special) bought new in October 2002.

 

[I_am_Diesel]

I have got one of the PX200 run out specials. It has done less than 700 km from new. I will post a picture when I have time.

[4wheeledstool]

Due to the tedium of scraping paint off aluminium hubs, I decided to try a different way with the rear one. I went out and bought a gallon of thinners, then plonked the hub in it to soak for a few hours. Pleasingly, the vast majority of the paint just rubbed off with a cloth. A few stubborn fragments still remain, but rub off reasonably easily with a red Scotch pad.