Sunday, March 30, 2008

Determining if parts are correct

There are a few parts that Stu and I are uncertain about and it's very important to me that I do not restore a hotchpotch Lammy. I want it as stock as possible, minus the motor upgrade.The gas tank came from a 1964 series III.  Stu believes that it is a centimeter or two larger than the one would be for a 1962 tank -- which is the year of my scoot.
Stu got this info from Stickey's book.  I emailed Mike Analt about this, but he thinks the gas tank might actually be the correct size since the 1962 TV he just restored has a gas tank a hair small.
Stu said the headset is correct and he pulled it off and sprayed it blue for race team when he was in a pinch.
So you are looking at the stock headset.
There are spray drips on the bottom/underside of the headset, which suggest to me at some point it may have been rattle canned, but I don't know for sure.
The flywheel cover is incorrect.  This is from a series II, which is close in size for the TV I have, but it requires two stamps of some sort to make it look 100% authentic.
I need to talk with Stu/Mike about that in more detail as well as read up about it in Stickey's book as well.  I need to buy that book sooner than later.
I was really concerned that my floor boards were GP.  They are silver and do not match any color on the the TV, except for the Li steering column I have (with the TV shocks hooks welded on as Stu's machinist destroyed the TV steering column to point of non usable.  People won't be able to tell the difference though).  In speaking with Mike, he thinks that I may have series III Li or TV floor boards.
I need to confirm that before I begin working on the bike.  Again Stickey's book would provide me with the answer.
In any case I did speak with a guy who would trade me TV floorboards for mine if indeed I have GP. My floorboards are in excellent condition.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Reference: TV175

I found this TV175 S.3 posted on lambretta.org by Alex from Casa (I believe) and took the pictures so I can reference them when I begin restoring my TV. The more pictures I can get, especially stock, the better because they really help you be specific about what does and does not go on your bike or what should be painted a certain color or not. It helps keep you period specific or true.

This bike is either a 1962 or 1963. You can tell by the cowls -- no chrome finishers it just reads Lambretta. My TV is a 1962. I personally prefer how the earlier Series III look for the TV. It's cleaner in my opinion. Not too much going on.

You can sort off see the stock switch-side perch in the picture below. Not super easy to find original ones of those, but I was lucky and did find one.

The seat and frame I have are in near mint condition, but in red. My seat frame looks similar to the one below in quality.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Update for March 2008

I've done nothing new on the TV175, but am about $200 from totally completing the restoration of 1967 Vespa SS180.

Since my last post I missed buying a GP crank for $90 from SPD's Lambretta blow-out. That was a big bummer for me because the price was so good. I will use a GP crank, because I will go with either 186 or 190cc top end.