1962 Lambretta TV 175 Restoration

New to me parts cleaner

2012-01-16T06:48:00.000-08:00

I just received a Harbor Freight Tools parts cleaner for free for Justin M. Thanks Justin.

I asked my friend, Tom G., what solution he uses and he responded:

For parts washing, I use the solvent based cleaners supplied by McMaster Carr:

Solvent-Based Solutions— These solutions remove grease, motor oil, cutting oil, water-soluble oil, soft gummy deposits, and buffing and lapping compounds from metal, plastic, and painted surfaces. They have a mild odor and contain no chlorinated solvents. These products are compliant under all state VOC rules in effect on January 1, 2011, except in California. Caution: Do not heat. Use only at room temperature.
Solvent-plus-lanolin formula contains lanolin to reduce skin irritation and chapping. Leaves a corrosion-resistant film on parts. Nitrile gloves should be worn for prolonged use. Flash point is 105° F.

High-flash-point lanolin formula is for when local regulations require a higher flash point. It has a flash point of 141° F.

Solvent-Based Solutions

Size

Each

Solvent-Plus-Lanolin Formula

5 gal.

3229K1

$95.22

50 gal.

3229K3

859.66

High-Flash-Point Formula

5 gal.

3457K11

$91.92

50 gal.

3457K23

812.63

Unfortunately, I live in California so that will not work for me. I asked Mike A., who is local to Calif. and he suggested:

"Solvent, don't use the harbor freight junk. Call around to machine shops and see what they use. They probably have a service that changes out their tanks for them but some times they have extra on the shelf and might be willing to give or sell you some. Keep in mind good solvent is expensive. Easily over $5 per gal. Also it will evaporate so keep it closed up. The trick to making solvent last is to only use it for finish cleaning, so no greasy cases!"

My uncle has restored cars for decades and for the longest time has run kerosene through his parts washer and its pump. There are many considerations that need to take place before acting on this and then some serious planning, due to the explosive nature of kerosene and as Mike A. said "Just be sure to use gloves as the benzine in the kerosene has a cumulative affect and can cause problems later on tumors etc.".

At this point I will try Freecycle and my local machine shops.

New Tools

2011-08-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

I needed the air palm nailer that Tom G. recommended I buy. While at Harbor Freight I also picked up some other tools I knew I would need in the future. Note that Harbor Freight Tools are not quality tools and are not built to last, but rather if you have a few jobs that will require a limited amount of use over the years you'll be fine and won't beat the price. Non-mechanical tools will work out just fine for you in the long-run as well with more regular use. Copper brushes
for cleaning parts is a wise investment. The air gun impact wrench will be used ONLy for loosing super tight screws during disassembly.

I did see a $20 blue colored mini air palm nailer to use for riveting and I think that would be a smarter choice. It is easier to hold and maybe control. Something to think about.

Fiberglass Fender Repair

2011-07-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

My original fender was in need of some work. When I bought it I thought I can repair this easy. I had repaired surf board in college working with Sanding Resin glass and cloth. My work was good and clean, but after speaking to my parent's neighbor Jack, who was a professional with glass and epoxy, and learned what was needed to properly repair this fender I knew it was beyond what I preferred to tackle.

Luckily, Jack offered to take it on. He uses the West System Epoxy. He is a glider instructor and built his own glider. Aircraft folks use this system and he referred to it as aircraft epoxy.

He told me it something like 100 times stronger than fiberglass. Hell the Lammy fender is referred to as "chopper" work in the fiberglass community. It is cheap and fast to produce many many fenders. Jack had to cut back and rebuild the area around the crack by hand. It looks great!

The fender overall was in fair shape.

There were noticeable chips and even stress cracks.

There were chips and the mounting holes had cracked and became too large for the hardware.

I will dry fit the bike after body work and before paint and then line these holes up and re-drill them.

The nose was misshaped a hair and Jack rebuild that as well.

Jack said he had to "feather" (this he said is the lay-man's term. I forgot the glass worker term for it) to build layers for maximum strength.

He reinforced all areas that would be stressed by a vibrating Lambretta.

It feels so good to know the job was done right.

Jack found stress cracks and explained that they would only get worse, so he cut back the source and rebuilt it and reinforced it. It will no longer stress crack.

I am amazed at his precision and accuracy. He told me the entire fender took him two hours.

Looking at it before one last time shows it was decent, but now the fender is something I will not have to worry about thanks to Jack.

Jack is "retired" he says and "not for hire". He is eighty years old. He said he'd do my fender at costs, which was $12.00 (yes, twelve dollars).

Above is a soap box derby car Jack build from scratch with epoxy. Even the steering column and frame he welded. The only thing he bought was the tires.

These old school fabricators are hard to come by now and I hope to get some garage time with Jack and learn at least a little.

For $12.00, a nice bottle of wine, and a framed picture of his soap box derby car winning a race I have an original fiberglass front fender ready to go to the body shop, who will sand it down and fill it up (little to none will be required) where necessary, prime and paint.

In early 2012 I will work with Jack and my dad to learn how to work with the epoxy and repair my dad's Sun Fish sail boat. After that experience I should be confident working with the epoxy and have the ability to make repairs to fenders and such -- of course not as good as Jack did.

Servetta Jet200 frame $200 from Craiglist

2011-05-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

I just bought the following for my mentor Mike in So. Cal. who has a set of Jet200 cases that need a frame.

My commission for picking up the tire is the spare tire holder -- actually I asked Mike if he was married to it and he gave it to me. Now I need to determine if it is considered period correct for my restoration.
I think he paid a fair price for what he bought.

Clutch materials

2011-02-27T17:43:00.000-08:00

Along with my Christmas Gift exhaust pipe I received Surflex clutch corks and the up-rated springs. The philosophy of both my mentor Mike A. and Peter L., Mods & Rockers Vapor Blasting, is it is better to build up the lower end in the chance that I upgrade the top-end at a later date. It will save me time and money this way . . . not to mention up-rated springs will run just fine in my stock bike I have been told.

Big Bore Exhaust

2011-02-20T13:01:00.000-08:00

When I first bought the bike I planned to use a DeanSpeed 190 along with a GP Big Bore pipe. The scoot had no pipe nor carb so I figured if I was going to buy these items anyways I might as well mildly tune it for enjoyable riding. Seeing as I slow to restore, due to cash and time, advances have been made in the top-end options and those advances are beyond my wallet at this time, so I plan to run my bike much closer to stock. It will be treated as a rider as opposed to a museum relic.With that said, I opted to put a budget-friendly Big Bore pipe on it. I was very close to buying the recently-released-again Tutto pipe and honoring the stock TV for a truer purer restore. But at $230 plus for the Tutto and $130 for the AF Rayspeed/KBA/Uni and a mild power adjustment I opted for the Uni. I'd like this bike to leave my garage a couple days per week if possible.

Thanks for the birthday gift mom and dad.

Brass throttle pulley

2011-02-19T19:40:00.000-08:00

After hunting for a year plus, at times more aggressively, I came across a Series III Li brass throttle pulley. I bought it from Rudy in PDX for $12.50 including shipping.

He took care to package it so nicely. That's the best packaging I have ever received.

I need to buy some Brasso or appropriate cleaner (after I research options) and I suspect this lil' guy will clean up nicely. The teeth are in good shape, which I made sure before buying.

I have had the part for a few months, but haven't gotten around to posting much lately.

Super thin spanners

2011-02-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

You always hear the "right tool for the job makes all the difference." When working with Chris B. on my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180he really encouraged me to purchase these spanners from Snap-On's Thin Line and I must say, though terribly spendy at $25 per wrench, they saved me a ton of time. The third wrench is made by Park, a bicycle brand, and is a great cheap wrench to put in your bike's tool box.

Anoraks vs. Soul Builders vs. Kitters

2011-01-29T11:49:00.000-08:00

The way I see there are three types of restorers and we all fall somewhere along a continuum with Anoraks at one end and Kitters at the other end with the Soul Builders somewhere towards the center. I am no Anorak -- not because of a lack of dedication or interests, but because of a lack of money for the most part. I am not a Kitter, because I believe in the "soul" of the bike. I guess that makes me a Soul Builder? I restored my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180 from the ground up. It has only one modern item -- PX HT Coil. I rebuilt the shocks for God's sake. The colors are not true per an Anorak, but exactly what my wife wanted. I left the speedo completely original to honor the history of the bike -- the soul if you will. There are two holes in the leg shield, I jokingly said were for a gun rack on the farm, and those were accidently not filled when the body work was done. So I chalked the lesson up and convinced myself, that's part of the soul of that scoot. Now I am not saying our mistakes in restore can be called "soul capturing," but I can understand how and why restorers leave the body as-is with original paint and a ding here and there. The patina, if you will, tells the history of the bike and honors the "soul" of the scoot. I get that and see that argument. Plus, fully originally is more desirable and valuable. To be honest if I did not buy my scoot in pieces and if assembled as-is it would not be three different colors, I would skip painting it and honor the original bike. Unfortunately, that is not what I bought. If I had, it would save me thousands of dollars in my restore and produce I more desirable scooter than I will have in the end.

So where is post going? Per my previous Vapor Blast post, I was really pissed about the ground down area (not chipped after all) on the NOS chain case I bought. I couldn't just get over it. It does not look good and it was a bad financial investment as well. So I wrote Gene M, who I bought it from. I "HIGHLY" respect Gene and all of my mentors do too. He is knowledgable and shares his knowledge freely. He helps so many of us. He is honest and trustworthy and all around a good guy that I will continue to do business with on my Vespa and Lambretta.

With that said, I wrote him and asked if the wrong chain case had been shipped to me by accident, because my case had a chip on it and I expected it to be cleaner as an NOS case and he knew that I was going to vapor blast it as well.

His response was insightful for all NOS parts:

"We only had 1 NOS Chaincase cover - which is the one you got. In the 25 years I have owned and been working and selling parts and scooters I have never seen another.

NOS means, New Old Stock. So it is an original, unused stock item. That means it has had 30 years of sitting around on a shelf. Even back in the 60s when they were making these things new, they were never treated in such away as to prevent minor blemishes and chips. They were literally just stacked on top of each other - I've seen videos where the complete engines were piled on top of each other in the factory waiting for install into the frames.

Check out the movie "Mafioso" - the first 5 mins shows a man walking through the Innocenti factory while they are assembling the scooters - it's a real eye opener.

We tried to take the best possible pic of the cover as well, if you look at the original pic, versus the nice vapor blasted cover now you can see it looks miles better now, originally it was a bit scuffed.

Check out that movie though - it’s a good mafia movie as well but the factory images are amazing!"

So what does this mean for my Lammy? It means, this case is here to stay at least for now. It's cool that it will sport an NOS case and if the blemishes took place in the Innocenti Factory, then am I honoring the "soul" of the bike am some way?

Replace kick start shaft

2011-01-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

For the past year or two I have looked for the original kickstart shaft. Mine was welded on my engine. I have the early Li style -- aka the weak one. After hunting and hunting I found one.Mike in Portland, Oregon sold me his. The teeth look good, but I do notice some difference and wonder if that could be a problem or not? For example in the photo below -- my original is on the left. The one I bought looks like it was ground down and is missing the lip. Is that a problem?
Here's another view of the ground down area.

When you look at that area closely, you can see that the lathe left perfect circles in my mine a then with use, I assume that mine was worn down on half of the area.

As you can see the teeth are much better on the replacement kickstart shaft, but when you look very closely at the geared area you can see very subtle differences as if these were not cast from the same mold.
Continuing with the idea of different molds for the casts notice the difference in thickness of the bases pictured below and the overall slopes of the raised areas. Could this mean these are different shafts? The measurements are almost dead even and the later type Li and the GP styles measure totally different as per Stickey's Manual.
Looking at the two side-by-side you can see differences.
I will ask my mentors to make sure I did not buy the wrong kickstart shaft.

Follow-up:

My mentor Mike said:
"The replacement kick start shaft will be fine. Remember to replace the locating pin on the plunger when you install it in the new case. Make sure all is clean and well greased.

The grinding is so the shaft doesn't rub on the clutch basket. This happens when the bushings work their way in to the motor,an incorrectly shimmed clutch or an incorrectly shimmed kickstart shaft. By grinding it, it gives the motor a little bit of room for error when things wear out. Don't over grind because it will weaken it.

As long as the dimensional measurements are the same on the kick shaft you are OK."

Vapor blasting

2011-01-18T20:00:00.000-08:00

If you are having trouble viewing the above slideshow or to see the slideshow in a larger format watch it on YouTube.

Individual photos can be seen here in a large format thank you to Peter.

Today, I received photos from Peter of ModsRockers. Peter provided quality service throughout the entire process -- even so much as to create a gift certificate when my parents gave me the birthday gift to fund this vapor blast project.

(

I started this process off with two chain cases to choose from.

The first chain case (slides 2-3) had a crack that was recommended to be repaired using JB Weld by mentor Stu W. Peter's response was: "I did some light work on your primary cover crack today and just wanted to let you know what to expect. That is a really bad crack and although I can jb weld it from the inside to prevent any leaking, you will always be able to see it from the outside. I knocked the rift down quick and vapor blasted the crack to give a better perspective as to what it will look lime when it's done. Please remember that I would still need to finish sand it but that will have no bearing on the cracks look when it's all done. I've attached a before and after picture for reference.

Now I'm not going to tell you what to do but I just want to know that you will be happy with it when it's all done. I could get it welded up for you by my super welder buddy but that's risky because if the alloy is of a low quality it will get all funky from the heat and not look any better. Not to mention the cost which would probably fair between $30 and $50.
It's your bike so just let me know before going forward. Thanks! Peter"

The second case (slides 4-5) has a chip/ding. I reached out to my mentor Mike A. and he told me "I was able to look at the first photo on the part 2 email. The kicker stop is damaged and should be repaired or replaced. Why not have it welded? I have had a couple of case covers that cracked there. It happens when the front sprocket comes loose or was not tightened correctly when the cover was installed."

At this point, I decided to spend $50-$70 for a new chain case in better shape -- worthy of being vapor blasted. My research showed that used cases can go for as much as $100 in good shape and they are not as easy to find as I expected. A fellow LCUSA member was willing to sell me a case, but he was hesitant to split a complete engine. I eventually found a NOS chain case at Scooters Origanli and paid $100 for it. I shipped it directly to Peter (save shipping costs and time) and in the photo it looked so clean. I had Gene confirm it was NOS and again Peter confirmed it. What I failed to ask is if it was worthy for vapor blasting. Sadly, in my opinion, it was not. If I had known I would have purchased a used one that would have cleaned up better and probably saved some money and the fact that every time I see my case (even in a photo) I get pissed off, because I screwed my chance to have near perfection, which is my goal for a restoration. Damnit!! Hell, it would even been better to have known and welded it. At this point I feel like I have to settle for imperfection, because I have a modest budget and can't correct my mistakes. I can't afford to make and correct mistakes. It will cost another $50-100 for a decent case, $30 to blast, and $20 to ship. No one is going to pay $130 for my case if I tried to sell it. I lost money on this one. Damnit!! Please learn from my mistake. I thought NOS meant it would be clean. I thought it was clean. Ask. Ask for details before you pay. Avoid feeling pissed off and sad like I do. I don't want to look at my bike and have this feeling when I see the case chip.

My mentor Mike agreed with me:
"The thing I have found with vapor blasting is the better the surface the better the end result will be.

I would have had that case cover welded first but that's the way it goes. Too bad the marks are where they are. There is no hiding them unless you run an expansion chamber."

Peter said that the blemishes will be hidden, which helps a little, and informed me they may feel wet when I receive them:
"It definitely looks a bunch better now than when it arrived. The blemishes are all pretty hidden so you wont really see it. Parts will be greasy to the touch but they will dry out over time and brighten up again. If they are not completely dry when you fire it up the first time, they will be after a few minutes so don't worry about it. Enjoy!"

Without a doubt the product that Peter sells is high quality and many other restorers agree with that and furthermore his service was excellent and advice was helpful. He was very hands-on. Beyond vapor blasting he treats the parts with a clear coat that helps keep it clean looking for a long time after use. I recommend using ModsRockers and wish it was available when I had my wife's SS180 engine rebuilt.

Soda Blasting the top-end

2010-11-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

Since I plan to paint (per stock) the top-end I needed to clean it for paint and my neighbor, Travis T., kindly offered to do it for me for free.

The first step Travis did was to soak the head in warm soapy Dawn water for a day or two. It was a bit grimy as you can see.

The muck was caked on.

Then he hit it with a copper wire brush to free the dirt off. Soda blasted it and to prevent rust submerged it back in water. When I came to pick it up he hit it with compressed air to dry it off.

This is the piece he is happiest with. It came out great. He recommended that I clean the inside of the holes (not the barrel) and consider having a light sandblasting so the paint has something to grip on to.

Travis owns the world's tiniest sand blaster and that is what he used to clean my top-end.

Thank you Travis!

The bottom-end will be vapor blasted.

More tools from my father-in-law

2010-09-05T12:20:00.001-07:00

The most recent tool my father-in-law created for me is the flywheel holder.
I asked him if he'd willing to make more and sell these if any Lammy owners needed one and he said he could do it for $20 (he lives in Portland, Oregon). Not so much to turn a profit, but more so help other restorers and wrenchers out.
If you're in need, PM me on LCUSA.

He also made me a hub holding too from a free busted up 1/2 rim I got from Guillermo of Lambretta Works. Thx G.

A Thank you is due

2010-01-23T18:21:00.000-08:00

Thursday night, the local SC, First & Last Chance Scooter Club, met for its monthly drink. Just like to scoots I am a relative newbie to the club as well. I struck up a conversation with two more experienced scooterists and restorers, Paul S & Dano. I started to go on about the great customer service I have received from some scooter shops. Paul, who has been in the scene for I'm guessing a couple decades, told me about the mod-revival days and the history of all the shops. In those days, you had a catalog and a phone number and called the shops for the parts and advice. Those shops were accustomed to holding their client's hands and walking them through the challenges the scooters offered the owners. That hit the nail on the head for me!

There are a few scooter shops who held my hand for hours via the phone and email and to be honest probably did not make enough money off of me for what they invested in me, but what I can tell you is their passion for vintage bikes lives through me and now the SS180 and at some point the TV175.

For the Lambretta hand-holding, a true O'G scooterist is Gene, of Scooters Originali. Overall I can only say great things about him. He continues to hold my hand each and every step of my Lambretta restoration. He is also great with Vespas. Mark, of Jet200, is new to the shop scene, I believe, but other club members also love him. He is a very fair guy and works with you until you are happy.

For the Vespa hand-holding I can not thank enough Alex, of Motorsport Scooters. He is a very knowledgeable resource and genuinely cares about people. He is a lot of fun to speak with. David, of First Kick Scooters. David is the most calming person in the scooter culture I spoken with. He has hunted on his own time to help me trouble shoot many issues and always came back to me with answers. He has always taken great care of me. Mic, of ScooterShop, is another O'G, like Alex. He is a hoot to talk with and is also very knowledgeable. He moves at the speed of light in conversation. Danell, of Scooter Parts Direct, also took very good care of me and even referred me to competitors when I was in a pinch for a part she did not have.

There are other shops that I have had positive experiences with, but the ones listed above are the ones I frequented the most.

Attention diverted

2010-01-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

My wife is due with our second child within the next 3-5 weeks and that's where my attention is. We have our hands full with Hudson Rogue, our 3-year-old boy, and soon I will need to be very available for him when my wife is caring for the infant. Gender unknown.

With every penny I can squeeze I am acquiring all the parts I need for my TV175 S3, but not really working on the bike. I have also spoken with my father-in-law to design a couple more tools.

Parts Acquition

2010-01-01T13:24:00.001-08:00

I continue to acquire parts as my wallet allows and have a very clear list at times like my birthday or Christmas. Thanks to my folks this Christmas I received:

- Indian front dampeners
- MB Developments body hardware kit (mudguard, bridge, horncast, etc.)
- Tire jack

It is less expensive to replace the hardware individually as needed, but I lacked all of the proper black grommet pieces that the bike is supposed to have so that everything properly fits. The hardware is stainless steel. I note some nylocs as well as "stamps" on the heads of some of the hardware. I am not sure that I will grind the "stamps" off on this restoration as I do not plan a 100% anorak's restore. There will be some mild mods so I may keep the hardware as-is/

My wife searched to buy me a 42mm silver Big Bore GP200 exhaust pipe, but the shops I deal with are out of stock. Once the pipe arrives from India I will get one. The shops are all waiting.

I am considering purchasing this TV175

2009-11-27T12:44:00.000-08:00

More information to follow.

Repro panels. Not original light. Fires up and runs. Did not check lights, but supposedly they all work correctly. Seat cover not original. Bodge job on front fender. Owner used lacquer to remove rattle can black spray paint to stock white color. Was found in a salvage yard. No title.

It started 2nd kick and I rode it around in 1st gear. Getting into 2nd was tricky. Needs a cable adjustment.

The asking price is $3000. It was listed at $3500 earlier on, but was not purchased. My mentors say that $3000 is asking too much for a project scooter. When you add up the cost of the scoot and what it will take to restore it versus what it will be worth the value doesn't even out. If it were a TV200 or SX200 I would be more likely to buy it on the spot, but I am not married to this bike, since I already have one in my garage in pieces and I paid a lot less. One mentor told me he'd pay no more than $800 for it without the title. It seems a fair offer and smart offer is $1,000. And I need to remember the bottom line and the value of the scoot when all is said and done. $3000 is too high for this specific scoot. Not a smart investment, especially if I would ever need to sell in the future.

Removing the silent blocks / engine mounts

2009-11-26T12:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

I got some garage time with my 3-year-old son this morning and removed four silent blocks from my two TV175 cases.

I heated the case (not the blocks) with propane first and then applied the "SB removal tool" and it came off easily.

Using a ratchet allowed me the strength to turn it out without much of hassle.
I repeated the process for my spare TV175 engine.
And away I put the cases.

Thanx to local club member Mike C., who loaned me is SB removal tool. I have one as well, but it needs three cuts in the pipe and then it is done.

If you're interested in making one it doesn't take much and will cost no more than $10.

I have plans right HERE to make your own SB Removal Tool. It's really easy. I designed this before I saw Mike C.'s. And they are basically the exact same concept, except mine was made of scrap and cost me no more than $2.50.

Clutch shifter purchased

2009-11-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

I bought two items last week from Paul S. at his superstore. I bought a brass gear pulley (pre-mod) and the clutch shifter. I didn't realize that this is the second gear pulley I bought since Scooter Parts Direct sold me a "mislabeled" throttle pulley on clearance. So now I have two gear pulleys and this one is true Innocenti stock. I paid $25 for the gear pulley and $35 for the clutch perch. I believe that it is Series III and it is the later type since it uses the fatter levers (see Stickey's Manual for reference). It matches the TV switch perch shape I bought and they both use the fatter levers.

The lever hole is not oval'd out at all. It's in good shape. I need to use a razor blade and check the metal beneath the grip -- per Stickey.

I also need to confirm that this is a Series III perch from someone more experienced. It is a Series III perch, but it is "post mod" and I learned so is my switch side perch. I need pre-mod. I learned from my Mentor Mike A. that there are three types for the Series III:

Yeah that's a S3 clutch perch. Keep in mind there are 3 styles. Early, late and Indian. The Early ones have a raised point around the lever pin hole and run the flat blade type shifter rod with a splined end, later ones have the plastic pully rod and do not interchange. and Indian GP are wider at the alloy end to match the headset. From the photo your looks like an early one which would be correct for the TV.

I cut the grip off to identify it. Mike A. also taught me:

If it has a thin slot (1/8" or less) it's early, if it's 1/4" or more it's late. Another identifier for pre-mod is there is a "raised" area where the lever screw goes through (on the bottom side).

Unfortunately, both the clutch and switch perch I have do NOT have the raised area at the lever pin and are therefore post-mod and will not work with the brass pulleys I intend to use. I believe post-mod uses the plastic pulleys, but do NOT quote on that. I will try to trade or sell my perches. They are in great condition with no ovaling in the lever pin hole. The tube is clean of rust and there are no dents in it.

Front Dampener Choice

2009-11-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Originally I planned to build a performance TV175 with a stock-ish look, but being a High School English Teacher my wallet is just not that big and now after restoring my wife's Vespa SS180 I have develop a serious appreciation of nearly bare-bones stock -- the upgrades are only for reliability, such as a electric ignition and stainless steel hardware and such -- all mild mods.

The three shock brands I looked at were the Italian repros, Sebac, & Escorts. I posted for buying advice on the LCUSA forum (you need to be a member to read this). I learned from a mentor who owns a TV200 that the Italian repro shocks not only did not perform as well as the stock ones, but they also leaked. I heard this from at least one other person. They cost $50 per shock. The Sebacs are $45 per shock and look stock and perform much better, but for $22 per shock you can buy Escorts which are a slight performance improvement over the Sebacs at the sacrifice of not looking stock, because the shocks are fatter in diameter. This is a big no-no for those anoraks out there. In a pinch, you may be able to squeeze gators over the Escorts and trick the eye into believing they are stock.

Without a doubt, I would like NOS or to rebuild some original ones, but I am not sure how quick and easy those would be to find.

The recommendation from LUCSA is to buy the Escorts if I plan to enjoy riding my bike as opposed to looking at it as being 100% correct.

R1/R6 Shock

2009-11-13T18:01:00.001-08:00

My most recent purchase was a 2002-2003 R1 rear shock from Craigslist. I paid $30, but hope to sell the linking arm for $7.50. The seller went down on his bike and was parting it. He says the shock had 8,000 miles on it and was in great condition. He asked $40 and offered $30 and he bit. On eBay, with shipping, you are looking at $35 and can buy the shocks for just under $20. You can also find the shocks for under $20 locally on Craigslist if you keep your eyes open. I watched the Bay Area Craigslist and never saw it for less than $30 and I also posted I was I wanted to buy one.

A fair price for a R1/R6 shock is $20-40 and you can usually find it locally and avoid paying shipping. Most of my fellow Lammy owners seem to have R6 shocks and I wrote them for advice on the shock, which you can read here (if you are a LCUSA member). I think if I waited a while longer I could have trimmed $10 off the price I paid. Part of me wishes I waited a little longer, but I have been looking on and off for a year now and the price was fair so I went for it.

I already own the spring and had it powder coated in black. You can see it here.

I had purchased the spring and brass bushings first. Photo is here.

It is important that you buy a 2005 or older shock to ensure it fits and follow these directions.

Note: I sold my left over swing arm for $10 in less than 24 hours on Craigslist. That brought my R1 shock cost down to $20. Though, I have seen the swing arms sell for $15-35 online and the buyer of mine said people are paying $131 at a local used parts store. So if you can sell your's for $20 and you buy the shock at $20 you will get a free shock.

Download a Parts List. Don't start from scratch!

2009-08-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of hours invested in creating a pretty thorough parts list for S.3 Lammy's. There will be times in the future when you some of you will need to create such a list and over time, we'll just continue to recreate the wheel. I am putting an end to that now:

I have published two spreadsheets (sheets 1 & 2) for you to (1) add to and grow for others and (2) download and adapt for your own purposes. It is a Google Docs file and you can copy/paste or export it into MS Excel and alike.

Here it is and here is where it will stay.

Please put it to use and pass it along . . .

A very easy way to look up your part number and part name for your bike is to use the Interactive MB Developments' Interactive Diagram Manual.

I also recommend that immediately after you disassemble your scooter you photograph the parts that you have, because you will likely pack it all up to keep your shop clean and looking at a picture is faster than rummaging through boxes of parts.

For example, here is my bike minus the incomplete second engine and frame parts:

More Misc. Parts:

Engine parts:

Engine Case Cleaning

2009-08-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

This post is a continuation of my previous research.

I can not find anyone who soda blasts or vapor/dry ice blasts in the Bay Area. Crap. So here are alternatives my research turned up beside medium blasting.

"I didn't blast my cases. I first cleaned them some nasty brakecleaner stuff (only as much as needed) and scrubbing, then soaked themin a big rubbermaid tub filled with gallons of household vinegar. Thetrick is to only leave them there for a few days (depending on how dirty) and not longer. Vinegar is a great solvent but can also eat
away at plating (eg for the hardware) if left too long. It will also eventually dissolve cast iron. Don't ask me how I know this. Anyway, just a few days in the vinegar bath, then out they come and more scrubbing, perhaps with some brake cleaner or solvent, but more likely with just a bunch of simple green. Then buff with a brass wire brush
(steel wool works too but can fray into tons of little bits). Fine auto finish sandpaper would probably work too. This gives it a nice matte factory finish. I am not a fan of painting or chroming cases--maybe for a custom bike, but I didn't want it for my TV. I have never tried media blasting but that would probably work too if you did some prepwork on the cases and had a guy you could work with and understood instructions. You want softer media of course (the
shop I go to for other parts uses walnut shells) and might even get a nice satin finish." - Ming

No powder coat

2009-08-12T19:36:00.000-07:00

I am not gonna powder coat my scooter after all for a couple reasons: (1) my front fender is fiberglass and can not go in the oven (2) my body work is not perfect and will require work pre paint and there is no guarantee the prep will survive the over and finally (3) gas tanks with welds don't do well in the oven.

Finally, getting a correct paint match is not possible (with PPG either). Here's what was said on the LCUSA forum regarding matching powder coat color.

This is what my research turned up:

"Greetings. Ramble mode "on." I've got mixed emotions about poweder coating. That said, I've heard good things about Maas Bros. Though I used a joint in Concord for my stuff. The mixed emotions are based on the fact that while powder coating is tough you simply can't repair it. Plus, you'd be hard-pressed to get the powder coat to match the paint you'll use on the FG fender. "Conventional" paint is more expensive 'cause there's just more work involved.

Of the restorations in our fleet some are powder coated, some are painted with "conventional" paint and some are even rattle can. The body work on Anne's CB160 race bike has held up very well over the last few years - it was rattle canned. WCLW did the paint on my Series II about 10 years ago and, for the most part, it's help up well too. Plus, I can touch it up if I ever get around to it.

If you're going for a 100 point restoration I'd go with conventional paint - as much as the powder coated stuff we have looks like "paint" on close inspection you can tell it's not.

Bottom line - I think you get what you pay for in a finish job. Regardless of what route you go, ask lots of questions about the prep work - that's key to a good finish. Ramble mode "off." Ciao." - Dave Stark

"The problem with powder coating.......... Where do I start? Think of it like chroming. The base metal has to be in really good shape for starters. Then you have the heat aspect of it. You can warp a frame pretty easily by heating and cooling it. Grounding issues, it's tough to ground electrics through the powder. Color matching is harder, the finish isn't as good as paint usually and sand blasting removes base metal. Gas tanks, there is another lever of problems, grit. It's bad for carbs and top ends and gets everywhere when tanks are blasted. Anyways that's the short of it. I've had whole bikes coated before and its just not as good one would think.

I'm not anti anything, it's just some things are better suited for certain applications. Depends on what you want to powdercoat. Rims, forks, small bits are good to coat. Big stuff like frames, pannels, bars and legshields just cause more problems than it's worth." - Mike A.

"Labor rates here seem to run from $15 to $30 an hour (in Portland, OR). The paint and bodywork on my TV cost me 2000 in labor. With parts and supplies the total came closer to 3000. It was all 2-stage Dupont, no
powdercoating. Powdercoating is nice and durable but it does not have the same quality or repairability as a good paint job. Should be fine for stuf like hubs and rims though.

I went with a show quality finish so you get what you pay for. There are many other paint/bodywork folks in town but I've really only worked with my guy. He also did Dave's award-winning Starstream. His specialty is classic custom Harley pan-heads and shovel-heads and would rather keep to that level of finish. Rudy has his own paint &
body person as does Mike. Mike's guy does single stage which is nice for vintage bikes and gives them a more period look." - Ming

For those in the Bay Area that want to Powder Coat, the best price I found for a single color was $300-$400 for a Lambretta at Maas Brothers Powder Coat in Livermore, CA.

Li vs TV Forks?

2009-08-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

When Stu sold me the TV he showed me how his machinist destroyed the original TV forks (as noted in my earliest posts) and he told me that the only difference between his Li forks and the TV was the shock mounts, which he has his welder (a hot rod guy) weld on correctly and I received the Li forks. The idea being that no one would know the difference, not even an anorak with a ruler.

Then it hit me, would my TV fork links work with Li forks? Crap! So I emailed Mike A. and asked him if there would be a difference for the fork links. This is what he said:

"Jem Booth listed all the head tube length diffrences between forks. In theory they should be the same for S3 chrome ring bikes but in reality they can be difrent. The info is posted on the LCGB and LCUSA, but I don't have the links handy. You will have to measure the 2 forks and see if they are the same. The use which ever one fits your frame best." - Mike

I emailed Stu and asked him to measure the TV fork and I will measure the Li one. Then compare using what Jem Booth posted.

Dealing with a stained seat

2009-08-06T15:28:00.001-07:00

As you can see I have a stained seat. I posted a request for help on the LCUSA forum and here is what transcribed:

Below you can see what the seat looked like pre-cleaned with saddle soap.

"I placed my red bench seat upside down on top of its springs and grease made its way onto the seat quite visibly. Any reason I should NOT use Murphy's Oil Soap or some other leather cleaner on it?
If so, what do you recommend I clean it with and why?" - Jeremy

Below is a picture of the seat after three washes using saddle soap. See it shine.
"..probably vinyl and not real leather. Gonna be hard to wash with the hard rubber backing. I'd try mild soapy water and a soft sponge, don't scrub." - ALexM

Below is another picture of the seat after being cleaned in the natural sun light. As you can see the entire seat responded well to the cleaning, but the stain is still there and didn't seem to improve.
"Alex is right, mild dish soap or diluted Simple Green to clean the vinyl. If you want to make it look pretty after that then I recommend something like Meguiars Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner. Gives it a matte shine unlike Armor All which makes it look wet all the time and is so slick your ass will probably slide right off." - Ming

Below is a close up of one of the main stains after the cleaning.
"Try gojo hand cleaner with or without pumice" - Rude De / "What Rude De said. I have used it for many years to clean paintjobs too. Make sure to use non pumice on paintjobs." - DiryHandsLopez

Below is a picture of the smaller main stain. Picture is a little out of focused so you can't tell that the stain is worse than what you see here.
"IMO,
It depends on how old and worn the seat is. If its older, it will be more porous and likely to stain from any sort of cleaner you put on there. My guess is it is probably is a bit aged because if it was newer vinyl it might not have gotten stained from grease in the first place...just a guess. Therefore, if it was me, and especially if its an original seat, I would clean the whole thing with saddle soap (follow instructions, get it nice and foamy with a bit of water and a sponge and wipe it off right away. I like to keep a little bucket of water to rinse the sponge in) starting from the front and work toward the back. While going over that stained area, I would introduce a bit of simple green for a while if its stubborn but move past it fairly quickly until you do the whole seat. Then come back to it if you didnt get it all the first time around. Let it dry. If the simple green didnt work well enough and the whole thing looks like it responded well, I would do it all over again and then yes, try the gojo on the spot this time. I would avoid doing any sort of spot cleaning especially if the cleaner had any sort of a oily, solvent or parafin type base.

my three cents.
mo peace and less grease, Beat

Oh, of course do this out of direct sunlight while the seat's not hot." - Beat

Below you can see a small tear I have in the vinyl. I hope to use a vinyl glue to prevent it from tearing any more.
"Sad and good news. The entire red seat responded well to the saddle soap. I washed it three times in a row. First with a light wash. Then heavy and finally a medium lather to wrap it up. The seat looks great, except for the fact that the stains are still 100% there. I feel a bit pissed at myself, because I put the seat in the situation that resulted in this stain unneccesarily. Stupid! I did not have Simple Green or Gojo. I assume you recommend Simple Green with the method you suggested and then Gojo if that's a no go? Any other suggestions?" - Jeremy

Below is a picture of the emblem and rear end of the seat. I want to determine if this is an original seat or not.
Does this look like an original stock seat to you guys?

Here is the entire seat below.
Above is the seat frame and the underside of the upholstered part.

What I find interesting here is there appears to be a price tag or some type of label on the underside of the seat.

Soda blasting and powder coating in East Bay San Francisco

2009-07-29T21:33:00.001-07:00

I have been in contact with Aidan, a fellow LCUSA member, and we have been hunting for a local soda blaster. I posted the question on LCUSA's forum and Guillermo of Lambretta Works suggested"Leons Powder Coating" in Oakland, CA. I emailed the Leon Family for the following estimate(s):

Hello Leons Family,

I am restoring a 1962 Italian Lambretta motorscooter. It is all metal. There are three things I'd like to you if (1) you do, (2) what the ball park estimate is, and (3) what type of turn around can I expect?

---------- Projects ----------
1) I need to have two engine (3/4s the size of lawn mower engine) cases soda blaster. I have a friend who may also wish to do one to two of his engines at the same time if we can get a "batch" rate on the job.

2) My scooter will require some very light body work straightening out two to four panels of the body.

3) I would like to have my entire scooter body prepped and painted in two colors. It would look like this:
http://www.smellofdeath.com/lloydy/images/Jays_tv175_1.jpg

This may serve as a point of reference:
http://lambrettarestoration.blogspot.com/2007/10/vision-for-when-all-is-said-and-done.html

The majority of the parts are quite small.

In coral red (Lechler system colors #8065)
fork, frame, leg-shield, handle bar and headset, floorboard tunnel, wheel hubs, front disc brake backing plate, wheel rims, spare wheel holder, glove box lid, tail-light body, fuel tap hatch, stand, stand mudguard, right-hand rear running board L-bracket air intake (beneath saddle), side-panels, front cowling, horn grille, and front mudguard (fiberglass).

In new white (Lechler system colors #8059):
fuel tank, rear mudguard, cylinder head, air intake manifold (2 pieces), glove box, air box, filter carrier, fuel tank support strap, and battery support strap.

---------- ---------- ---------- ----------

I recognize I provided an abundance of information, but I figured too much is better than two little). I suspect it is possible that you have also done some work on vintage Lambretta scooters as well. Guillermo of Lambretta Works says you guys do great work.

Note: I will post the response. I am very close to being ready to soda blast my engines.

Update: July 31, 2009.

I am beginning to research the prep and paint process of my scoot.

I considered soda blasting the engine cases, but am now looking into vapor/dry ice blasting, because there is no clean up of the cases and it is supposed to be a lot cheaper.

For powder coat I have turned up:

I am in discussions with Leons Powder Coating & Sand Blasting now. $250 quote for major parts and small parts will be extra. I am trying to find out the cap on the entire bike for media blast and powder.

I just spoke with Curtis of Melrose Metal Finishing in East Bay. He quoted me $1200 cash (I asked him to HIGH ball his quote and he did) to medium blast and powder in two colors using the RAL system or paint chip. He said the bike must be delivered with all body work done and ready to be blasted and painted. He has worked on motorcycles before. He does not want to powder coat the gas tank, because the heat and the seams of the tank. He would rather liquid paint this. He really recommended going with wet paint if there is a body work to be done.

A few months back a local club member, Mike C., was telling me how impressed he was with the knowledge of powdering a scooter from a phone call he had with West Coast Powder Coating in South San Francisco. He was quoted $1000 for the whole Lambretta. He didn't end up using him, but he said it sounds like this guy knows what's up.

Lambretta tools by Dien Nguyen

2009-07-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law has 30 plus years experience as a professional welder and when it come to fabricating most things he can do it. Hell, he redid our entire kitchen in our previous home. He's got mad game when it comes to "projects". I cashed in yet again with him this July (2009). Mr. Nguyen is a refugee from Vietnam and escaped the fall of Saigon with less than 24 hours before it fell. He tells my wife and I stories of his love of Lambrettas when he was younger. He said that Vespas were for old people in Vietnam and young rode Lambrettas. He loves Lambrettas. We went for a ride together a few years back and he can ride too.

Anyhow, I showed him pictures and measurements of a clutch compressor I borrowed from Dano of FLCSC in Oakland and this is what he made me (note that Dano's is in back of mine):I ended up with a professional quality clutch compressor for free made from scraps at my father-in-law's work. I am pretty damn happy.

I wasn't overly worried about polishing mine, but I did grind/sand down the tip of the bolt so as it would not hurt the scoot itself. An alternative design can be found here. It would look something like this.

Another tool he made for me was the con-rod tool. Mr. Nguyen followed Jim M.'s design on this one. I can grind the inside smooth no problem, but to be honest it may not be necessary. Crude looking tools that function properly do not bother me at all as long as they do not hurt the scoot. A crude looking restoration is what would bother me.

Thanx Bo (dad in Vietnamese). As usual I owe you one!

Reference: Lambretta Tools

2009-07-27T10:44:00.001-07:00

So as you can tell I am on a tool fabrication kick and I will post pictures of the tools I have made. When you have access to free labor and free parts and the tools are free, it's hard not to get into the tool fab state-of-mind. While visiting my in-laws in Portland, I borrowed the following tools to use as a reference from Ming K. and Paul B. Thanx guys. It was so helpful to have a tool to compare it to.

Below is reference of tools - some homemade and some shop made.

Homemade clutch compressor. See previous post with Jim M.'s plans to make this tool.

Flywheel holding tool with one tooth. See Jim M.'s plans on this blog to make this tool as well. Note: the electric flywheels benefit from a longer tooth than this tool has.

Clutch holding tool. Note: it would be easier to use an old clutch plate and weld two levers to it.

Rear hub puller. I am not certain that this puller has to be circular. This in one tool my father-in-law is working on currently for me. He will use steel and a tap/dye set to run fine threads through it. I also wonder if an electrical conduit for $5 from Home Depot could be easily adapted for this tool.
I will also be able to fab this tool to remove the gudgeon pin from the piston.

I will post pictures of the tools I had made in a later post.

Lambretta tool: Jeremy Sutton's silent block extractor/installer

2009-07-26T17:53:00.000-07:00

To see the finished tool and see it in action, click here.

My very basic silent block tool design. Here's what I used:
1) 1/2 x 8 inch bolt with welded nut on one side (recommend you do not weld it for ease of use).
2) A variety of washer sizes with quite a few small ones so I can stack them up when extracting the sb.
3) 2x3 inch pipe.
4) 2 and 1/2 inch circles cut in steel with with 1/2 inch hole in middle for bolt.
5) I used an angle grinder to smooth all surfaces.

Note: one modification I will make on my next trip to Portland (where I make my tools with my father-in-law, who has 30 plus years welding experience and more) will be to cut a new pipe a bit longer with a carved arch in it to fit the engine case perfectly and ensure the sb is pulled out perfectly straight.

It is imperative that the extractor pipe is flush with your engine case so that the silent block is pulled out straight and installed in straight. Any angle than straight could result in cracking your case, seriously! I spoke with two of my mentors on this (Tom G. and Mike A.) and it's not worth taking any chances. Below, I have provided you with a template to use to cut your extracting pipe to fit your case.

Three to four cuts are required:

1) one to two cuts to cut the length of the pipe.

2) for the final two 1/2" cuts stand the pipe vertically.

3) roll the pipe on its side and cut the 3 and 6/3" cut.

My design for the silent block tool was stolen from an old LCUSA post and then somewhat adapted. You can make it easily with one trip to Home Depot as well or from scraps from a construction yard.

Here's what you need:

1) 1/2 x 7 inch bolt (get open ended. it's easier).

2) A nut for the bolt.

3) 2 x 3 inch threaded pipe.

4) 2 and 1/2 circular conduit or alike.

5) A variety of washers, with three for the small end of your sb for extraction.

Lambretta tool: Kieran Walsh's & Stewart Nicol's silent block extractor/installer

2009-07-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Below is one of the best homemade designed silent block extractor/installer tool. You can purchase these parts at Home Depot or alike in the electrical, plumbing, and hardware sections and you will be able to make this tool at a fraction of the $70 it costs to buy this tool.

Above is the plan designed by Kieran Walsh& Stewart Nicol.

The extractor is on the left side and the installer is on the right.

Here is the tricky cut outs to fit the engine case.

2 inch section.

2 and 1/2 inch section.

Thanx for sharing Kieran.

Lambretta tool set part #2

2009-07-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

I want to make my own silent block (engine buffer) extrator/installer tool. I found these instructions in the LCUSA archive. The detailed photographs are helpful. I also asked fellow LCUSA members how they have done it and here is the response I got:

The original BBS thread here:

artclone
Member since Apr-29-03
20 posts Mar-12-04, 09:37 PM (EDT)
"RE: Lambretta Engine Silent blocks removal"
In response to message #1

I followed instructions I found on this list - do a search. The instructions below are good, but the original was better.

It is easy to make a good puller/press yourself. Bring your silent block to the local hardware store. I went to ACE. You can make a puller with standard, non-metric, parts - pipe and nuts, bolt, and washers.

There is no way to break a case using this puller. Broken cases are caused when people use hammers to do this job.

Go to the plumbing section and get a standard iron pipe wide enough to just fit over the silentblock (sb from now on) and a touch longer than the length of the sb. This is needed to pull the old silent block out.

Get 2 giant washers as wide as the outside of the pipe. These will be used for pulling and pressing.

Get 4 smaller washers as wide as the sb small end (the right ones will be a touch narrower) These will pull out the sb from the inside.

Get a bolt a bit longer than the pipe and 1/2 the silentblock and 6 washers and nut together, but not too long. It should be just narrower than the hole in the silent block.

Get a nut and a spare to fit the bolt

---------------------

this works perfectly every time. you pull the old sb out using all parts - slip the pipe over the old sb. Insert bolt and 2 small washers from inside of engine mount; nut, small and large washers on the outside. Tighten nut and bolt until sb comes out. Use heat if you really think you need to, but if the mount isn't coming out, the problem is probably with the way you are using the puller.

Check new sb and engine mount surfaces for obstructions and sand off if needed. Lightly grease the outside of the new silent block and the inside of the engine mount, gently tap sb in the case just a bit with a rubber mallet. Putting a new sb requires the bolt, nut, and 2 small and 1 large washer on both the inside and outside. Put bolt through outside this time. Press new sb in by tightening nut and bolt.

Here's a good picture of the real deal i found as well.

Crank and flywheel seized together

2009-07-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

My crank would not spin and neither would my flywheel. I suspected them to be seized together by mud, muck, and or rust. I asked my mentors how to address and here are the responses:

"The crank and flywheel not spinning is not really an issue since they are getting replaced. Could be the fly and crank side bearings are seized to the crank. You need to remove the flywheel and tap the crank out. I say tap but you will probably pound the crank out. Before you beat on it and ruin it, hit it with heat, and soak it in liquid wrench on the fly wheel side. Keep me posted."- Stu

If your primary chain is removed on the gearcase side (leaving nothing attached to the clutch side crank taper), and your cylinder is off already -- and your flywheel and crank still won't move, then either (a) the bottom end conrod bearing is locked up, (b) the flywheel is rusted to the stator (or packed with debris), (c) the flywheel side mag bearings are rusted in place, (d)the crank webs are rusted to the case, or (e) some combination of the above.

Pics might help here.

You might try pulling the flywheel and seeing if that helps." - Tom G.

Update: I ordered the flywheel puller from Scooters Originali and happily that solved entire problem. I removed the flywheel and the crank moved. I removed the crank and it looks to be in good shape. I never found what caused it all to stick together. I will post pictures in a slideshow of this. i will title it engine disassembly part 2.

Stuck flywheel bearing

2009-07-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

Emailed my mentor Mike A.

Mike,

I am working on the fly wheel bearing. Heat gun got it piping hot. I tapped the housing on a wooden surface and bearing moved a little. Reheated and tapped against wood again. No movement. Stuck in place. Used a 24mm (my largest) socket to tap it out. It went to the end is just sitting there. Won't move further. Of course the socket bent up
the metal plate behind the bearing. Crap! I will need to replace that. I will try to reheat yet again and repeat the process.

Jeremy

Mike's response:

"yep you stuck the bearing. I said I use a propane torch for a reason, the heat gun just won't get things hot enough to work right. Actually I've had good luck using MAPP gass which burns even hotter than propane but requires a little more skill to not ruin anything.

Here is how you fix it.

Use a propane torch. Cheap to buy from Home Depot or Lowes (any hardware store really)

Heat up the mag flange. Move the torch around the flange to keep the heat even.

After about 5-7 min it should be ready to go.

Now carefully tap the bearing back home, you need to free up the jam. BE VERY CAREFUL HERE, the outer part of the flange around the bearing is very thin and can easilly snap off making your mag flange in to a paperweight. Sometimes the bearing will drop back in to place but not usually.

Turn the mag over so the bearing will want to drop out, over a coffee can works well, make sure the bearing/flange is level!!!. I use my big vice to support the mag while I heat it up.

Keep heating the flange up. After about 5 min if the bearing hasen't droped out on its own then try to tap it out. You want to use a socket thats just smaller than the outer hole on the mag so the seal can EVENLY push the bearing out. If I remember right a 27mm works well (and is the same for the rear hub nut).

Things are going to smoke (a lot) and be really really hot so don't touch things with out gloves or pliers. Once I get the bearing out I like to set the mag flange (or case) aside on the garage floor out of the way to allow it to cool down. Once it's cool clean/degrease it.

Getting things back together are harder and take a bit of patience to do right and not melt the seal. You might want to have some one with some more expierence put the bearings in for you to stay on the safe side. I can do it but it might be a pain to get the parts here, it would be easier to call Barry at SF scooter center.

If you want to send the parts to me I have time to do the job. Next day turn around." - Mike

Next step: I requested and received a free propane torch from Freecycle.org and now need to get a 27mm deep socket.

Follow-up email to Mike:
The damn propane torch kept blowing out. Used the heat gun again. The hole mag flange was hot even through my gloves. I had to tap it back in a little. I borrowed a 27mm socket (a 28mm or 29mm would have worked a little better) from a neighbor. I had to tap it moderately hard to get it free and to pop out. Of course I destroyed the track on the bearing, but since I am replacing all bearings this isn't an issue. Come to think of it everyone I speak to says to always replace the bearings when restoring. Silly not to. Again, I did destroy the metal plate behind the bearing, but I suspect I can buy one of those for a few bucks. I used the coffee can idea and it worked. The bearing was really stuck in there. I wiped it out and the inside of the mag flange looks to be in good shape. The bearing I took out was engraved by hand with ZS something and a C3 after it. Is that factory stock?

By the way, FreeCycle is where I got my propane torch. Not bad.

Two more bearings to go and not much more is left.

Another purchase

2009-07-08T10:19:00.001-07:00

I received my most recent order from Danell at SPD. They had some bearings on clearance and I bought them for the 2nd engine I plan to build. I also bought a brass throttle, which I will need.

My package included:
$20 - CasaLambretta rear hub bearing (Made in Italy in Mecur packaging)
$8 - FAG 6004 bearing (made in Portugal)
$8 - SKF 6305/C3 (made in India, but I may toss this one)
$20 - Li/GP Brass throttle pulley, sm
$0 - Makino clutch plates Lambretta Li (gift from Danell. They were free included in the package).

(plus a $34 Vespa part I needed was included in the total below)

Grand total with shipping $90.77

I bought these bearings to rebuild the spare engine. I also needed those clutch plates for the spare engine so that is good. The brass pulley will be used in the restoration of my TV as it is missing.

Thx Danell for the clutch plate gift!

The Jim McClenaghan Lambretta Tool Set

2009-07-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

A while back I contacted my mentor Stu Werner about making my own Lammy tools, because my father-in-law is a welder. I asked Stu if I could do it and he said:

"Hell yes! I have a fantastic homemade tool to extract the mag flange off cases. It works on really stuck ones and pushes off the crank. I find the t-extrators can strip the holes in the mag flange if you are not extremely careful. You can use long bolts you buy at the hardware store instead of t-hadles. Thats what I have. They are the same thread pattern as the rear hub extractor bolts.(there are 2 different sizes of rear hub bolts for the extractor). I have to throw this in, when you do extract the flange off the case, heat up the case around the flange with a torch.

You could make most of the tools yourself. A clutch holder, maybe a flywheel holder, clutch compressor, clutch spring holder etc. They all look a little ghetto even the "pro" made ones..." - Stu

I posted the question on LCUSA and Jim responded:

"Most tools are fairly easily fabricated, and I've made most myself.

The easiest, is probably the clutch holder. Take an old metal clutch plate, braze or weld two 1" lugs (from 1/8" sheet) at 180 deg and you're done.

The clutch compressor is a little more complicated, but only because you need to measure it more precisely. Measure across one of your cases, allow a height for the tool of at least 4", and also give yourself some allowance on the bolt holes (to the cases) so that you can centre the compressor bolt properly. Another way around this, is to add a wide nut to the centre bolt, which will give you more leeway, but it's easier to centre using the case bolts.

A flywheel holder is also very simple. Use 3" NB pipe, with a wall thickness of less than sch 40. All you need is an off cut, so it shouldn't cost you anything. Find someone working on a construction site, and you'll be good.

You can make an engine mount tool from (UK size) scaffolding. Failling that, get 2.1/2" NB pipe, sch 80 or thereabouts and go from there.

I do have a drawing I did for a fork compressor tool around somewhere, and I can up load it if you want. If I can find the time at work, I could do drawings for all of these tools, but it won't be this week, unfortunately." - Jim

"It would be possible to make a flywheel remover, but you'd want to do it on a lathe, using hexagonal bar stock rather than pipe. The problem with using pipe, is that it would have to be heavy wall (XXS or better), and you'd still have to machine the flats on it for tightening into the flywheel. The centre bolt needs to line up precisely too, so you'd want to machine it rather than welding a nut on. Another reason to use a lathe, is because the thread size is quite unusual (metric fine for the Italian ones, I think), and it would be expensive to buy a die that large.

All in all, probably easier/cheaper to buy one from Casa or wherever.

The rear hub extractor is a little different. The type all the shops sell is a bit crap - it woks, but not too well. You could fabricate a good one, from steel plate, and a nut welded in the centre, and it would be far more gentle on the hub. The original Innocenti tool is this style (ie 2 leg gear puller). I don't have one, but it would be easy enough to make, and fairly forgiving dimensionally. There is a picture of one in the "Sticky's" manual, so we can probably figure out workable dimensions.

You'll want to use 1/4" (6mm) plate for this, and for the clutch compressor and fork link compressor.

I have a con rod holder, which you'll be able to make too. It's basically just a piece of 1/2" plate, with a slot cut in it, although 1/4" should work just fine." - Jim

A big thanx to LCUSA member Jim M. for providing the following plans to make your own Lammy tools. PDFs are available as well.

Clutch compressor:
Con rod tool:
Flywheel holder:
Fork compressor:
Jim's rear hub holder made with 1/2 an old Lammy rim:

Click photos to enlarge.

I will post photos of the tools I have made in early August as I will be visiting my in-laws in Portland, OR. I am in contact with a Lucky Bastard Scooter Club member and I may be able to have some actual tools loaned to me to use as a reference when making these tools.

Know your bearings!

2009-07-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to engines there are a couple parts you wouldn't want to even think about skimping on, such as your crank or bearings. Imagine them going.

There is a lot of crap bearings being sold via the gray market and now some reputable shops won't even carry major brands, such as SKF. And there is a lot of inconsistency of quality in the some major bearing brands. Ask your shop what their policy is on bearings.

Remember when Mongoose BMX bikes were great bikes or when Iams was one of the top three dog foods? It wasn't that long ago! Now you can find Mongoose bikes being sold at Target and Iams at Walmart. People I speak with say, Iams is great food! Until I show them the ingredients and they feel like crap for feeding it to their dog for so long. They didn't do their research -- they just went off of brand name and previous reputation.

One reputable shop told me, "The gist is that our main bearing supplier won't order SKF bearings any more, because SKF will not guarantee which country the bearings were made in. He'd order the same stuff month to month, and one month they might be from Germany, and the next from India. He has clients with much higher stress applications than us, and they need a guarantee of quality, which can't be done when the bearings come from different countries like that. So, he won't stock SKF anymore, and nor will many other proper bearing houses."

Please always ask your bearing distributer where your bearings were made (it must be stamped on the bearing) and confirm that it was made to be used in the USA.

The shop also explained to me . . .

We don't use bearings from India full stop. The quality is too up and down and there have been plenty of problems with them over the years. Some seem fine, and other have catastrophic failure.

It doesn't matter which manufacturer made the bearing. You have to know 100% where the bearing was made and which country it was intended for. Which is why we only buy bearings from the same bearing house we've been buying from for years.

NSK bearings can be made in China. It depends who you are getting them off. If there is no country of origin marked on the bearing, they are from China.

Also, if you buy a bearing that was brought in on the grey market, there is no guarantee of quality, even of it was made in Japan or Europe. Dodgy bearing dealers import cheap bearings that were made for other countries, and not intended for use in the US. They are lower quality. Look for the case "SKF USA, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, 2005". It explains it all, and even some official brand bearing dealers are doing it.

Do your research! Eating it at 60 mph on 10 inch tires isn't worth it.

I ordered most of my bearings from Kaman Industrial Technologies and two of them are stamped "Japan" and the third (6305VV.C3) is not stamped at all. I called my rep immediately and said "are they from China?" She told me according to NSK . . . "PER FACTORY ALL MADE IN JAPAN". I feel a little a nervous.

Please do comment should you know anything contrary to this.

I emailed NSK the following:

Hello NSK,

I am rebuilding a vintage Lambretta scooter that can travel upwards up 60 mph and I purchased NSK bearings (some will be exposed to gasoline/oil mixture and require the tolerance for an engine) for the engine because of the positive reputation NSK has. I purchased them through Kaman Industrial Technologies.

From doing research, I have learned that there are a lot of grey market bearings be sold in the USA, which were not intended for use in America. Some of your name-brand competitors have gone to court over this because those bearings and stamped with their name on it. Bearings that do not have the country stamped on it often come from China and may not be of USA quality.

My questions are:
1) My biggest concern is I purchased NSK 6305VVC3 Radial Ball Bearing and there is NO indication of what country it was made in. The bearing is not stamped on the metal. The seals are stamped "6305V NSK A29" and the other side is stamped "6305V NSK A33". The bearing does not even indicate it is a C3 tolerance bearing, only the box does. The box does not indicate what country it was made in. Are you able to tell me where this bearing was made? And can you tell me if it was intended for use in the USA?

2) I purchased two other bearings that are stamped "Japan" and on the back of both boxes it says "made in Japan." The bearings are: NSK NU205M Cylindrical roller Bearing and NSK 6004 Radial Ball Bearing. Can you confirm that these were made for use in USA?

My thought is it's better to ask now and get the details on the bearings. I don't want to find out in 2-3 years when I am going 65 mph on the free way for a short spurt in heavy traffic and to have a bearing fail, which has happened to other scooterists with different name brand bearings.

3) The bearings I ordered are "industrial bearings" not automotive said Kaman Industrial Technologies. Is this a problem?

Thanx in advance for your help,

Jeremy

Within four hours I received this response to my email from NSK:

"Jeremy,

Thank you for your interest in NSK. I hope the below response will help address any of your concerns.

Kaman Industrial Technologies is an Authorized NSK Distributor. It is unlikely that you would receive gray market bearings from this distributor. NSK 6305 bearings are manufactured in the US in Clarinda, IA. We do not mark our bearing that are made domestically with manufacturing location. For this particular size the C3 clearance is also not etched or stamped on
the bearing. The marking on the seals of the bearings that you have purchased include the bearing series ( 6305) and the manufacturing lot number.

NSK bearings that are marked "Japan" are manufactured in Japan and are intended for sale in the US.

You can be assured that the 6305 that you have purchased have been made in the US.

6305 bearing are used in other industries and applications other than automotive therefore the reason they were not listed as "automotive" bearings.

If you have any additional questions please feel free to contact me.

Thank you,

Heather Strack
NSK Corporation
Marketing Communications

Spare engine dilemma

2009-06-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

So I emailed my mentors the following question:

I am seriously considering rebuilding my spare TV175 engine now as I
will be building the one to go in my bike. I figure they are both
apart. Bead blast all the cases at the same time. Clean all the
parts, etc. will be easy.

I am also thinking about selling the second engine after rebuild to
help fund my restoration (but secretively I dream about finding
another TV minus the engine and having two). Here's my dilemma the
second engine is missing:

1) Entire kick start quadrant and kick start.

2) Entire top-end and piston

3) Clutch plates, springs, and the top of that assembly.

4) Possibly a crank. I have a good spare, I believe, but the one in
my other engine is currently frozen with flywheel. I just ordered a
flywheel remover tool from Gene today.

5) Bearing, seals, grommets, various hardware, etc.

6) Rear hub

7) Plate that connects to the engine case and then the flywheel

So the question is how much would a stock rebuilt with quality TV175
S3 engine go for. I am fearful that it would cost a lot to build for
a price that isn't much more than I invested in it. My other option
is to just sell the cases and parts separately if I decide to sell.

You guys all build either sell or have sold scoots and possibly
engines too . . . so I figure you guys would be the best to ask.

I have an opportunity to buy FAG or SKF bearings (I think I prefer the
FAGs as it seems they have a slightly better reputation than SKF and
no India factory bearings) for 1/2 the price I paid for NSKs and that
made me start thinking about all of this. If I am patient and rebuild
the second engine slowly I can find good deals piece by piece and
complete the engine at a lower cost, but with high quality.

At this point I am just going to hold on to what I have and see if another TV lands in my lap.

Answers:

"Yeah that's a tough call. It's one thing to build up a motor if you have a lot of spares laying around but quite a diffrent story to have to buy all the missing parts. Also it's a TV175 which can be harder to source all the correct resto parts for (top end espically).

If you still want to build another bike it dosen't hurt to have the case just sitting there untill you find a frame and all the parts to make it a complete bike. If you are worried about cost I'd sell off what you have and find a complete bike to rebuild." - Mike

Bearings

2009-06-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I research what I need to know about the individual bearings and what stresses they are under. I did this before ordering my bearings.
The above bearing came from Scooters Originali. RIV is OEM for Lambrettas and it is my understanding that it is a high quality bearing. It costs $60 and was included in my first engine parts order. I spoke with my mentor Tom G. (noted heavily in the restoration of my wife's Vespa SS180).

The following bearings I ordered from Kaman Industrial Technologies:
$50.63 - NSK NU205M Cylindrical roller Bearing (made in Japan)
$24.42 - NSK 6305VVC3 Radial Ball Bearing (made in USA)
$19.00 - NSK 6004 Radial Ball Bearing (made in Japan)

Total: $114.87 = $103.22 + $11.65 to ship to their warehouse what they did not have in stock. They shipped to my address for free, but I still needed to pay the freight cost from their sister warehouses. I dealt with Tonia Riveria at Kaman Industrial Technologies in San Leandro, Calif. and recommend her highly. She did a lot research for me regarding the bearings and was joy to work with.

I ordered my needle bearings from Jet200 along with my electronic ignition:
$12.75 - Layshaft needle bearing
$24.70 - Clutch needle bearing (qty: 2)
$12.75 - Gear cluster needle bearing

Day 1 -- Engine Disassembly

2009-06-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Issues:
- Some casing studs came out with the nut.

- At least one of the threaded holes in the casing are shot. Heli-coil?

- The kickstart lever was welded on.

- The crank and flywheel are frozen together. I don't have a flywheel remover tool yet. I hope it frees easily. I will post more on this issue later.

I will document the remainder of the disassembly and post a second slideshow for that.

Yes, I know there is a Vespa sign hung. My wife owns a 1967 Vespa SS180. A Lambretta sign will go up as well.

Note: I do not have a clutch basket holding tool, so I used a creative approach. I used a piece of wood to lock the basket and spider. I tapped the wood in with a hammer. My thought is the wood is softer than the metal and would not damage it. I then hit the screw with a impact wrench at the lowest setting just punching it for less than a second each time. Nothing moved so I stepped the wrench up to the second setting and repeated. Again nothing. I stepped it up to the third and final setting and hit again and it broke the nut free. I never fired for a full second in length with the impact wrench. It was fire and immediately release and repeat.

Lessons learned:
"One thing, never try to remove a clutch without a clutch holder. The centre basket (spider) is really soft, and almost impossible to re-align if you bend it. Hopefully yours will be OK. I bent a couple, before I realised it was cheaper (and easier) to use the proper tool.

Your flywheel should come off easily, but remember to put a new woodruff key in when you rebuild. They're cheap, so it's probably worth to have a spare." - Jim

Welded kick start

2009-06-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

I am looking into how to best resolve the issue of my welded kick start lever.

Here's a second angle. Note that the lever is not on straight, it's actually at an angle.
Using a Dremel, hack saw, screw driver, and copper head hammer I was able to free the kick start lever. The weld was cracked and the kick start lever had some play, which was a good sign. I first hit with the Dremel with sandpaper and then Dremel with a metal grinder on it. Too slow to move much. I focused on the weak spot between the split where the screw would go in the kick start lever. I got through it and then used a large screw driver to pry it open further by tapping the screw driver with a hammer. Once it was opened more I focused on grinding the weld on the kick start quadrant / stem. I rounded the edges. I tapped at the quadrant head a bit with a copper headed hammer (softer metal on the hammer) to see if I got movement. IDIOT! I didn't remove the circlip first and therefore ruined the one I had. I couldn't see it beneath the muck, but I should have known better.

There are no teeth left on either kick shaft or lever. I have a spare kick start lever, but need a shaft.

If you watch the slideshow of Day 1 of the engine disassembly you'll see the pictures.

Bottom line is I need a new kickstart shaft aka quadrant, circlip, and possibly an additional shim. Total cost is about $50. I called Gene M. at Scooters O. about this. He told me that new quadrants are designed for GPs and are stronger than the older Li/SX/TV style ones, which are known for cracking if not constantly care for. But the GP one will not fit without removing a millimeter of the chain case with a special tool Gene would loan me.

Here's the advice I received on working through this problem:

"I would hacksaw that shit off and then replace the cam inside the case. Someone welded that on there because the cam was stripped or they had the wrong kickstart. Either way they buggered it up and you get to pay for it.

It's one of the last parts you put togehter when building the motor so you can order the part and keep on building." - Dano

"Hah, when you said welded, you really meant welded! Dang, I thought you meant that the just were really stuck together... Yeah, Dano's right, there isn't much you can do other than cut it off." - P

"Wow...

Anyway, you can grind at the weld, which means you will also grind into the kick start shaft and kick starter. By the time you grind off enough material to pull the kick starter, you'll have eaten into the shaft too. Then when you go to put a new kick starter on, the shaft will be that much shorter, but will probably still work.

But, like others have said, just hack it off and get a new kick start shaft and kick start lever." - Mike C.

"One more thing to note: When you either cut off the kick start or grind off the weld, make sure you take a file or grinder to the cut edge of the shaft and bevel the end. That way it won’t catch on the bushing/bearing and score it when you remove the shaft." - Derek G.

Engine Parts Order #2

2009-05-27T18:06:00.001-07:00

I received the second parts order needed to rebuild my engine. I ordered these parts from Jet200.

Quantity / Description / Price

1 x Flywheel nut & washer - Li/SX/TV $3.99
1 x Flywheel dust cover circlip $1.50
1 x Flywheel dust cover $2.99
1 x Li electronic flywheel $90.00
1 x Electronic Wiring Loom - 12v (black) $44.99
1 x Electronic CDI & 12v Rectifier Mounting Kit $39.00
1 x Ducati CDI/Ignition coil $40.00
1 x Ducati 12v/20a AC regulator $45.00
1 x Layshaft needle bearing $12.75
1 x Complete 12v bulb kit $8.50
1 x Gear cluster needle bearing $12.75
2 x Clutch needle bearing $24.70
1 x BGM 120w electronic stator plate $95.99
1 x NGK Resistor cover (spark plug cap) $4.20
1 x HT lead / CDI rubber connector $2.00

Total: $423.36

One more package to arrive with my bearings in it and then I will have everything to rebuild the engine. Hurray!

Parts Ordered #1 for engine rebuild

2009-05-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

Below is my first parts order for my engine, which I ordered from Scooters Originali. I did not include the quantities below.

Spacer, Seal Retainer - Mag

Screw, DriveSide Oil Seal Plate

Oil Throw Washer A16

Deep Nut - 8mm

Kickstart Rubber Bumpstop

Cone Engine Bolt - Li Special/TV/SX/GP

Washer-Engine Bumpstop Rubber

Engine Rubber Bumpstop

RIV Bearing- Rear Hub Bearing RIV

Kickstart Pad - Ser 3 - Black

Spacer, Bearing Spacer - Mag

Washer, Split Lock - 7mm

Flange - Rear Hub Seal Holding Plate

Distance Nut Spacing Cylinder Cover - 8mm x 30

Nut - 7mm Jam

Seal Set - 5 Engines Seal ROLF

Main Jet - SH / Pilot PH - 106: SH1/20

Engine Mount (Silent Block) - Large
Ser 3 Special/TV/SX/GP - TUTTO (Sold in
Pairs Only)

Grand total: $188.12

Note: I spoke with Gene M. Tutto used a "blue" mark for TV and "yellow" for GP on engine mounts. Tutto says they used different hardnesses for the rubber in these two mounts, but Gene questioned if Innocenti really went through this hoop on the stock mounts. He and other reputable shops have used the GP mounts on Li/SX/TV and had great results.

Lambretta Children's Clothing

2009-04-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Children's Lambretta clothing for sale.
I need to raise $450 for the electronic ignition set-up I want for my TV175. I'm a high school English teacher and a proud dad to a 2.5 year old, which means to my Lambretta it needs to wait a long time for parts money. It is my goal to completely rebuild the engine this summer and then some. In order to do that I need to buy my BGM electronic ignition. So I am creating a fundraising event for my TV. I am selling applique Lambrettas (think iron-on patches which are iron & sewn on and totally safe in the washing machine and will handle toddler abuse) on onesies for infants through 24 months. Pictured above is my son wearing one my shirts (Note: I have not added the cross stitching around the profile yet, which will add a nice subtle texture to it and make very durable).

I have a variety of templates, which include Series I, II, III, & a couple Lambros. Personally, I have always wanted to dress my son in a Lambretta shirt and I think he looks cute and stylish in this one-of-a-kind Lambretta shirt.

Onesies are for sale at $15.00 plus postage. I have a variety of fabrics that are friendly to both boys and/or girls. I just need to know the size of onesie, the model of Lammy you want, and gender of the child. I can use a color thread or a clear thread (basically invisible). Just let me know. If you are a LCUSA member you can PM me at JeremyJSutton.

Remagnetized stators

2009-04-19T08:14:00.000-07:00

I asked Gene M. about the remagnitized stators when considering building a fully stock motor and this is what I asked Gene:

If I go with a 6-pole stator/flywheel and have Barry Gwin at SF Scooter Center re-magnitise it -- do you think it would be very dependable with a freshly rebuilt motor or do you like the SIL set-up more?

Gene's response:

Does he have a flux tester -- to see which magnets are low?

If the recharge has worked?

Remagnetized stators are fine -I ran my tv200 with stock 6 pole DC system for years. Strong flywheel too. Ignition was fine. Charging was fine. What was poor was the headlight power..the elec kit I have now puts out a lot more wattage for lights...

Bearing choices

2009-04-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a lot of research on bearing choices and trying to make sure that I get great quality bearings. I spoke with both a scoot shop and two bearing distributors. SKF and FAG brand bearings are the most expensive bearings I looked at, but it looks like I will be using NSK. The bearing distributor has not been able to find the three needle rolling bearings based off of the numbers provided in Marti Sticky's book. Here's what I have so far:

- $27.35 for drive side main bearing "6305 VVC3 NSK (has rubber seal per Sticky's recommendation)"

- $50.63 for flywheel side main bearing "NU205M NSK (has bronze metal cages)"
* Alternative is $141 for FAG NU205E.M1

- $19.00 for endplate gear cluster bearing "6004 NSK"

- $11.12 for front hub sealed bearing "6201VV NSK"

- $60.00 for a RIV branded rear hub bearing

I will confirm that these are the best choices to go with.

Note: I do not need to order the front hub bearings as my front disc brake came with two brand new FAGs with metal seals still in unopened boxes.

Order #1 Engine Parts List

2009-04-15T15:48:00.000-07:00

I am researching the bearings more, but here is a list of the parts I ordered.

L52-433 Flange - Rear Hub Seal Holding Plate 1.99

L52-435 Engine Rubber Bumpstop 1.99

L52-436 Washer-Engine Bumpstop Rubber 0.99

(qty: 2) L52-424 Cone Engine Bolt - Li Special/TV/SX/GP 11.98

L52-430 Distance Nut Spacing Cylinder Cover 1.29
8mm x 30

L52-523 Kickstart Rubber Bumpstop 1.59

HD-DN-008 Deep Nut - 8mm (EXHAUST - ENGINECASE) 0.79

(Qty:4) HD-JN-007 Nut - 7mm Jam (ENDPLATE) 0.80

(Qty: 4) HD-LW-007 Washer, Split Lock - 7mm 1.00

L52-442 6mm Grease Nipple 1.59 (can I reuse original?)

L52-520IT Oil Drain Plug - Magnetic 10.99 (can I reuse original?)

L52-438 Oil Throw Washer A16 0.99

L60-202R Seal Set - 5 Engines Seal ROLF 22.99

(Qty: 4) L52-444 DriveSide Oil Seal Plate Screw 1.96
*** DO YOU WANT SLOTTED, PHILIPS OR
ALLEN KEY? (I would like what ever would be stock on an 1962 Italian TV175)

L52-439 Spacer, Seal Retainer - Mag 2.59

L52-440 Spacer, Bearing Spacer - Mag 1.25

HD-IC-052 Circlip - Internal 52mm - MAG FLANGE 1.19 (needed with my TV crank?)

L56-300G Kickstart Pad - Ser 3 - Black 5.99

(Qty: 2) HD-BB-516 Ball Bearing-Cruciform 1.58 (needed with my TV crank?)

L60-303RIV Lambretta: Bearing, Rear Hub RIV Italian brand $60

Main jet (106 for Dell'Orto SH1/20 $4

Total: $137.68

It's all about engine bearings

2009-04-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Background reference: great information on bearing choices can be found here.

When restoring my wife's 1967 Vespa VSC. I quickly took to two mentors, because I am a total newbie. Those guys are Christopher Markley and Tom Giordano. They are referenced a ton on the blog restore of the Vespa. For this Lambretta I have added to mentors to my list, Stuart Werner and Mike Analt. So now I have four teachers. I am in the process of learning everything I can about the bearings that go inside a Lambretta engine. I don't like to just do things. I get obsessive and want to know about each piece before installing it and without a doubt bearings are parts that play an integral role in the performance and safety of your scooter.

First, I spoke with Gene Meredith and learned he sells URB bearings, but of course he explained
we can get any bearing you want. we normally use URB, which is a good high quality bearing, but if you insist on SKF I can get it, although it will be more $ and also NO guarantee what country the bearing was made in (SKF supply whatever is sent to them from whatever country is making x bearing at that time - which is why we prefer URB which is a good European bearing - used around here by most motorcycle shops and we use and have had no problem with them. they are EC which is extra capacity rating.

Secondly, I spoke with my mentors and got a greatly detailed answer that taught me exactly what I needed to know.

For the crank, you want to use an ECP (extra capacity) bearing. If you can get that from SKF, great. If not, go with the best quality bearing you can find. But then again, SKF has plants all over the world, and I'm not thrilled with their Indian production. Some of the Vespa Crankshaft bearings you get these days are SKF Indian, and I have seen several cage failures (and NEVER saw a cage failure on anything BUT these indian SKFs).

I've had good experiences with ZKL bearings.

But remember, the magneto side bearing is a two-part roller bearing. N204 or NU204 (I can't recall right now which). The rollers are held in place by a cage. Most N or NU 204 bearings made these days are made with plastic cages. But if you hunt, you can still find ones with bronze or steel cages. You want to use a bronze or steel cage bearing.

For a few years, (a reputable very shop) was selling plastic caged bearings. I had spoken with the Technical Service people at SKF, who said that the plastic cages were not meant to be used in constant contact with fuel. I raised this issue with (the very reputable shop owner), who spoke with (very reputable Italian distributor and Lammy Lover) about it. (The Italian Distributor) said he had been using them for years with no ill effects, and continued supplying plastic cage bearings. I decided to only use metal cage for my rebuilds. I think -- but am not sure -- that (the very reputable shop) has changed their policy and that their magneto bearings now only come with metal cages. I have not bought one lately, so I don't know.

You will not have an option to use metal cages with some of the needle rollers in the Lammy transmission. Some only come in plastic cage these days, but it does not matter. The transmission does not see gas -- only oil. So plastic is not a problem here.

Tom

When I lived in Harrisburg, PA I purchased my bearings from an industrial company, but I can't recall the name off the top of my head.

I have also been told that Power Transmission Services in Baltimore at 410-354-0010 is good and sells ZKL as well.

Engine Parts List

2009-02-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

This will likely be my next purchase. Here is what I need I need to buy to rebuild my engine:

$0 -- Gasket Set - TV 175 Ser 3 (bought already at $22)
$2 -- Flange - Rear Hub Seal Holding Plate
$2 -- Engine Rubber Bumpstop
$1 -- Washer - Engine Rubber Bumpstop
$12 -- Qty. 2 Cone Engine Bolt - TV
$1 -- Distance Nut Spacing Cylinder Cover 8mmx30
$2 -- Kickstart Rubber Bumpstop
$1 -- Deep Nut - 8mm for Exhaust/Engine Case
$1 -- Qty: 4 Endplate Nut 7mm Jam
$1 -- Qty: 4 Washer, Split Lock 7mm
$2 -- 6mm Grease Nipple
$11 -- Oil Drain Plug Magnetic
$1 -- Oil Throw Washer A16
$20 -- Driveside Bearing Li/SX
$23 -- Seak Ser - 5 Engine Seal ROLF
$2 -- Qty: 4 Drive Side Oil Seal Plate Screw
$3 -- Spacer, Seal Retainer - Mag
$2 -- Spacer, Bearing Spacer - Mag
$8 -- Small End Bearing - 16mm
$2 -- Circlip - Internal 52nn - Nag Flange
$0000 -- Bearing - Magneto - TV 175
$16 -- Mainshaft Ball Bearing
$8 -- Bearing - Mainshaft Needle Roller
$6 -- Kickstart Pad in black
$11 -- Bearing - Layshaft Needle Bearing
$2 -- Qty: 2 Ball Bearing - Cruciform
$22 - Qty: 2 Bearing - Clutch Sprocket Needle Roller

Rough Estimate Prior Tax/Shipping: $186.00

(Note: all figures rounded up so I expect price will be slightly less)

I still need to determine:
1) What brand engine mounts will I use?
2) Which electronic ignition will I use?

Electronic Ignition Price Comparison

2009-02-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

I am looking into which electronic ignition I want to go with. To read more on the topic you can visit the LCUSA forum here(you must be a member though).

The Popular BGM Set-Up at a Lambretta Shop
$106 -- BGM 120w electronic stator plate
$48 -- Ducati 12v/20a AC regulator
$55 -- Ducati CDI/Ignition coil
$90 -- Electronic flywheel (have GP, have TV?)
$46 -- MB Loom
$3 -- Dust cover
$1.50 -- Clip
$9 -- Complete bulb set
$5 -- Flywheel nut
$40 -- Mount kit
Grand Total: $403.50

SIL Set-Up at another scoot shop
$175 -- Stator/Lightened Flywheel (fins trimmed to fit beneath flywheel)
$40 -- Aftermarket CDI/Ignition coil
$63 -- Ducati CDI/Ignition coil
$30 -- Casa Lambretta Italian-Made Loom
$3 -- Flywheel nut
$3 -- Dust cover
$1 -- Clip
$9 -- Complete bulbs
$30 -- Mount bracket
Grand Total: $354

As you can see there is NOT a big difference in price. Both shops are very reputable!

Disc brake purchased

2009-02-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

I decided before I invest in rebuilding the engine or beginning this project that I should focus on purchasing all the rarer parts that I am missing. I first purchased the switch-side perch. Next I purchased the carb. And my most recent purchase has been the disc brake unit. All are original parts.

I purchased the complete from Paul B. in Portland, OR. I paid $450 for the unit. $12 for shipping. $6 for shipping insurance. Paul B. is a really good guy and sold it to me for the price he paid for it. May karma come back to him when he hunts down his next rare part! Paul was hesitant to sell it to me. I left the ball in his court after asking him to sell it to me. He responded a few weeks later and offered to sell it to me. California scooterists see these parts sell in the $500-$600 range; although it is rare that they come up.

I posted my request to find the disc brake and buy it on LCUSA's site, but to no avail. The disc itself goes for sale on eBay from time to time, but that seems about it. Stu recommended looking in Scooterist International magazine as they are advertised in it, but Tom G. said the Brits pay crazy money for their scoots and the demand for larger displacement bikes over there would make it a bit challenging to find the part.

There are hydroalic disc brakes and reproductions available. Years ago, when Scomo was still around they sold this repro disc brake (see below). It was sand cast and the quality was said to be so-so. I have also been warned to be very careful with the Indian repros, issues with the quality of metal and I'm not 100% sure, but I think someone once warned me about the safety of them as well (don't quote me).I also read that these repro disc brakes required some work to get it to fit properly.

For more info on this from folks that know a lot more than me, you can read (if you're a member) what the LCUSA members said about disc brakes here.

Carb: Dell Orto S1/20

2009-01-09T17:11:00.000-08:00

Specs for the Dell Orto carb for the TV175 S.3:
SH1/20
Bore: 20 mm
Slide: 5914-1
Atomizer: 5899-2
Main jet: 106
Pilot jet: 50
Starter jet: 50
Float weight: 5grms

Over the winter break I decided not upgrade to an electronic ignition and a Casa 186cc kit for two reasons: (1) the bike is a bit rarer and the further I get into this the more stock I lean and (2) the price was about $1000-1200 more. I posted my "wanted" note to LCUSA and Scooter BBS. I got a couple bites for both the stator/flywheel and carb I need. Due to the fact that I have two TV175 engines, both very early on the serial stamps, I need two of each. I emailed around about the stator/flywheel with Michael in PDX who led me to Ming. Ming was selling the carb pictured below for $50.
The carb throttle threads are stripped a bit at the top and therefore it does not sit as well. This is a common problem found with these old carbs. Stickley offers a few possible repairs, including pinching the throttle cable housing and using some Loctite. I bet a heli-coil would work well too and look prettier. There is a machinist with a website "Jonbretta" who will machine the threads into a piping then drill out the threads in the carb and tap it down into place. You probably won't even see the difference when the carb is installed. Ming estimated the cost at $20 for that work. He also knew of a another carb for sale from a guy named Paul for $70 with jets and all. That is the carb pictured below, which I bought. Paul also believes that he has the main jet, which is the only item missing, and he will mail it to me when he finds it. The metal is banged up a little here and there, but what can you expect with its age. Ming's looked better, but suffered stripped threads.
Looking more closely you can see that it is an original stock carb. Sorry for the poor quality pix above. I will replace it at some point under natural sun light.It is my understanding that finding a 20mm carb is a bit of a challenge, but finding a 22mm is even more difficult. Seeing as I have two engines, I want a second carb as well. One option I am looking at is to buy a 20mm carb that came out of a Jet 200 (Serveta -- Spanish Lambretta).
This carb is a this is a Licensed Dellorto carb stamped: Lic. DellOrto Arbeo Bilbao. This carb will fit the TV175 engine just like the original Dell Orto carb would and function exactly the same. I have a bit of a thing for stock though, myself. It could be a cheaper alternative to use this carb though. The seller, Doug, contacted me via BBS and offer it to me at a good price including shipping and a carb rebuild kit.

Disc Brake

2009-01-09T16:56:00.001-08:00

The only part to the disc brake I have is the backplate pictured here. I will be hard to find replacement parts for it so I am hunting down a complete kit. It won't be cheap. When I bought the bike Stu told me to expect $400 to replace. I did meet a guy named Paul, while in Portland, Oregon for the holidays, who sold me a carb and had the complete disc assembly pictured below.I am in the process of trying to find someone who will sell their complete front disc brake assembly.

Batt or no batt?

2009-01-09T16:40:00.000-08:00

I began to search to replace my stator and flywheel. I have a 4-pole Dansi set-up with broken fins on the flywheel. I was asked whether I had an AC or DC hook up when I began my search for the stator/flywheel. In an effort to confirm if my TV is AC or DC I spoke with Gene Meredith of Scooters O.

Gene responded, "Does the frame have a battery tray? Would be on the right side, just behind the glovebox. If there is no tray there, then it would not have had a battery. Most UK scoots were battery only, but we have found battery and non-battery SX200 and TV200/175s here. Italy and USA had many non-battery models."

Tool Chest

2008-12-13T08:25:00.001-08:00

As a kid I was not exposed to working on scooters, motorcycles, or cars. However I did work on my BMXs, mountain bikes, and skateboards, etc. I want to make sure that things are different for my son and he grows up with an appreciation for a clean and organized workshop and a love of scooters . . . so I am starting him young and sadly old for myself.

My dad has some basic tools and a decent work bench, but I recognize I need more. I just bought the Craftsman tool chest (40%+ off) and will slowly fill it with new nice tools to lay along side my current tools. No more 5 gallon buckets to hold my tools. And some day, my son will inherit a scoot from mom and dad and workshop tools to boot.

Cracked TV175 S.3 engine case

2008-11-23T16:31:00.001-08:00

I must have the worst luck with engine cases. One of the cases on my wife's Vespa VSC was cracked at a critical point -- a seal. It would be very risky to save the case. She now has good cases, but the numbers don't match. I am now have a TV175 s.3 case with a crack in it. I need to figure out what to with this case. Click on any photo to enlarge to zoom in on the crack.I have no idea if this case was cracked in the move. I doubt it as we were so careful with it. And it was stored in a rubbermaid wrapped tightly in old clothes. I will see if I have any close-up photos of this engine from back in PA to determine if I am the one that cracked it or not.
I don't know if the cases for Lambrettas must match in order to secure a seal and correct compression. It's my novice understanding that the Li 125 & 15o share this same case as the TV175 and the difference is the other case which is stamped. If so, maybe for less money that a TIG weld I could purchase a new case.
If not, I will need a weld. I suspect a TIG weld is the best choice. Either way I will research this and report on what I find.
My father-in-law is a professional welder and knows TIG. If that's my best option than I may ask him to do the work for me at a family discount.
I suspect a TIG weld and a proper grind down could be done for under $100.
The final question I have is . . . is the crack at a non-critical point and can this case be saved?
Please post a comment and make recommendations if you can. I will email my mentors on this issue and post their recommended solutions.

Since this post I have learned:

1) I can purchase an NOS case around $100. Or used for less.

2) Mike Analt from LCUSA wrote:
"That's an easy fix and a common problem. What happens is the front sprocket is either not tightend down when the cover is put on or the sprocket bolt comes loose while running. It dosen't look like it was running when it happend.

Any good alloy welded can fix it, usually around 50 bucks.

When you have it welded be sure to check the crack to make sure it dosen't leak. Lay the case cover inside up and fill the repaired area with solvent (carb cleaner works too). If the weld is bad it will leak, if it's good it won't. the only thing the case cover does is hold the oil in the case and hold the clutch arm (so it works)."

3) My mentor Christopher Markley wrote:

"Yeah, JB Weld would do. Clean her up really well inside, JB it, and presto.
If you have it welded, consider that it will likely warp the part a bit, and it would be wise to lap it on a nice granite kitchen countertop or thick piece of plate glass. Then, just make sure to use something like Yamabond when you put it together, for extra sealing protection. Plus it's nice to see an old part stay on the road."

4) Tom G. wrote:

"Jeremy, Don't sweat this too much. Its just a chaincase cover, so only that has to be replaced (or repaired). The main case component is the rare and expensive one. The chaincase covers are interchangeable between all Li models. As somone already posted on your blog, all this cover has to do is not leak oil. You can epoxy it, weld it, whatever. Or replace it for about $35."

5) Stu Werner wrote:

"Buy a new one."

I have decided to have mine welded by a local LCUSA member and will post a follow-up after I have it done.

My workspace

2008-11-23T15:16:00.000-08:00

Going from a full basement and a garage down to just one small garage really limits the amount of space I have to work, but hey at least my workspace is now set up.Above is my sorry excuse for a workbench, which I found thrown out with someone's trash. I removed the busted wheels and believe it or not this old butcher block is very study. Both my TV175 S.3 engines rest their heads on it.
Seeing as I am completely new to Lammy's I do not know how complete the engine is. The cases were opened when I got it. The case that is clean needs a weld job. I just found that out today and am bummed about it. A post to follow on this.
This TV175 S.3 engine is quite complete I hope. The piston is still installed and I have no idea if these cases have ever been split. I also do not know if these cases are cracked any where, since they are caked in crud.

Above is the original TV175 top-end for the piston pictured above. The crank belongs with the other engine up top. I am so hopeful that I have an easy rebuild with these engines. One will be mod'd and installed in the bike and the other will be rebuilt 100% stock to manufacturer's spec and I hope to find a TV frame or body to install it into some day in the future.

Top end kit selected

2008-11-20T15:22:00.000-08:00

I plan to make minimal mods to my TV175. The biggest one will be in the performance and reliability department. I am still researching my options, but I have pretty much settled on this set-up:

Casa Lambretta 186cc Kit
GP Crank
Dellorto 25 PHBL Carb
12V Elec Kit (may use Scooter's O)
Big Bore Exhaust

History on my TV175

2008-11-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

Gene Meredith of Scooters Originali filled me on the history of my TV:

"History: the TV was imported directly from Italy, from a frenchman who lived there and would collect scooters and then sell them by the container. We only bought one container from him as his description of "all of them run" was far from the truth and there were issues with many of them. The Vespas were worse than the Lambrettas - it is nice to see that Lambretta finally being put back on the road!"

How to clean engine cases and guts

2008-11-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

One important thing I learned when researching "how to's" with scooter restoration is people sometimes accidently mislead you and the affect on their instructions turns out to be negative; therefore I speak with multiple people before doing anything at all and I look for patterns. If 3 of 5 people tell me the same thing, I tend to trust them most and then take action.

From my previous restoration, I have collected a few mentors and I always ask them what their opinions are . . . more times than not they all say the same thing.

I make sure to always post everything that I learned so you guys know the options that are out there or can comment on which method to avoid and which you prefer and why.

I want to know the best way to clean the engine cases and guts of the engine to make it look as close to stock as possible and to be as gentle as possible on the cases. This is the question I sent them: "I wanted to ask you guys if using simple regular gasoline and a copper bristle brush would be the best way to clean the engine cases and the internals? Suggestions for cheap and SAFE way to do this?" Here is what I have learned so far:

Christopher Markley says:
"Get some reduced odor paint thinner. Works nicely. Some swear by orange cleaner or simple green. I've found they can be tough on aluminum. Maybe it's just the brands I've used. You don't want to pit seal surfaces. Try the paint thinner -- low odor variety (low odor is a relative, marketing term!!)."

Stu Werner says:
"I use kerosene and a five gallon bucket a third full. Not gas. I reuse it when it gets real dirty by straining it through a t-shirt. If you have the cases stripped you can get the case, case side glass bead blasted. They clean up real nice that way."

Tom G. says:
"But frankly, the solvent (gas is fine -- I keep a container of used brake cleaner hanging around for this purpose also) is going
to do most of the work, so paintbrushes and toothbrushes are good enough for this."

I posted this question on LCUSA as well and Mike Analt responded. He has given me some great information so far. This is what he recommended.

"I find the best way to clean cases is to have them soda blasted then follow them up with some white vinegar. The wash with hot water. You end up a very factory look about them.

There is a guy local to me that does all my blasting needs (baking soda or glass). I have him blast the cases, cylinders, frames, body work etc. he's really good. Soda for sensitive parts (all alloy) or just paint stripping. Glass for rusty cylinders and frames. For internal parts I use carb cleaner, compressed air and paper towels. I just posted a link to a glass blaster mounted to a pressure washer. When I get through the holidays I'll look in to picking one up. It should give the parts the freshly vapor blasted look."

For a deeper understanding . . . sodablasting is a process where sodium bicarbonate is applied against a surface using compressed air. It was first used to restore the Statue of Liberty. Sodablasting is a non-destructive method for many applications in cleaning, paint stripping, automotive restoration, industrial equipment maintenance, rust removal, graffiti removal, molecular steel passivation against rust, oil removal by saponification and translocation, masonry cleaning and restoration, soot remediation, boat hull cleaning, food processing facilities and equipment.

Another option from LCUSA member Brianxyl:
"After several engine rebuild projects I've kind of got a system now. Groaty engine cases and internals clean up great with purple or orange degreaser. Big positive for using this over gasoline or other solvents is that it doesn't stink, isn't carcinogenic or flammable, and you can use it indoors. Way cheaper than taking parts to any outside blasting service. Yes, it does tend to darken aluminum (only the outsides of cases for some reason) but my next step is to use a soft wire wheel on the cases to make them look just-cast fresh. I made a craptastic parts dryer by cutting two holes in a cardboard box and shoving a hairdryer in one of them. It'll dry the water out of cranks etc before anything can flash rust. Great for when painting small parts as well."

More to follow . . . pictures and my final decision on how to tackle this part of the job.

This official launch of this blog

2008-11-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

This the official launch of this blog . . .

Up until now I have put little to no effort into this blog, because of a host of reasons, such as completing my the restoration of my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180 and documenting the whole thing over two years on this blog.

A little over two years ago I began researching how to restore a scooter. I spent hundreds of hours talking with people, using forums, reading books, etc. I was bummed that there was not a blog or website where a meticulous person documented everything s/he learned about restoration and presenting the different options to the readers -- something really in-depth. I could not (and still can not) find this website; therefore I made it. I documented everything I learned and called ATTENTION to all of my mistakes to take the frustration out of restoration for newbies and novices as well as to share technical information on the specific model.

So here I go again, beginning the restoration process of my 1962 TV175 S.3 a little smarter than last time. I will share each step of the way you with guys. As always I welcome/request comments.

First order placed

2008-11-02T08:34:00.001-08:00

For my 35th birthday, my wife got me started on my restoration. She started me off with a membership to Lambretta Club USA. She also bought me the Spanner's Manual, which I have heard is a MUST own.

I have never rebuilt an engine before and I asked Stu Werner what he thought of this "how to" DVD. His thought is that all resources will help. This DVD covers the removal, full nuts and bolts engine rebuild, and how to get it running. It covers all three series Lammys, which is nice since I would like to buy my wife a Series I or II. I have two TV engines to rebuild and this will be the first step I take in restoring the scoot.

Seeing as we just bought a house this month, things are going to be tight for us for a while and therefore it will take me quite some time to restore this bike because of budgetary issues. So it goes. Good things come to those who wait. I ordered all my parts from Scooters Originali, NJ, and instead of paying shipping I decided to be smart and order the gasket set for one engine now. I only needed to spend $8.50 more to avoid the shipping fee and why not just get something I know I need anyway.

Here's to the long haul ahead of me.

Total for order: $114.00

Update

2008-06-22T13:51:00.000-07:00

The TV175 is in storage in San Francisco -- it's new home.

The Vespa SS180 is 99.9% restored and when I have funds I will begin to purchase parts for the TV175. First I need to title it and begin researching the particulars for this bike.

Determining if parts are correct

2008-03-30T08:23:00.001-07:00

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.

Reference: TV175

2008-03-16T05:08:00.000-07:00

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.

Update for March 2008

2008-03-15T03:26:00.000-07:00

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.

Rear shock spring

2008-01-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

Before I can begin my R1/R6 shock conversion I needed to powder coat my spring (dust is on the spring in the photo. The paint is perfect). Powder coat is some tough paint and will handle the small pebbles and such hitting it as I clock 65 mph down the road.

I elected to go with the color black since that is how it would have come out of the factory back in 1962. Looking stock is important, even if you have mild mods, in my opinion.

I paid $12.50 to my mentor and friend Christopher Markley to powder it. He has a business for restoring scoots and small displacement motorcycles, called Moto-Rapido. He does excellent work and has worked a lot on my wife's Vespa VSC, including rebuilding the engine.

Just a reminder . . . there will be little to no work done on this Lambretta until Fall/Winter of 2008 as my priority is to complete my wife's 1967 Vespa SS180's restoration first.

Lesson learned:One side on the shock was NOT powder coated and I asked Christopher why that was the case. Here is the answer I got:

"You beat me to the e-mail. Put those ends facing down. When powder coating, you can suspend the part on wires or let it stand on its own if it has a flat surface. Regardless, wherever it touches, no powder. Seems on the springs that shortly after installation, the powder or paint if you use paint will quickly wear away as the spring seat grinds around against the shock spring support. So I opted to not suspend the parts on wires, since the suspension points would have been on a visible surface of the spring. This way, they look pretty and the part without powder would have lost its coating anyway in use. If you're worried about it, a smear of thick axle grease where the springs meet the shock could postpone corrosion, but it is inevitable at those mating points eventually."

Need a title?

2008-01-01T14:44:00.000-08:00

My Lambretta did not come with a title as many barn yard finds don't or maybe you lost your title -- and now you need one. That's an easy fix at $80.

Look into International Title Service. They're the most frequently used service for old motorcycles and cars.

In a nutshell what you do is sell your bike to them and they resell it back to you with a clean title.

Easy as 1-2-3.

Alternative ways can be found on Scoot.net's Wiki.

Of course these approaches are for the USA.

Lesson Learned from Posting on BBS:
*sigh* ITS and Broadway don't provide actual titles. They charge to provide you with paperwork which enables you to title a vehicle in your home state.

You are still responsible for paying your states' fees for tax, tags, and title above and beyond what you pay any titling company for their "service".

Some states don't accept paperwork from out-of-state titling services, so caveat emptor before spending money with ITS or Broadway. Most state have a process for obtaining a title for a vehicle that doesn't otherwise have one, which is usually cheaper and quicker than using an out-of-state titling service, which is why that FAQ is on scoot.net.

Enjoy,
John M. Stafford

My second purchase: R1 shock conversion

2007-12-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

(Sorry I rotated the picture before I saved it, but Blogger did not accept)

My second purchase is items needed for converting a Yamaha R1 or R6 rear shock for the Lambretta. Pictured above is a "184" shock from Century Springs and brass bushings. I spent a total of $40.00 on these items. A nice fellow from Lambretta Club USA named Jake posted a request to do a big order and I went in with him to cheapen the price of the springs.

For "detailed instructions on converting an R1 shock" copy and paste this url into your web browser:
http://www.lambretta.org/index.php?pid=13

I am NOT big on mods at all, but did not have a rear shock included with my TV when I bought it and I wanted a inexpensive performance shock. I will powder-coat the spring black to honor the factory look -- at least an effort to.

Now all I need to do is place an order on eBay for the rear shock. I hope to buy a $30 or less practically-NIB (new in box) R1 or R6 shock since some Yamaha riders upgrade their shocks before they hit their first 100 miles.

Vespa Vagabond

2007-12-10T14:15:00.001-08:00

I attempt to be meticulous in my restoration blogs (see Vespa and Lambretta), but the quality of the writing goes by the wayside for the content.

I have always wanted to tour coast-to-coast on a scoot. This woman did it solo and documented the trip with quality writing (which I appreciate as a English teacher) and photographs (which I also appreciate as a amateur photographer of film cameras).

I have chatted about scooter camping before, but this woman took the ride to a whole new level by traveling alone on her Vespa from SF to NYC over two months on back roads through no named towns. An amazing trip indeed.

Check her blog out at:
http://www.vespa-vagabond.blogspot.com

I recognize that this post if off-topic for the restoration of my Lambretta TV175, but for the sake of documentation . . . her blog honors the craft with a great read and good information.

Thanx to my wife for showing me it.

My first purchase

2007-10-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

My first purchase was an original (Italian) collar for the switch. When I bought the bike Stu told me this would be one of the more difficult parts to the find that was missing from the bike. This collar is specific to the TV -- the Li model switch would not fit; although non-switch side collar will fit just fine (and I need it). I did have the switch and wiring though. I began looking for this part right away. According to Stu and Tom G. they were confident I would find one and Stu guessed the price at $50 tops. I posted on BBS and asked people to keep an eye out, but they all told me that I would "never" find it. This specific switch uses the brass pulley system for cables and I was told that I could adapt another switch and use the plastic pulley system in worst case scenario.

Months passed by, but I remain relaxed and trusted Stu and Tom G. that I would find it. One day Stu emailed me his friend's, Bret R.'s, contact info stating he had my switch. I emailed Bret and low-and-behold he was willing to sell it to me. Stu also told me that the UK and Asian shops were getting in reproductions of the switches. Bret lived out of state, but his scooter gear was stored in the city I live in. A couple more months passed and I got an email from Bret telling me we could meet up and he would sell me the collar. The irony here is that BBS said I would never find it and Bret's scooter gear was located five blocks from my house -- walking distance. I paid Bret $40 for the original Italian switch.

I am not a purist, but I believe that staying as original as your wallet will let you is important. It's about the integrity of the bike in my eyes -- or the soul if you will.

If you are looking for Lammy parts go to the Lambretta Club of America's site and ask for help. BBS requires you to wear thick skin and not everyone who responds to you is truly an expert.

The Vision (for when all is said and done)

2007-10-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

In speaking with Stu I decided to use an R1/R6 shock conversion for my rear shock. He sent me to Lambretta Club of America (lambretta.org) where a group of guys were going in on a bulk order of shock springs and bushings for the conversion.

Wow! I'd first like to say that the folks in this club are so nice and helpful. These guys offer solutions and share information. The guy, Jake, who placed the order for the springs and bushings not only fronted the cash for everybody, he even drove from San Mateo to SF to deliver my parts to my dad's office. Seriously, good people at the Lambretta Club of America!

Sorry I digress . . .

While perusing the rest of the site I found a section on the "forums" where folks post pictures of their Lambretta's and I came across a 1962 Lambretta TV175 restored to Stone White with a Ox red seat . . . it is exactly the same bike that I have and I have decided to restore it to its original color as well as reuse my red seat. Looking at these photos of this Lambretta is basically like looking at my bike after the restoration is complete.

The bike first looked like this. It was restored by Mike Anhalt, a member of Lambretta Club of America. His post said, "Fully redone TV175 with a GT186, 24mm mikuni, Casa Exhaust. All stainless hardware and proper stickers with orgional floor board extentions. Took about 7 months start to finish (50 hours of 2 hour weekends and mornings)."

Mike wrote the bike was an East Coast rust scoot when he first got it. He was hired by someone to restore it as if Mike was restoring it for himself.

The bike looks a little rougher than my bike, but then again it was 100% complete when Mike received it -- as far as I can tell from the photos.

The beauty in this bike is in the details, I believe. It is clear to me that Mike Anhalt is an experienced restorer and has the eye-of-a-jeweler -- all the small details matter to him. That is the mark of a true restorer. Notice the R1/R6 shock conversion, not stock, but an inexpensive way to build a performance rear shock. I will also build a R1 shock for my TV.

At first I thought that all white scooters were a bit of bore, but with the ox blood red seat the bike really pops. Furthermore, the idea of having the bike look nearly exact the way it did coming out of the factory over 40 years ago seems very cool to me.

I will not add a GT badge on my Lammy, but I will use a Dean's Speed 190 kit so performance wise it may not be different than the 186 kit Mike put on the top end of this TV.

All in all my bike will look pretty similar and also be very mildly customed. My goal, like Mike, is to keep the TV as true to the era.

If bike comes out anything like the one above, I will be so happy.

In Pieces

2007-08-09T17:33:00.000-07:00

Here is what the TV currently looks like. We also bought our SS180 (visit: www.vesparestoration.blogspot.com) in pieces as well. I HIGHLY recommend first time restorers do NOT buy a scooter this way, especially a Lambretta with all its parts. It's a good way to buy an incomplete scooter unknowningly, which will cost you a lot more in the end potentially. We bought the Vespa SS180 from a friend we have known and trusted for a long time. We bought the Lambretta TV175, pictured below, from Stuart Werner who has a very good reputation for being honest and upfront, plus he is also respected for the quality of his bikes he sold after restoring himself. We spoke with mentors Tom G. and Christopher Markley before purchasing and the advice they gave me, "is go with it Jeremy. Stu is honest and will tell you what you're missing and what it will cost you." The bike is not complete and Stu did point it all out and after more research I have learned it will cost $$. I can spend just under $1,000 on the suspension alone (if I get the set up I want, which I won't because $1,000 for three shocks is over kill for my purposes). So think about that! I paid $1100 for my TV with two motors and a missing disc brake/front hub and all three shocks. The front hub is $450 new and three performance shocks are $900; therefore the bike is not $1100 rather it is $1350. You need to think carefully when restoring a bike. A complete unrestored TV engine will bring about $500, so you can see that's not balancing the books. I may decide to fully restore the second TV engine and hold on to it for collector's sake or sell it to generate revenue for the restoration of the bike. I have seen original running TVs sell for under $3750 and I can guarantee that my bike will be close to $5000-$6000 in parts/paint. I am totally cool with that and knew that going into it. Just make sure you are too. Note that my second engine, which is 90% complete, is in my basement and not included in these photos.

More TV 175 S3 Photos

2007-08-09T17:07:00.000-07:00

Above is a photo of ScooterHelp.com's TV175 S3. He documents the restoration of his TV and provides PDFs of parts and manual books for many different types of scoots. Check him out.Above are photos of an original TV, which was sold by Scooters O at some point in the past. My goal is to paint my TV the original cream color and keep any and all distinctive Italian traits (if there are any . . . I need to research) to the bike as it lived its riding life in Italy. I will post the DBU color info when I paint the bike. There are Lambretta paint books available for purchase, which will prove helpful if you are restoring your own Lammy. I was lucky enough to receive the paint code I want from Stu Werner. In the past it was very difficult to obtain this info and NO ONE was sharing, I've heard.Above is a picture of my TV in its current state . . . note the original paint and red seat. Looks like the one from the "Is this my TV?" Blog post below, right?

Is this my TV?

2007-08-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the photo in the top right corner of the white TV with red seat (sorry I could not download the actual pix and post it larger). . . I suspect that that is my scooter.

When you own things older than you, such as a house or car or scooter, etc. it's neat to learn the history of your old love. I aim to do all I can to learn more about the history of my wife's SS180 and my TV.

All I know, thus far, is that the TV was imported from Italy by Scooters O in NJ. There are two "Radio Spoleto International" stickers on the leg shield so I can only assume it spent part of its life in there. (Sorry I need to take a better macro pix of stickers and rotate the photo by 90 degrees right).

Stu Werner bought it from Scooters O and then due to lack of storage, disassembled it and stored it in the rafters above his garage. The front disc brake was used on one of his ESRA team's race bikes and I suspect other odds and ends were used as well. A couple items on my TV are not original to this specific bike and Stu pointed those out to me, but for the grand majority of the bike is original.

Next time I see Stu I aim to ask him more questions about the history of this bike or at least learn when he bought it and what the experience was like and what was the condition of the bike. More to follow.

Preliminary Parts List

2007-08-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am far from beginning the restoration of this scooter as I still need to complete restoring my wife's SS180, vesparestoration.blogspot.com, BUT seeing as a I am at a budget-stand-still with the Vespa I thought I'd start my parts list for the Lambretta TV175. The list below is in an Excel spreadsheet, but since I can not make a link for you to download it feel free to email me to request it and I will send it to you and if you're restoring a Lammy you can go ahead tweak it for your needs. I hope this list proves helpful.

I still need to compare my actual parts against this list to determine what I really need. I may also add the actual Innocenti part #s from the parts book to the final Excel spreadsheet parts list -- we'll see.

The list below was assembled using a Parts Catalog you can download for free from scooterhelp.com and a list of standard parts to replace for restorations from Stu Werner, which he gave me when I bought this TV from him.

** ** ** ** Parts List ** ** ** ** **

QTY: PART:

********* Engine Parts *********
1 Dean's Speed 190cc Kit
1 28 Minkuni carb
1 Clauss Studio engine mounts
1 Engine gasket set (possible to order as a kit for cheaper)
1 Rear hub back plate gasket
1 Engine rebound buffer w/washer
Engine mounting cones
1 Cylinder base gasket
1 Cylinder head gasket
1 Cylinder extended nut (for cylinder shroud)
1 Kickstart bump stop
1 8mm nut for exhaust std (engine case cover)
4 7mm end plate nut
4 7mm split washer for gearbox end plate
1 Chaincase cover gasket
1 6mm grease nipple (can I use sealed bearings and do away with the grease nipple?)
1 Oil drain plug (magnetic)
Other Parts TBD

********** Crank Shaft Parts **********
1 Crank Assembly: GP crank with TV arm (I have TV crank)
1 Oil thrower washer
1 Drive side bearing
1 Drive side oil seal
4 Bearing retaining screws
1 Hallite washer
1 Bearing distance piece
1 Piston wrist pin for Dean's Speed upgrade?
1 Small end bearing
1 Mag. Side (inner) oil seal (32x52x6)
1 Mag. flange circlip
1 Mag. Side (outer) oil seal (25x42x6)
1 Oil seal retainer
1 Flywheel side bearing (included with elec. start?)
1 COMPLETE crankshaft oil seal set (cheaper?)

********** Gearbox Parts *********
1 Main shaft bearing
1 Main shaft inner needle bearing
1 Kick start pedal rubber -- GREY
1 Gear cluster bearing
2 Shifter cursors ball bearing
1 Main shaft oil seal (32x45x6)
1 Kickstart shaft oil seal

********** Clutch Parts **********
2 Clutch basket needle bearings (or use alternative of G.P. bronze clutch bush
as longer lasting and more reliable?)

********** Fuel System Parts **********
1 Fuel tank cap
1 Gas tank splash cup
1 Gas tank fiber ring
1 Strap bolt trunnions (one threaded & one unthreaded, set)
1 Fuel tap assembly FAST FLOW (includes: brass fuel tap, fuel tap joint, fuel
tap arm with joint)
1 Choke cable assembly (includes: choke cable elbow, choke lever retaining
sleeve, choke lever assembly, choke cable complete -- GREY)
1 Choke spring
1 GP200 complete exhuast (Large Bore) with U-bend
1 Exhaust gasket (large bore)
1 Exhaust u-bend clamp (can this be purchased at Hardware store?)
1 Muffler clamp assymbly GP200 (Same as above?)
1 Exhaust clamp -- big bore
1 Air filter
1 Air filter oval gasket
1 Long airbox bolt
1 Airbox elbow rubber gasket
1 Air intake assembly (intake gasket, airbox top O-rubber, air intake)
1 Air hose GP150/200 (G.P non cup type work? Buy clamps at hardware store?)
1 Air spring spring clip
1 Lower drain retaining clip

********* Frame Parts **********
1 Fuel tank drip trays w/collar set
1 Fuel tank door (needed?)
1 Fuel tank door hinge pin
1 Fuel tank door lock & key
1 Fuel rod/frame grommet (needed?)
1 Centerstand spring (needed?)
1 Lower frame cone (needed?)
1 Centerstand feet w/pins -- BLACK
1 Centerstand hooks pair (needed?)
1 Centerstand splash plate (needed? Included w/Stu?)
2 Fuel tank rubber buffer set
1 R/H side rear footboard bracket (needed?)
1 L/H side rear footboard bracket (needed?)
1 Rear frame plugs -- GREY -- set of four
1 Side panel beading -- GREY
1 Rear shock (Taffspeed or BiTurbo)
1 Rear shock wave washer
1 Rear shock nut

********* Headset Parts **********
Brass throttle roller
Brass gear roller
1 Throttle tube spring washer
1 Throttle tube shim
Throttle/gear shaft bush
1 Throttle adjust lock nut (Needed?)
1 Inner shift bush - Ser 3
1 Cable guide clis (set of 2)
1 Throttle shaft sleeve
2 Throttle shaft ant-vibration bush
1 Grips -- GRAY
1 Light switch housing screw
1 Light switch housing (alloy)
1 Hand levers set (stiletto style? Needed?)
2 Lever pivot screw Assy-LI
1 Light switch housing
1 Light switch -- TV/SX (Needed?)
2 Hand lever anti vibration cap & spring
2 Pulley screw - S1,2,3
4 5mm BLACK wave washer
1 Headlight Unit SX/TV3 (Needed?)
2 Gear/throttle pulley shim
2 Gear/throttle rod inner
1 Generic headlight light bulb holder (Needed?)
1 Top clip -- CEV? -- TV/SX/GP (Needed?)
2 Headset bolt (attaches from bottom)
1 Fork clamp w/ 10 mm allen bolt (set) (Needed?)
1 Gear change housing (alloy)
4 Headset saddle 4mm nuts
1 Speedo cable lower boot -- GREY
1 Speedo rubber gasket -- GREY
1 Speedo face plate (Needed?)
1 Shift tube metal collar
2 Gear/throttle rod clamp plate

********** Forks Parts **********
Upper fork rebound buffer (thin type) w/bolts (Needed?)
Lower fork rebound buffer (fat type) w/bolts (Needed?)
2? Fork link pivot bolt nut
2? Fork link pivot bolt
4 Fork link spacer washer
2 Fork link damp stud (Needed?)
2 Fork spring shaft (buy used or buy whole new Kawasaki or equivalent shocks)
1 Threaded fork cup (Needed?)
1 Fork lock ring (Needed?)
1 Fork link cup washer (Needed?)
1 Fork lock ring washer (Needed?)
2 Taffspeed fork springs (H/D F/Springs GP/LI/SX models)
2 Fork rod stop (Needed?)
2 Fork rod (Needed?)
4 Washers tav VIII (fig. 80 Scooters O)
2 Bearing -- upper steering
2 Bearing -- lowering steering
2 Screw on top bearing race
2 Lock washer for upper fork
2 Fork top screw on lock ring
2 Buffer, rubber fork bolt-in small
2 Buffer, rubber fork bolt-in large
1 Hardware kit, fork link
1 Steering lock screw

********** Front Hub & Brake Parts **********
1 Cheaper to buy frontt disc brake assembly (including windows and "I" cap?).
I currently own the disc hub, but nothing else.
1 Front hub w/ studs
1 Front axle
2 Axle bridge
2? Axle domed nut
1 Axle nyloc nut
2 Axle seal
1 Outer axle washer
1 Inner axle nut
1 Speedometer gear drives
1 Speedo drive assembly (Brass)
1 Speedo drive worm
1 "I" Cap for disc brake
1 Hub window grilles for disc brake (set of 4)
1 Front brake lever assembly for disc brake
1 Front brake disc
1 Static pad adjusting stud
1 Disc brake pads
1 Brake shoe return spring
BEARINGS?

********** Rear Hub & Brake Parts **********
1 Rear hub cone (Needed?)
1 Rear brake shoes
1 Rear hub nut/washer kit

********** Tires **********
3 3.5"x10" Pirelli SC28 or Michelin S83 or ?
3 3.5"x10" inner tubes
1 3.5"x10" rim

********** Electrical & Wiring Parts **********
1 CDI/Coil unit for GP crank (Electronic ignition kit)
1 Ser. 3 AC electronic ign. wiring harness
3 6x25 bolt - stator plate (Needed?)
1 6mm washer -- BLACK
1 Wiring junction box

********** Trim, Cables, Gaskets, Seals, Etc. in GREY unless indicated otherwise **********
1 Leg shielding beading (Needed?)
2 Endcap, legshield upper
1 Endcap, legshield lower (Exists?)
2 Endcap, Legshield bead lower
1 Horn cover to leg shield left & right side gasket
1 Horn cover to front fender
1 Horncast bottom side Ser 3
1 Horncover side gray Ser 3
1 Front fender to leg shield left & right side gaskets
2 Side panel gaskets left & right
1 Side panel rubber
1 Tail light gasket
1 Brake light switch rubber boot
1 Mud flap (Needed?)
1 Leg shield floor rail rubber inserts ONE SET (Needed?)
1 Aluminum floor rails channels SET of FOUR
4 Rubber, aluminim channel
1 Aluminum channel hardware kit
1 One set round and rectangle rubber frame grommets
10 Round floor gasket (Same as above?)
10 Rectangular floor gasket (Same as above?)
1 One set of Six plastic floor strips
1 Bridge piece gaskets front & rear
1 Air scoop gasket
1 Brake pedal rubber in BLACK (Needed?)
2 Side panel buffers with clips (Needed?)
1 Ser. 3 handgrips pair (Needed?)
1 Toolbox to frame gasket
1 Toolbox upper & lower grommet/buffers
1 Toolbox lock
1 Toolbox rubber
8 White plastic seat washers
12 Metal end clips
2 Front outer finishing nuts
4 Finishing washers inside leg shield
2 Glovebox door upper buffer
2 Glovebox door lower buffer
1 Glovebox lock with handle/key
1 Steering column lock with keys
1 Complete cable set
1 Speedo cable
1 Speedo drive seal
1 Front brake adjusters
1 Rear brake adjusters
4 Fork rebound buffers large
1 Horncover/horncast badge shield (Needed?)
1 Clip for horncast badge
1 Leg shield "TV175" badge
1 Leg shield "Lambretta" badge
2 Side panel "LAMBRETTA" badges
1 Horn cast badge clip
1 Bulb, headlight - 12 volt 35/35w light bulb
1 Bulb, headlight - 12 volt 21/5w light bulb
1 Bulb, festoon 12v 5w
1 Bulb, bayonet speedo - 12 volt 5w light bulb
1 Pilot - 12 volt light bulb
1 Tail/Brake - 12 volt light bulb
3 Gear & clutch protection sleeves
3 Gear & clutch cable trunnions
2 Fork link blots, nuts, washers
1 Gas tank straps (Needed?)
6 Strap Buffer
1 Gasket fender, front
1 Mudflap rear
1 Seat hardware kit -- LI/TV
1 Front brake cable ferrule
1 Rear brake cable ferrule
3 Cable protection sleeve
1 Hardware, cable trunnion large
2 Hardware, cable trunnion small
10 F/Strip push nut

********* Hardware **********

Note: (a) use stainless steel hardware (lower maintenance and remains shiny!) which can be bought from a home improvement or hardware store. (b) You can download a list of hardware sizes from Scooters O in NJ.

How to disasemble a Lammy Li

2007-05-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Lambretta LI Stripdown 60's promo film made by Innocenti for dealer and there mechanics. (thanx to scootr99 on YouTube.com)

Picture: TV 175 Series 3

2007-03-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

It is not easy to find a photo of a 1962 TV 175 online. I poked around for a while before I found this USA model for sale on Scooter BBS SPAM forum. My Lambretta is an Italian model, but the exact same year and model. The scoot pictured above was described as a first or second kick and sold for $3,000. That is a GREAT deal. My Lammy was $1,000 and did not include all the parts, which will quickly add up in costs, but it did come with two motors. The nice thing about this Lambretta is no paint is required.

1962 was the tail end of the early Series 3 cowls. I believe it was in 1964 or 1965 that the cowls changed and looked more like the common Li.

TVs have become more sought after because its big brother, the SX200, is very hard to find in old barns and such so collectors now go after the next biggest engine . . . 175cc.

Feb. 11, 2007 -- The Purchase: 1962 Lambretta TV 175

2007-02-14T06:16:00.000-08:00

When hunting down a fuel tap wrench for 1967 Vespa SS180 restoration project we called Stewert Werner to see if had one we could borrow, because the wrench was not available for purchase and if you can borrow it's a penny saved. We asked him if he had any Lammys for sale and he said, "no." When we called to tell him we found a wrench he said, "by the way I found a 1963 TV 175 in the rafters in my garage. Want to buy it?" In late December, 2006 we went to Stu's house to check out his "1963 Lambretta TV 175 with two motors" he had for sale. We liked what we saw. He spent hours with us going over what parts were missing and all of the resources (trustworthy ones only) that are available to us for this restoration. He also showed us what books we should purchase and which weren't so good. He also recommended upgrades, ie GP electric, and explained in detail how that can be done. He gave us the history he knew of, which is limited. He bought the bike from Scooters O in NJ. It was imported from Italy. Stu had planned to restore and resell. He owned Lancaster Lambretta and has personally put many bikes on the road. Stewart had asked for $1,300 for the scooter, which was 98% complete except for some common and pretty-easy parts to find. At the time we did not have the full amount. We offered him a deposit and he just smiled and said, "how about a handshake?" We shook hands. We agreed to meet in three to five weeks. Normally I would never buy a disassembled Lambretta, because I am not familiar with all the parts and would not know what is or is NOT missing.

I knew Stu's reputation for being a person of integrity and checked in my mentor of restorations, Christopher Markley, and a few other people about the deal. The response I got was, "it's a very good deal, especially with two motors, and Stu will be very honest and upfront with you," which has proved to be true.

Stu offered to create a total parts list for me and give me the list. He also offered to go through his personal stock pile and look for any parts that are missing from the TV. His machinist destroyed the TV 175's forks -- so Stu offered Li S3 forks instead along with a weld job to remove the TV rings, which are unique to the TV, and have them welded to the Li forks (the rings are the only noticeable difference to these forks when the bike is assembled). Stu also offered me a few xerox copies from his "secret Lambretta file," which I will not disclose.

On February 11, 2007 Stu asked me to come over and pick up the bike -- he wanted his garage back. He needed to get us a disc front brake to include in the deal from a second bike, but was not able to; therefore he dropped the price to $1,100 thinking he had originally asked $1,500 for the bike. I reminded him he asked $1,300 for the bike so he dropped the final sale to $1,000 even and said that was as low as he could go. A front disc brake costs $430 new and we have half it. Stu kept the two forks for his welder (all included in the final price) and I cut him a personal check.

He also agreed to deliver the finished front fork to us along with the parts list. He said he would like to go over the parts list in detail with us as he looks over the entire bike with us one final time to make sure the parts list is perfect. I think that speaks volumes about who he is as a person. He is of the old world when a handshake was enough. He's a dying breed in today's society.

After I brought the bike bike home I cross-referenced the Serial Number: TV175 503***and learned the Lambretta is actually an 1962 bike as opposed to 1963.

Restoration on this bike will begin after we complete the restoration of my wife's bike -- a 1967 Vespa SS180. Restoration of this bike is half complete at this time and is documented at www.vesparestoration.blogspot.com.

Below is a picture of Stu Werner sitting on his late 1950s Series I "Frame Breather" with his kitted blue/white Series III and cream Series II Lambrettas.