It's so funny now that I am starting my second restoration and working out the minor kinks in this SS180 restore I am not pro-restoration. I say, keep it stock. Soak your rust bucket in a bath of EvapoRust (cheaper than paint and body), which will remove the rust, brighten your original paint, and then seal the metal so no rust will come in again. While the frame is being treated do a mechanical rebuild on the bike and put it back together. Make it road worthy. Seriously, an original bike is beautiful and it has earned its war scars. Most people don't go to plastic surgeons for scars when we get hurt, so why should our scoots? The only reason I am restored the VSC and am restoring the TV is because I bought both bikes in pieces and my TV is slightly mismatched. Other than that there's just no reason in my opinion.
I was able to find an original Italian made all metal one, but note that the color is not true. The handle is not black. So it was a toss up for authenticity -- Italian, metal, and silver or reproduction, plastic, and black. I asked my wife what she wanted on her bike and she chose the metal Italian one. It won't look stock, but the bike is not a stock color either. And seeing as it is metal and Italian it is closer to the original. I hope to receive it by Monday in the mail.
While the scoot lived in Ted's garage, he was kind enough to tackle a bit of the reassembly. One item he took care of for me was to purchase the new tubes and put the tires on the rim. I hadn't noticed until a reader pointed out, but the tube came through the rim wrong and the rims were connected to the hubs backwards.
It was an easy change for me and just one more item that needed to be done. So I tackled the front tire a week ago and the rear tire today. 
An item worth investing in for me is a torque wrench -- a nice Craftsman for $90. I purchased mine on sale at Harbor Freight for $12 or $20 or something like that. I figured since it is a hand tool I should be safe. I was wrong. I just pulled it out and I can't remember, but I am not sure the last time I used it if I put it on the lowest setting so to preserve the intricate mechanisms. All I know is it no longer works and I now need to invest in a quality one.
I made a mistake by ordering using the part numbers from the VSB/VSC parts manual as you can see above and below.
I am working on exchanging these parts for the correct ones. I am replacing the glass and seals and aim to reuse the bezel and speedo plate -- to pay homage to the original bike.
The more detail oriented you can be the better. I have a binder at home that is extremely detailed with prints of email discussions on how to best achieve results for many steps along the way to a full restoration. This Blog is also pretty detailed and I have careful to point my mistakes and process (i.e. this entry is all about my process and showing you what and how I chose to document) to help you have a smoother experience than me.
Name: Ole Worren
Name: Jenny Markley
Name: Collin
* Before picture
* Mid-way done
* Complete
First, I ordered a replacement dampner seal for the front shock for $10 (very hard to find) from Motor Sport Scooters and I purchased the second to last one in existence & from what I later learned the last one was also purchased. Suggestion -- you'd be surprised with what seals and rings your local vintage motorcycle shop has in stock. I know that a local vintage motorcycle shop my buddy, Ted Witmer, frequents specializes in "suspension" and he has found a hard-t0-find piece of rubber for my shock there as well when every single scoot shop I called did not have the part. Next I need to replace the pivot pin (pictured to the left) -- part #47 in part book drawing below. From what I understand it is not the easiest part to find; therefore be careful when removing in case you need to reuse. I will follow-up to this post and report on my search for this part #55271.
To disasemble the fork from the shock, you need to remove the cotter pin "screw" (#47 in the part book drawing) located near the grease nipple, then just push the pivot pin sideways. You can loosen the nut and put a socket behind the pin and pressed it out with a vise. Once the tapered pin is out, the pivot pin should just push out with your fingers. Try not to damage the tapered pin -- as stated it may be difficult to find a replacement, but if you can throw the old pivot pin and bearings away and get a rebuild kit. 
I took these pictures two or three weeks ago when I posted the engine-side cowl restoration post. The body required mild to moderate work. Since these photos I am sure it looks a lot different.
There are a few "dents." Note the dent beneath the tail loght area and the two dents on the front of the scooter on the pictured above.
The front fender had a slight tilt to it and some nicks and nacks. If you look at the "history" post you can see what it looked like before -- when it was still complete. I suspect the bike had been laid down once or more.
The glove box metal was thin on the underside in a few spots, but all in all in good shape.
As you can see this cowl is in MUCH better shape than the engine-side cowl was. My only concern is with the wider (incorrect) louvres I used on the engine cowl is the inconsistency with the manufacture's ribs on the picture cowl here. On the flip side, it's not possible for a person to look at both sides of the scooter at the same time without a mirror - ha.
I've read about the dangers of "sand blasting" and "acid dips"; although I wonder if there are appropriate times to acid dip as long as the necessary precautions were taken to counter act the acid, thoroughly dry, and prime paint the metal immediately. Sand blasting sounds overall too abrasive. I am a 9th grade English teacher and education field we often "steal" or "borrow" ideas from one another -- it's common place. Why recreate the wheel?
From what we know our Vespa had been abused by teenage boys back in the early 1980s and used as "dirt bike" then stored away after the piston seized and left untouched for 20 years. Take a look at the gear box selector -- see the crack!
Thank you to Jenny Markley (FYI no relation to Christopher Markley referenced on this Blog) who scanned in these "SS180" pages from Tecnica V.3 for us. If you plan to print, I suggest converting to a PDF format first (Mac people - just go to the print screen and click the option to "save as PDF"). This is the first resource to help the newbie restorers keep their bikes original to Piaggio issued SS's. 
As with many vintage Vespas, our SS180 had been layed down engine-side and the fly wheel ate up one louvre and a few other louvres were badly bent. In speaking with fellow club member and owner of a GS160, Roland Henry informed me that a good welder could fabricate a louvre and weld it into place and no one could tell the difference.
Once I received them I noticed the reproduction louvres lacked the beauty and detail that the original ones did with a double lip. The reproduction louvres were thicker and wider -- with a bend in them creating one lip.
Today, I visited the body/paint shop to remove the seat lock bolt (I am an idiot and had the frame blasted with the seat lock bolt and steering column lock "cover" still attached and of course the chrome was stripped) and I got a sneak peak at the body work. The engine cowl looks good. Spoke with the guy who is working on it and he has seven hours invested so far. Though it's not original, I do think the shop does good work and once painted the scooter cowl will be uniformed.
The proof is in the pudding, err I mean Collin's Grimstead. He used First Kick's louvres. His welder did this without any filler to boot! Compare to my louvres and the original ones pictured above.
