Reassembly Update #6 with video

My life is slowing down for the moment. My family is entering a major transition period and therefore, I have not had much time to work on reassembling the SS180, but lucky for me my buddy Ted has done a little here and a little there. For the next month I should have a lot more time to dedicate to putting this bike back together. Now I just need cash. Luckily, Lisa's birthday is coming up and she is asking for grommets. These parts are needed immediately.

Here's the state of the bike:

Hardware will be purchased shortly. Using stainless for the painted areas and galvanized every where else or where the nut will be under stress.

A big thank you to Ted W.

Reassembly Update #4

I am looking forward to late Feb. or early March when I can start getting my hands dirty again with the Vespa. It would be so great to have the bike done in time for riding season. Ted continues to tinker here and there with the Vespa. Below you can read his newest update:

2/1/08

J-bone:

I have the Haynes book with me right now. I am going to make copies for myself.

I also found some of my tech manuals that have the bolt grade list.

I will also be looking at the torque chart for all the critical nut/bolt tightening specs.

The motor is almost in. The new paint thickness has decreased the size of the area. Also I think Christopher installed the new engine mount bushing in the front of the engine and the metal sleeve is just a tad too long. I will do some filing and grinding and get it to fit.

I would prefer taking some off of the engine mount bushing. It is easier than grinding anything off of the inside of the body. You have to remember that the new paint added some thickness to everything. Bolt holes have to be large enough for the bolt to go through. I little filing increases the diameter without really showing anything.

I am very careful doing this process.

I still have the scooter on the large bench because it is easier to align the engine for mounting. I have the cables laid out.

I’m still looking for the rear shock n/b (bottom) and I never came across any fender n/b’s? There are a lot of baggies, however I will keep on looking.

Later,

tedster

If you're looking for a lot more movement on a restoration follow Eric W's VBB restoration. He works on his scoot daily for up to four hours per day.

Ordering Parts

We're now a single-income family, which has slowed down the financial dedication to the scooter restoration. My wife's birthday is in March and below is her "wish list" -- to be ordered from American Scooter Center in Texas.

Wish List:

$7 – Part#80349 – Piaggio emblem with adhesive strip
$33 – Legshield trim (chrome kit)
$39 – Rally floor rail kit
$29 – Glovebox rubber in Gray
$9.50 – Part#90525 – Speedo cable
$7 – Part#85072 – Center mat Black
$17 – Part#135231 – Cowl packing strip (rubber trim) in Gray

In the meantime, we'll get the bike on its own two feet with cables run as well.

Hardare & Fasteners Part 2

A huge thank you to Paul B. for posting one the best comments this blog has seen yet in response to the previous post on hardware.

Paul B. commented:

"No. Stainless steel is FAR weaker than good quality mild steel. For most, non stress application, stainless steel RULES! I am a BIG stainless fan. But for stressed applications, like say, holding the wheels on, or, suspension components, original spec. mild steel (#5) nuts only. I mean, there really is no reason (other than for a show bike) to deliberately REDUCE the strength of the fasteners holding your (or wifes in this case) wheels on. Especially when the correct fasteners are readily available from Piaggio. Also, your original wheel changing tools will no longer fit the wheel nuts since, as you say, the stainless nuts require a 13mm wrench, and the original nuts are 14mm."

Thank you again Paul B. for commenting. I owe you big. You opened up a great conversation and I began to research it a bit by emailing my mentors for how they handle fasteners on their restorations as well. The bottom line is I will probably use galvanized steel now as opposed to stainless steel, based on your's and Tom G.'s suggestion.

Here is what I learned from Tom G.:

"It is true that stainless is weaker in tensile (and probably compressive) strength than mild steel, and of course this applies to fasteners.

That being said, I can't really think of an instance on a vespa where this will make any difference from a safety perspective.  I can't begin to imagine that stainless wheel nuts would be unsafe to use.

That being said, I don't really prefer the look of stainless to galvanized for wheel nuts, and most of the time I use galvanized for them.  I do frequently
use stainless for attaching body parts (like attaching front fender to fork on vespa, and attaching most lammy body panels to the frame).  Is this really a
good idea?  It is an open question.  Where you use dissimilar metals next to one another, the less "noble" metal corrodes preferentially.  In other words, if you use stainless fasteners to hold steel panels in place, the steel panels will corrode
(marginally) instead of the stainless fasteners that are in electrical contact with them.  If you were to use bare steel fasteners on painted steel panels, the
fasteners would corrode more quickly (and the panels would not corrode in the vicinity of the fastener as long as electrical contact is maintained).  This is
why roofers don't use iron nails to hold copper roofs in place -- the iron nails will completely corrode away, while the surrounding copper will not corrode. 
So strictly speaking, from a corrosion and protection of metal standpoint, the best solution is to use galvanized steel fasteners on painted steel panels. 
It is an extra "bonus" that this will also give you the correct look.  But only anoraks will care.

Good luck getting wheel rim nuts in 14" size anyhow. They ARE available from some specialty shops, but are quite expensive.  I never bother.  Frankly, I'm not
even sure that the 14" nuts were used on the SS anyhow.  Do you know for sure?  They were used in some places on the GS 150, and I think also for the GS160. 
But I'm pretty sure that by the Rally, the 8m hardware was all 13mm.  I'm unclear on the SS.

If you can itemize the locations you want to use stainless, I can give you my best guess as to whether that might present any problem." -- Tom G.