Hardware

Pictured above are my new stainless steel / zinc plated lug nuts and split washers. Besides the new are the old. You will notice two things: first the newer nut is smaller than the original and secondly on the newer hardware they are stamped with an ID (not in picture. It's on the opposite side of the nut). The hardcore restorers GRIND this stamp off each piece of hardware, but Lisa, my wife and owner of this SS180 is not THAT concerned and is fine with them being installed as-is.

I chose stainless steel because it is so much easier to keep it looking clean and rust free, but keep in mind many will disagree with me.

You do have another option of course, collect all your externally showing nuts, bolts, washers and clean them up. Then fill them into small coffee tin and send them off to the chrome plater's shop and pay approximately $80-$100 to have your original ones restored to original condition. This is what a true purist would do.

The final option you have is buy a engine and chassis hardware package, if available for your specific scoot, from American Scooter Center in Austin, Texas for $79. I do not know the quality or composition of the metal. What I do know, is most restorers will not need at all of this hardware, but I admit it is a convenient way to go.

I will likely spend $50 and under for all my stainless steel hardware I expect. The lug nuts & washers cost me about $6.00.

If you need zinc plating, black oxide finishing, or metal polishing, I recommend Moto Rapido. I know Tom G. has used Moto Rapido for plating and I am quick to use any shop that Tom or Stuart Werner use -- plus I already know Christopher Markley rocks!

Junction Box

Shipped from Japan from Palmog. A gift to the SS180. This is the junction box that is mounted to the engine case.Isn't it crazy how a bike (especially the rare ones) comes together -- with parts from Japan and Palmog or any other place. The web has made us a tighter community -- scooter culture.

Tom G. once told me an even crazier story -- he flew to Europe to take a mold of a part that was not available any place in the world so he could take it home with him and make it/have it made. That's dedication!

Christopher M. has fabricated engine parts and even cooler he has made copies of original Vespa factory service tools that I can pretty much guarantee that most of us have never and will never see. Very rare tools.

Thank you Palmog!

Wood Airbrush Stand

Airbrush artist Sascha Gast crafted this lovely airbrush rack/stand which accomodates 9 airguns, a manifold, bottles of paint, and some traditional brushes. Man this beautiful thing would look great standing next to any easel.Via Kustom Kulture Lounge

Evaporust, Lloyd's Polish, & Restoration blogs

I came across a new restoration blog. It's a P-Series 150 resto. Bike looks in good shape. I would not touch with paint -- won't recoup that money in value; therefore bad investment. It can be a mechanically sound bike fairly easily I expect. There is some body rust, but I read on a Lambretta USA forum there is some great solution that removes rust and leaves the paint and metal alone on body parts. It is called Evaporust. That's what I'd recommend and then sealing up the rust to prevent spread. For cleaning up the paint and making it all pretty again I recommend looking into Lloyds WolfsHead Polish Detailer & Waterless Wash -- I read about this product and saw photos at Scooter Scoop posted on Dec. 10th, 2007. This way the paint looks at its absolute best. Before and after photos are posted for you to compare the differences.

Hell, I admitted that if I bought my SS180 in one piece, we'd leave the dents and dings and clean up the rust and give it a good wash and let it be.

Does anyone know of detailed blogs that are out there? If so, please post a comment and I will link them to this blog.

I am really interested in blogs that go into great detail on the resto and don't just have a paragraph and ten photos for every major step in the process. I want a blog I can really learn from. I want to become good at restorations and I aim to do all work myself on my Lambretta TV175, including paint with my uncle (who restores vintage cars).

I want to be like this guy.

Vespa folks talk with Lammy folks. They are SUPER nice and many know their #$%t. I find them to be very helpful -- weird coming from a Vespa restorer?

Damn, I am fired up to get this SS180 done so I can start saving money to begin my TV175. I daydream about how great it will be to hear the VSC fired up for the first time.

I just want to learn!

Rear shock spring

It is time to rebuild the rear shock so we can install the engine in the chassis. Just back from Christopher Markley today is our stock MeCur spring powder coated black to match the color the factory would have produced for this bike originally. It cost $12.50 for the paint and it looks great (there is some dust on it in this photo, but the paint is perfect)!

We will use the same motorcycle shock oil in the rear shock as we did in the front. It may help stiffen the ride a small amount and help cut down on drifting.

I was so dead-set on using a performance spring, like TaffSpeed, and I am glad I learned that drifting is not entirely due to the shock.

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."

Rear shock spring

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."

Our Chetaks

My wife's Chetak is a 2001 butter yellow and I have a 2003 black Chetak. I still need to add the chrome legshield to my wife's bike plus her Chetak emblems. We both have rear racks. She scored a good deal on alum. racks from Target on clearance for both our bikes. She has a large one and I have a small one. It is easy to attach to the rear rack -- just a quick twist of the eye screw.
My wife also owns a 1967 Vespa SS180 and I own a 1962 Lambretta TV175. Next she would like to find a Series 1 or Series 2 Lambretta for herself. I would like a Vespa GS160 or a nice "quick" P200 for a daily rider.