Wallet from the importer

I acquired this wallet today!

It has the Vespa logo stamped on one side when you open the wallet. On the other side sits the logo from the Swedish importer Como M&T Bjerke AB.

A very nice item, but no space for credit cards!

I tried to make it more readable with a pencil on a white paper.

Selo com Quimera Alma de 1952

Mais um dos selos que foram editados sobre motorizadas nacionais.
Este tem um desenho de um ciclomotor Quimera Alma de 1952 e é para a franquia de 0,61 euros.
Este ciclomotor usava um motor da marca Alma.

Ah, Caterina Caselli!

Mi piace molto questa canzone, piu che Rolling Stones!
Did you know that Caterina Caselli later became a record producer and in 1992 discovered Andrea Bocelli?

New to me parts cleaner

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.

Portaro - A indústria portuguesa à conquista da Europa

Mais uma publicidade dos finais da década de 70, em que os jipes Portaro estavam à conquista da Europa.
Na publicidade foram usadas imagens já conhecidas. A primeira é da apresentação do jipe num salão, a segunda é de um catálogo.

Early import of Vespa sidecars

It seems that the Swedish Vespa importer "Como M & T Bjerke AB" discovered the side cars for Vespa early on. Here are two leaflets or sales brochures from the early fifties.

The "greenish" one above should be from 1951-1952, the Vespa being a "vacanze romane" (Roman Holiday), the nickname came from that movie.

Below is a "faro basso", Vespa 125, also with a Piaggio side car. On the leaflet it says "Vespa mod. 53 med sidvagn och inbyggd hastighetsmätare" in Swedish. Meaning that it is a 1953 Vespa with side car and speedometer", although there is no speedo on the handle bar in the picture.

Layshaft Rebuild

No normal restoration takes this long. I have made many major changes throughout the process and therefore, well you know . . .

Before I can move forward I need to rebuild the layshaft. Thanks to Derek, who helped me with his mill and expertise. I rebuilt it with him and used nut/bolts to hold it together, per Tom G.'s recommendation. Tom recommended creating a small whole in the punch nut to catch the head of the rivet. Thanks Derek for helping with that.

Today, I riveted it shut using a palm nail gun (I highly recommend buying the MINI palm nailer for additional control and better view of the area you are working on) again per Tom G.'s recommendation. It went well.

Next step is to put the engine back together, which I hope to do in spurts in early mornings and late nights after my kids are asleep.