Modern Vespa

Hi All,

I have been a fan of Vespa since high school but I have never had the chance to start a project until now. I managed to find a 1956 Allstate and I was hoping y’all might have some advice on where to begin or a potential restoration guide.

The internet has been an awesome place to find great sites like this but I’m a bit overwhelmed. While I would love to one day ride this scooter I am doing this restoration more as a way to learn how to fix up a scooter as I know these models have some features that don’t make them great drivers.

I am posting some pics to give you a sense of the current state of the bike. Besides the rust there is a cut to the front right side that I am hoping can be welded or fixed another way.

I am 100% new to this game and vehicles in general but I can’t wait to get started on figuring everything out.

Thank you in advance for any help or guidance you can provide. I have really enjoyed lurking on these forums and I am happy to be able to have something worthwhile to post.

More pics

What is your goal(s) for the restoration? Keep it original? Make it safe and ride? Make it safe and ride well? Paint? Throw money and/or time at it? So many ways to approach this. But looks like you have a solid starting point.

Many things will be a compromise. I’m getting the vibe you want to keep it original as the primary goal tho?

Excellent questions. My goal would be to keep it as original as possible but I’m discovering that parts are not easy to come by. I guess I would like to keep it as original as I can but make upgrades to make it ride even if it’s just around my neighborhood.

I have nothing but time and I am willing to invest some money but as I’ve never done this I’m not sure what total costs are looking at.

I would like to get the rust off and paint it but I figured that would be one of the final steps.

Here is a link to some more pictures as I’m having issues attaching them here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MYwS7gbt83gBM84XzPzsBk8yiJiynIYs [/quote]

My personal favorite is to get a project running under its own steam first. Get it mechanically sound, I find I stand a better chance of it not becoming a basket case.

Woo buddy. You jumped right into the deep end with both feet.

Be ready to open your wallet

Be open to learning

Prepare to research

Most of all, prepare to buy tools.

-g

Widebody’s are not for everybody; they’re just that good.

You can check out my FB business page and Instagram account. I specialize in the pre-1957 bikes and am very familiar with yours.