Modern Vespa

I'm planning on picking this up tomorrow (two-hour drive away), assuming it checks out. $200. Seems like a perfect future home for my Malossi 210.

Yowsa - there's a project. But only $200 is nice. Keep us informed!

what are your plans for it, aside from the Malossi 210 part?

I picked up the rolling frame pictured above two weeks ago from a guy on Craigslist Chicago. He had a two-car garage stuffed to the rafters with Vespas and sundry parts. I counted 15 scooters, including a Rally and an Allstate, various p-series, VBBs, a modern Vespa or two, stacks of used tires, piles of engine cases, a hoarder's delight. He said he was thinning the herd but his ad is no longer on CL. It was an amazing collection. None of it 'concourse' quality, but all loved and used.

The frame is VNX1T 71818, so it looks like a 1979-1980 PX125. It is amazingly solid, just surface rust. The original paint was largely intact, except where there was some leg shield damage (that I knocked back into place). The undercarriage is amazing; most of the "rust" that you see is actually just dust on top of the original paint.

I stripped the parts off the frame and had a go at it with a wire wheel and acetone. Acetone was useless. I was trying to see if I could get the black rattle can off and save the original red paint, but was not successful; removing the rattle-can finish with the wire wheel also ended up destroying the original coat too. I found a blaster in town who will blast the frame for $75 and prime it for $225, and will take it over later this week. Local list member Basile Bailey helped me out with a spare glovebox and a few other bits, and I have a large order coming in from Olympia Scooter Shop (with the current 30% discount) on other parts, including new cowls.

The plan is to find a painter in the meantime (and to pick a color). I like the original red, but also am open to other ideas. preferably something period-correct. I am not sure how hard it is to find paint codes that can be translated into useful modern equivalents.

I bought my Sprint from that same guy! He does have a ton of Vespa stuff. He’s a pleasure to deal with.

If the frame is in decent shape, you may want to consider powder coating.

Assuming you're in Chicagoland from the Chicago Craigslist, Fox Valley sand blasting did a good job for cheap with sandblast and powder coat, like $200 if I remember right. Only caveat was that they didn't notify me to come back and tape the part i didn't want powder coated so I had to sand some of it off to get the handle bars to fit again but it wasn't terrible. Just tape it before you send it over to them or make sure they call you.

If I ever get another P200 and the paint is toast, I'm going to have it media blasted and clear base coated. Total badass look.

I was thinking -- what if I just cleared what I showed you above? Weird pink panther camouflage vibe.

Actually I did a lot of reading on the interTubes about clear-coating bare steel. The collective wisdom seems to be that it relatively quickly rusts through.

For powder-coating, I was turned off by the idea that it is hard to touch up and to otherwise repair if needed. Paint, you can sand down the problem spot and respray with closely-matching rattle can.

correct about the clear coat, check out a product called Sharkhide. It wipes on over the bare metal and protects it completely from rust. Only caveat is you gotta reapply it eventually. I think they said it'll last a year with regular use, so 2yrs for a northerner since most scoots sleep indoors over winter. Can last longer though just depends on conditions but a year is their conservative estimate. Not too bad, a yearly before the first ride rub down could be fun

http://www.sharkhide.com/sharkhide_metal_protectant.htm