Modern Vespa

Felow scooterist,


I need your opinion. I want to paint my 1978 P200E. The original was a gray/silver color but the cowls and the nose were painted glossy black many years ago.

Now the cowls look terrible, the paint is softened oily from oil and gasoline spills. my question to you is:

1) Would it be better to try to get a original vespa color paint code or
2) Try to match the color using a existing sample

do you guys have any experience with paint? I was quoted $300 for the two cowls and nose including slight body work and $700 for the whole scooter including any body work. Here is a picture from a few years back. The cowls look terrible now.

I think i would have someone match the color . Im sure the scoot is not the same color it was from the factory . Pollutants , U.V. And age im sure have changed it somewhat. I think $300 seems fair if theres some bodywork . Try to see some of the work they have put out before . Plus you know the suckey part is getting that fender off . Good luck on your endeavor !!

$300 for cowls and fender is very fair.

$700 for the entire bike is way under value. You get what you pay for and I would ask some deep questions about body work and prep.

I just talked to scooter west and spoke to Alex and he told me to try to match the existing color and go with that. As far is body work, there is not really much, just a couple of scratches and a tiny dent.

The place is a car shop but since the vespa has "easy" design I just don't see it being much of a issue. $700 for small body work and paint doesn't break the bank . I think I am going to go for it.

Agree with Gick, get the cowls and fender done. Taking everything off the frame to get ready for paint it a fair amount of work. Taking the front fender off is not nearly as time consuming, just a matter of dropping the front end.

$700 for paint & body work is a screaming deal. I’d ask for more specifics, like exactly what paint. I’d also want to see some examples of the painter’s work in person ... not just photos.

I'd kinda hate to crack into the existing frame paint unless it needs it. Not because you'll lose originality, but becuase the original paint looks to still be in great shape. For a complete respray, you should be removing ALL the floor strips, aluminum legshield bead, and emblems. You'll most likely loose the cool VIN number sticker that's above the glovebox too. I've seen it plenty of times where all of that has just been masked off, and it makes the whole scooter a polished turd. If you don't mind doing all that extra work, then heck yes, go for a complete respray! If not, rather than try to butt match the existing color (which probably won't ever happen ever), maybe go for a two tone silver? Maybe make the cowls, fender, and wheels an obvious few shades darker (maybe the glovebox or door and or the headset top as well?. It won't be nearly as in your face as the black cowls, and would probably look quite handsome.

$700 is a great price but it depends on what $700 actually is. Looking at the old picture scooter looks to be in great shape painting that for any price might devalue it. Any current pics and where the frame needs work? What is the nose? If it were mine understanding others have their own personal preferences and probably much better ideas restoring the cowls to original color to match the original paint on the frame would be easy and maintain the scooter maybe paint the nose too unless it is red and is the leader of the Santa's sleigh!

I'm with WhoDat. The paint looks good. Just have the cowls and fender painted to coordinate with the body, not necessarily match. Just my two cents worth, and worth probably less than that. Ha!

That picture that I loaded is from 2011. The paint is not that shiny anymore. I took that picture after I washed the scooter.

One last question. I always drooled on the large vespa Rally horizontal sticker that says "electronic". it is normally white and it runs on the bottom of the cowls. should I get one ? or does it look "tacky" on the P200e.

For me that sticker belongs on the Rally and only on the Rally, but I have seen some cool stripe jobs on P's. My 2 cents.

Ain't nothing easy about painting a Vespa. Being small doesn't help at all - makes it harder. Plus tight curves/corners. I'd be concerned they think they can just mask off everything and paint it. Should have everything stripped off it - might get away with leaving the loom and cables in but I'd want to get inside coated at the same time (rust protectant).

I did a paint match on p200 in 2007 or so

The horncast, front bumper, and cowls were matched to the existing body paint.

Painter was a way cool cat. I tested out the horn-cast before shooting the rest. You'd have to really look hard and strive to find a difference.

YMMV

^^ Thanks for the picture. Well, I was at the paint shop yesterday and they informed me that the scooter had previous bondo repairs on the cowl. I am not sure if he meant to say both or just one(I have to ask him again) but he told me that they had to remove the old bondo and grinds it to the metal and start from scratch. That explains why the cowls were painted in blacking the first place.

Another minor dilema that I had to decide on was the floor board strips. It looks like they are riveted to the chase from factory. I could go ahead and tell them to remove it but it looks like the rivets are too well put and I would have to drill them out so I opted form just masking them.


She should be ready by tomorrow(they said). As soon as I get her back I will be posting some pictures. Thanks a lot for your responses.

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Hello folks. I forgot to update this post. I ended up with a full paint on the scooter. The paint shop wanted $300 for just the cowls and the nose so I decided it was just better to paint the whole thing for $700. For $700 they also fixed a few small dents and deep scratches so I got paint and body work for 7 bills.

The scooter wasn't fully disassembled, they removed some parts like the seat and and a few other minor things but I got to match the original paint. I think that it looks stunning now. I put a new seat cover too. I am rolling with Arizona historical plates which here are made of copper.

The pictures were from 9 days ago on one of the saguaro National parks here in Tucson(Arizona) I hope that you guys like it.

I wouldn't let me post several pictures in one response, I keep getting errors so sorry if I am posting too many post in order to show multiple pictures.