Modern Vespa

Greetings all- psyched to announce my purchase of an almost mint 2007 lx 50. She's navy with light Brown seat and oh so beautiful. Anywho, I read up on the excellent post outlining how to clean carb and jets...great post was very easy to follow. I should have stuck to the post step for step, but somtimes I get daring. Instead of leaving the throttle housing alone, (thinking I'd bench the carb to get at it easier)I unscrewed the two brass nuts and quickly learned that wasn't a good idea. The spring released catching me off guard and before I could react, unwound a slight bit. Now the throttle has zero twist. I'm thinking I need to wind spring somehow? I'm a newbie and have no idea were to start. The picture shows the spring that unwound.

Thanks
[img]Kman[/img]

I don't know anything specific about LX50 carbs, but it looks to me from the pic like you would have had to unscrew the whole throttle bellcrank assembly (the whole brass-colored assembly) from the carb body to allow the spring to unwind. That requires removing the two big Phillips-head screws, not the two nuts pictured (which merely adjust the slack in the throttle cable).

I suspect you'll have to just use your fingers to rewind the spring -- with the assembly removed -- and reinstall it while keeping tension on the spring with your fingers until it is in place with the tail of the spring resting in the stop at the upper screw. I have no idea how many turns it takes to achieve the original tension.

For future reference, it looks like you could have easily removed the carb altogether by manually turning the bellcrank to slack the cable, slipping the cylindrical slug on the end of the cable out of its receptacle, and then undoing only the nut closest to the bellcrank to allow slipping the cable assembly out of the carb. The built-in stop for the bellcrank would have kept the spring from unwinding. Leaving the other nut undisturbed would ensure that the cable slack was properly adjusted when you put it back together.

Thanks for the quick response Silver Streak- you are correct, i didn't detach the nuts, just the two big philips screws. when i realized the err of my ways, i quickly tried to squeeze the spring and reattach the screws without seeing how the whole bellcrank assembly might come off. so my next question is two fold: 1. To remove the housing and make the repair, are those the only two screws holding it on? is there another detachment i'll need to make? and 2. is the spring you refer to (the one needing rewinding) the wound wire looking thing located behind the center of the bellcrank? thanks-

1. That's what it looks like to me, but I've never had an LX50 carb apart.
2. Yes.

So- now that i know what i have to do, does anyone know how to rewind a carburetor bell crank spring?

I would guess one would grasp the free end of the spring and guide it clockwise (as viewed from the back side of the bellcrank) around the axis of the bellcrank a few times while holding the coil flat against the back.

Forgive me for being a bit sarcastic, but I would think that someone who seems incapable of analyzing simple mechanical devices for himself would refrain from casually disassembling them.

(Curmudgeon mode off)

Hey, digging in and making mistakes along the way is half the fun of owning these things and learning.

No harm, no foul I say. Kudos for having the guts to pick up a wrench!

I certainly agree with that sentiment... but you don't learn unless you at least make an attempt to figure out things for yourself.

your right silver streak, I'm not the most mechanically gifted poster here, but what i lack in natural ability is made up for in tenacity. thanks for the help- i think i have the issue resolved- i will report back once i put things back together over the weekend

Ciao