Modern Vespa

It's been awhile since I've been on here but I thought I would share my progress on a 1955 VL1 restoration.

I picked it up awhile back at Moto Strada. It definitely needed some love. Engine wasn't complete. Missing parts. Some rust, big legshield dents, and a hole in the front that was made to run the cables.

Once the frame was blasted, there were several areas that needed a lot of attention. The first was the floor panel. A lot of hammer and dolly work to get it straightened. Used a skim coat of aluminum filler to get everything smooth.

The large dent on the leg shield was so bad and stretched that it had to be replaced. Luckily I had an old frame and was able to cut out the leg shield section. The dented section was cut out and replaced with the new section. Welded in and ground down.

Another problem area was at the top of the legshield. It had a large dent at the top at one time and when someone hammered it out it caused the metal to stretch. Normal hammer and dolly work wouldn't get the area back to the original shape since there was "more" metal due to the stretching. Resorted to an old school dolly method to shrink the metal. Metal was heated with a torch, hammer and dolly while hot, and sprayed with water causing the metal to shrink. Took awhile but got the bulge out and the shape correct again.

Once the initial hammer and dolly work was done, it was time for the early primer coats. You can see that the badge area has been repaired. Unfortunately I don't have photos. This was another cut, weld, and replace area. It turned out as good as new.

More body work. Moved on to a color primer for wet sanding. This is where the frame currently is in it's current state. Once this is complete, it will be sprayed with a red oxide primer that is period correct to a 1955 VL1.

I sand blasted all the parts. There are two parts stacks here. I am helping a friend with a VL3 and are doing both scooters at the same time. Yes the rack needs repaired . Also re-coated the insides of the gas tanks but don't have photos. These parts will also get the same hammer/dolly work, primer sands, etc. I'll be sending all this out to paint in the period correct single stage color shortly.

I want to get this scooter as close to a concourse restoration as possible, so I bead blasted every piece of hardware, sanded each piece with a dremel, bead blasted each piece to get the texture back, and then sent it out for the correct plating. A total pain in the ass but they look nice. I'll post some pictures of the CAD and Phosphate pieces shortly. I am holding out on the Nickel plating to see if I can polish out a lock. Nickel is expensive .

Some examples of plating and case blasting.

The engine case was bead blasted. The single spring was CAD plated. The group pics were phosphate plated.

The engine rebuild will begin tomorrow. Still missing a couple engine parts. If anyone has a VL1 cylinder head, shroud, and flywheel fan that they want to sell let me know. Thanks.

Doing it right, well done

Some great metal work there, good reference when I get to the frame of my GTR restoration. Always good to see an old lady brought back to life.

Look forward to seeing the work come on

Great work Jaime. Love seeing the old school metal working techniques. Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks guys.

GranSport I've been watching your 788.100 restore. Beautiful job! I started blasting the Pav 40 trailer and plan on making it match the Vl1.

That looks very nice.. it's always nice to see it done well!
Cheers

I got to work on the engine a bit today. I always like how the engine insides look. New crank, bearings, seals. Will button up the rest tomorrow. Still waiting on getting a cylinder rebore.

Great work!!! where did you get the phosphate done?

There is a plating shop near me in Akron. They do a good job and make time for small orders like restorations.

I got a chance to get some work done on the cylinder. Everything was carefully taped off and I sandblasted the cylinder. Used multiple layers of a thick masking tape to make sure that the sand did not get into the barrel, collar, exhaust and carb ports.

Once the blasting was done, I took it to get a cylinder hone. It was out of spec for a normal piston, but I have a +1 NOS piston on hand that was in spec.

I'll be painting the cylinder soon. Hopefully on Monday. I found some high temp paint that matches the original piaggio color that is used for engine manifolds. I'll post some more pics when it is done.

I got a chance to get the cylinder painted. Used a product called Por-15 Black Velvet. Two coats and then an oven bake at 350 degrees. Overall, I liked how it came out.

Looks Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now how do i get my wife to make me bake a cylinder in the oven?

great work on the scoot and really nice photography. good to see someone put those skills to work.

I really enjoy watching the restorations on this site. It's always fun to watch the scooters going from their disintegrating state to brand new. You are doing beautiful work. And you bought it at Moto Strada; the same place I bought my 300!

This is going to be a standout bike given your attention to detail.
Your photography is pure art. How do you shoot it?

Thanks everyone. Gransport I have a little photo studio. The set up for these is just on a white sweep background. The strobe lighting is two large softboxes on the sides and an umbrella above.

Still plugging away on the motor. Rewired the stator and put in the clutch. Bead blasted the flywheel and the flywheel fan. There are a couple of small corrosion pits and scratches on the fan, so I may sand them out and reblast it.

I've got to track down a couple of pieces of hardware still. Need the 3 flywheel shroud bolts and one of the tabbed washers for the flywheel.

Ran into a bit of a problem with the flywheel fan. When the fan is tightened down it rubs a bit on the engine case. Seems like the little lip on the back is a bit too tall. I'll check and see if I have another fan that works better or worse case scenerio I'll try and figure out a way to get it on a lathe and shave off a millimeter or two.

Waiting on some +1 rings and then the cylinder will go on. Will polish the kickstart lever as the last step since it gets used quite a bit during this process.

I got a chance to work on the engine some more.

I had a brain fart and it turns out that the flywheel and fan were not correct for this bike. Ooops. I was able to find the correct flywheel and hope to be getting a fan soon.

Still need to put some small pieces on the motor. I got a spark but it isnt as strong as I was hoping. Will check some stator stuff tomorrow. Compression is strong. Hoping to check the timing tomorrow, but wont be able to run it long as I am still tracking down a shroud and fan.

Once it is running, I want to replace a couple odds and ends hardware to get the engine the best that I can get it.

Getting there......slowly .

Looks incredible! Keep up the great work.

What a great project and your pics are killer!

Nice work..

sip have cylinder shrouds back in stock supposed to be alumin ium too.

i ordered one a while ago it will be here in a few days i will get back to you on quality and fit when it arrives if you like.... part Num 15074100



might be able to help with a good second hand fan too, if you have a picture of the correct style?

i picked up that shroud today, its not alumin i um, even though thats how sip describe it


its hand made,, beaten out to shape with hammers etc and painted a silver colour


it fits ok but not perfectly, will need a bit of fettling to fit snug. but then its pretty much the only shroud for vl/vb on the market


so im happy enough with it but since its going on a very original but scratched up scooter ill keep an eye out for the real deal. shit ive been looking out for the real deal for two and a half years



cheers

Nice project, really appreciate the pics and seeing the details on a model I'm not familiar with!

Lovley bike mate. I owned a vespa douglas 42l2 a few years ago. Its the same model but they were imported to be built in bristol. My favourite vespa model by far just after the "donald duck" lol. I would love to own another some day.

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Josh thanks for the info on the cylinder shroud. I may have a lead on an original, but I'll see how that works out. Good to know about the SIP shrouds.

I've had some issues on the stator. Couldn't get a strong spark out of it. Turns out that I didn't have the right one since the points were opening in the wrong location. Tracked down an original but had to do some work on it. To make a long story short, after a lot of tinkering I finally got it to run.

I've got to check the timing, put on the fan, find a shroud, and some cosmetic work (a few hardware pieces, wiring clean up, etc). Other than that I'm ready to move on to the paint and polishing.

I tracked down a flywheel fan and flywheel cover thanks to Joe a member on the forum. Thanks!

Here is a video link of the first engine starts.

i got a gs150 ,the engine looks like vl but never worked with ignition points

lucky devil! gonna be stunning. keep posting.

Can't believe it has been so long since I had to put this on the back burner due to life stuff (house renov., job promos, family stuff) but better late than never. Ha!

Side view.

Left side.

That's a thing a beauty! Nice job on the restoration!

10 years...
But it turned out absolutely magic!
Congratulates!!

BEAUTIFUL