Modern Vespa

I spent some time late last year looking for nice project scooter to restore.

In the end I picked up this 1970 Rally 180. Engine and frame numbers are matching. It was not running.

It has be imported into the UK and poorly painted in past.

Originally I was planning to get it back on the road and do the rest of the work gradually. But the more I do, the more I think I should just strip and rebuild.

Originally got no spark. Spent some time rewiring the stator. Stator plate was fine. Just an issue with the cabling. Engine ran, but had a bad fuel leak from the carb.

Ordered a full gasket/seal set for the carb. Also replaced the the float bowl. Engine now runs no leak.

So far the exhaust has been replaced, the old was holed.

The glove box has some surface rust on the inside, was tricky to get off as the fixings were rusted, ended up cutting through the bolts with a dremal.

And I've started to remove some of the non original accessories.

Some more pics.

Welcome to the forum Laurencedunford! It looks like you have a nice project there.

I had some fun with the seat post, the previous owner had snapped the bolt, and just painted over. So the seat was not held down, seems odd to me. I believe thats an MOT fail in the UK. I tried to drill out the bolt. Had no luck with left hand extractors, in the end I had to drill right through, widen the hole and then re-cut the threads. Seems to be nice and tight.

Also removed some junk fixings off the rear of the frame

Still got an electrical fault on the brake light, thought it might have been the brake switch. had some problems getting the rear brake pedal off. the pin seems to be rusted solid.

In the end I've had to cut most of the pedal away. the pin is still left and not budging, looks like I'll have to drill this out too. anyone know what the hole diameter is?

Hi Laurence and welcome fella.

Brake pedal pin problem is a very common thing to come across, notice you have a box from SIP in the background, don't mean to be an ass at this stage but some of the after market stuff they supply is crap (hope I haven't offended any one on the forum). Great project though, where abouts in London are you matey.

I know what you mean. Ordered a replacement rear light. Not happy with it, the bulb holders are just nasty and look cheap

I'm just outside south west London in Surbiton

Nice bike there, looking forward to watching the progress.

Good to see another member bringing a Rally back to life. There's a few UK guys like me and GTR71 working on these large frames and swapping a few notes through MV. I had the same brake pin problem on my '75 GTR that I got out in the end (pics on my thread). The GTR and the Rally share the same frame bar a few points like the toolbox.

Here's my thread, it might help you with some info.. -> Full restoration log - 1975 Vespa GTR 125

Good luck with the rebuild, look forward to seeing how it comes along...

Second that - have fun with your rebuild

Ricky

Cheers guys. Slow progress at the moment as I might be moving house soon. Hopefully I can sort out some time this weekend.

brown_beret7 - if you're off to Mantova, see you there.

Gooood morning from Arizona! I know it's been a minute since this post was last visited, but as I'm about to get a second Rally 180 I've been doing some interwebs surfing and found yours.

Looks like a cool project and was wondering how it all turned out!

Cheers
Grandpa Nate