Modern Vespa

Well F me....
But with all seriousness, I'm glad I read this post. I'm taking a frame to the blaster this week. That part, along with others will def get removed before dropping off.

The place that does my blasting would not touch it unless everything is off the scooter. I always put a bolt in any threads on the frame as well, just a couple of turns. In fact I think my current project will get blasted, powder coated as a base, then painted.

Thanks GL. I didn't think of that but putting a bolt with the threads seems to help but don't want it to get stuck. I guess the couple of turns of the bolt should not hurt anything.
I've seen your projects and they are nice. If the scoot has some rust can I still get a powder coat base, work up the small holes, sand, and paint?

No the scooter must be spotless, with powder or paint. The sand blaster I use does my powder coating. Talk to a painter first to see if its a good idea to use powder coat as a base. Im not at that stage yet but it is something Im thinking about as it will give me more time to decide on the colour & design.

Try a socket and a G clamp and screw down the G clamp and press the pin back into the cocket then use a pin or cut off drill bit to push the rest of the pin into the scocket you may find once free you'll most likely be able to pull it through.

Rob

Great idea Rob! I'm definitely giving this a crack before getting out the drill. Thanks!

Ive got G-clamps if you need to borrow

Thanks SEB - ive got 1 which I think will work but will take you up on the offer if it's too big...

So I tried Rob G's suggestion and the pin wouldn't budge so I decided to drill. The angle is tricky and my first drill couldn't get close to the right angle as it was too long (hitting the leg shield), so i borrowed a smaller one and started drilling but I soon realised it wasn't the right angle and I quickly stopped before I drilled a new hole through the brake pedal "holder" bar. Then I found myself one of these handy little pieces of kit which effectively allow you to drill around corners and the thing worked!

I first drilled an approx 1.5 mm hole, then a 3mm and then finally just over 4mm and out came the old pin! and the new brake pedal pin i have fits like a glove.

However, I am now wondering if the brake pedal is the right design. My concern is that in most positions the pin is not covered by the brake pedal so the pin could bounce out of position. I have to told the brake pedal up real high for it to cover the pin. It does look to be a really similar design to the old pedal, so maybe I just think it looks odd with the pedal sticking up so high to cover the pin.

Any opinions on whether the new pedal is good or not???

That drill looks like it could never work! But well done.

What about trying a roll pin? You may be able to get hold of one that's a closer fit and then spread the end a touch so it's a nice firm fit.

And because I know you'll say what's a .... here it is.

That is what I use on my VBC, - perfect!

When you're off the brake, the pedal should be in this position, pushing on the brake light switch to keep your brake light OFF. The new pin should have a head on it and goes in only from the top thru the slot when the pedal is fully depressed. It can't get out unless you're at the very end of your adjustment. I have some that the pin just slips out if needed & the pedal is all the way down. If fact you could grease the pin so it won't get rusted in again.

You need to see if you can gently straighten the brake cable tube and dry fit your brake cable. Before you put the pedal on, fit your new brake switch. Now connect the cable to the pedal w/ proper hardware, pull back on it hard from the other end and you'll see where the pedal will spend most of its time, probably about where it's pictured here.

I had the same opinion but it worked a treat! Super easy... Yep, had no idea!

Is the idea to lightly tap it in place instead of the pin that came with the pedal? My first (uneducated) thought, is how will I get the thing out next time. I guess you just squash the roll pin with pliers and pull, but tricky to get the pliers in there to grab it when the brake pedal is on, or am i missing something???

Thanks V oodoo.

In the below photos I have captured shots of the pin when the brake pedal is fully up and when it is parallel with the ground. You will see that in the top photo, when the pedal is fully up, half the pin is still visible. So it won't come out, but it is still half visible and there's not much movement of the pedal required to release the pin.

In the second photo you will see the pin head fully visible when the pedal is parallel with the ground.

The last photo just shows where the pedal was positioned for those photos.

My concern was that when braking the pedal will have moved enough to allow the pin out to roam free and my brake pedal to also roam free!

However, i think this roll pin thing may solve this for me... Will do.

My next job is to somehow remove that switch you can see there - those screws keeping it place are stuck there pretty well, better than they should be. I've got a hacksaw blade ready to cut away the switch so I can get a better grip on those screws. Who would have thought the brake pedal & switch would be causing me this much grief!

One of those cheap impact drivers that you hit with a hammer work great on screws like that. Also, try turning it in before you turn it out. This will often loosen as fastener before you stretch it and snap it and the screw driver has more purchase that direction. Another good trick it to tap a screwdriver in the slot with a light hammer which will often break the grip.
If you have no plans to keep the switch, remove it in pieces and you might have a better chance of wicking a penetrant in there or dealing with the extraction.

Great tip there Moto64. I've never knew of such a thing as one of those impact drivers, but they look like a solid investment of some of my hard earned $$$. I'm sure it'll get more than just the one use. Plus I just love buying tools

I'd actually just borrowed a hacksaw blade to try and cut the switch apart to remove it and get better access to the screws, but an impact driver should save me some sweat. Cheers.

+ 1 on this. Use the penetrant first and make sure you use a screwdriver that fits the slot snug & has a clean tip w/ crisp edges. These screws are pretty fragile, once you get it to move IN a bit, apply a bit more penetrant & start coming out. If it starts getting too tight, more penetrant & go back in a bit again then repeat. Patience needed here.

If you're worried about the pin coming out, you could always Loctite it in. Is it REALLY loose?

Ok. I'll try this prior to using the impact driver. Eh, patience... Yeah it's pretty loose. When I measured the size of the pin it's a beez under 4mm diameter, the drill bit was a beez over 4mm. So I may slightly widened the hole and it's 2x beez' larger than the pin. I'd say a beez is 1/10th of a mm.

You could try Loctiting it in w/ the pedal off & see if it looks like it'll hold. Try to use Loctite rated for 2x beez.

Those bees are really well hung down your way.

Problem.

So I busted up the switch and I was able to get the top screw out with wd40 a light tap and vice grips, tried it on the second and it finally started moving, well the head did, and then the head popped off!!!

Now there's still a about 10 beez (1mm) sticking out but this feels like a big problem, am I right and any simple solutions?

get the drill out again

Ooops. Before you drill, try your vise grips on the screw stub and the penetrant, in a bit then out some more & repeat routine again. Remember, patience.

bugger

Any tips?

Thinking i should start really thin with a pilot hole, then slowly get bigger?

Is it really bad news if I don't drill right down the centre of the screw and hack into the grooves of the "female" frame section? (if that makes sense) Obviously this would be (edit) UNintentional, but highly possible...

Yeah, I tried that a couple of times, but I'll have another try prior to drilling.

Drilling the brake pin hole was not so worrying, but i'm a bit more concerned in this case...

That the original colour under there?

i reckon its og paint but the lead in it has made it greener,,im sure youve seen that before gincho

It would be hard to know, but quite possible. Most of the colour charts I've seen suggest a metallic blue for this year and model and I got the below photos from Francisco (from MV), which looks similar to the blue showing up under the switch. Francisco never said whether it's original paint (i've shot him an email to check if he knows, but it looks to me like it may have been painted since original). I do like this colour, and scoot...

You're right, it looks a little greener, darker and not so metallic...

You gonna paint it that same silver blue, I hope I hope? Try those visegrips 'lengthwise', REALLY tight w/ a stout screwdriver in the jaw gap for controlled leverage to rotate.

If it breaks off, take the good screw to a place that sells drills & taps to buy a tap & proper size drill. Grind surface flat & centerpunch in middle of old screw before drilling. Get experienced help or at least find some YouTube vids to tap. It's real easy to BREAK off a tap this small in the hole, then you'll be even worse off.

Hmmmm, well I just went out and bought acrylic white paint... My first choice would be the blue but I decided on White as it looks pretty good, but also it's forgiving when body isn't perfectly prepared (1st try at painting) and there's so much bog in the floor that it'll probably crack within a couple of years and need a re paint, at this time I'll fix the floor properly and repaint, maybe the blue. Alright I'll try this next then... Thanks heaps.

to get the screw out from the pedal switch, can you thread a nut on to it, if so weld the nut, leave to cool and plenty of d40 then try a socket again.

Thanks GL, I might be able to get a screw on, just, but I don't have the capacity to weld...

I've got ARC & MIG if you need to learn... ohh ... & OXY if you get bored

Cool, I'll see if I can get a nut on.

Been reading this thread for a while. Feeling for jimbod with his brake pedal. I know how he feels now. These this can be a real PITA!
Mine was stuck too. Wd40 and other tricks didn't work. Time for the blow torch. Few minutes and great, it's moving. Next thing the whole pedal, mount and all comes off. Turns out it was only held in by a dodgy brass weld from the 1950s or something. The mount was stuck good. Wouldn't drift out cold, time for the torch again! Red hot, I could see the rust begin to release and the division between the mount and the pedal became clearer. Burnt fingers, then gloves, a block of old Redgum and it drifted out eventually.
Time to weld the mount back in now!

That's far from ideal there blank, but I guess it's better sorting it out now than on a downhill hairpin!

I drilled out the screw and tried the vise grips again but the end that was sticking out just broke again. So I'm going to get a drill bit just a fraction smaller than the screw and drill the remained out. Then I'll use a self tapping screw.

Once the screw is hollow it may come out without too much trouble and save your thread.

It was hollow when I grabbed it with the vise grips, I squeezed it and twisted and the part I had a hold of broke off. It's pretty flush now with the frame, I will drill it again with a larger bit but there's less than a beez to hold on to!!!

You might as well drill a new hole in a place that leaves you a better angle for the pedal. I'd consider it anyway.