Modern Vespa

Well I hope this will stay in this section and not the projects because i will need help along the way. Thanks to MJ rally who has been helping me along the way so far I probably won't go to 26 pages this time but I will post any obstacles and really really appreciate the help....

I finally got my scooter painted and I am not fully satisfied. I got a good price from a backyard painter. Hence my problem. You can't tell from the pictures but there is some sediment like tiny bumps in areas. Pollen maybe. I asked if it will buff out and he said yes but I should wait. It's single stage paint. I have heard the term cut and buff used. I guess I didn't expect to have to do anything. Any advice? Oh any advice other than don't restore a perfectly good scooter, you know I don't pay attention to that advice [img][/img]

The pics are not all that clear, but it looks like it just some orange peel and will need some wet sanding and polish. Not really a big deal to do, just time consuming. Patience is the key here. I'm really liking that color. Nice choice for a smallie.

Thanks T. I'll take better pictures when I get it home on Saturday, Those the painter took. That orange code is a 70s VW color Amber Orange. I'll start a project thread soon.

Nice color! Maybe with a little elbow grease it will be as good as new. My 1st Vespa was a 75 orange primavera that was painted red then charcoal then yellow then pistachio. OG orange is the best. That is nostalgia and alcohol talking. Please keep the pictures coming.

Acrylic single stage paints are not as shiny as two pack straight off the gun. Pretty sure I'm right in saying they always need to be buffed/cut and polished. Doesn't mean the job is no good, that's just how it is. Good news is they can be cut and polished again in 5 years whereas I don't think two pack can.

OK before I have somebody do it, I might try a panel and see if I can do it myself. Thanks.

It's piss easy. Get some1200 wet and dry and a bucket of water. Then after that buff with cutting compound. Should come up well....not a shiny as a well done 2pac rip but still glossy.

Cool, hand buff or use a small buffer? How long do I need for the paint to dry?

The paint will be ready when there is no more odor. Just make sure you keep the wet/dry paper wet, dunk in a bucket of water often to clean out and use a cheap sprayer to make sure the painted surface stays wet. Most importantly, use some kind of backer to the paper, not just your hand, except for in the small areas. Be especially careful around any outside corners or you will go through the paint. Just take your time, and it will be worth it.

Ey up lad, I did mine wi rattle cans in the shed, looked shit after I'd done! I used 1500 and 2000 grit paper, lots of water. As said spray bottle is really handy, then just t-cut n wax. A proper painter would probably rip it to bits but I was well chuffed. Just take your time n go very gently! Good luck!

After.

Beautiful work, that looks great. I would never know that was from rattle cans . But I think the key to your work was probably the prep and the finish work after.

Ok I bought some tools and products and began to go where I never gone before . I began on a panel that had orange peel and little bumps. Of course I forgot to take a real good before picture. I'll try the body next. as you can see the body has a lot of orange peel. I going to try to remove it without wet sanding and just the product. THe orange peel came off with the cutting compound and my drill buffer attachment.

Cheers Retro, I'm a total novice! Never done any spraying or body work before! My prep work and spraying probably left a lot to be desired! It's far from perfect but I'm well pleased with it! Just go for it!! Here's where I'm at now. The mudguard is a bit crap but it was pretty bashed!
Good luck lad!

And

Ok you gave me confidence. I have to use the wet sandpaper. I'm using 1500 first but a little peel keeps showing . I might have to try the 1200 first to get the orange peel down like Josh mentioned. I'll try it on an area on the bottom first to practice,.

welcome back... ohh... what a GREAT colour!

if it looks like wee bumps, or very fine sand it is likely there was not enough spray extraction during painting & the dried airbourne fine 'dust' spray ended up coating the surface, then next layer was painted over top & so on... I mentioned this in my resto post, & had switched to a small (200ml) paint bowl (rather than a 500ml), which meant it ran out with 1 spray of each panel... the time it took to re-load meant that fine dry mist settled & I was able to continually wipe it off before spraying the next layer, & finished result was far better.

When I painted the car, I used WAY too much pressure & the paint was pertty much dry (or blasted on) when it hit the surface, & the 'lumps' were far more prominent, hence the 'matt/dulll' look overall.

"Cut & Polish" or "Cutting Compound" will remove it, then move to a finer & finer polish to get the nice shine.
The swirls will disappear with the finer polish.

Ohh: once I polished (a hard/heavy hand 'Cut & Polish') 4 Puchs in a day, & almost ended up in hospital, as tore muscles in my chest (thought I was having a heart attack, & ended up having lots of scans etc to try to work out what had happened), so take your time.

Hey SEB
nice to be back. Yup went with the orange. I'm happy with it. Weird what happened to you. Yes I'm doing a little every day. It's quite time consuming. Thanks for your tips. How have you been doing down there?

uhhhh how bad is this. I took the shock off but these little
Pins came out. Do I just put them back in or is it a part I need to get.

Needle bearings, not in a carrier, but loose. Not a big deal, but you need to know how many were in there, and make sure you don't leave one out.

When reassembling, the grease will hold them in while you put it together.

Needle bearings.
Lots n lots o grease in the hole, slot them back in, a wee screwdriver or thick bit of bent wire will help with straightening them all up, then poke a finger in the hole to re-seat them all, greasu up the shaft tou pulled out, bung it back in

it should slide in easily, if there is lots of resistence, pull shaft out & reseat the one that popped into the gap half way down.

A 'loosely sized' socket can be used before using actual shaft, then you will be cnfident all needles are in place.

Got it thanks. 😄

Did I have pop that brake out to get the shock off?I couldn't seem to get it out with that piece on the column.

Huh, those bearings on my '74 V90 were not loose like that. I wonder if yours is original and mine was rebuilt?

They were not that loose. I didn't even know they were there and I used a screw driver and a hammer to pop the axle or what ever that is out and everything flew out. Lesson learned.

Looks good.

RG, are you sure that you didn't knock out or mangle the bearing carrier?

Maybe if others can chime in, I found this on Scooter Mercato web site:

http://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Bearings_2/90457

[img]http://www.scootermercato.com/core/media/media.nl?id=287&c=643441&h=a6038fee86a38f1b82da[/img]

I would like to someday have my scooter sanded down and repainted the color that it currently is. mine looks like someone just painted it with a paint brush. it gives it character though. seeing that some regular guys were able to paint theirs really well and make them shine gives me hope.

Well no I didn't knock it out but wondering if I should now. I am missing a bearing, they keep dropping out and now I need to replace something. Anybody replace the whole bearing thing. IS it easy to knock out. I did make sure the bearing wasn't in the center gap. These things are elusive. I can't stand when tiny things hold me up.

Are there scratches dents or rust or just a poor paint job? SOmetimes with a poor paint job there a re ways to correct it with wet sanding and polishing

YOu are right on Larry. I just talked to MJRally and he gave me some pointers on how to replace it instead of partially. I just ordered the pieces by phone to make sure I got the right ones. HE didn't have the individual one above and I had to order a kit which includes the axle thing that goes through that. Eh. I don't think I need the whole kit but it's only money.

Sanded, primed and painted fork.

Lookin good rg. Keep up the good work

[quote="jackson85"]Lookin good rg. Keep up the good work[/quote
Thanks Jackson

PUting the cart before the horse. I think it's recommended to put the floor rails on first before the stand. I'm waiting for some parts. I bought the wrong floor rubber and lost an end cap when it shot like a bullet from my polishing wheel. Ohhhh that's what safety glasses are for. Slow progress. I know watching this thread might be watching paint dry but it's only the second scooter I wasn't suppose to restore .

Eh I cannot pean rivets to save my life. I tried and failed so I ended up using little acorn nuts. Not original look but neither is my black leg shield trim so who am I fooling anyway. I reused my aluminum floor rails and end caps and polished them on the wheel. I bought new rubber.

The is a knack to setting the rivets. Most come too long to begin with. Push them through, nip them down, peen 'em over. Having said this, I just used the rivets on the ones you could see, the ones under the rubber strips were secured with pop rivets. There is a youtube vid from scooterwest that you can check out. Scoot looks good, keep the pictures coming.

No dents or scratches really, but some tiny rust spots

this does look nice.. I like that orange.. I don't mind the little dome caps.. nice touch

Let's see the buffed legshield.