Modern Vespa

Tierney,
I took the advice and here it is.


Split pin replaced and put in as advised.
Seems a better engineering result on reflection.

I haven't reported here for a little while as my visits to the garage have been 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I successfully ran the cables then realised that the wiring harness was in the wrong place where the steering stop is, so I pulled it backwards, hopefully only as far as the horn hole. That was sort of okay but then the last of the cables didn't want to play the game so the wiring harness got pulled all the way back and I pulled the gear change cables out again along with the throttle cable. I bought a little USB camera with 6 LEDs that connects to the laptop and works with Photo Booth. This gave me a good look up to the bulkhead and it became clear that there was a bigger gap/hole at the top of the bulkhead that was better suited to the harness than the thinner gap under the bulkhead. So, all I had to do was get a lead into there to pull the harness back through. Let me tell you all, an old cable inner doesn't work. Instead, I ended up using old wiring from a car harness with the end bent to encourage it to poke through the top hole. Between pushing that wire well into the frame from the horn hole and using a piece of stiffer wire with a hooked end coming from the rear of the scooter and the camera giving me a look at what was happening I managed to pull my lead wire through the top hole. Having secured the end of the lead wire so it didn't disappear into the frame, I taped the harness to the lead wire and gently pulled it back towards the front of the scoot, push gently from behind. Without much drama the harness came out the horn hole and I untaped the various ends that I had protected and then repeated the exercise in the steering column making sure the harness was being the lock and above the steering stops.
Having successfully (finally) got all the wiring in place, including the wires for the brake light, I started rerunning the cables starting with the gear changes, then the throttle before getting it in my head that I had the wrong cable in the middle of the steering column for the front brake. Having removed the cable and trying to run it, I realised I was wrong! Damn. Measure twice and all that stuff. I put that one back with very little difficulty, ran the correct clutch cable then put the rear brake cable in place. Just need to do the choke to finish all the cables.
Looks like I can't put off reassembling the engine for any longer.


Looking into the bowels of the scoot.

Top of the steering column with cables and harness in place.

Where the cables exit the body - mainly.

Nice to see it coming together! Two tools I use for getting wiring through are one, a length of plastic from Yellow tongue flooring sheets, and a cable outer. The outer is much more suited to the task than an inner. But I really must get one of those cameras!

I agree that the outer is a great tool, I was using it so I could hook it if necessary. That didn't work so the wire from a Fiat loom was soft enough to move around but also stiff enough to hold a bend on the end of it.
The camera is cheap and therefore isn't perfect, it reverses the image. But 6 LEDs and a bit of mind exercise soon had me seeing what was there. Knowing there was a hole that would accept the full diameter of the loom without dragging on it made a hell of a difference.
Looks like garage time may be increased with the current situation.

Another productive afternoon in the garage with decent rain here for the first time in ages - officially in drought conditions in this centre of dairying.
I got the headset out and have done an almost complete initial build. levers and the headlamp are yet to be tried in their correct places.
The gear change tube fitted together well and all the bits were safely bagged as I had left them; whew 😅. The throttle tube needed a little adjustment at the outer end. Again I had all the necessary bits so it has been trial fitted into the headset. Similarly, the cable end piece was all spic and span and currently the speedo is sitting in the hole. I have put a new rim and seal into the existing speedo and left the patina of the original with the mileage shown as I bought her. The switch is held in place correctly with the original screw, but the cover has only been put on very gently.
If we go into further movement restrictions then there will be more time in the garage, although I will be asking some very basic questions about how to put the motor back together.


Trial set up of the headset.

A couple more pictures.


The innards.

Speedo and switch cover trial fitted, loosely.

Got back out to the garage this afternoon and fitted the clutch with new corks. A little challenging without the correct tool but a large bolt, a couple of washers and a 17mm nut soon fixed that. I clamped the head of the bolt in the vice and relieved the pressure on the holding clip then gently released the pressure and took it apart. The basket is in really good condition so I cleaned everything up and fitted the new corks and put it all back together. Getting the nut back onto the bolt was challenging as it wasn't that much longer than the hand compressed innards, but with help from my wife it was soon back compressed and the clip replaced.
Tomorrow might see the carburettor reassembled.


The corks that came out.

The finished clutch.

So, a couple of afternoons in the garage and some finding of parts that had hidden themselves in the plastic bins I am using means I have got the left side of the casings filled. It's great having a freezer in the garage, pop in whatever I want to shrink and it doesn't get any increase in temperature in the two steps to the bench. So, tomorrow, if I feel the inclination here in lockdown, I will go out and start putting the appropriate bits into the right hand casing so I can put it all together.


Inside of the left casing.

Outside of the left casing.

Thanks for documenting all this. I'm building an SS180 as well. I'm waiting for the frame and other parts to come back from the painter. Mine is the same color as yours. In the mean time I've been collecting engine parts.

By the way, what muffler will you use?

Don't know about which muffler to use. Believe it or not, I still have the original and there's no visible holes.
I am quietly putting the engine back together during our lockdown here in New Zealand. I have found I am missing a replacement fly side driveshaft bearing. It's been ordered through one of our local suppliers who does SIP orders regularly.

Really nice to read through such a well detailed project.

Well, things ground to a complete halt on the engine when the tab washer that holds the centre of the input shaft was broken at the tab, and SIP couldn't supply. My supplier in NZ ordered one from The Scooter Centre, but their delivery was being slower due to using a different delivery supplier. Still, I had some other parts for the body (rear light) on the way so there was that to get on with. The lens arrived - and it was broken. Bugger! However, that has been replaced by SIP and the washer arrived, so I really have no excuse to not be getting on with things. That is apart from the fact we are busy emptying the house so our carpet can be replaced. We bought this place about 25 years ago and didn't like the carpet; "We'll replace it when the dog leaves us". But we didn't. Now it has just got too much for us and our son works in the trade so he has organised the carpet and layers. He lives 500km away but in the next 2 weeks we will have new carpet on all the currently carpeted surfaces. As an aside, when our son came home and measured up he was of the opinion that the carpet is probably original from 1955 when the house was built.

Well team, it's been a long time between drinks as we say down here. It's almost 2 years between posts, and really, the progress has been slow. Obviously the world has had a pandemic to deal with and it should have allowed me more time to do stuff in the garage. I did spend some quality time there but I didn't progress as far as I should. I did a bit of work on the glovebox lock but it still doesn't fit to my satisfaction.More to come later. I did manage to paint the stand, an original NZ one that I have been told by several is too light, but I don't intend to put my 100kg frame on the scooter while to stand is down. I sourced some feet and a spring so I have fitted that to the scooter.
Most importantly, I decided to assemble as much of the engine as I could as clearly things weren't easy with lockdowns then NTB being busy as soon as we were allowed out again. So, I quietly did what I could over a long period, and got to the point where I could put the 2 halves together. So I did. EXCEPT, they didn't go together! Bugger!!! 🤬 So I took the right half off again and had a look, decided I had the kickstart pawl in the wrong place and tried again - to no avail. I couldn't figure it out so I spoke to NTB (my local Vespa shop) and they told me to bring it in and they would sort it out. We talked through a few things and decided that they would likely be taking the crankshaft out again so they would true it while they had it out, and obviously they would check everything else. When they went to finally put the cases together they had the same problem as I did, it stopped about 15 - 20mm short. They looked at several things then realised the crankshaft still had the points cam on it and it wouldn't fit through the bearing on the flywheel side. So - that was sorted and they carried on. I got a call one day asking if I had the woodruff key for the flywheel, and I said yes, it's in a zip lock bag with "Woodruff key for flywheel" written on it and it's in the plastic bin of bits I brought you. I told them to get Angela to have a look knowing that us men often look by asking where is it? She found it almost instantly - of course. They have had the motor completely together and wh decided to build a new short loom from the stator to the junction box as the insulation on the wiring was pretty brittle. I bought all the appropriate wire and connectors and they have built the loom. We are awaiting the grommet that protects the loom where it comes out of the casing and then it will be ready to be fired up.
More reports and photos when that happens. Sorry for the long delay.

Kia Ora,

Good work Campbell.

Looks way better than when I sold it to you.

You are further ahead then I am with a 92L2 project I have been working on but what can I say - too many projects, too little time.

Keep going mate you will get there.

Ka Kite Ano Gina.

Thanks Jim, just picked up the last bit for the engine today, the grommet that goes over the loom out of the engine case.
Need to fit that now then get the motor in the chassis. More photos to follow and a report.

love this build, like Italians say 'piano piano s'arriva lontano' or slowly slowly you go far! I am taking a while to build my rally so its nice to see your progress!

Well, it has been an awful long time between drinks as we say down here. There has been progress and I have been poor in recording it. However, today was a big day, Gina got lifted off the table I built back in (I think) 2019. A brother conveniently dropped by today so I took advantage and we lifted her gently down and put her on the sta. . . oh wait, her wheels. The stand snapped up and when we put it down again, it snapped up because it doesn't reach the ground any more. Our SS180s in New Zealand had unique to us stands being 18mm diameter and held by a single bolt each side. Over her 29000km the bottom of the stand has been worn away, and with new suspension and tyres it no longer touches the ground. So, it is sitting on a couple of 4X2s. This will require some thought - after our holiday in Melbourne, West Island (Australia to the rest of the world).


On the ground, first time since 2019.



4X2 blocks making it work.