Modern Vespa

Quality resto and quality thread! I can't wait to see the next phase.

I came to a stop behind this truck at a stop sign for a right turn at and angled intersection . I glanced back over my left shoulder and saw no cars in sight. When I turned back I saw him move off so I checked behind for no cars again, put it in first and accelerated about 5 feet smack into the bumper. He had moved forward and then stopped for some reason and said he never even felt the impact which pushed the motor back 1/2"

And your two-tone Saab is now a three-tone. Does that make it a chord?

HJO - you should be very proud of the work you've done. You've brought this Rally miles and miles from where it was. Really nice work, you learned some new skills; and saved a messed up scooter from scrap. Very exciting to see where this goes, keep it up; and thanks for documenting your whole process.

Last edited by GeekLion on Fri Apr 29, 2022 12:26 pm; edited 1 time in total

I really appreciate all the help here! Very excited about this now! Seems like it could turn out really well.

Yep. That bike was definitely headed for the junk yard, or being parted out. I showed photos to SF Scooter Centre when I got it, and they thought it wasn't worth saving.
For some reason I love lost causes.

It's a matter of perspective. If you're a shop doing this for money, it wasn't (economically) worth saving.

For you, who don't mind learning new skills, spending a bunch of time, and generating 17 pages (and counting) of MV posts, it's All Good.

Those are great skills to have. You don't have to be some metal master either. Functional skills and attention to detail are plenty. It's cool to have something old and unusual that would otherwise be unaffordable or unobtainable for most people. If I did it for a living I would hate it and get fired because I am too slow.

Playing around with filler.

It's only workable for like 10 minutes, maybe! So little spots, one at a time.

I think this will turn out well.

Is there an advantage to one-stage vs two stage? Can you tell with finished paint?




blobs.

But then it all comes off. I just want to fill the imperfections from metal work. This might need a second.

The glaze coat is quite nice. it perfectly fills the rust pitting, which is not very deep.

Now every car I see, I think "I like this white." or not. Mercedes has nice white.

BMW has nice white too.

Totally not original, but this Lexus has a metallic/pearl white, which is very subtle, but looks nice.

It's only noticeable at certain angles. Not really straight on.

Do you mean single stage vs base/clear or paint with or without a hardener?

Original paint is single stage. Most modern cars use a base coat with a clear coat. Single stage looks more original on a Vespa and old cars.

Acrylic enamel can be used with our without hardener. It's better with. It is not as durable or fade resistant as 2k urethane, but is less toxic and fine for a scooter. Acrylic enamel will eventually get dull looking and chalky, but can be buffed back to new.

I use 2k urethane on my bus but have 2k acrylic enamel for when I do my 200. Scooters just don't take the abuse from the elements that cars do.

I'm having a paint shop do it, and can choose either single stage or two stage.

The original paint was single stage.

I think it has less of a gloss, and is less weather resistant? Not sure though.

Can you tell just to look at the paint if it's single or two stage?

It seems like it oxidizes more readily.

I am just amazed at newer car paint. There are cars in my neighborhood that have been parked outside for 10 years, and still look glossy and new.

This bike will live indoors probably always, I'd hope.

I very much like single stage. The thicker the paint the more it looks like a heavy hand with the body filler.

Don't know if it even still exists but back in the day I had a bike painted with Imron and loved the results. Single stage but high gloss and very durable.

I think Imron was kind of the bulk body shop stuff that was fairly inexpensive. I use Omni, formerly ppg shopline and it's the same kind of thing. It's pretty durable. You can get great results with it and it's quite forgiving. I've always been pretty happy with the gloss I get out of the gun, but you can cut and buff it to your heart's content.

Ok. I'll go with single stage. going to use ppg paint, pretty sure

Given that you're looking for an authentic rather than custom or resto-mod look, you definitely want single stage. I did two-stage on my GL and it looks good with the metal flake, but the VBB definitely wanted to be single stage.

Two cents worth :

The proper proportion of hardener to putty is the good old 2% / 50 :1. This seems to be the case for basic fillers and glazes or icings.

A good way to gauge this is to put a blob on the pallet and cut it in half. Then do that four more times until you end up with 1/32 ( 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 ). One more time and you have 1/64 and 1/50 is somewhere between 1/32 and 1/64. It doesn't have to be exact but you can see just how much ( or little) you need for any size blob and , when mixed, what approximate color you are looking to achieve in the mix. Like epoxy, the ration doesn't have to be exactly precise but the blending should be complete.

You also want to spread the filler with a flexible spreader so it is pretty smooth and even. Sanding hard blobs is tough because you need a course paper to cut them down and the paper will ride on the high spots and can also dig out the areas surrounding it. After the first leveling, skim over it again and sand that and do it again until the whole area is blended in and faired out.

+ : the reason it is good to be consistent in the mixing is that when sanding layers or areas with differing hardness the paper will cut the softer sections faster than the harder ones.

I have a quart of glasurite/PIAGGIO BIANCO SP/ white - that needs a home, Which I will say is better than PPG.
I originally was going to use it it for a respray and opted to just doing touch ups. I used maybe 2 ounces total. So, plenty left...

It should be the same white as your Rally. Pay for the ride and I will send it your way if you want it. LMK

The mix recommendation is helpful! Just kind of guessing at it, and I think I used too much.

But it was very sandable. This is a whole learning curve, too.

All that bondo that was on the bike before I blasted it. Some of it was months old, and under paint, and still soft.

I could take the paint! Glasurit is good paint. And very expensive.

The paint shop told me I'd need a whole gallon, though. So it probably would not be good to mix two different paints?

A gallon? Holy guacamole that seems like a whole alotta paint!

Ouch - so sorry Moto. That sucks!!!

I could paint a 30' motorhome with a gallon. Probably with a 1/2 gallon.....

Does anybody have a general guide of much paint is needed for a smallframe and large frame Vespa per coat?

Maybe he's thinking too much?

He also said that's about $1200 for PPG paint.

But he paints like lowriders.

He said that was three coats or so.

It's fun doing this. This part is easier, and much more workable.

Finding all these small dents and dings, that can be hammered out. The parts I welded are going to have kind of thick filler. Not too thick, but like 1/8"

I'm so ready to paint this. Hopefully by end of next week it will be ready.




Round 1 of probably 3.

This still is too thick. I was thinking I'd leave the metal imperfect, but block sanding straight might be better.

Got one of these from Mercato. It's very nice.

Was able to recreate the bead here.

The corners need a bit more rounding.

Looking more like a vespa all the time.

I had a friend paint a super once and two quarts was covered it, but he said three would have been better.

He was not a professional painter though, so not sure if it can be more/less

I try to keep filler 1/8  or under in thickness. If there are a couple spots that are deeper it shouldn't be a problem. It's when people build up thick layers on a flat surface or sculpt whole fenders out of filler that problems arise. A gallon seems like a ton of paint for a Vespa.

Certainly not a gallon.
Id actually be concerned about the painter's bonafides if he really suggested that much.
Could certainly be more than a quart but I can't imagine more than 2.

You can do it with a quart so long as you don't mess up and have to re-do any parts of it.

I used less than two quarts on the GL for both the original paint AND the re-paint after I crashed. I used just over a quart on the VBB, but I could have gotten by with a quart, I just laid an extra coat over everything to have more to cut down once I knew I'd be sanding.

@Hjo You are doing great, so many of these projects are a big learning curve and it's fascinating seeing you go through all the steps.


So a quart is about a litre in our world.

Truer words....

I think you should take my quart. When it arrives, find a glasurite dealer take it in and have them mix up another quart. Check for consistency and if the colors are off at all, they should have zero problems getting them adjusted to match. You'll have leftovers for touch up too.

If you're concerned about the two quarts not matching, use half from each in each batch until it all fits in one container, then pour then together.

ok! I'll take it!

Does it have a galasurit code?


I could just have them mix together with the new paint, I think?

Yes. See pic. This was posted in my p200 thread in discussing white paint.

My quart doesn't have the fancy label, but it is the real deal and used the same paint code.
PM me your address and we will get it shipped out.

Birdsnest, I'd love to know where you got that paint. I was under the impression that Glassurit couldn't mix their 22 line ( SS ) in this country... I've been told twice now by two distributors that they couldn't do it. Something to do with the activator. ?
I had this Nason SS mixed from a scan of a Tecnica chip.

I couldn't find a shop and Houston that still used 22 Line. I emailed support at BASF - Glasurite and they put me in touch with a shop in Beaumont TX. Let me see if I can find their number. (This was probably a year ago.)

That would be great to know !
Even though I told myself, after four, I wouldn't do another one, I just did the SS in Pavone and had a chip scanned again.
I purchased 48oz for 'just in case' and potential future needs and used just under a quart.

Glasurit 22 is indeed good stuff.

I've looked and haven't found any place that still sells it in (or will ship to) California. If anyone knows of a supplier, I'd definitely like to hear about it.

A quart may be enough, depending on the number of coats and coverage. Last thing you want to do is run out.

You don't need to find a *place* that will ship to California, you just need to find a *guy* who will re-ship to California.

*coughs*

<<<<<<-------

A quick note on the 22-line.

Apparently the VOCs in 22-line ran afoul of the epa or other agencies of regulations and that is why it is hard to source. Texas being populated by super high quantity of mouth breathers still have a few shops that have and will fill orders. The catch is cost. When I bought my quart a year ago I think it was ~150.00 or so. A quart today is 284.00. Just insane.

BASF have a newer safer single stage that is 190.00 a quart and comes in all the fab PIA colors. Still... 190.00? nutso.

Anyway, if that doesnt scare anyone off cost wise. I can order and facilitate delivery. (Note I did not say "mail" publicly.... I just said delivery.)

*ahem*

Last edited by Birdsnest on Fri May 06, 2022 11:39 am; edited 1 time in total

By way of comparison, if you're not picky about color choice, I used Summit Racing's house brand paint on both my GL and VBB and it ran right at $50/qt, with free shipping.