Modern Vespa

I may be crazy but I traded my smallie to Greasy for some projects. I'm not actually crazy, he gave me a ton of stuff. But my family certainly gave my acquisitions a skeptical eye 🤣. Let the fun begin! The silver vnx is first up, it's an 86 px efl euro. The Stella is parts due to a salvage title and $850ish worth of dmv back fees. The VBB is a project for later. Greasy kept shoving more motors and cowls at me until I cried uncle. The Stella and vnx together will make one good bike, thus the title.


index
p1-2 trade/parts swap
p2-7 stella engine build
p5 fender
p5-6 front brake
p6 seat repair
p7 stella engine jetting
p8 selector box testing
p9 lever fix
p11 cowls part 1
p12 owatrol oil in frame
p13-14 troubleshooting the px engine
p14-16 px fork rebuild
p14-15 px engine teardown
p17 horncast/headset
p16 vbb engine disassemble
p19-23 floor repairs
p23-26 cowl painting
p23-30 vbb engine
p26 px glove box lock
p30-34 px engine
p32-33 crank truing
p35-37 px engine troubleshooting
p36 rotary oil check
p37 float chamber check
p39-41 px/vbb fenders, vbb cowl prep, vbb fuel tank / headset paint, vbb cowl painting
p41-43 malossi 166 on px engine
p43 vbb fork rebuild









Last edited by sdjohn on Sun, 20 Aug 2023 22:39:12 +0000; edited 21 times

My smallie

My dude. There was more room for like…at least another bike and motor! Or like most of each!

*grins*

Thank you times one million.

The orange crate came back in wayyyy better shape than when it last left me. So you’re a saint.

Very, very glad we could wheel and deal. And I look forward to the project progress.

You need anything hit me.

Them IOU’s will ship pronto.

-g

Gah! Should’ve taken a quick pic with the two of us!

Fwiw, john is much more handsome than I am!

I love it! This will be fun to follow!

Looks like Greasy is trying to clean out his garage a bit. The silver one doesn't look to be in bad shape. You should have it on the road by the end of the day.

Damn - looks like a lot of fun. Looking forward to the builds

Score!!!!
Everybody’s a winner.

Awesome! That's quite the bounty!

Nice!

Definitely win-win all around on that one, it looks like. That PX will be awesome when you get finished, especially if you put the Stella fork in it for the front disc and have another go at building a fast motor.

Yeah Stella fork is def going in as I have a good fender to go on and have to drop the fork to do it. My thoughts on the motor are cheap and cheerful, there are multiple pipes here and some cylinder will go on, likely a DR. Stock carbs only! I have a boatload of extras so there will be horse trading on the lend a helping hand thread. Maybe some will have something….

The malossi 166 Stella motor is for the VBB but will get checked out in this frame at some point.

greasy's garage hasn't had that much room to move around in a decade!
like the projects.

A terrific collection of bikes and parts. I can feel the enthusiasm that you both have for the new projects you get to tinker with! What a nice meetup for you both.

That’s a nice “pile” you got there. Couldn’t stay away for too long, did ya??

Hey John, that silver PX already has a 20mm fork in it, so the Stella disc will bolt right up to it with no additional mods.

That's what I had in my VBB for a while until I decided to see what I could do with the original 2-port motor. It was a fun, revvy, under-geared ride

errr... ahh... If you have an extra P front hub in that pile of pirate booty Imma buyer.

Congrats all around!

Wish Greasy lived closer. Vespas are scarce around here. And the ones out there are incredible overpriced. But good for you SDJohn and a hat tip to Greasy.

First question… How do I get this out?

Key to OFF. There’s a small hole underneath the lock body (horn cover side). Put something small inside and you’ll feel a “springy” action. That’s the tab that holds the lock barrel…

Like this. Or at least that's what SaFis says, and I tend to trust him on these sorts of things

Since he has the key, no drilling necessary…

Looks like you fellers did some good ol fashun horse tradin’. Sweet deal all around.

really? Still have to do the headset swap for the master cylinder, though, unless there are options?

Ok VBB seat time, there are too many and I need to pick two, the rest will go on the lens a helping hand. I assume these are fronts and never are mounted as rears, only the buddy seats, right? Pick me two, call them 1-5 left to right, I’m thinking 1 and 2 or 3

Any with labels riveted on the back below the grab handle?

Those.

Yup, both the Stella and that PX have the same 20mm fork. The Stella headset (both upper and lower) will bolt right onto the PX fork.

And if you're planning on reusing the stock Stella hydro brake line in the PX, you'll have to file/grind a bigger slot into the top of the frame's steering neck in order for the hydro line to pass through it. Also make sure to make it smooth. You don't want the hydro line to get cut over time from any sharp points. You can read up some on it here in the "reassembly portion" of Eric's posting... http://six-zero-three.com/2018/11/stella-front-fork-and-brake-swap-onto-a-vespa-p-series/

Last edited by whodatschrome on Sun, 18 Jul 2021 19:51:23 +0000; edited 1 time

Number 3 but I think it’s repop

P series?

I have 3 tanks, these are the less good ones. Lined and painted or unlined but surface rust (not crusty)?

Cowl rubber for VBB?

Congrats to both! Good horse tradin!

Seat with Vespa badge def looks repop.

Painted and lined tank is early vna. You can tell by No mounting holes in front.

Looks like a major project pile. Pck rats unite! If ya have an extra vbb type engine cowl, I’d do some horse tradin

Good luck and I’m excited to see what happens here

It’s the cut out notches confusing me

Rubber must be for the P’s glovebox. V cuts are for the corners…

Floor rails are earlier than P-series

Anyone have a picture of how these work? I’m probably going to put them on the helping hand thread

The leg shield crash bars go with the square section up around the glove box and the tabs slide over the leg shield trim. Then just tighten the nuts until it's snug and double nut them to hold position.

Never seen those cowl protectors before.

It just so happens that I’ve been looking for a solo seat to use part time on my PX...

Which one you want? The rest are going on the lend a hand thread.