Modern Vespa

Read ZAMM about 60 years ago when I was riding my GS150. I was very interested in Zen at the time. But half-way through the book he made a sudden leap in his philosophizing where I couldn't follow him, so he lost me after that.

I have hit my usual 'gumption trap' (ZAMM) when working on my scooter. Screws, bolts, nuts... that I just can't remove. Of the three screws to remove to lift the airfilter out of the way to get to the left rear shock, none of them could I turn with a screwdriver (even a good one) or a ratchet with bit.

With lots of PBblaster and my newly acquired impact screwdriver I was able to break two of them free. YAY! But not the third -boo! I think I have now mangled the head, and I guess I'll drill it out.

Enough of the whining, here's my question. Where is it NOT ok to put anti-seize? I think I'm just going to buy a boatload of the stuff. Once I've managed to remove any screw, bolt, or nut, anything that can get anti-seize will get anti-seize.

There are a few critical fasteners that need torquing properly and in the right sequence. The engine head bolts come to mind... The torque figures for those are for a dry fit - if you put anti-seize on you'll torque them too much and they'll stretch too far, possibly bringing on early failure.

But all the usual stuff, I put anti-seize on, as otherwise it'll be trouble in the future.

Force of habit. My term just sounds more familiar.

I much prefer loctite, which prevents the bolts from coming loose with vibration and prevents corrosion.

You can put loctite pretty much everywhere except inside the engine.

True enough.

Blue?

No, not the full strength. I did that on the variator nut once, and wrecked the crankshaft thread the next time I undid it.

We use different grades at work for different applications. There's a grade for "never move again" (red) and a grade for "don't fall off, but I may want to remove it later" (blue). We service gages that frequently use set screws. We don't want the screws moving, but when things break we have to replace them and the set screws need to come out.

Great stuff, but everyone should definitely look up the specs for their particular application.



LINK

Agreed. I should have mentioned that I only ever use blue. I don’t even think I have any red in my workshop.

Always red, cuz fuck the next guy.

And then the next guy is you…

(Sad trombone)

Yes.

Agreed the variator nut isn’t an appropriate place to put loctite.

After that I bought a torque wrench. I have never used Loctite since, and have never had anything work loose.

I've had the GTS airbox mount screws rattle out on more than one occasion.

I use a very very small amount of red (or green) lock tite on the flats of the spacer bushing that the variator slides on. This helps to keep it secured to the steel ramp plate on one end, and the fixed pulley half on the other.

not recommending it, YMMV.

I know that i am in the dissenting opinion here, but I use red loctite (sparingly!) on the crank and clutch nuts.

As well as on several other bits, and I’ll use some blue here and there.

But truthfully I’ve never had a problem with red. Everything comes apart with the rattle gun, everything goes back together by hand. With a torque wrench to double check.

But you are a mechanic and you have the experience.

OK, I've had that too. I now replace them with bolts that I can handle with a socket tube spanner. Makes re-inserting them much easier too using the tube.

I just use a magnetic screwdriver. In 'wet' climates you also have to ensure the speednuts on the backside are adequately protected with grease of some sort, or else you will encounter much grief. Oh - and I always permanently remove that front airbox screw on GTSs - getting that nut at the back in the right place is a PITA, and three screws are unnecessary.

the answer to all of general maintenance: makita

makita with a extension magnetic driver, that's plus-plus territory. just pe sure to set it to "stun" and not "kill"...

I remember that nut with my GT200. I drilled a hole in a metal strip, tapped a thread in it and used that instead of the nut. But the GTS300s don't have a nut, the front bolt just screws into the engine frame like the other two.

Ah, I was mis-remembering then from the GT - or maybe the LX!