Modern Vespa

Some of you know that I've been given the opportunity of getting a 1980 white P200 up and running.

I'm going to document my progress and what I do to get this beauty back on the road. It should be a fun ride, bringing it back alive.

Yes, she's been named Bianca before she even is running. I didn't name her, my lovely wife did, but it fits, so there you go.

I haven't had any time to do anything, except put her on the table and take a few pics. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to taking off the side cowls.

And I KNOW ScootNewB (Chris) will be over to help me drink coffee and eat donuts while we bring it back to life.

I do know:
It rolls, and the body seems straight,
The clutch seems to work,
The front and rear brake seem to work,
The engine turns (I gave it a push in 3rd and felt it burp).

I plan on:
Taking the cowls off
Drain the gear oil and inspect, refill if all looks good.
Pull the tank and clean.
Pull the carb, clean, and install.
Pull the Petcock (heh heh, petcock) and replace.
Fuel and oil line replace.
Oil tank and sight glass with new seals.
Visual inspect the electricals.
Pull the battery and replace with sealed battery.
Hook up temp tank and see if it'll start.

Here are the pics I took today to get the ball rolling...


Meet Bianca - Lived her life in Santa Cruz until 1990, then shuffled to Florence, Oregon and parked in the back of a shop for 30+ years

Broken headset

Slight crease in the legshield.

Front fender and grill has hole in it

Legshield dents at the bottom curve on both sides. Not huge though...

Center stand mount has tweaked floor

Glovebox needs some minor love to align it. Still has the serial number in tape on the inside of the legshield!

The BBQ rack was attached below the light mount, not to the license plate frame, which buggered up the body....

It still has the kill switch intact

And the plastic fuel lever. Gonna change it out for a euro style. I'll clean up this one as well as the fuel tap because someone may need it to do a period restore.

Turpentine anyone. It doesn't look too bad...


Last edited by qascooter on Tue, 26 Oct 2021 05:29:18 +0000; edited 2 times

Looks like a fantastic project, a sympathetic restoration maybe?

Anyway good luck with it 😎

Thanks CGT. I plan on doing a refurbish, or get it rolling safely and solidly, clean it up, and call it good. I'm excited to hear it fire up for the first time in over 30 years...

Right on.

Looks like a cleaner version of my P project.
Watching! Good luck.

Wow! That looks it is going to be a fun project. Looking forward to watching your postings

When you get started on the condition of the electrical I would be very interested in before and after pictures if your planning on posting them. I have a 1980 that sat quite awhile as well. Always liked the color white on the P200E. Looking forward to following your post and watch your progress. Good luck.

If the tap works, I'd keep it. It's part of the bike's pedigree.

Yep… 10 years ago Ida been fu#% that plastic thing… but now… if it works, keep it!

That thing looks great!

Those dents will hammer out, just put some masking tape over the spots where you're hammering to protect the paint.

You're more patient than I am. I'd have poured some premix in the tank, shot some starter fluid in the carb, then given it a kick and give around the block to see if the brakes worked.

I'm looking forward to watching this project along.

This looks like about a 2 pot of coffee 2-3 crueller job - depending on how much company comes over - in which case you may need to double?
Someone's going to end up with a nice scoot.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

Well, she's alive and running! Chris came over and we pulled B-62s engine because of the big end of the Conrod knocking and loosey goosey, which is the topic in B-62s thread.

Anyway, that went real quick so we decided to take a look at Bianca.

We drained and replaced the gear oil. The oil that came out looked great!
Swapped the carb with a spare I have on the shelf,
Hooked up the test gas tank,
Kicked it over...Flippin amazing - started right up!

Then we did a little clean up - some 0000 steel wool and various lubricants, and some polish. She's going to clean up nice. Real nice...


Can you tell which part I cleaned?

Chris gave it a quick polish!

Clean, over 30 year oil

Sticky, filthy carb. Needs some serious cleaning. But it's a 24/24!

Wow, looking and sounding fantastic, keep the thread updated please.

Hah! I love a good first start video

And it's great to see another scoot back on the road, too. Nice work getting that one going. I hope it took some of the sting out of what you found in Bummer-52, too.

You are right on the money CM - Chris was saying how the day was "Sweet & Sour". It was a day that balance swung to both sides of the pendulum.

But I think, I think Bianca is going to run without having to open her up. New tires, clean the tank, and we'll see.

I'm sixty two years old but when I'm doing projects with Scott our thought process often reverts to that of ten year olds building something dangerous in the garage. First it's, HEY we can use this syringe for a portable fuel tank and quickly evolves into, let's duct tape the syringe to the backrest and try riding it😀😀😀

You say that like it's a Bad Thing.

Ah that looks great. Real patina. Look forward to more instalments

Syringe is hi tech. We use a funnel.

Now I'm not sure if my Miracle Whip jar is high-tech or low-tech. This hobby can be *so* confusing sometimes.

Depends, glass is low tech and ought be avoided for obvious reasons but I trust you are using safety rated high tech plastic jars here.

Nothing like a funnel of petrol sloshing around over a hot engine to keep things interesting.
At least you're spending your time imagining containers, lamps, what not, into gas cans rather than bongs. Times change.

Of course - that P200 motor would also fit in B62 should it need a loaner...
🙂

Heh heh - times change indeed. And you KNOW I've thought about it, but naah, Bianca is too sweet to be yanking the engine and playing mix and match. I'll just work on them both until they're both running and solid. We'll see which one gets done first!

We at least made a duct tape cap complete with knifeblade air vent in the top! Super safe!

I had a few minutes today so I pulled the spare tire and battery. Battery acid did a number on stuff in there.

I gave it all a quick wipe down and will wire brush the rust off the battery holder, paint it, then put a sealed battery back in.

I'm debating on putting an LED flasher and new fuse block in. We'll see...


Pretty fugly

Battery box needs some love

Managed to remove this rusted bolt with kroil and vice grips. The head was rusted off

It's looking a little better in there now....

Following along. Bianca is a beaut already! Syringe fuel tank for the win. Double points for duct tape cap - with vent

This is a fun one already. I like the plan

I put an electronic flasher in mine and it made the standard bulbs brighter. Long story short a standard flasher drops voltage during normal operation and an electronic flasher drops much less. I posted about It previously with measurements.

Scott
You are making good progress. Interested in following progress with electrics.
Thinking of changing indicator bulbs to led on the 77P200 I just bought and will pick up next week and will need to change flasher.
Following along.

This is the flasher to get:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/flashers-load-resistors/fl3-red-led-bulb-electronic-flasher/780/834/

It'll run Leads, incandescent, or a mix. I've been using. This flasher on a 79 P200 for a long while now. It works great.


The flasher

The proper hookup of the wiring

I found that putting it in the rubber holder, then install the rubber is easier than cramming the square relay into the rubber mount while the mount is attached

Yes, that is the flasher I use for LEDs in my 4 turn signals. I had an led tail light too for a while but it burned out and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. Right now I'm just using the stock filament bulb in the tail light and the combination works very well.

I pulled the tank today! I had to stick it outside. It stunk so bad the smell was making it into the mudroom

I pulled the fuel tap and think I'm going to give electrolysis a go.

Gonna go to a secluded place called Sunset Bay for a few days first for some R&R.


Tunnel cover caught some oil

The fuel tap isn't super bad. It might just clean up and be usable. No, changing it out...

The tank, in a bucket

It's nasty in there...

Nice work so far. Chipping away.

Have you considered Evaporust for the tank? I know electrolosis is a popular choice here, but it does take a long time and can be a bit difficult to get all the various nooks-n-krannies totally clean. It is a fun and interesting process! I've used it for numerous projects. At one point I had a 5gal bucket lined inside perimeter with wire mesh, suspend small parts in the center, worked great.

Evaporust is safe and quick, not too expensive either IMHO. Works in hours, not days. Fill tank, seal it, turn it around every now and then. Drain - done. In one afternoon/overnight. reuse the solution if not too bad. Keep a small bucket full, drop in parts anytime. I'm a fan.

thanks for the flasher link. Very helpful. These electronic type flashers can be used with incan or LED bulbs, so its a worthy replacement on various scoots. I have a similar unit on my smallie, but its 2-prong, from CEC #EF32SS-R Flasher.

Thanks GL - I wasn't but I am now! Sounds like some good stuff and a no brainer. I've used vinegar for numerous jobs but it is a slow process.

Thanks for the tip - I'll check it out!

Scott
Thanks for the flasher link.

+1. Or look for a product called "Metal Rescue". It's similar to EvapoRust and about the same price ... in my experience, actually works a little better/faster.

Whichever you use, warming the product (and the part) speeds up the de-rusting process significantly.

After you get rid of the nasty goo , you are probably thinking of one of the methods to fill it with nuts and bolts, rocks and sand whatever, and your favorite detergent or phosphoric/muriatic acid or juice of your preference, then shaking the daylights out of it for a while to get it cleaned and derusted well...

Lots of ways to get it well shook up, but a clever one I saw lately was a guy jacked up one back wheel on his rear wheel drive car, and bungeed his motorcycle tank to the spokes of the mag style wheel, put it in low and let it idle. Run for a while, then rebungee on a different axis. Worked like a champ and was clean as a whistle.



Also, you might try flushing w/ strong solvent(acetone/lacquer thinner?) to dissolve and remove most of that goo before you attack the rust.

Thanks V - I was planning on letting it soak with some degreaser or something stronger and slosh it around a bit before taking it to the naxt level....Maybe I should try the acetone first....

Thanks for the tip!

I got a wire wheel for my drill, then put that on an extension rod and started that way. It got rid of a huge amount of rust, so all the other methods had a lot less work to do.


Brush on a stick

Managed to do a bit on Bianca.

I ospho'd and painted the battery box, put dielectric grease on all the electrical fittings behind the battery box, and installed a sealed battery.

Next up, clean the tank, tank cavity, and carb...


Dielectric grease on all connections

Painted battery box and soaked rubber bits installed

Battery installed a la zip ties.... I'll get a strap at some point...

Scott
Where did you get the sealed battery I'll be needing one soon.