Modern Vespa

Ordered. Thank you!

usually you would want to wait a day or two to order, we are going to tell you all the stuff you need that you will wish you had put into that cart

I tend to gather it all up over a weekend and hit the go button on Monday mornings with Mercato. It will show up Wednesday or Thursday. They are amazing.

good on the blinkers, connection point is on the pin by the latch you should see the wire inside the cowl. The socket has a wire connected inside bottom near tunnel.

OK gents, so I'm currently soaking the tank in vinegar and waiting for the tap tool. I also ordered the air bellow and flywheel removal tool.

I started cleaning up the air box and carburetor. The box had spider webs inside and the carb had what it looked like old oil residue turned into small chunks. All clean now.

However, all that oil you see on this Pic is peculiar - any thoughts where it might have come from?

I've hit the go button and then realized I needed something else and emailed Scooter Mercato and added to it. So it's probably not too late to email and say -- hold that until Monday!

Fuel line, carb rebuild kit, fuel tap (SIP fast flow, carb box to engine gasket....

10-4

I've cleaned it as much as I can:

In case you wonder, I stuffed some rag into that hole under the carb box and put tape on it...

From the previous pics you can see that the coil is busted. I did some research, and long story short, it's this one: https://www.scootermercato.com/Scooter-Parts/Ignition-Coils/93734

The question - the above coil (and mine) are for VSC Vespa SS 180, years 64 - 68, so is it the right one? Everything points that mine is Vespa Sprint 150 VLB

It's been a busy week for me. I have some time free now so wanted to get my bajaj at least running.

I'll update this thread with my finding re the coil question above.

The good news is that the engine turns! It doesn't appear to be seized or anything.

I drained the trany oil today and that thing didn't look like oil at all - it had the consistency and color of diesel fuel... That was really weird

This dude is working fast. Thanks for the content. And wash your hands a take a break from time to time.

If you look at the pin on the front of the cowl, you'll see a contact. That's the positive side of the circuit, and the ground is to the frame.

Based on what you saw when you drained the oil, the clutch side seal is gone, so no reason not to commit to the full rebuild because you're going to be splitting the cases and pulling the crank anyway.

Bike looks great. I'd ride that with pride any day of the week.

Work hard/fast, party hard. Cheers

Can you please elaborate? The consistency and the color of the oil made me think someone put the wrong fluid there. Remember, this bike has less than 500 miles on the spedo. And the oil was changed (last) in 1999.

One weird thing - after draining the oil, I fed some of it back with the drain plug removed and it wouldn't come out immediately, as if it went into a black hole. It would slowly drip eventually all out

When the clutch side seal fails, gasoline from the crankcase can enter the gearbox. It will thin out the oil, making it look like diesel.

This was from a gearbox I drained with a loose (spinning) fly side seal a while back.

Good good

(Just make sure the crank doesn't turn and bind the rag between the webs.)

Man I was not looking forward to splitting the engine. Going that route I'll have to replace all seals/gaskets

Is it reasonable to assume that whoever removed the flywheel started doing this in order to address an engine problem? I mean, why else would someone do this and abandon the project?

It was a matter of "when," not "if.". The OG seals would get eaten by the alcohol in gasoline even if they were good to start. Also, if that seal is spinning, you need to replace it before it damages the cases anyway.

Would this be the right set? It's the only one I found for VLB.

Dumb question - what is a "2 port Sprint"? (is that mine?)

Probably...

Give Scooter Mercato a call in the morning to make sure. Matt and Dave will make sure you get the right parts and their knowledge of scooters is insane. They're in Eastern time.

Get ethanol resistant seals. Most seal/gasket kits these day state ethanol resistant but just a heads up to you when you are ready to buy with the right pack unless you get some new old stock sold to you that isnt ethanol resistant.

Added the gasket set to my order. I've amended it 3 times now and the guys at scooter mercato have been accommodating and responsive.

Anyway, I dropped the engine - the hardest and most consuming part was the left cowl with all the tinny nuts inside impossible to put a wrench in and with rusty bolts.

I kept the exhaust on but for future reference (and my own reminder) the last steps would be:

- remove exhaust
- jack up the scooter using the frame above where the exhaust would be
- remove the wheel,
- remove the long bolt from the pivot arm and finally
- remove the bolt from the rear shock

I think this would've worked best for me.

Waiting for parts to arrive in the mail...

Get yourself a 7mm ratcheting wrench for that glovebox cowl. Park Tools makes one that's sold individually on Amazon.

You shouldn't have had to remove the cowl to get the motor out, unless there's something I'm missing there.

There wasn't enough room to fit a wrench or a socket on that side to hold the nut down. I tried vice pliers but it was losing grip and it looked it may damage the cowl. It needed cleaning anyway and the rubber either lubricated or replaced.

Replace them with wingnuts.

+1

+2!

On to cleaning the gears now, I usually soak rusty oily things like that in Awesome Orange - that stuff cleans everything and it's cheap at the dollar store.

What do you gents think about the internal condition? It definitely needed a rebuild to clean up all that rust, oil gunk and burn debris

Can you post better pictures of the cruciform and the gear lands? It's hard to tell from the one slightly-out-of-depth-of-field image, but that cruciform looks like it has more than 500 miles on it.

Also, unless it's just long-term seepage, it looks like you had blow-by from the crankcase into the gearbox, what's known as an "oil sucker."

Good catch, there are two "dents", one on each side of the cruciform

For reference, here's comparison shots of a new versus worn cruciform.

I guess I posted the wrong pics. I see now what you mean by the wear on the cruciform.

What about the oil sucking thing? How do I fix it? Not sure if there's any seals there...

FMP has posted a few different videos on his YouTube channel about them. I'm but at a computer right now, but if you can't find them, I'll dig them up later this evening.

Yep I found his videos and vespa"s "weak spot"

What are those plastic things called? I know they are there to help oil flows around... Mine didn't have them. Any chance they disintegrated?

No. You are fine. Older cases had the oil deflector/director built into the case. Newer cases had the removable, plastic deflector/director.

Going away for a week or so. No working on my scooter for that long is depressing! Didn't realize it's that addictive!

Visited Scooter Works in Chicago today. Special thanks to Nate for taking the time and talk to me. I wish they had records of when this bike was last serviced there . Back in 1999!

That engine was in desperate need of a rebuild. The whee axel was frozen, and couple of the oil seals in addition to all the gaskets NEED replacing. All the gunk inside and rust would've caused additional problems if I hadn't addressed the engine rebuild.

Many thanks to all the people who chimed in here too!

On to the next step.

Cleaned up the rusty tank, sealed it with Por 15, put the tap in with a new rubber seal.

Rebuilt the engine by replacing the main drive shaft ball bearing (rather needles looking), all the gaskets and oil o-rings... all after thoroughly cleaning all the gunk and oiling the current ball bearings.

So now the engine is whole but not mounted.

Any thoughts about last checks before I mount it? I've seen YouTube videos of people starting the engine on the ground not even installed.

Cheers

Do a pressure or leak-down test. It will help you find out if it's leaking anywhere before you get it in the engine. Lots of posts about how to build a tool to do it.

Great find !! Congratulations