Modern Vespa

Hi,

I de-coked the head today from my Px200 engine, polished the head for a smooth surface. Is that normal for an original Piaggio head ? Even after polishing this is not smooth at all, I believe carbon residues will love that kind of surface to stick to.

I never seen a brand new head so I can't judge wether this is factory quality or damaged.

Should I polish more to get a smooth surface or is it a waste of time and I should replace ?

Not an expert but that's a really poor example of a casting. The flow marks (radial lines in the head) are pretty awful. I would lap the mating surface at least.

https://www.dolincasting.com/13-die-casting-defects-and-how-to-avoid-them.html

I was going to do that anyway, thanks for the video.

My problem is more the inside curved surface of the head which is not smooth at all, I can't believe they are in that state new, or the casting is very poor ! This would be normal on an LML but not on a Vespa or Motovespa!

Or maybe this is an LML head ? I have no clue, I bought a 200 px in terrible condition from Spain… The engine is an iris one for sure (73M) but the head…

Does someone has a picture of an original p200 head for me to compare the condition of the chamber surface ?

that looks about like the ass end of hard luck. I'm sure it would probably be okay, but I wouldn't run it unless I was in a pinch.

while the factory churned out stuff that was far from perfect, it shouldn't be this bad.

I'd pop for another head-- used or new, or have this one reprofiled.