Modern Vespa

New project in the pipe, a Rally 180 Euro spec found in Quebec.
Original paint can be seen under the thick layer of red paint at some places.
I have the seat and the engine side panel in the trunk, only the rear light is missing.

That's a great looking project, the frame looks pretty straight except for that little bash in the license plate area and little wrinkle in the legshield. Your floor rails and front suspension look to be in top shape. What are you gonna do? Does the motor turn over, maybe even run? Are you gonna do mechanicals and roll it as is at first? Try to save the original paint or strip and repaint? And WHAT is the deal with that unusual kick start lever, it looks kinda dangerous sticking out there so far!

Haha yes the homemade kick start looks odd, it will go directly in the bin !
The engine is not jammed but I didn't try to start it yet, there is a thick stinky layer of oil residue in the tank and a lot of rust … I will put it on a stand, check for spark and see if it runs.
But first I will focus my attention on the chassis. The license plate and horn area need to be fixed, the legshield has some bumps and the groove on the edge need to be reshaped.
The original orange paint can be seen underneath the red on the chassis, glovebox and front mudguard, but the handlebar and side panels will need to be repainted and aged to match the patina (which need to be revealed).
The idea is to keep it as original as possible.
I already started the slow process of removing the red paint on the glovebox with acetone.

Looks like a project with good bones, for sure. Bet you have some nice riding in your area. I lived in Coaticook for awhile years ago. Beautiful area.

Looking forward to watching your progress. Good luck.

Congrats on the find! Can't wait to see whatcha do with it!

Nice get.

The world needs more Rally 180's rolling.

Looks like a kid painted it. Which is great as it won't be too hard to remove. Nice find, good luck with the project.

Really nice!!! Any close ups of that crazy kickstarter??

Great looking scooter, I'd be inclined to leave it as is. Looks proper 70ts.

Thanks, yes the frame is pretty solid and straight, just need some love
The area is really amazing, lots of country roads and nice little towns such as North Hatley, Sutton, Knowltown … can't complain

The paint is thick and hard to remove. My process is to sand it with a 320 grit until the orange appears trough, and then I switch to acetone.

Here you go

Wow

I would absolutely love to know what that k/s started life as. What's the marking on it say?

Bummer about the bonk on the snoot there. Hopefully once you get the paint off it's not all paper mache and Canadian club fueled artistic aspersions.

Cool bike. I'd probably conserve the paint, and just do a mechanical. But I'm lazy AND I like cheeze dick 70's nonsense. It's a bad combination, really.

Aw HELL nah! Send it to me if you don't want it. It does look like it was designed as a hand crank maybe for an old car but the end looks more like for kicking. Kickstarter for an old 2 stroke washing machine and welded on to some kinda adapter here?

I am pretty sure the chassis is bondo free, but I might mistaken … we will see.
The right steering stop is dead and the handlebar seems to have been replaced at some point, so definitely this scooter fell down on the right side or was hit.

For the kick start I will investigate tomorrow !

Great find ! Great project.
I wish I could find this kind of Rally, my favorite Vespa !

How is that kick lever attached to the shaft ? Is it splined or just a grub screw underneath ?

There is an hex socket screw underneath, I tried to unbolt it but damn this thing is completely stuck I almost twisted my hex key.
I will try to put heat on it and spray some WD40 to see if it ease the process.

This project is really challenging my patience

It's looking good though! I love the orange Rallys the best ..

Oddly enough, I also have a euro spec Rally 180 that was painted red at some point in its life. I can also see specs of OG orange underneath the respray. This thread is giving me the confidence to break out a can of acetone and a rag and bring the orange back to its former glory!

Yes you should try, you have nothing to loose

I had to go on page 30 to dig up this thread, damn !

I was bored working on the chassis so I switched to the engine. Apart from the homemade kick, the engine was pretty stock and the strip down went well, except for the castle nut which was locked. I tried to apply heat prior using the proper SIP tool, but it was slipping … I had to use the dremel at last.
The cylinder was scored so I had it rebored to 63,9mm, the second oversized piston size, to be sure to eliminate the groves.
I didn't go crazy with this one, just aligned the carb/box/inlet, Si24/24 and a SIP Road 2 exhaust.

Fun fact : I didn't know the diameter of the exhaust flange on the rally 180 was smaller compared to the Px200, so I had to buy a specific one made by GS.

Looking good!

Looks peachy. Did you already pressure test it?

Nice job - thanks for the pictorial

I'm just here for the articles.

Yes I did and it successfully passed the test