Modern Vespa

So I wanted to restore an old scooter, and bought a barnfind Vespa 100, which seemed perfect for my purposes. Unfortunately, it was missing the battery side door, which I've since discovered is made not only of unobtanium, but of the even harder-to-find Martian unobtanium, which is suffering from extreme supply-chain issues.

So, frustrated while waiting for the Battery Door Fairy to arrive, I decided to see what would happen if tried to make my own door. What the heck.

First, I taped on paper and traced the shape of the door. Delighted to discover that if you just rub a pencil sideways along the edge you get a perfect, crisp line.

Then I transferred the line to cardboard and made a template. I left extra metal along the bottom so I could fold over and double the bottom edge, and to bend clips that would hook to the frame.

I bought a sheet of aluminum from Ace Hardware, traced the template, and cut it out with snips. A little bit of trimming, a bend here and there, and, you know, it kinda WORKED!

I painted with primer (real color will come later) and added some thin plastic trim so that the raw metal wouldn't scratch.

Councours? Nope! A purist's cup of tea? Of course not. But it took an hour (not counting paint) and came out way better than I'd expected. And it's much better than riding around with my regulator hanging out.

It was so simple that I decided to make something that was seriously sturdier. So I did it all again, this time with 1/16th sheet aluminum. A little tougher because I had to cut it with a saw, and the bends were hard (but doable by clamping it in a vise and leaning in . . . ). This time I riveted the little hinge pieces, which I cut from leftover 1/16th stock.

I have no idea when or if I'll find a proper door, but I'm feeling like a problem has been solved for now and I can continue my build. It'll get a lockable latch in a bit.

Onward, ever onward.

Nice job, and it'll do while you wait for the real thing to turn up

I like it! Even better would be if you could have spot or plug welded the hinges, but I have no complaints either way.

I love work like this. No part? No problem!

How about flush rivets? Got loads of um here at work and they're stronger than pulled. Of coarse your scoot will be faster and have a smooth finish. Nice job on that door by the way.

flush rivets with some louvers.

Love this!

Maybe better with that rubber trim vs the bumpers.
Not Piaggio's best idea letting water get into the battery bay with just bumpers

Do you have a battery side lever?
If not, maybe(?) you can reverse an aftermarket lever so it still lands in the position in the pic below, since you don't have the crease there for it to bump against.