Modern Vespa

Hello,

Made a great deal on a 65 VNB6t.





What is the necessity of that shit ?!



It has been a pain to remove, windscreen glue is hard to cut when you have poor access





I scrapped the paint of the floorboard, not the best, a bit of corrosion



The right floor board is in a very bad condition, the scoot had an accident and was poorly repaired, I can't find the pictures I took from now, I will post them later.







The Vespa is in ok condition, the fuel tank was full of rust... I took the carb off in order to give it a bath into the ultrasonic cleaner, replaced all gaskets, used a separate fuel tank to test, the engine easily started ! Yeah

I think I'm going to replace the leg shield + floor, in 1 piece.

I need to find the weld spots and cut into.

I will also replace the horn cover, but how is fixed onto the leg shield ? I cant see any signs of spot welds, is it glued ?

the horn cover should be spot-welded. The dimples probably got bondo'd away when it got its repaint.

Sure you want to replace it, it's a very difficult part to replace...

I have to replace the nose cover as it will be destroyed when I will remove the leg shield. I can try to save it but I have low faith into that !

Since you're removing the whole floor and leg shield you could cut the horn cast out and then grind the backside off until you remove the leg shield metal that would still be there and reuse it?

Good idea ! I'll try to save it, depends on how the leg shield will remain after cutting the spot welds

Creative !



This is the reason why I want to replace the floor board and the leg shield



I could see some bondo layers under the paint, I sanded the paint to check and have no clue why they did that ! Nothing shows it has been into and accident, no rust. Maybe older owners wanted to hide the spotwelds deformation ? I don't know, but anyway this was a shit job ! There is a layer of bondo everywhere and the sanding has been done by a 4 years old boy... On some places I can see the original color (Azzuro blue) under the braking switch for example. It has been repaint in green, orange then black.



No rust on the underside as well, the orange-ish color is old paint



Now I need to find a method to separate the leg shield/floor from the chassis.
I was thinking cutting the floor board/leg shied along the seam on each side + same into the middle part, make an opening in between the metal sheets and then use a multitool with a flat grinding blade.

Is this ok or is there a better method ? This is a first for me !

Nice job getting those aluminum floorboards off! It seems like it's a solid but abandoned bike.

I would be tempted to see if the legshield could be saved and just replace the floor if you must, but even that may be salvageable depending on how prefect you need it to be. I'd get at least the leggy media blasted or chem stripped to see what you have before you pull the trigger.

Looks like just that bad wrinkle on the lower edge & most damage is in the floor. I believe a competent auto body tech could fix that so you wouldn't know and then you don't have to worry about the horncast problem. Likely cheaper too!


The nearly perfect shape of your leggy in this shot says original or somebody was very talented w/ bondo. Do a magnet test and post up a pic of the back side which can tell us more? You may disagree, but I hate to see you chopping up such a solid rustfree old bike.

To remove spotwelds you would need a spotweld cutter like these:

I understand what you mean concerning chopping a nice bike. Yes there is no rust, but the floor and the side of the shield are too far gone, it missing some material. I want to bike to be perfect (see my yellow Chiquita rebuilt topic).

I could chop the needed part from another panel and weld but for that I would have to acquire the whole new panel (floor + legshield) as the floor only would not be sufficient in height. It would take more time to cut/weld and I would have to hammer/dolly quite a lot because of warping at the weld seam.
The top of the shield is also in poor shape, I'll take a picture to show you

I am glad I removed the legshield and the floorboards ! There was quite some rust underneath !
Thanks to V oodoo for the link, I bought some spotweld cutters, it went quite smooth.

This a part of the middle floor, impossible to spot the rust from outside as it is under the reinforcing bar



This is very tiny without the floor and the legshield !!


I started working on sanding the rust off



There is still quite a lot of rust to work out, and I have to sand some remaining spot welds

Wow very cool to see inside the tunnel looking good

Man that looks skinny! Glad you took the plunge. The floorboard was really bad. Amazing what you can find in there. Can't wait to see the new parts welded on.

I usually see people weld on a bracing bar from the nose of the tank cavity to the steering column to keep it from twisting when they remove the leg shield. Might be a good idea to do that?

Could be usefull if the chassis was rusted through but this one is rock solid and straight, this is surface rust, it is very stiff. No need for bracing in that case

10-4. I'm no expert so figured I'd bring it up just in case!
Carry on fine sir

Nice work getting it apart! That special cutter really helps, I first used one on this project and it made quick work of deleting unwanted spotwelds. Problematic dead Pluramatic PK - 4 speed repower project

After seeing your work on Chiquita scooter, I'm just gonna trust you to find the right way to get this as perfect as you want it to be. 2 things: Do you know about Ospho for treating rust? And let us know your plans for welding new floor & leggy?

The brace is still a good idea to add, your frame is pretty flimsy now and the brace helps keeps it straight when new leggy and floor are added on. I think you could keep a laser setup on it as the welding is done if you don't want to brace it.

Nice work! You should weld a brace cause heat will twist the frame when you'll weld up the legshield. On the frames I worked on, I first sandblasted the tunnel / neck, then treated it with rust inhibitor and sprayed it with weld through primer. On your frame, I'd widen a bit the arch to help the cables / loom go in easier…

I was going to proceed the same as you did, I can't sandblast but I'going to sand the rust off where I can, then use rust converter then zinc welding primer.

The chassis will be braced as it seems important to most, even though I don't really believe the frame could twist seeing the shape of the central beam, or maybe if you use a torch that will heat a lot around the weld, here a spot welder will be used, means I don't have to punch holes along edges !

I have a problem taking the front mudguard off the fork, the 3 top screws are rusted as hell, I was able to unbolt the 3 nuts from underneath (with pain) but I can't get the 3 screws out from the top...

Is it possible that there is a thread inside the aluminium into the fork where the 3 screw go into ? If so, why are 3 nuts underneath ?! I can't push the screws from the back, this is rock solid.

2 options : the aluminium part is not threaded -> air hammer, or, there is a thread and I might be in trouble using the air hammer ! I could even damage the fork.

Problem with that flat screwdriver driven screws is that you can't force them, they self destroy...

Thanks

No threads in the aluminum. They tend to seize. Hammer time!!!

Heat and penetrating oil will help.

Thanks guys

Little update, but long time spent removing the rust...







I'm finishing the prep work before welding the new legshield/floor.

I think I'm going tu use a rust converter on the inside and a coat of Hammerite paint, and a weld through primer (Zinc based) on the edges where the 2 parts will be welded.

That looks great. I applaud your patience - something I am in short supply of lately. Keep it up and post lots of pics...

I read your topic concerning your restoration where you complained about your Grabor replacement piece, mine is also Grabor, I hope it will fit without too much tweaks as you had to deal with…
I wait till my chassis is totally naked from paint to test fit, hope for the best !

Did I go a bit too far ? This is a very long process when you don't have a sandblasting equipment !

There is not one spot of paint, primer or bondo left




I found a little bit of rust on this panel, above the serial number, nothing major requiring cutting and welding fresh metal, just a bit of rust converter and a coat of epoxy primer






The inside ofthe frame is in good shape, I'll scuff the paint and give a coat of epoxy primer



I found a good amount of bondo in this area ! There are 2 quite big hits and a small one. I don't understand why they did that as it is quite easy to go back to the original shape hitting from inside with a rubber mallet !! The small one at the front of the panel will require a bit of bondo as it is not easily accessible from the inside, or maybe I can borrow a welded nail puller, maybe.



I started cleaning some parts and realized the hub is missing some aluminium around the hole, I think I will grind some of the remaining to be able to use a shim

I did not realized at first but one of the previous owners has bondo'ed the holes on the wings and the curved shape to make the surface flat (i know it might be difficult to understand but my english level is not high enough to express what I want to say ), pictures will tell more than words !

This has been repainted few times ! It is still the original part I believe.

After a quick sand I could locate the original holes for the trim, was easy to punch through as it was bondo



Quick coat of primer to visualize the line better

The straight is ok



The curved part has been butchered...





I would like to do something about that. Would hammer and dolly be possible ? I have a hammer/dolly kit, I've never really used it for complex shape, I have no experience with body work but I would like to learn and train !

Any advise would be nice, how to proceed to give this curved line a better look ?

It almost looks like it's been welded, if so, a little finish grinding might help. For hammer and dolly: support the raised portion with a piece of steel and hammer down the lower portion to sharpen up the crease.

Then flip it around. The lower part will now be raised portion. Do the same thing.

Seems clever to me, thanks.

I may try to mount the dolly into the vice and work the metal from the top.

If only I had a welder I could make a fixture for the dolly, but I don't

Yes. That's a good idea. I have VBB cowls that need some hammer and dolly work. Welding a post on a dolly is on my list. Would make it a lot easier.

The other wing is way worth, it may have been seriously damaged, they used the welder + bondo, the outside is fine but from inside it shows quite a lot of work, it will be nearly impossible to get the OG shape.

I am going to order a pair of new wings and keep these ones for a future project as I want to make a historic rebuilt of this VNB so the shape has to be spot on.

I took care of the fuel tank











Also worked on the fork



Next step will be 2k epoxy primer on everything.

I found this brand on the tank



Was Lemmerz a Vespa supplier or is it a repro ? I can only find this company under the name of Hayez Lemmerz, a german company who produces steel and aluminium parts for automobile industry, especially wheels, for trucks, tractors... "Hayes Lemmerz International, Inc. was originally founded in 1908 and is the world's largest producer of automotive and commercial highway steel and aluminum wheels"

Maybe they were the ones providing the steel sheets to Piaggio??

I don't think they would stamp a simple sheet of steel if they were supplier. I think they stamp finish products as the stamp is perfectly situated in the middle line of the tank. Maybe it is a repro ? It is thick and heavy steel, exactly like original, maybe they produced some tanks for Piaggio ?

Preparing the wedding between the chassis and the legshield...






The flat part is fine



The curved part might need some tweaking or fight...



What would be the best method ? Starting the welds at the top of the legshield and work toward the back or starting with the back and working toward the front ?

Could someone post a picture of the top of the VNB legshield from the inside to see the distance between the top of the shield and the horizontal rod ? I forgot to take pictures before...


I used the old cut parts to figure out the placement of the reinforcements rods.
They will be welded after the legshield to the chassis, I just did the marking.

Are you planning on spot welding it on or another way?

Spot welding yes,

Only this part will be drilled and wire welded

Now would be the time to make sure the measurement from the seat front to the top of the fork tube is correct and weld in a support.

I would do the curved section last and try to draw it together with clamps or nuts and bolts. You might be able to shrink it as you weld or with a torch and hammer the legshield toward the frame tunnel at the flanges. You will have more leverage as everything else will be solid.

I've never done this myself on a Vespa, but it has worked on the edges of wheel arches when there is a gap.

The frame is straight, a bar will be welded to make sure it not moving during the fight