Modern Vespa

Howdy. I'm trying to revive a pretty beat-up 1963 VBB that, given the mouse nests and the smell of cow manure, I believe qualifies as a true barn find.

Looked like a MESS when it arrived. I thought it was on the knife-edge of savable. Maybe/maybe not. Dented leg shields, frozen engine, chipped bondo falling off the fender.

Now I'm feeling a little more optimistic. With a new head, piston and crank the engine will be fine; I'll replace the front fender; I did some preliminary tapping and bending on the leg shields and they already look 50% better. This could work . . . !

At the moment I'm looking at two problems, both headset-related:

1) the steering lock is locked and I have no key. The lock is different than the one shown in the ScooterWest "drill out" video, but is the principal the same (I assume so)? Any suggestions thoughts/guidance/encouragement greatly appreciated. There's a pic of the lock below.

2) The headset ain't coming off. The lock-bolt was off when the bike arrived, but the headset won't move. It should just twist, yes? And I keep twisting back and forth until it releases? I've tried PB Blaster, heat and a large, plastic dead-blow hammer, both from the side and from underneath. No movement at all.

What's next?? More heat? How much and where?? To the base of the headset (on the outside? I don't care about the paint)? Inside the headset, on the area where it attaches to the fork?

I'm thinking of building a wooden jig to lock in the wheel so that I can really twist in the head. That makes sense?

As I say, I think the bike can be saved. But I'd really like to remove this lovely, beautifully designed, %#^*%ing headset!!

Thanks

So corrosion has bonded the headset to the fork tube?

Sounds like you're already doing the "normal" things I would have tried to get it moving.

To confirm your understanding, yes, once the pinch bolt that holds the headset onto the fork tube is removed, you should be able to twist it and eventually work it loose.

A couple things you might try...have you hammered a wedge or even a big screwdriver into the gap where the pinch bolt tightens down to try and create some wiggle room?

You might also try building a puller that hooks under the arms and pushes down on the fork directly Get some good tension and hit the bolt to try and break the connection, similar to a flywheel.

Are you trying to save the paint, or can you use as much violence as the headset will withstand?

Once the headset is off, drop fork and remove lock. Never had to bother drilling.

Many thanks. Not trying to save the paint at all. I plan to take the bike down to bare metal.

1) How much heat can I use, and where??

2) Yes, I did put a screwdriver in that slot and tapped on it, trying to break the bond. But I was worried about breaking the cast aluminum. Should I have worried? Maybe use a plastic wedge??

3) Yes, was thinking about rigging a puller, maybe connected to strong blocks of wood under the headset arms. Part of the challenge will be to get leverage off the top of the fork tube, the inside edges of which, or course, are just barely visible where it sits under the opening in the head.

But I do want to try more heat. How hot can I go without risking damage, and where should I apply the heat??

Muchas gracias!

Fastback or Notchback?

'70 Ghia!

Sweet! Never had a Ghia, but I did have a '70 Fastback and a '71 Squareback.

I'd always wanted to build a VW engine, and learned to do it for this Ghia. Then rebuilt it for more ooomph. Originally 60 HP, now 124. I decided that was enough for a dad with two small kids.

My neighbor, noting my hands were now idle, suggested I might enjoy replacing the shift cross on his 1979 200. Amazingly, the bike didn't explode, and I was inspired to rebuild a smallframe. Then more things happened, events occurred and—yadda yadda—there's now this barnfind VBB in my driveway. About as much challenge as I can handle. We'll see!!

honestly, anywhere you can get heat effectively is fair game at this point. There's enough extra metal acting as a heat sink that it's going to be HARD to get enough heat in there to make a difference, period, I suspect.

Lots of PBBlaster applied regularly to the top of the fork tube over days may be your best bet. This is hard to say, because if it were free, you'd be able to force it a few millimeters without issue. I'd say if you can see any movement at all, use that as an opportunity to add PBBlaster and let it sit for a while, then rinse & repeat. Yeah, you're going to need to fabricate something out of the same size metal tube that can sit on the fork tube itself, including working around the access limitations. (Note: I didn't say this would be an EASY option... )

You probably want to weld a lip that sits inside the tube, too.

I honestly don't know if it's better to try lifting force versus twisting force. I feel like the design of the bike will be more tolerant of lifting force, though. Like I said, you have so much additional metal acting as a heat sink that it's going to be hard to get a material amount of heat onto it. Hitting it with a propane torch inside the headset is going to be your best bet, but I'd guess you'll need a big one, like they use for sealing roofing tar, for it to be effective.

(coincidentally, you can use that torch to burn off a lot of paint & any body filler. It just flies off with a wire brush after that. Saves HOURS versus doing it "right." Be sure to wear a respirator, though.

Hot enough to easily make your spit sizzle on the aluminum is the temp gauge that i use.

Cool stuff here all around.
Welcome.

Do note on the puller idea for the headset... The headset metal itself is pretty weak so do take caution that you don't fubar the thing with pulling forces.
I would try and get twisting action first. 2 cents.

Heat the tube, not the headset. Direct the flame down thru the speedo opening and keep it on the steel. Get it hot - cherry red hot - and twist gently. It'll come off.

socalguy FTW. nice to see you back, you haven't been posting a lot.

He just swoops in to deliver the wisdom that no one else can.

MAPP gas torch is the way to go. Hotter than Propane. For penetrant I use a home made mix of 50/50 ATF & acetone. Independent (youtube) studies show it works better than any brand name product, and much less expensive in the long run. Patience is key. Penetrant + heat+ then more penetrant, as the heat can draw it in. It will free up.

Seems like a good technique . A heat gun may also work. I used one recently to heat up a clutch bronze bushing it dropped onto the frozen hub plate no tools needed.

Heat guns don't even begin to put out enough heat for what we're talking about--even a small propane torch won't do it. You need either a big propane torch or best of all, a MAPP gas torch, like GL said.

I'm going to politely disagree

Share a link to your heat gun so I can get one for myself, then. For reals. 😃

Well, a couple of tiny steps forward. Continued drilling on the steering lock, jammed a screwdriver in, and it turned. So now I can turn the front wheel and roll the bike around. Also built a jig to hold the wheel firmly so I can easily apply some force to the headset. Will heat it as much as I can with propane today and, if that doesn't work, look for something hotter.

MAY have detected a little movement last night before things got too dark to continue. This thing is scripted like a movie.

Hey! it WORKED!! Headset off, fork out. Will soon take the frame down to bare metal and really see where I'm at.

Re the headset: I was losing faith. Tried heat, wheel-holding jig, and dead-blow hammer yesterday and got zilch. Or maybe, just maybe, the tiniest, 1/8th inch movement.

This morning I set it up in the jig again and, before applying PB or heat, gave it a hard twist, just because. And the headset turned 3 inches. Big moment. Was pretty sure this thing was gonna come off.

With heat, PB, hammer and twisting, it did. I guess sometimes it does take PB and heat a few days to do their work.

Thanks everybody. I'm pretty sure I can rebuild this now. Will be a challenge to get it to "pretty." Gotta think and plan.

Congrat! Now the real fun begins.

Nice work!!

Most excellent

Following along.

Make sure you don't loose the special washer on the shift tube. Seems nobody carries them anymore. PM me if yours is FUBAR, I know a guy who can make you one. 😉

Another Gotcha Bastard! moment.

Thanks again everybody! Now that all the pieces are off, I'm stripping off paint and tapping out dents in my backyard. If anyone is interested, I'll be starting a new thread, called "If I Had a Hammer."

Congrats! And keep those grips! if they are OG embellishments they are $

If I were you I'd change the title of this thread and keep it all together. Nice work!

What a fight ! Well done