Modern Vespa

I was all excited to get home last night and use the delivered gasket and seal kit to finish up the ET3 ... hoping i might even be able to button up the engine to the extent that i could mount it back in the bike.

No such luck. I spent 3 hours trying to get the fucking cases to close.

It's not that they WOULDN'T close ..it's that whenever i put some torque on the bolts around the crank area, the crank would basically lock up and stop spinning. Loosen the bolts so there was a mm or two between the cases, and it would spin free again.

Clearly the crank isn't seated right, and someone else has the club tool to pull the crank into place... and i got really pissed off and frustrated and called it a night.

I brewed up this really nice IPA that had 30% Rye malt in the recipe. A real face melter...

I had two big bombers of it waiting for "celebration" beers when I finally button up the P and ride it.

I drank them long ago as "frustration" beers, when I just had to walk away from it.

I know you don't drink anymore, but I thought you could appreciate...

i can appreciate.

I went inside..had some dinner ..took a break...took a nap.. and went back out at like 8pm when the frustration wore off...... only to get re-frustrated after another hour.

So i called it quits for the night.


When i get really, really pissed off, i start doing stupid things and breaking stuff.

You may have already done this but...

knock the crank back out to verify the lip of the seal didn't get pinched.

When you get the puller back, rotate the crank once after each half turn of the puller. This will help the seal to slip over its seat. Also leave the fly side seal out till after the cases are bolted together.

Other things that can keep the cases from closing, though not necessarily at play here, are:
Xmas tree on the clutch side (should start on the fly side).
Too much grease in the final drive needle bearing.

When frustration hits, think of how much it would suck if you were not using a two-piece fly side bearing. You have no time pressure to close the cases, enjoy that.

Hmm... well, i had the christmas tree and crank both started in the clutch side of the cases... and pushed the flyside ( which had nothing in it but the seal - which i now wish i wouldn't have put on ahead of time ) up against it. Largeframe style. The 2-piece bearing was on the crank already, so i just left it alone.

Now i'm having trouble getting the cases SPLIT again so i can double check everything. Besides, how are you supposed to put the christmas tree in the flyside if it's already attached to the clutch? Do the clutch last?

when i took my engine apart and put it back together, it seemed it always went together seconds before i went insane. not very many seconds. it was quite trying.

I can confirm that kicking the engine does not fix the problem..

fucking classic.

yup, clutch last. Also, rotating the crank and final drive shaft as the cases go together will help everything line up. The largest gear on the xmas tree can catch the lip of the fly side case and it should be a tight fit into the bearing on the fly side. That's why I put it in the fly side to start.

To get max life out of the xmas tree bearing I put the bearing onto the tree first, then heat the cases and install the tree and bearing into the fly side of the case.

Just treat it like a strategy game with several levels of undo.

it's counterintuitive...

mount the kickstart gear in the case, mated to its starting position with the quadrant. then seal the cases.

edit: just push the quadrant up away from the bumpstop enough to be able to set the kickstart gear in place, letting the quadrant spring hold it all in position. i doubt the crank is whacked esp if it wasn't binding before disassembly.

edit: scratch all the above. i was picturing a largeframe case. what patrick said...start with xmas tree in flyside.

What sucks is i think it's going to take me an hour to get the cases SPLIT again. That was hard enough the first time!

the first smallframe case i split was an absolute bitch. i chalked it up then to lack of experience, but in retrospect i can honestly say it was a huge pain in the ass. had to throw the whole thing into the oven like a junkyard turkey a couple times, which i haven't needed to do since.

I don't know what a junkyard turkey is, but i like the sound of it.

Quit jiiiiiving me, tur-KEY! Quit jiiiiiving me, tur-KEY!


( name the reference. karma to whoever gets it )

Simpsons

done and done.

Remember, on the smallframe cases.. "you gotta sass it." 8)

You, sir, are a treasure.

LOL

Decided to change the gearing on the 50 special this weekend. Can you spot my rookie maneuver?

Cases were almost closed before I figured it out.

the gear next to your new stack is in backwards or is too big, something






-edit-

i got it now

the kick quad is not right, out of place on gear

You got it. This gear is in backwards.

why does it also look like the quadrant is'nt catching the gear

is it just the camera angle

The teeth at end of the quadrant are closed to pull the gear back away from the xmas tree. So you are seeing the gear sitting (backwards) behind the end of the quadrant.

thank you

As an update, i finally got that engine buttoned up last night ( got back from vacation and went right to the bench and started working ).

Having the christmas tree in the flyside of the case is IMPERATIVE, as patrick said. Once this was sorted, the cases went together easy.

there you have it, fishbulb. did you have a nice vacation?

Yeah...it was quiet, and computer + scooter free.

I really did pine after a couple days to get back into the garage and wrench. The hands start drying out without some case oil on them, you know?