Modern Vespa

I've had a little search ongoing for a while, looking for the "perfect" old/original art deco radiator cap/hood ornament for a fender crest for my PX. Finally found her a few weeks ago... and I have it bolted on now. But I am looking for suggestions for ways to "lock it on", such that anyone with a screw driver and pliers can't remove it, but so that I can remove it, if necessary.





Any ideas?

Remove the front wheel and then refit the screw the other way up - i.e. the head is under the mudguard. Once you refit the wheel it will be much harder if not impossible to get at.

Something like this perhaps?



The rounded head means you can't get it off from the top, the square section holds the thread in on place (you need a square hole for this to work) and the nut goes on the bottom.

Fairly neat and safe, I think...

beautiful ornament.

google "torx security screw"--that should solve your problem.

Check out what's available here: http://www.securityfasteners.net/.

You'll have to by the right tool as well but the average common thief probably won't have one in his back pocket...


Dave

How about Locktite? I can never remember which is the more permanent one, the red or the blue.

Neither red or blue loctite is permanent. Blue will come loose fairly easily. Red will come loose with more force (more easily if you add heat). Green is the stuff I would use here.

Here is how I would solve the problem. Find a threaded stud that is just a bit too big to fit in the hole in your ornament. Tap the hole in the ornament to match the treads on the stud. Insert the stud from the underside until the stud is all the way in the ornament, but not protruding above the base. Use green loctite to insert the stud into the ornament. Use a self locking nut and a nice big fender washer on the underside of the fender to attach the ornament to the fender.

-Craig

Once you figure out how to keep people from stealing that dandy fender ornament, you can go to work on devising a way to keep them from stealing your scooter.

Roland

I would find a local "fasteners" supply shop. They will have one-way bolts and other security bolts that require a special tool to loosen them.

Talk with the salesperson and determine what is the best solution and the costs involved.


one way bolt

Carriage bolt down through the top with nut underneath should be perfect, and use any of the locktites, so the nut will not come off from the vibration.

Is that a plastic fender? If so, all a thief has to do is give it a good kick and the fender will split apart. Then, in the privacy of his own home, he can whittle away on the special fasteners to remove the chunk of your fender still attached.

Sweet very nice! R

Is that from an old Rolls Royce? That looks very nice.

id have cut a slot in the chrome thingy with a dremmel then slotted the bottom of that wingthing through it........ twisted the chrome thingy.. bolted that wingthing to the muddy then twist the chrome thingy back inline and screw it back on ... that way you dont see that ugly base

if you understood that your better than me

bitsa giving out advice on chrome stuff ?

Shurely shome mishtake

noooo its advice on how to bodge the stuff you wanna keep .... note the sly use of a grinder style cutting tool

Bitsa has it right.

Obviously he's got a secret chrome fetish.

Fastest and easiest way is to melt solder into the screw head,
To remove the solder later, Just use a soldering pen and a desoldering vacuum.

That a really interesting ornament. Similar to, but not, an old Packard hood ornament. Can you tell if its steel or aluminum or zinc?

I think the idea of squaring up the hole with a Dremel and then using a carriage bolt with a nylock nut underneath is a good one. Use SS and the bolt head will polish up fine.

Use your Dremel to clean up the rough mold lines and flash and have it chrome plated.

Very tasty!

"Is that from an old Rolls Royce?"

According to this site, it's an Accessory Mascot:

http://ken-thornton.com/mascots.html

(Female Mascots 1 - Left-hand list)

ohh another thing .... if you do manage what i said itll make sure the bloody thing dont start to turn round at speed .....



im off for a lie down now

It's not from a Rolls Royce. Rolls used the "Spirit of Ecstacy" usually referred to as the Flying Lady. To prevent theft, my 1929 Rolls came with a plain parking radiator cap and a velvet bag to store the Flying Lady in a safe place when the car was left unattended.

Here's the link to the Rolls mascot: http://ken-thornton.com/m_factory_n-r.html Down near the bottom of the page.

I never heard that one before...great idea!

+1 on this bolt

There are several Fastenal retail shops in Texas. www.fastenal.com Hopefully one in your area. Drive over there, tell them what you want to do and stand back while they find the perfect solution. They live for finding low-cost solutions. Good luck!

When I need to really secure something. I use these....

http://www.hi-shear.com/fastener_hl.htm

Hmmmmmm.........if I had a 1929 Rolls Royce, would I be running around town on a 2009 Vespa GTS 250 ie??????????



YOU BET YOUR BIPPIE I WOULD!!! (That is, if I could get it back from the dealer with a new fuel pump!)

I'd still like to have a cool hood/front fender ornament. Could it just be WELDED on??

I had no idea there was such a market for security fasteners! Thank You! Lots of solutions suggested here that would work... I need a few days to research the options available and I'll be back with pics of what I end up doing.

Also responding to a few questions/comments: Yes... After I bought it that site was one of the 3 references to this (or similar) mascot I could find online. I believe it is an original after-market hood ornament possibly made by Faith Manufacturing of Chicago (the hair is a bit different on mine than on the example shown on the website you linked to). There is actually another one identical to mine for sale on ebay right now (for a rediculous insane price, what is this guy smoking?), I paid ASTRONOMICALLY less (order-of-magnitude less) than this guy is asking:
http://cgi.ebay.com/FLIGHT-SPEED-ART-DECO-NUDE-WINGED-GODDESS-HOOD-ORNAMENT-/250526880048

[edit: after re-inspection that one on ebay is identical to the one on the website list of "femlae mascots" that MikeO linked to, but a bit different than mine... you can see the difference in the hair, in the shape and detail of the wings, and in the way the "fabric" drapes at the back at/under her trailing foot.] Something along these lines was my original installation intention (under/through the OEM chrome bit, with bolt/fastener hidden inside, but the chorme-thingy that comes on the PX is plastic chrome... cutting into it yields a messy plastic edge. I wonder if there is a metal version of this trim bit available as an after-market PX accessory? The fender (red part) on a PX is steel, as is the rest of the scooter's frame, the shiny chrome fender trim (OEM stock bit) is unfortunately plastic. The mascot is currently bolted through a hole in the steel fender (with hole drilled through the plastic decorative bit as well)

Bunson wrote:
Hmmmmmm.........if I had a 1929 Rolls Royce, would I be running around town on a 2009 Vespa GTS 250 ie??????????

I sold that Rolls about 20 years ago. I also sold two other Rolls along with sevral MG's due to a divorce. Currently though I still ride the Vespa while a 1989 Porsche 911, a 1949 MG TC and a 1929 MG M type sit in the garage. Most of the time the Vespa sits in the garage while I ride my 2005 Trek.

My word, it's Stanley Unwin reincarnate!

(For all you young 'uns: http://stanleyunwin.com/.

You can put it on with a special bolt but if someone really wants it they will simply break it off which from the pic looks all to easy to do.

The latest models automatically hide the "Flying Lady" when the ignition is turned off.

I lied, or rather I should have checked wiki first: