Lamp Collection

I have been collecting some driving and fog lamps over the last few months which I intend to mount them a few at a time on my scooter. I finally got around to photographing them all.

Here are some pictures of the lamps

Lamps

and a mini slide show

Clutch, Cables and Carburetor

I got the new clutch plates in along with a new pressure plate, brass push and 2 new clutch inner cables. While soaking the cork plates in oil, I took out the clutch and took it apart. Then I worked on replacing cables and cable housings.

I first worked on the clutch cable, taking out the old inner and threading through a new inner. Then I took the new inner and threaded it through the new outer cable housing. I took the two loose ends and taped them together with electrical tape. Then up pulled the old cable out which pulled the new one in to place. The cable was tight in the headlight housing, so I used a screwdriver as a 2 toothed gear to help it along. Once the new cable was in place, I separated the 2 cables then threaded new clutch inner cable through the new housing the right direction and replaced the clutch lever.

Then I replaced the speedometer cable. The old cable was wrapped with electrical tape on the bottom half where it came out of the front fork. Speedometers run off a gear on the front wheel on the older Vespas. I could not use the same technique as the clutch cable since the speedo cable housings have threaded end caps that would not feed through the fork. So I removed the inner speedo cable from the housing, then fed a old clutch cable up through the old housing. Then I pulled the old housing out through the headset, leaving the inner cable in place. I threaded the new housing over the inner cable and put a cable stop on the end to keep the housing from sliding off. I pulled on the inner cable from the bottom, but it was being stubborn going through the hole in the fork. I pulled the housing back out, greased the end then pulled it through the hole using pliers for an extra grip on the inner cable. I removed the nipple, ring and gear from the front axle, put in a new brass gear, then cleaned, greased and replaced the ring and nipple. Then I fed the new speed cable through the housing and connected it on both ends. Hopefully that will take care of the bouncing speedo needle.

Next I replaced the front brake cable, housing and lever using the same technique as the clutch cable. Fortunately it fed through the frame and head light housing easier than the clutch cable housing.

I figured that 5 hours was long enough for the clutch corks to soak, I reassembled the clutch and put it back in. The woodruff key kept moving on me so I hit it with a punch a couple time to help snug it in to the slot on the crankshaft. Then the clutch went on ok, followed by the cover and the rear wheel. I then called it a day.

On Sunday, I started on adjusting the clutch cable and rear brake cable. On the test drive the clutch seemed to be working properly.

Next, I worked on finding the right main jets to use in the carburetor. I had a 93, 109, 110, 112 and 116. The 93 was already in the carb, the rest I bought in San Francisco. After much experimentation, the 109 and higher tended to flood the engine at higher rpms, but the 93 seems to run ok. Though this is probably too lean for the engine. So I ordered a range of main jets from 95 to 107 to experiment with when they arrive.

I cleaned up the scooter and the shop and then went home for the evening.

Electrical and Clutch

The weekend of the 6th I worked on the electrical and clutch.

I hooked up all the wiring as it was listed for the new electronic stator and after some fiddling got all the lights working. Then I worked on the timing. The timing was not coming in right, so I had to drill the stator for wider mounting holes. I decided to get an electrical coupler to make the removal of the stator easier, since the wires had to be fed through a long hole to a junction box on the outside of the engine. A very narrow and difficult to feed hole. When adjusting the stator on this type of vespa, you have to put the flywheel on to check the timing with a timing light. I probably took the flywheel off 10 times before I got the timing right.

Then I worked on the clutch. At first the scooter was running fine, but the clutch started to loose its ability to de-clutch with out it be very tight. So I took off the clutch and discovered the brass clutch push had been worn down by a rough clutch pressure plate. So I put in the old plate and push, but I also looked at the clutch plates. When stacked up they were thicker than the standard plates. So I decided I would order new clutch plates of the original style.

All back together

So the engine is all back together now.

I haven't as been good at posting the last few weeks, lots of stress at work.

Here is a recap of the last few weeks.

I got all the parts I ordered and started putting the engine back together. This took about 6 hours over 2 days. Unfortunately I damaged the clutch side seal trying to use a crank puller that was designed for other models. So I had to wait till the next weekend after a bought a new seal to complete the assembly.

The following weekend I put the seal in and got the clutch in, but the clutch did not fit right. I put the number of clutch plates as in the parts layout. But the kit I got was different, so after figuring out the clutch was not fitting properly, I took it back out and added the extra plate and cork and the unit fit properly back in.

I put on the new piston, cylinder and head, then put on the new stator and flywheel. Getting the wires through the case was problematic, but eventually I got them through.

Then I started to put the engine back in the frame. The person who was going to help was sick so I had to put in by my self. After a few attempts and bloody scratches, accidently pushed the frame over. I decided to leave it on its side and was able to put the engine in much easier.

Once the engine was in, I stopped for the weekend.

The next weekend I worked on the wiring, since with the new stator, the wiring was a little different. I got the wiring to a point where I thought I could start the scooter. I put the gas tank back on and took the scooter outside and put some gas in it. I opened the fuel valve and pulled out the choke. There was a gas leak around the carburetor, it turned out to be a missing gasket on one of the screws.

After the leak was taken care of, the gas back on, I kicked it over. Then again and it started up. Second kick start, I was overjoyed. Happy dance!

After a little celebration, I got out the timing light to check the timing. It showed the timing was at about 12 TDC not the recommended 22. So back to the workshop, remove the flywheel and I adjusted the stator as far as it would go, but it did not make 22 BTDC. I put the flywheel back on and started the scooter, this time it was at about 17 BTDC. So back to the shop, I removed the flywheel then I removed the stator and drilled holes where 22 BTDC should be. I put the stator back on, again having to feed the wires that barely fit through the engine case and hooked up the wiring. Since it was raining I decided to work on the brake switch. The switch needed to be swapped out with a new one for the new stator arrangement and this proved to be a bigger project than I thought it would be. I ended up also replacing the brake cable and housing. This took about 2 hours.

After that there was a lull in the rain, so I took the scooter back outside and started it up. But with the muddy ground and the chance of rain starting back up, I decided to wait until the next weekend to check the timing on the new stator setup.

So put the scooter back inside and cleaned up the shop before heading home.