Waiting and working

So the guys at American scooter center have been great working with me to get the right parts to get PK going. Till I can get the right crank and things I am going to be getting to work (like I said before) on the cable changes, electrical work, and front end work.



How great is that.

Crank shaft is a no go.

So I was all pumped for the weekend coming up since Holly will be out of town visiting her mom and sister I was going to have all day saturday for PK but now that is not so much. I was hoping to work on the engine but the crank shaft I was sent was in fact the wrong one...Not really incorrect from what the order was supposed to be but what they told me would fit didn't. So i must send it back and get an different one. This will not happen by saturday I dont think. So I will have to do what I have been putting off...Working on the electrical and cable bits and pieces. I think I am going to end up having to remove the entire wiring harness and work on it that way (which I dont want to do) I want to make sure nothing is grounding out on the frame. Also there is some questionable nature of the foot brake connection and by questionable I mean I cant find it. I also have to thread new cables and cable housings through the frame. So I have stuff to do that day but I was so excited about possible hearing it run. But alas it may not happen. The weather is back to warm for how long I dont know but it would be perfect for riding. GRRRRR.


I also have found that one of the four springs in the behind the clutch basket is broken. So I dont know if I can just replace the one or need to replace the whole thing. once again thanks to some total tool who wrecked it.
Springs are just behind this helical gear attached to the basket.

New Friends

So a new chapter has been added to the story. Through a series of events I have met one of the original owners of PK and a mechanic that worked on it. They have been an amazing resource. Learning some history and some things to look out for. One of the original owners lives in Cincinnati and she sent me some pictures of the original condition she got it in. (seen below). I have been in contact with the mechanic by email and he has given some amazing advice and direction and I cant thank him enough.


How PK got into the condition it did and how it got to where it was is a different story that we may never know but it has been great to learn more about its history.

crank fails but no puppy dog tails

So I have found what I think to be the major problem with PK. When I first got the vespa when kickstarted it would just wirrr and nothing. I always thought it was a stripped kickstart gear but... I took out the crank the other night and to my surprise the nut that holds the crank to the clutch side hexical cut gear was totally stripped and free to spin in place as well as the tab washer was gone as well as the woodriff key was sheared and the end of the crank stripped. This would make sense why the wirrr and nothing happening. Anyhow now I have to buy a crank and install. I am going to wait on anything else since the crank is 160 bucks from what I can find. Hopefully this will get it running. I am still waiting on new clutch plates. So the wait begins again.

Final Paint

Super pumped about paint and all the body work being done. So here are some sneak peaks of what it is looking like.




The dots on the gas tank are the original color of the vespa.


This is a far cry from what it used to be (seen below)

Wingdings

So they have these little clips (left side of picture) that cost almost a dollar a piece and are on back order everywhere I have looked so could take up to six weeks to get in plus shipping and time. That is an unacceptable situation in the graham house I could have stopped at almost a dollar a piece. In my family if you cant make it you really don't need it. My family is famous for saying "I could make that" or "if you just did this you could" or in the case of my grandfather "whats wrong with a headlight repaired with a plastic jug" or in my case "make it work"...needless to say it runs deep. So in a matter of 2 minutes I had all of these little clips i needed. The clips are used to hold on the leg shield and cowl badges on (the pieces that say vespa and the model) the clips will be painted to match the body color.

This adventure of rebuilding pk has been such a great one. It has done everything I could have asked for so far. I am giddy with excitement about riding it but a bit nervous about getting it done right. Anyhow I must say that as silly as it sounds pk has taught me a lot about myself so far and i cant wait to see this all start coming together.

Second coat of paint

So the second coat of paint went on great. Had a couple of dust particles but I am ok with it since it is the best I could do. And if it ever gets to bothering me that much it I will just change the color. But I am pretty pleased with how it is coming together.

Spray booth

video of the spray booth.

First coat of color

So I have put on the first coat of color and I have rediscovered my disdain for mosquitoes. I am using a shed for a makeshift paint booth. I can spritz the air with water and control quite a bit of the natural dust and particles. But I had a couple of mosquitoes land in the paint and take off. Leaving their legs behind. Also due to the close quarters I tried to paint to many parts at once and ended up backing into a part and the fibers of my shirt were left behind. So this is the result. Sanding the parts and repainting. The paint is a urethane acrylic one phase so the color and clear coat are one. People have said that the color does not last as long and the coverage and saturation can be issues with this type of paint but since i am using gray the color issues are not an issue and I didn't have any problems with coverage. I am pretty pleased with the results. If I were using something like a red color it would be more of an issue. Also it was the difference between 30 dollars a quart to 128 dollars a quart.

FInally The Time has come

So I finally got the flywheel puller in and I can split the cases. All i have to say is thank goodness for my printmaking degree. You might be confused so let me tell why I say that. I got the flywheel puller and ran into the garage like a giddy little school girl but to my dismay it didn't thread right in. The threads on the flywheel were all covered in dirt so I clean it out and it is a no go and it damages the first 2 threads on the flywheel puller. So i get all frustrated and look closer to see that the threads on the flywheel had been gnawed on by a beaver or someone had used a hammer and some medieval tool on this before and the metal had been bent in a bit as to cause damage to my brand new flywheel puller. Also the threads in some places were crushed together and in some places totally missing. So since I don't own a tap and die set that are 1.0 mil and almost an inch in width i had to call upon my printmaking skills. I went to my studio and grabbed my burin (an engravers tool, its what is used to carve the filigree and faces on our money, its made for detail line work) and carved the threads on the flywheel as well as the flywheel puller by using the previous traces of the threads as a pattern. And it went right in. Man that feels rewarding.


This is a burin. (Thanks to James Ehlers for teaching me to use one properly during my time back in undergrad.)



So I took off the flywheel and the magneto and split the cases what I found pleased me. Nothing majorly wrong as far as I can tell. There is some wear on the kickstart gear and on the shift cross (man I sound like I know what I am talking about). So I am most likely replace the kickstart gear and send the image of the shift cross to someone who could answer if I need to replace it. So here are some images from the cases being opened. The entire thing is now in its smallest parts possible and I am going to clean clean clean then replace what I need to and throw it all back together and cross my fingers, say a little prayer and see what happens.








Here is the wear on the kickstart gear.


Here is the wear on the shift cross.

Surfacer and Horncasting

Here is where the horncasting (the black thing) is going to go.




So here are some images after the hammering, the etch, and the body filler. This step in the painting process is the surfacer. It is a coat to help even out stuff i guess. So you can see all of the dents removed and PK is starting to look sharp. I have also epoxy painted the gas tank white with three little dots masked off to keep some of the original body color. The underside and engine cavity is all done in black. If you take a look at the last picture here and one of the first pictures posted of the condition of PK you can see some of the serious metal heating and beating that had to take place. Next step will be to spray PK with a sealer to harden everything and then comes color and clear coats. I am very excited and quite nervous.

i little bit of frustration never hurt anyone...except that dude you threw the chair at

So i have learned that PK is a real "special" Vespa and by "special" I mean NOTHING I BUY FITS THE DANG THING. I finally got the horncasting (the thing on the front that covers the horn) in after it has been on back order since what feels like my 3rd year of life (see picture below). My original intent was to make a custom horncasting but I figured since a pre-made one is under 20 bucks that is well worth my time and materials to make one that fits just right...The horn casting that is supposed to fit does not fit. So i had a good long talk with myself and said "Self, should you make one or modify this one?" So i am modifying the pre-made one and later if i want I will make a custom one and keep this as a spare. In all of my excitement I cut it a little short so I have had to come up with some custom creative solutions to my issues at hand. I swear I measured 8 times and cut once. I also finally got in the floor rail kit, which are the little rails where your feet go. When I got PK he only had 1/2 of one rail and their are supposed to be 6. The original one that I took off of him had a raised tongue sticking out of the bottom to fit the groove on the edges. That is why i took so much time in prefabricating that groove on the edges, because I assumed the floor rail kit would fit in that groove. Funny that the new floor rail kits that should fit PK are flat on the bottom...So i have to either rework the body (which is now so far along in paint i am not going to) or modify the floor rail kit. Grrr...


Me on the left and my sister Abbie on the right.

On a more positive note. I did finally get in the back ordered flywheel puller so I can start to split the cases and hopefully find out what is going on inside the motor.

Body filler

Step two: Body filler





So i always forget how much i hate bondo. So much detail work to do and i just want to ride PK...grrrrr. But I got word that the Flywheel puller i have needed and cannot make is on its way so as soon as that is in i can dig a little deeper into the motor and hopefully find out what is going wrong. The fender (pictured above) was also split open in the wreck so had to weld it heat and bend it back into what I think it was supposed to look like. The bottom of the leg sheild where your feet sit was a bear to work with because it was directly welded to the frame and bent around the frame in the crash. So all of the little wrinkles up next the frame I had to fill. I just wish I had more time to get it all done, its always inconvienent when work gets in the way of life... But i would have it no other way.

Rust and etch.

So I had an interesting education at t "Car Quest" paint store in lexington. I learned all about it all, through the sassy words of a rather unhappy person behind the counter, but I got what I needed.


Step one after blasting was to put on an etch, since it it bare metal I had to get off all the rust and then the dust then put mulitple coats of etch on PK.



This is my makeshift spraybooth. Using an old shed in the back of the sculpture yard that I emptied out. I am spraying the inside with water before i use the spray equiptment as to knock back any dust or other particles.

Sand blasting

So after sand blasting the paint and body filler off I see that there is a lot more stuff busted, thats ok because I like to fix stuff.


The back of the body was split open and it was impossible to bend back in. So i welded it shut and filled it.


I tryed to reconstruct the back bumper piece from the mangled pieces left but it was a no go is I cut it out to make room for fabricating a new one.


I also beat out all the dents I could with hammers and hand anvils. All the curves and edging that was curled under is now fixed.





Here is the bumper or back plate or whatever you want to call it. Fabricated and welded on. It will look sharp when it is all said and done.

The Problem?

Long story short: I went and saw a Vespa Guru in Louisville, KY and that is a whole other experience altogether. It is to great of a story and to long to write out. But I think the problem in either in the clutch or the gear selector. So i have been waiting for what feels like an eternity for a clutch puller and flywheel puller so i can work on these two areas. Below is an image of the engine in the cleaning process as well as the engine remounted to the body and the clutch exposed. Not it is waiting for the tools...

So I have begun body work and will update some pictures as soon as i am able to.

At the home front

So i have PK back at my home and my Wife has agreed to see the garage look like the beach at Normandy for a while.

Working under a car is great because you can lay on your back and if you thought things were tight there try working under a this guy with a 6 in ground clearance. So step one take the motor off so I can work on it and the body separate.

So here is the motor in all of its rusty dirty glory. This is the better looking side it, I also wanted to point out here that you can see something that looks like bailing or picture frame wire holding on the muffler...IT IS BAILING WIRE. Also the dude that owned it previous also (i will come to find out) use bend nails in place of cotter pins.

Motor is out and here is all the scramble that is left behind. Another 1.5tons of dirt to be removed this is just the loose stuff, and a bunch of frayed cables to be replaced.