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.

Behind Curtain Number One

Here are some detail images of the original condition I found PK in.


Some serious rust issues to deal with as well as some major body repairs to be made. The area above is curled under the frame quite a bit and it just beat way out of shape. The legsheild (the main front portion) has some twists and dents to it. The front fender is skewed and split down the middle (assumable in the crash). There are thin spots on the underbelly where you can start to see through them (i guess the previous owner slid it around on its belly or something)


This is where the steering column lock should be, it looks as if some got a little screwdriver happy on this one. That should be fun to fix...

Under the left cover (exposed here) is supposed to be a spare tire holder and cover as well as a spare tire and rim set. Since this is obviously gone I have plans to build a spare gas tank and oil storage instead. The gas tank only holds 1.4 gallons but since smallframe Vespas can get anywhere from 78 to 128 mpg 1.4 gallons is a lot of time on this little guy, but I would rather carry a tube for a spare tire since it is more expensive to get an extra tire and an extra rim set and it will be a more custom creative solution to using the space.

This has been one of my biggest struggles in terms of body work. The guy who wrecked this was trying to do a wheelie when he crashed and it shows, the entire underside of the tail is shredded into bits so I will have to fabricate and reconstruct it. The frame is slightly skewed as seen in the picture above (tilting left a bit) I am assuming when it fell it landed on the left side and just made the whole thing a bit wonky or as my mother would say "catywompus" or "whomperjawed" but whatever the case it is going to take some serious time, heat and beating to get PK up to snuff.


You can't help but use your imagination. (at least I cant help myself).

Funny story: I brought PK to the shop (Georgetown College, where I am a sculpture professor) to clean him off and start the body work, after cleaning off 1.5 tons of mud from him I realized it would be easier to work on the body separate from the rest so I would have to take him all apart and I would have to do this at home so I had to get him home somehow. Now it took me and a friend and all of our might to wrangle PK into the back of my truck to get him from London KY to here. I in no way wanted to do that again so I decided to walk PK home (1.7miles from the college to our house). I asked my wife if she would like to take a walk and chat she said sure so we went to the college got PK and started walking home. Uphill...not so fun...pushing dead weight...thinking to myself...pant...wheeze...I am...wheeze...out of shape. But the down hill Holly would hop on the back and I would steer and we coasted all over town. It was a blast. The street we live on is slightly downhill so I told holly to hop on and we rolled so slowly we really could have walked faster or crawled faster is more accurate. Fun was had.

Till then

I will soon put some pictures up of what has been going on with PK but till then I thought I would put up some images of scooters that I would love to have. enjoy

My wife Holly and I totally need this one. we would have to make a mini sidecar for clover (our mini Dachshund, who thinks she is our child)




Holly would look super cute on this one. Or the green one above since she loves her green.

Cardboard Lambretta

Its quite amazing what chris gilmour can do with cardboard and glue and time, check more out HERE

So i have found

So i have found that Pk is a 1982 Vespa PK50 Import, and even though it has a PK50S badge on the back it is not That as far as my research could have taken me. I ran the serial number and motor serial number and all said it was PK50. All of the 50's sold in the states in that year were shifting into automatics and mine is not. All of the 50's sold in the states should have speedometers and indicators so i have found it to be a import from what everyone can tell me.

My am in the process of taking everything apart and cleaning it off.
I have so far taken off 1,500lbs of mud and dirt off of it.
I first drained the oil...oh wait I had to scrap (not exaggerating) 3/4 in thick of mud off of the motor to get to the plug to drain the oil.
thanks to the folks that put up the scooterhelp site.
I have no Idea what I am doing to i have had to research my butt off as to not just jack something up beyond repair.
I love "making it work" but with this one i just stared at and didnt even know where to start. so i "drained" the oil to start engine work. I took the plug out and it went drip...drip... and thats all that was in there.

The mass cleaning has begun.

Reasonings

So i have started a project. Life for me is very busy. I am blessed since my hobby and passion are my job. I am a art professor at Georgetown College in Georgetown KY. But like my wife's grandfather said "you always need a competition for work" I needed something to do other than what I do. Now I have always loved vintage vespas but could never afford one or had the time to wrench on a wreck. But one day a friend and I drove down to London KY to a motorcycle salvage yard just to check out what was there for his motorcycle that he rides and just as an adventure. I step out of my truck this place is a graveyard there is not one bike with even half of its parts it is just mountains of frames and tanks and bits and pieces...but in the middle of it all is a vespa pk50. Now it is need of some serious TLC but in the middle of nowhere London KY and in the middle of a true junk yard there is an true vespa import never sold in the US (it has no indicators and no speedometer) So i approach the owner of the salvage yard and ask him what is the story on the 50cc scooter out front and he informs me it is in no way a 50cc scooter. I find this curious since the side cowl on the scooter says PK50S. He tells me that some "show off kid" drove 3 hours to see him and show off this scooter and how fast it could go, and while showing off he popped a wheelie and wrecked it. They heard a loud pop and he could not get it running and being abandoned he sold it to the salvage yard guy (maybe in hopes of coming back? I dont know) but after looking it over a bit I see that it has a performance exhaust and a modified aftermarket carburetor. The salvage Yard owner informs me that the prevoious owner had put a new piston in it. So i figured man I would love to work on that guy and even if I could not get it running or after cracking it open saw that it was way to much money to invest I could sell it piece meal and get at my first estimate about 2,000 dollars just in parts. This of course is not my intention, but a last resort. So i bought it for a steal. I affectionatly call him PK. Kinda like Peekay from the Power of One, he has changed me for the better. Below are some images of how and where I first found him.