Lambretta newbie

[peejay]

Do I pack grease in like a Vespa's speedo as the NOS plate doesn't have a grease nipple like the other one?

i prefer to just add a smear to both speedo cogs, there is a grease seal but how good they are, who knows.

[peejay]

sorry if you have mentioned it already but do you have a copy of Sticky's bible?

[IaninDorset]

Not yet, I have kind of gone in with me eyes wide shut so hitting the deck at running speed on a vertical learning curve, I have made use very much of Paul Slacks rebuilds guide and his blog to get the "feel" of how it works and I have amazed myself on how I have gone from a single frame to 4/5ths of a complete scooter in such a short time

With hindsight I am now thinking a ser 3 or GP type would have been a better option than a very early ser 1 but its gone way better than I thought.

I had a nagging OCD moment with the engine so popped off the casing and did some checking, all seems to be in very good order in there, chain was taut as it should have been, no cracking or splitting, I then found out about putting it back on but thanks to Paul's tip about mole grips on the kick start spindle really made it a lot easier and its now got a brand new gasket, all properly torqued down, fresh rock oil and I did the base and head gasket as well with new items, put its new head on and got very nice compression indeed

I see Resurrection scooters has new pattern made Ser 2 legshields at 239 quid, would these fit on my Ser 1 as the top bolt holes on the bracket seem to be in the right place on my frame.

[IaninDorset]

Bought a lovely leather seat off ebay new for 50 quid in deep red, well pleased as its got the proper studding around the base, comes with hinge and catch, new kickstart and rims turned up today, waiting on some deep penetrating application for some very stubborn airbox and stand bolts that are just solid.

The engine side of it is now just waiting on a flywheel, cowlings and a swivel arm, ordered a new carb spring for the carb from Dellortoparts and a overhaul kit for the SH1.

Going to strip the frame myself and bought some heavy duty paint and rust remover, got some anti rust primer to treat the frame once cleaned and examined it, apart from the two lip dings, the rest of the frame is actually dent and ding free, was going to go IoW but money/time better spent on this.

Now even more confused as the bloke up the Bike shop said I don't need an MoT for registration because its 1958 but I do need a letter from LCGB to prove my engine is a 125 not a 150 so now am even more confused than before although DVLA have said it needs to be roadworthy and have all relevant documents but didn't know if it needed one or not :S

So what's left to get is basically body panels really, loom is on its way, got a full cable kit, got a repro alloy back light on its way, bought a complete stainless steel fixings set as well as a full rubbers and mountings set

[IaninDorset]

Ah here is a crucial question folks, how do I tell what engine bolt I need?

The frame is ser 1 but the engine is ser 3 and I can't find measurements to compare, I have also bought a new pair of cones to replace the rather old and horrible ones sitting in their sea of grease and flaky rust, the engine rubbers are new but I sat there and realised... I didn't have the main engine bolt lol

[nickw]

Personally I would wait for some Legshields to appear on eBay or put a wanted ad on this site. They'll be cheaper and they're fit. With regard to engine bolt you need the short one if that is the engine in pics that you will use, but... you'd be better off getting some engine mounts and then use a long bar. See link below. Better in the long term and less vibration.
http://www.scooterrestorations.com/lamb ... lock-bush/

[IaninDorset]

Cheers, its still catching me out how its all a lot different to Vespa's in some aspects but I can appreciate the over engineering of Lambrettas making for a better built machine, Vespa's tend to only differentiate on engine sizes and internals making them an easy "one size" fits all vehicle lol.

A friend suggested to me to get by on registration to put some checker floorplates on and borrow his headset he has spare for a ser 2, he reckons he's got all the bits I can borrow to get her up and running allowing me to spend more time finding the parts whilst getting some enjoyment out of her too

Paint wise I haven't decided top coat theme, the seat is bright signal red and I have used a hand paint colour called CanBrush which produce a very nice rattle can candy and metalflake system which I have sprayed much of my T5 in either candy red on the rims or metalflake black on various panels and it looks very very good and being acrylic based makes for a very good finish by a total numbknuts like meself hehe

[IaninDorset]

I found a company called BPM that do the side panels, mudguard and horncasting in GRP and wondered what the pro's and con's of that would be on a quite vibratey scooter? They look quite nice and no worries about rust either, easy to paint too.

Wished I hadn't lost contact with a friend of mine that worked for BAe, he used to get me this airpanel fixing alloy tape and panels which were like greenhouse tape but the epoxy self curing glue turned harder than steel which they used it bonding on military jets, I bet a second skin of that stuff would give metal a run for its money ^^

[IaninDorset]

I went for this instead:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... OC:GB:3160

Which if you think about it is absolutely complete with internals, lock, switches, lamps and stuff and is metal as well, pound for pound it would be much better than buying singly, if this is as good as in the pics I am quite happy leaving me with one rear floorboard, legshields, Li electronic flywheel, toolbox door and toolbox, mudguards to find as all the final bits for the engine arrived so that's ready save lacking the flywheel to go.

What's better for the Li125 engine? SHB/1 or Jetex 19mm carb?

Are series 1 toolbox and doors different to ser 3?

Got most of the rust off, good metal underneath all the way so far, rust treated as I go and so pleased the welded sections are strong and uncorroded, got three cans of CanBrush anti-rust primer to go over that.. Cleaned the chrome forks up with metal polish and are gleaming so all in all its come along really nicely especially as I have gone stainless steel as much as possible for things like the exhaust, rims and fixings.

[IaninDorset]

Seat's arrived, not bad for 50 quid:



Kickstart ready as well



Engine is a bit mucky as got some nice cleaner still to use but no point until its all in there and all the points greased up, I am having trouble removing the old rear shockers inner top eye rubber and section which seems to be fused on, heat and oil haven't shifted it and a puller neither, might have to dremel off the collar.

Are Lambretta mudguards interchangeable at the rear as been offered a very nice stainless steel rear mudguard but its a series 3 one and I don't want to buy something that ain't gonna fit.