Lambretta scooters - Restoration & Maintenance

[Stanher]

Hey SA,
Wow, that is one informative post, man! Thanks a lot buddy! What a blessing to have people like you on board to guide us in 'lowly' scooter restorations!

Anyways, after an eternity, there is finally some work resuming on my '60 s2! Looks like the firing and warning had all paid off!



He's welded up the 2 non-original holes on the rear frame that were punched(!) to fit a non-original tyre-holder, and has levelled the surface clean. Also fine-outlined the distinctive "stripes" on the rear.

Today I've had the holes marked and drilled for the ornamental rear grille that sits up at the back. I was rather baffled to find no signs of holes being drilled in the frame for this grille though! I wonder how that could be as these models were all known to have come with the 'framebreather' grille!





'haven't fitted the grille on as yet, just put it up there to see how it's come out. I'd in fact brought it with me today only to mark the holes.
BTW, just a thought- since this grille anyways resembles a vent, I've often thought of making like a small slit or 2 on the rear frame where it sits, as I was told that lammys are anyway known for their excessive heat. Would this help in any way? Suggestions welcome.





PS: Here's just another thought for the colour on my lambretta:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/...25a684.jpg?v=0

Comments welcome!

[bluestraveller]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Hey SA,


PS: Here's just another thought for the colour on my lambretta:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3208/...25a684.jpg?v=0

Comments welcome!

This will end up having a similar color scheme to your pennant (not that its a bad thing ). I really liked the car scheme you had on your fiat that is now sold.
how about this?

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by bluestraveller

This will end up having a similar color scheme to your pennant (not that its a bad thing ). I really liked the car scheme you had on your fiat that is now sold.
how about this?

Uh, nope my pennant is pure blue, not turqouise.
Much like this:

The Monoshock Blog: Remembering the Lambretta!

The scooter in the link I gave in my last post fact has a similar colour to my ex-old fiat that you mention.

Hmm, nope I'm not very fond of that shade of green! Thanks anyways!

[Sidman]

Originally Posted by SA7VA5

Hey Sidman,

Couple of things.

First - whoever told you that dipping the metal parts in Hydrochloric Acid will not ham the metal doesn't have his chemistry right. And nor will drying the metal post HCL Bath give a phosphoate coating - disastrous process - don't even try it. How do you plan to remove the acid from the substrate post the Acid Bath? You will perhaps wash the bare metal - this will immediately form rust again!

Also if you plan to powder coat then you can't paint. And if you plan to put a 2k process that is you want to clear coat the paint then go in for a 2k base coat instead of using a 1k color and coating it with clear coat - use the correct chemistry between the substrates and top coats to get a lasting durable finish.

Also post the primer you must use the surfacer. Use a porous ppg putty to fill in any dents and then do not apply any degreaser - spray the surfacer.

Also - how does your guy figure out a bend in the fork? If there is a bend of a few mm it wouldn't be visible - does he have a measuring jig? Can you send pics of the measuring jig? To straighten out the only way will be to heat the fork which will take away its structural integrity because you will not be able to anneal / temper the fork the way it is done in the factory. Recommendation - Dont do it or the damage will be irreversible.

If you need step by step guidance on painting in detail let me know.

Check out my Lambretta restoration thread - you know it!

Cheers!

The garage where I'm getting my repainting is well-known in B'lore, he has done a lot of Bullets and the older motorcycles. Chances are, if you see a Bullet with a good paint/chrome job here, it would most probably have gone through this particular garage! I have already got some chroming done, and the quality is real good.
You have brought up a lot of interesting points, which I will discuss with the garage owner. Great thing is, you can discuss what kind of paintjob you want.
This garage does something called 3 in 1 treatment to remove rust from the bare metal. The acid bath is sufficiently diluted to work only on the rust, and not harm the metal.
Actually, the garage owner has just thrown a few ideas at me, and I need to decide what paint process I want. The garage has all the required resources to do the job.
I'm not sure how possible fork bends are located and fixed. I will enquire about this process. The thing is, my scooter was in a minor accident with the previous owner. This accident resulted in a slightly bent front rim. So I will need to check if the fork was damaged.
I am particular about the fork, as I have first-hand experience of a fork failure on a Lambretta when I was younger. I used my dad's Lambretta when in college, and one day, the fork broke. I had stopped at a traffic light, front wheel in a pothole, and I turned the handlebar slightly. A dull "crack" and the handlebar was rotating freely, but the front wheel was still pointing forward! I still thank God that I was not moving when the fork broke! My mech got a replacement from a junk vehicle.

[girishpv]

Stanher,

This is the badge locally made in Brass, which I was mentioning to you before.

cheers

[TuffRyder]

Girish: That looks really nice. You got them made?

[girishpv]

Originally Posted by TuffRyder

Girish: That looks really nice. You got them made?

TuffyRyder,

Yes, In Mangalore there is an shop who makes all kind of name plates etc etc....they have one 1964 Lambretta too, they had made for their scooter.
So I requested them to make couple for me....they agreed and costs me Rs250/set.

Picture shows their Lambretta, Suvega and the other Lambretta belongs to an mechanic and, his father owned it for many years, (I belive from new)

[TuffRyder]

Very nice. I've seen a couple of those shops around here, should enquire if they can replicate these badges.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by girishpv

Stanher,

This is the badge locally made in Brass, which I was mentioning to you before.

Looks great!

Unfortunately I didn't know when you were leaving back else I would've contacted you before you left and got the badges!

Anyone else who could get these for me on your behalf?

And that series 1 lambretta looks amazing! Any more pics. of it??

[girishpv]

Originally Posted by Stanher

Looks great!

Unfortunately I didn't know when you were leaving back else I would've contacted you before you left and got the badges!

Anyone else who could get these for me on your behalf?

And that series 1 lambretta looks amazing! Any more pics. of it??

Stanher,

I got it packed and ready to post, but at last minutes, I was so busy (as usual) and left.
I will tell my wife to post to you, please PM your address.
Don't have any more photo's, in Jan I will post some more.

cheers
Girish

[Stanher]

Well, here's an update on my '60 Li150, although I don't really like the way things are going right now!

The denting has almost been done, I just tried getting him to fit the legshield and horncast/mudguard to see how it's come out...and didn't materialise so far, with him complaining about not having proper screws to fit the things and so on!







Also the centre-stand frame I'm told needs to be aligned again, cut and welded back. I've taken some pics. of this, so could any experts here guide me whether it indeed is necessary?







And then Mr.Modi's had a row with him the other day, with the guy passing the blame on the latter for not guiding him properly etc. as he isn't too experienced with lambrettas. And now modi refuses to have anything to do with the guy! So I'm on my own!
Well, I hope I won't have any setbacks during the painting stage atleast!

BTW, I need the tie-pieces that bind the wires together- those all seem to be missing (circled) on my scoot. Anyone who could get these locally?

[Stanher]

Well, finally some development on the bodywork front!







The centre-stand has been corrected (turned out this bent so the guy had it set straight) with backing up plates re-welded....and despite not having fitted all the panels together for a check, I've decided to give it over to the painter anyway as it has been dragging on enough!
In any case I will be fitting all the major parts and fittings once before they put the final coat.




I've got some good quality paint-remover to strip the paint off (courtesy, Suren's friend Prabhu! ) - sorry about the poor quality pic. but took this pic. from a distance!
And the scooter also has been (finally!) completely stripped now, ready to paint.



They said they will be cleaning it of it's paint today, and it'll take a whole day,so I will then check once if the frame has any so-far-hidden cracks etc. on it before giving it the zinc chromate job.

[Stanher]

After what seemed like an eternity, the scooter, alongwith all the panels, had been handed over to the painter 2 days ago, and they've begun the stripping of all the old paint from the frame. It'll take atleast 2-3 days before the whole frame is clean of any traces of paint I suppose, and that's how I want it to be.





However, (just curious) I can't find any trace of what should've been the original colour of the frame (shell white?), the oldest paint underneath I can make out is just the greyish green paint (circled)...but surely early lambrettas never came in this colour? I thought they all came with the frame in white only?



Or maybe the original white, at some point of time, was fully scraped off with this paint applied?

[SuperSelect]

Hey I remember having seen Lambrettas in monotone (single colour) as well.. Or maybe it was an aftermarket job, for sheer novelty value, to stand out from the lot ?!?

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by SuperSelect

Hey I remember having seen Lambrettas in monotone (single colour) as well.. Or maybe it was an aftermarket job, for sheer novelty value, to stand out from the lot ?!?

Well AFAIK, the only single colour that came on early s2s was shell white.

Anyways, I was just curious on seeing the lack of the white paint on the frame, so was wondering.
In any case, I'm going to paint it in period 2-tone colours only.

Also saw a later series 2 (most likely) with a couple on it being driven through a busy street in Secunderabad today.....followed it briefly.

'can't wait until the day I finally drive mine!