Cables

I brought the primed body home to tweak a few more spots before color and clear. Some spot filler is getting added to various spot welding dents all over the joints. I am also using the opportunity to replace the cables and wiring harness before I put on the last primer, color, and clear.

The cables to the headset installed relatively easily. I didn't pull the old cables without first attaching them to the new ones. I then pulled the old ones out though the top which pulled the new ones right along. The wiring harness is another story. Still working on it.

Also, the rear brake cable didn't pull out. When pulling harder, it uncoiled as it came out. The coil came out but the plastic sheath and the ferrule stayed in the tube. I used a coathanger wire in a drill to pick out a bunch of the sleeve. I tried some allthread but it won't snake around the corner inside the tube. I got a small plumming snake from the hardware store. It is just the right size. I put it in the drill and pushed it down the tube. It hooked onto something in the tube, but woudn't pull anything out . I still have about 6" of junk in the tube. I'm glad I didn't do this before the paint but wish I had done this before the primer. Maybe some heat would help remove the sheath.I'm going to work it some more, but if it's fully jammed in there, I may shorten the new cable sleeve to accomodate all the junk in there.

Lovin' the paint

I put color and clear on some of the panels today. The body still needs another round of touchups before it gets color and clear but the gloveboxes, front fender, handlebars, and engine side cowel all got shot with the spartling graphite metallic. I've been nervous whether my bodywork has been "good enough". So far, so good. I'm still witholding judgement on the engine cover until it is all done and on the scooter.

I painted the insides of the gloveboxes with the lighter silver of the rims/engine/suspension for a little pop when the doors are opened.

Painting

I primed the main parts today including the fenders, body, and glovebox. Everything is primed. The body needs a couple more minor touchups that I didn’t see before the primer, but the rest is ready for sanding and color. We’ve picked the color finally. Sparkling Graphite which is a warm charcoal color that’ll work well with the light gray rubber and chrome/aluminum accents. It’s not stock, but a nice neutral color that will emphasize the Vespa hips.

Bodywork

Pounding, putty, sanding. Lots to do on the frame and the cowels. The other parts are pretty much primed and done. The engine slits are getting closer but still need more time and attention. The picture above shows that they're getting better.The plan is to get some solid progress done this weekend on the sanding and smoothing. All the sanding makes a huge mess so I'd like to get as much done as possible at one time.

Engine Rebuild

I got the case sealed up. When replacing the bearings and trying to put the crank back in, I figured out that the old flywheel side bearing inner race had a larger OD than the new one by about .030" . The overall dimensions were identical, but it's a bad idea to mix and match parts within a bearing. The .030" difference forced me to do what needed to be done anyway. The inner race is pressed onto the crank and needed to be pulled. It took a bearing splitter, heat, and pounding to get the old race off. I heated the new race to around 400F and it went right on with a little pounding. I used spacers and the clutch nut to pull the crank into the clutch side, no pounding required. After discussion on the GS Yahoo group, I put the clutch Belleville washer on the crank with the cone pointed out. The outside edge presses against the inner race of the main bearing while the inside edge presses against the clutch.

More Shocks

I rebuilt both of the shocks with a new main seal and thicker (20 weight) oil. I followed the directions from scooterlounge.com. Filling the shock with oil was a mess, but eventually it worked. If all was done right, I now have two fully functional front shocks.

The mechanical parts are all getting painted with PPG paint. I picked a slightly darker silver than stock. When the stock color and the dark silver are next to each other they look like they match, but as the pictures show, the shadows get darker than the stock color. The red tape below are just ID tags so I can tell which shock is which.