got a new '69 vespa sprint 150

[Rudi]

hey guys,
you wouldn't believe it, but a vespa sprint just fell into my lap... it was just sitting at my friend's porch, for a decade or more, unused, almost thrown into the garbage

anyway, I took it to my place, got lots of work to do - and a few questions:

1 - Should i need to order a few parts, is there an identifying code for this model ?? (like the older models are named VBB etc)
or is it just a SPRINT ?

2 - How does the rear brake pedal come off (see first photo) - it
has a metal pin (or is it a screw?) fixating the pedal from coming out . from which side this pin goes in/out? (btm or top?)

thanks!

[glyn]

the model no should be at the beginning of the frame number which should be located below side glove box

[Rudi]

thanks

according to www.scooterhelp.com/serial/ves.frame.serial.numbers.html

Its a VBL1T - 1968 Vespa 150 Sprint

[Robjack]

Looks like you've got a good one Rudi, best of luck with the resto.

[elviswasamod]

look forward to seeing it finished , when i got my sprint it was in worse condition than that once shot blasted will look a lot better take a look at spencers sprint the finished article my pride and joy once upon a time so proud and hes won a few trophies , keep it up spence but he does look after it well good luck ferdy

[Rudi]

Jun 26, 2008 18:35:24 GMT Robjack said:

Looks like you've got a good one Rudi, best of luck with the resto.

thanks.
I brought the vespa yesterday. today i was already trying to fire up the engine. piston was not moving, so i took off the head, gave it some WD40 and a push.. and it was free again. gave it some gasoline, and a little squirt of carb cleaner , and vrooom, engine was alive, even idling... I checked the electrical, everything is working too, tail, head light, horn...

[sirscootalot]

looks like its got the potential to be a cracker, looks great

[bryno]

Nice one!

If you've not already done it, brake pin pushes out from the bottom up..

[Rudi]

didn't do it yet. as for now keep spraying the pin with wd40 every now and then

as you said, and according to the manual, the pin does come out upwards

problem is, theres little space between the pedal and the floorboard...
how did you manage to take it out on your VBA ?
long nose pliers maybe?

[bryno]

TBH Rudi it was a bit of a challenge, I ended up bending a screwdriver to to make an L shaped tool to put under the pin and lever it against the floorboard..

[Rudi]

yeah i suppose thats the only way...
ill try it, thanks

frame is now almost striped , whats left is the pedal and the rear shock (cant find my 14mm wrench...)

another problem i need to solve, is getting the TWO HANDLEBARS - the throttle + gear shift , to rotate or move and eventually to come out from the ALUMINUM HANDLEBAR HOUSING. It is stuck so hard, wd40 doesn't seem to do much... any ideas?

[bryno]

I found the pin impossible to grip from the top, levering from the bottom was fairly easy..

Suprised the gear bar is stuck, does it not rotate at all with the bolt removed at the cable end..? you could apply a little heat to the headset as a last resort.

I gave in trying to remove the throttle side one on mine, I think there is a fair risk of damaging the headset, so polished it up whilst still connected and did a nice job masking it up for paint..

[Rudi]

Bryno, no matter what i did, this pin wouldn't move, it was stuck like a weld
i used your suggested method of a bent screwdriver - the pin wasn't impressed ...
i then bent some rod i found into some sort of an S shape - again, nothing

what i did finally is drill it ...was out in a minute..

--

regarding the handlebars - same thing stuck like its one piece - i used a torch to really heat the area and a few hours of slow work just to get both handlebars to move half a mm back and forth...
i was able to get the left gear-change handlebar in one piece, but the throttle bar broke at the cable hole area. ive managed to locate a second hand handlebar,so not a big problem

funny thing - i saw some tin strip on the throttle bar, that i thought the previous owner had put there to cancel free play, turns out its some sort of cruise control , standard from the factory.... you can let go the throttle and it stays open... it just needs more wrist power to return

---
progress: most of the parts are ready for paint.

BUT, the only problem i see now, is a very RUSTED area which i (not me personally ill take it to a professional) will have to cut and remove and then weld a new tin over it .
BTW, in your VBB, you replaced the floorboard, but how did you handle the rust that was in the upper side?


-----------------


i used this to clean the parts for paint:


and this is the worst area:

[bryno]

Good to see you're making progress, you managed to get the pin out withoiut damaging the rod then, good work!

Yep, mines got the 'cruise control' tin strip ;D

Whole of floor was replaced on my VBA, the tunnel was pretty bad as well, as I had 2 frames it was a case of cutting and pasting sections between the 2 frames and a bit of patching in with new metal..

Inside of tunnel was shot blasted, rustproofed and now waxoiled so good for a few years. What is difgficult is maintaing a good line between tunnel & new floor and keeping all the seams tidy, spent a lot of time on that, looks pretty good now.

Also had a new section grafted in where the cables exit and I found some new metal tubing to repair the internal cable runs..

Got to say, I would never take on one as bad as mine again, yours doesn't look too bad! ;D

[Rudi]

an update:
first - i underestimated how hard, time consuming, etc this project would be, but once i started peeling off the old paint, there was no turning back..

choosing the color - i searched for vespa sprint photos on flickr.com, and i bumped into a sprint just like mine with a super cool orange. the guy was kind enough to help me with the code, ( its ford "electric orange"), so this is what i chose, and i think this vespa will turn more heads than intended
you just cant miss this color





so..... i can see the strait, finally. i can say that the body work and fighting the rust was the hardest part

still need to order emblems, center stand, center mat, front brake cable house etc
i have a double seat in mint condition
will try to start the engine tomorrow, hear how it sounds..

[bryno]

Looking good mate Focus RS Orange, very nice!

[sirscootalot]

scoots looking good mate

[Rudi]

thanks guys,
today i started the engine, but it doesnt keep idle , ill check it tmrw

but what a funny scooter!
front brake is symbolic, you might as well open an umbrella while you ride and get a better stopping power, how did they stop these things in the 60s-70's ?!
cant wait to check out the cruise control too

[Rudi]

greetings again,

today i took the vespa out for a long ride and ive noticed at least one problem: first, PX is a better scooter :-P ....... sec' , engine dies after a minute, and will start only with the choke on. i assume its fuel starvation. any ideas ? petrol tap is on the right side of the scooter, and as i checked it has only 2 positions: on and off . am i right?

thanks.

[Rudi]

Aug 4, 2008 10:50:10 GMT Rudi said:

greetings again,

today i took the vespa out for a long ride and ive noticed at least one problem: first, PX is a better scooter :-P ....... sec' , engine dies after a minute, and will start only with the choke on. i assume its fuel starvation. any ideas ? petrol tap is on the right side of the scooter, and as i checked it has only 2 positions: on and off . am i right?

thanks.

the problem was a bent fuel line . i took off the tank, made sure the fuel line seats well, and closed it again. no problem since.

other impression so far:
the 6v head light gives a fair good light beam. only problem it aims to the sky... i will need to figure out how the heck you adjust this thing

the torque of this engine is a delight, i love how this engine pulls. from very low rpm in any gear with no problem

the cruise control is a cool thing! i was going for a ride last night , it was chilled a bit , road was empty, so i just took my hands off to button up, while the vespa keeps a steady 60 kph... amazingly the sprint has better strait line stability than the PX. not a single wobble!

whats left? im really into two separates seats. im working on it

[dto79px]

I'v got to say that is one lovely scooter