PX/PE Floorboard Replacement

[rosariofc]

Anyone done it? Any hints/tips or lessons learned?

I bought a Mk1 Frame, glovebox, headset, panels and forks for a pretty decent price (these days), everything is really great rust-free and straight, the only downside is that someone has attempted some kind of repair on the floor, and replaced parts of the floor and the struts underneath.

My plan is that to cut away the damaged floor sections in three pieces (Left hand, Right hand and centre section) Hopefully the metal bars that are in place will come away easily leaving part of the original spot welded floor that can be either drilled out from the top, or ground away from the bottom (not sure which will be best.......i want this to be as close to factory finish as possible)





Any words of wisdom appreciated, on anything related......best replacement floor, fitting hints or offers of help and assistance in the Glasgow area (especially from skilled welders) will be greatly appreciated.

[henri]

floors arent the best to learn to weld on , very easy to introduce distortion from heat , you can just buy the floor supports separate to the floor panel an replace them alone .as ive told others have a look at welding tips in the stickys on the smallframe forum ,will give you a idea on whats involved an some good tips ,also theres a mig welding forum where guys have posted there vespa work ,some of them are north of the border aswell , i'm in brighton so not really practical to take the job on ,
1st , buy a decent repair panel ,makes the job 50% easier when not havin to fettle it to fit ,
2nd ,take out the spot welds from underneath ,makes it easier to hide work/evidence after , an go easy as its easy to get carried away with the cutter as its so much fun,
3rd ,get loads of g clamps/long arm moleys/welding clamps , to get a tight factory finish on centre seams you can never have too many clamps ,
4th ,where your welding clamp a piece of copper sheet behind ,it stops blow throughs an excess weld build up on topside an helps conduct heat away preventing distortion,
an most importantly work from centre/forward to the outsides an rear ,slowly , let each spot weld/ tack fully cool before nxt one , as you get to outer edge of legshield floor join it will probably bow a bit coz of heat , whilst still hot or rewarmed a positive blow from rubber mallet usually pops em back into line ,an on edge moulding clamp it up with a bit of copper plumbers pipe for same reasons as copper sheet above,H

[doulsy]

I put a new floor on my p a few months back, turned out ok but i do bodywork for a living, thing is i later saw new complete leg shields for sale, this would be a far better option, better weld a brace from seat to headset before you start cutting and drilling, i took some pictures when i was doing mine, not sure where they are but i will try get them posted for you.

[doulsy]

this is how i secured the frame from bending, also handy for lifting the frame about,







drill the spot welds on the struts but you will have to remove the plates that someone has welded on























notice the different shape of the rear on the repair panel? i had to cut and fold the panel to make it the same as my frame








sit the new panel on and mark where you are gonna cut along the floor, cut it then drill out the remaining spot welds that holds the floor on






 chance to rust proof and clean up


















might have more picture on a portable hard drive, think i drilled holes in the new panel and welded through them so the top end looks as it should, used a bit of fuller to hide the weld across the floor.

[rosariofc]

Cheers for the replies.......
Doulsy, amazing post, thanks for taking the time out to put that much effort and detail into your reply, its very much appreciated. Top man!

About removal of the plates someone welded on, i'm hopeful that if I remove the floor in three sections (the yellow sections per the crude pic) then the plates should be easier to remove, the width of the plates and the location of the welds suggest that theyre welded to the floor pan rather than the lip of the tunnel?

I'm resigned to using filler to get the finish I want, did you use any bodypanel sealer between the joint?

[henri]

nice job doulsy , i will def have to get the hang of photobucket , an totally forgot to say brace the frame 1st,DOH, H

[doulsy]

Mar 27, 2015 0:06:40 GMT rosariofc said:

Cheers for the replies.......
Doulsy, amazing post, thanks for taking the time out to put that much effort and detail into your reply, its very much appreciated. Top man!

About removal of the plates someone welded on, i'm hopeful that if I remove the floor in three sections (the yellow sections per the crude pic) then the plates should be easier to remove, the width of the plates and the location of the welds suggest that theyre welded to the floor pan rather than the lip of the tunnel?

I'm resigned to using filler to get the finish I want, did you use any bodypanel sealer between the joint?

i would try grinding the new welds of and try to remove the plates because you really need to drill the original spot welds from underneath, and yes i put some sealer in then wiped off all the excess sealer so you cant really see it, i wont be taking my scooter out in the rain anyway its far too old for that