The Rebuild underway

The rebuild couldn't start early yesterday, because I needed a part. To be precise, I needed a Lower Frame Cone Cover. A small piece of pressed steel which goes between the Frame and the Frame cone... It costs £2.50, and I didn't have one. Anyway, a few phone calls later and I was heading over to Preston to buy the aforementioned article from Frank Sanderson at Lambretta Innovations. And what a nice chap Frank is... He showed me round his workshop and I saw some really excellent Lambretta conversions going on. He is a superstar in the scootering world, but he is a down to earth bloke like the rest of us - a real unassuming northerner, and a top bloke. My next scooter may well be one of Frank's wonderful creations.
So, part in hand, I returned home to begin the rebuild. Only I couldn't... I had to Waxoyl and Stone Chip Guard the area behind the rear numberplate, and that involves taking the scooter outside to spray it - As it was bloody freezing yesterday, I decided to do the spraying in the nice warm kitchen, on account of the paint needing to be warm enough, you understand. So I set up a makeshift spraybooth using an old sheet and the maiden, masked off the bits I didn't want spraying and proceeded to apply liberally. I think I got away with it!

According to Sticky, the chassis rebuild has to go in a certain order, and I'm not about to argue, so I proceeded to fit the rear mudguard and the stand. The rear mudgard needed a new hole drilling, as the original one was about 20mm away from where it should be, and the stand was a real pain to fit because of the bloody spring. After much jiggling and on and offing, I eventually got the stand and the spring fitted, using a combination of brute force and the stand bolt to drag the stand in line. Then I remembered that I'd bought a stainless steel splash plate, so the whole thing had to come off and go back on again. Such is life!

Forks went in next, and these were really easy to do. Loads of grease, bearings, tab washers and bolts, and in it went. It looks really well, and the scooter is finally starting to have a feel of a scooter, rather than a load of components now!

Back from the dippers

So the big day has finally arrived...

The frame and panels and bits have just arrived back from the dippers and they look good. The total bill came to £120, which I thought was quite reasonable.

The entire scooter fits in the back of my hairdressers LandRover (a freelander), so I didn't have to mess around hiring a van. Carol had to go to work on her scooter though, which was a bit of a pain for her. Sorry! To make amends, I'm going over to meet her and I will buy her a nice coffee on the way back. It's the least I can do!

There is some work to do on the legshields, though... I have perforations where the rust has eaten through and another couple of spots where it has been welded up in the past by a nine year old Indian boy...

To be fair, though, he's a better welder than I am! The subframe has also had a touch of Indian welding behind the numberplate, so this section will need to be replaced before it goes to the painters as you can see daylight through some of the joins.

The top bearing race has taken a bit of a beating in the dipping process, but I was going to replace that anyway, and I will do the bottom one as well, even though it looks (and feels) OK.

Time is now of the essence... The longer it hangs around unprotected, the more likely it is to start to rust.

Unfortunately, I have not got too much spare cash lying around at the moment, so donations would be gratefully recieved... I had a car boot sale to raise some cash for the respray and we got £200 for some stuff out of the attic, which was nice... Still a way short for the full amount, though.