Some bodywork...

Did some minor body work today on the Rally.

The front fender has a dent on top...

And both sidecowls had some minor dents that easily could be fixed.

Of course; standard on all Vespas, the ventilation grill has been bent.  

A hammer, some counterweights and patience does the trick.

And voila! Ventilation grill is OK and the dent on the upper part of the cowl has been removed.

Same with left side. Notice this part is shining a bit more. The cowling was treated with a paint renovator, and it shines. Oh yes. Very pleased with the result!

Latest addition today was test fitting of a new spare tire cover. This part was missing from the bike when it was bought, new plastic part ordered from SIP.

The Rally is soon ready for approval & registration, will probably change tires just to be on the safe side, both for approval reasons as well as for safety when riding to Vespa World Days in Gjøvik (Approx 600kms from here).

Things on the todo list before registration:

• Fix electric bug; Horn only works when lights are off.
• Install new speedometer.
• Install new tank, which also needs a coat of paint.
• Acquire matching paint.
• Fix handlebars to non-turnsignal.

On Monday I will hopefully get a better date for registration than 10th of May. In addition to being awckwardly close to riding to Gjøvik, I'm also on vacation on Cyprus... I might have to go to Egersund (1 hour drive) for earlier appointment.

Degreasing

Finally some weather in Stavanger that allows for some outside activities; The Rally and Regine were both degreased and washed. And both needed it. 

A bit worried that the degreasing and water would make the Vespas hard to start again afterwards, but I was proven wrong. 

Stunningly good appearance for a 1975 model Rally!

Front...

and rear. 

Liftoff!

A couple of mods were done today. First off, I noticed petrol leaking from carb housing when fuel valve was open. As most of the gaskets in the carb was new, I suspected the petrol inlet gaskets to be the problem. (The petrol hose connects to a part which is screwed on to the carb, approx middle top in picture.

The large gasket was replaced with a plumber fairly same sized gasket, and the small one was just eliminated.

Second mod I did today was to shorten the petrol hose, approx 10 cm was cut off.

After rebuilding the carb and tank, the scooter was started. And yes! We have liftoff.

Rebuilding

Some parts for the Rally arrived from SIP today, read about it here.

The order contained a Rally gasket set, and I was pretty happy with finding most of the flat carb gaskets in there. So the carb and carb box was rebuilt with new gaskets. 

A new petrol hose was also installed.

The new tank misses tank lid, not very comfortable using the old lid as it contained a lot of rust. Probably have to put in another order for some small parts. Typical.

Spare wheel cover in plastic, as it should be on the Rally.

New grips, without the holes for the blinkers.

I've also ordered a fastflow fuel tap, not sure whether this will be needed on the Rally.


But back to the scooter: I managed to bolt the whole bike back together, and it started on the first kick, but died immediately.

Now the bike actually behaves more nervous than before; The scooter will work for a couple of seconds, then it feels like there is no more petrol left or no petrol getting to the cylinder. After a few minutes, the procedure can be repeated. Very peculiar.

I can try changing the tank to see if the actual tank is the problem. The petrol hose can probably be shortened a bit. I might just use the tank from the SS for test purpose, as the new tank will need paint before installation.

I'm running out of options here. Ignition timing remains to be checked. But I rather hope that the unoriginal fuel valve is causing all this, but don't understand how.

Carburettor, stubborn fuel hose & some electrical...

The investigation continues. First off today was to have a look at the cylinder for leakages.

Cylinder cowling was removed, got some issues with the old, hard petrol tube, but managed to get it off in one piece.

Cylinder head was removed without any problems, visible oil stains around.

Same with cylinder. Some petrol was used to clean surfaces.

Cylinder walls feel OK. Due to the state of the cylinder, I did not feel it was neccessary to remove the cylinder completely.

The tank was removed for access to the petrol hose, which turned out to be tampered with. Previous owner obviously used what he had inhouse to fix the scooter. The old hose going to the carburettor was very stiff and was squeezed between the chassis and the cylinder cowling. Hose was removed completely, will be replaced with new.

When removing the carburettor, the complete inlet housing felt wobbly. And bingo: the screw for fastening the hosing to the motor wasn't tight. This could definetely cause the oil leakage, but can it also be the reason the scooter fails on high revs?

When removing the housing completely it is pretty apparent where the leakages have come from. (Screw attached for reference)

Thick layer of oily gravel on the carb housing, only one thing to do: Degrease & clean.

Surfaces after cleaning, now I need new gaskets.

The carb was splitted as well and given a clean in a petrol bath.

BE3 venturi and 118 jet. Bog standard.

Well, I need to order some gaskets before I get on with the mechanical side. As the gaskets need renewal and the carb is out anyway, I might as well do the gaskets on the carb too.

Electrical investigation continues. Headlamp connectors seem original, apart from the yellow fix.

According to the el schematics found on Scooterhelp the ignition lock should feature 8 different connectors. Mine only has 4. But as far as I can tell, the cabling has not been tampered with.

Which leaves me to suspect the panel to be tampered with. The part looks new, but I am not sure whether it has been replaced. I need the bike running for investigating further on this.

Good night.

Carburettor and ignition check.

Time for carburettor check and ignition check. First off, spark plug.

Brown and dry, good. Here's a link to spark plug visual inspection.

0.4mm spark gap, probably OK.

Opening the carb housing revealed a pretty clean SI 24/24 carb. 

I pretty much suspect that the carb setup is 100% original. I found the spec for original jetting on Scooterlounge, and also pictures of the SI24/24 on SIP Scootershop.  

Air jet 160. Standard. (Below this the venturi and main jet sits, did not take these out). 

Idle jet (slow running jet) says 50. Standard.

The only suspect thing I could find was a hardened rubber petrol hose. The hose was jammed between the chassis and the cylinder cowling, making it impossible to take off the cowling. The petrol hose will be replaced when the new tank is in place. 

As far as leakage goes, the carb housing, on the back side, there is a hole with a rubber plug. Beneath the rubber plug is a screw for adjusting mixture. Seems the leakage causing at least part of the motor sweating comes from here, perhaps from a flooded carb. This brings us back to the home made new crane installed on the tank, which again possibly means that the floater device / floater needle is defect. Very common problem. I'll keep an eye open. I might just need to clean and open the carb.

As far as ignition and cables, I've just done a visual inspection of the connectors. 

Cabling seems original, and untampered with luckily. I was a bit suspicious with the connection box mounted on the engine, as it seems like cables should pass out on both sides. 

Turns out the cables go down into stator instead. 

OK, no surprises. But still no cure for the full throttle issue. Next on list to check: Cylinder and exhaust. 

Investigation continues...

After installing a new garage door opener which hopefully provides safer parking for my Vespas, I had some time to inspect the Rally further. First off: Speedometer.

First surprise: The speedo doesn't work. I'd seen it dance around, but obviously that was only because of the road bumps. Second surprise: When taking the speedo out from the headset to check the speedometer cable, I notice the damaged chrome rim, hidden under red tape (not on picture) The speed has been tampered with - severly. Severly, as in beyond repair. Beyond repair, like in FUBAR. Look it up.

Although the speedometer cable did turn around, I wasn't too impressed with the quick fix at the front wheel. Think it's safe to say I need to order both cable and a new speedo. 

Well, at least I know the speedo was damaged at 14000km. Question remains however: How many kms has it run afterwards... 

I've ordered a new tank already, but haven't ordered a new lid. On second thought; I might as well change the lid as well, the air vents to the tank through the lid seemed pretty rusted. 

The signal horn was also tested, and did provide some summing with a 6V DC supply. The rubber seal under the horn was missing, and I notice the size of the horn is larger than on the SS. New horns have been ordered just to be on the safe side. I suspect that the cabling has been tampered with, all lights function but I am unable to turn off front lights completely... When pressing the horn the lights go out. El schematics and color coding to be checked. 

The front wheel looks OK, unsure whether it has been resprayed or not. 

Brakes seem ok.

Motor hasn't sweated any more after the cleaning, so I might be lucky here.

Yesterdays test spin (a bit longer this time): The scooter is quick and responsive up to 80% RPM, after that it looses power totally, and backfires. Carburettor or ignition problem? I've probably have to check both.

Leakage investigation continues

After a couple of days with winter (again...), with slippery roads & snowy conditions, the road outside my house was perceived as safe enough for a little test spin.

No new oil stains were observed after the first cleaning, very promising. So the Rally was taken outside, and started as usual on the first kick.

Now, this bike is completely different from my SS; The choke has to be used for a longer period. On the SS, I use the choke for start, and then afterwards, I can run without choke. Here, the choke has to stay out for several minutes, and when I turn off the choke, the scooter will very soon die. Might need to something with the carburettor - later.

But back to the test drive: The scooter SMOKES a great deal on full throttle. An hour after testdrive I took these pictures:

The stain is petrol.

...and from the looks of it is comes from either between the cylinder/cylinder head or from the cylinder/exhaust port.

If I'm lucky, renewing the cylinder gaskets should cure the problem. Seems I don't have to split the casings afterall!