65 Vespa 180 SuperSport - First Video Up

[drc174]

Hey, 

So if some of you are my FB pals or follow ThatScooterThing, you have seen glimpses into my newest addition to the garage. Again, it ain't an automatic nor a 50, but I just love the positivity on this forum so I love sharing!

I got myself a 1965 SS 180.  The SS was very unique at it is rockin a one of a Vespa kind engine, 180cc of piston ported power, with its 8 thumping HP the fastest of its time. It is fed by a 23/27mm carb right on the cylinder. The fork is also unique. So are the rims. Everything in the spare parts department is a sourcing nightmare and a money dump. A dreambike, it really is though. Trapezoid headset, slick lines. Definition of a pretty Vespa.

Well this one... isnt so much. The paint is very oxidized, The side cowl is busted and .... not much more... 





www.facebook.com/ThatScooterThing/videos/379327229274434/?t=2

I tore into the mechanics yesterday. Cases are in phenomenal shape. Carb is pretty. Gas tank, not so much... 

Cylinder is also tip top. When i drained the trans oil... shit went sideways. Varnished gas in the trans. So I dropped the engine and took it apart. 




The inside of the frame is suuuuper clean, no rust. 





So the plan:

- Re-sealing the engine. 
- Surflex Clutch plates (old ones are dried out i assume, missing the tool to pullt he clutch right now)
- 12V CDI conversion. Quality of life improvement really. 
- Clean it
- Shine up that single stage paint
- replace the busted cowl, I sourced a new cowl 
- redo the rubbers to the original color code. 
- Floor rails need renewed. 
- attach the sexy badges
- wiring n stuff. 


Then ride the tits of it. 

[drc174]

I got my seals,

My clutch removal tool

my bearing removal tools.

Lots of bullets were sweat.

But this is where I am at.

Tomorrow: Wash and re-assembly.

[Lucass2T]

For some reason i like these vintage/old vespa's. Dunno why, but i guess becuase they look cool and are 2t. I'll probably never own one because they're too hip for my likings. Like the Ford Mustang in America and the Volkswagen Golf over here in Europe.

Is this gonne be a seller or keeper?

[drc174]

Sept 20, 2018 16:58:40 GMT -5 Lucass2T said:

For some reason i like these vintage/old vespa's. Dunno why, but i guess becuase they look cool and are 2t. I'll probably never own one because they're too hip for my likings. Like the Ford Mustang in America and the Volkswagen Golf over here in Europe.

Is this gonne be a seller or keeper?

No, this is going to be a family heirloom, passed down for generations. I am so in love with this thing.

To your comment: I dont think I like them because they are hip. But there is something to a shifting scooter. And it being a 2T. and being here in the US where I can do whatever with it. As a European, I really love the freedom I have with these.

But this project is not one of my "pimp dat shittt". I really want to show it the respect it deserves. After all, these are suuuuper rare.


Now, to today.

I started with glass bead blasting my crusty rear hub. I finished it with penetrating oil. The crappy painr was flaking off, it was a mess.







I changed bearings and seals and after cleaning everything, I tore down the clutch.

And dear god, did it smell of varnish. Which meant the plates were soaked in gas. So i had a dumb idea....




Then I reassembled the engine slowly, sweating bullets everytime. I had to recut threads on the crank and the clutch nut.

BUt it all came together.



Tomorrow final assembly and carb rebuild.

[drc174]

All together!

[drc174]

While I am still waiting on the ignition, I decided to start on the body and paint. I took all the decorative stuff off, including the floor rails and started cleaning. I treated all the rust spots. I started conditioning the paint. I also straightened the legshield trim part stuff.



Before



After



The glove box was ... JB welded together?

Love the attitude but I will tack it together tomorrow properly.



Then after 24 hours and two shine conditionings, we are looking a lot cleaner already. Two more to go, then polish and wax.

[drc174]

Got my CDI ignition today (variable timing curve) from Quattrini, Vespatronic.





Then I got the most shine i could out of the shitty single stage paint:



And i got my new tank back from powder coating. I have a dumb problem with it

IT IS TOO SHINY

[drc174]

A little insight into this ignition. 

1 wires from the stator for the CDI:

1 = Blue = Ground for the stator plate and the CDI (supposed to ground on the stator plate but I always double up and ground it to the engine outside the stator too. (blue wire)

Other 1 = Red = Pewpewpewpew AC wire for the CDI. Inside the junction box this is connected to the killswitch/key too (no key right now) 

Then there are two power supply ones from the stator. I will use one for AC and the other one for DC. 

I will add a battery to this model, and run the lights in 12V off a battery. Mostly because i don't want flickering lighting. Happy to go LED bulbs to save on wattage. 

The junction box

Holy crap, I thought i lost it. and they are RARE. I could have made something up, but I am glad I found it.

The bottom brown cables that go in come from the stator. 
The top one is just reusing the brown cover thing to stay in the same colour. 
I sadly do not have enough brown thingie to do the hole thing to into the frame but i will look for some,. 

The Spark plug cable

As it is right now, it produces spark. I do need a spark plug end cap and we ready to roll!
Hoping to hang it in tomorrow and fire it up. 

[drc174]

So I spent the last two days with a buddy making a wiring harness from scratch. We used 12$ Trailer harness, because cheap.

So we decided to go full DC with a battery. Rectifier/Regulator came with my Ignition. Now, switching from AC to DC was a NIGHTMARE. I didnt want to swap for DC light switches on the headset as I want to keep the unique SS 180 look.

Example: The way the brake light works. A switch is always pressed, it depresses when you put your foot on it. Now, on AC that meant when it is depressed it would interrupt continuity. For DC we wanted it to do the opposite. There were some janky ways to do that, but in the end we had to switch to a DC brake light switch. Not too bad. It's well hidden.



As bulbs I use all LED bulbs, 15W totaly on the system with everything engaged. And its nice and bright too.

Now we had to figure out how to the have a reliable DC system with good overview and a OFF switch on the original switch panel. Some mental gymnastics later everything is planned out and the soldering commences. With all the thinking and trying, noone cleaned up behind them and my garage spiraled into a mess.



But eventually the wiring was done. All clean on a wiring terminal block, neat with Power, return, killswitch, ground and a Fuse on a small size 12V battery.





I know there are neater options, but with Vespas I want to have a good switch board with nice overview where I can tear into when i need to. I will probably make a little protective panel out of some spare LEXAN I have.

Despite some confusing colors, I love this trailer wiring. The cables are so sturdy, these will last a loooong time. And easy to manipulate.



This job took quite the chunk of time.

Eventually we put everything together and fired the bike up. I rips pretty well for being 53 years old. Even power wheelied it a little.
Note the bright headlight, gotta get it lined up properly, but so far everything works great. 

[drc174]

Pictures!

[aeroxbud]

Nice job. Not too over done, with just the right amount of patina.

[niz76]

Oh yeah now that's a gem! Love love love the trapezoid headset- rare as hens teeth and very desirable from what I understand. Lots of folks ask me if my P200 is a rare old antique- not really- but here's a true example of one of those! I bet you get a lot of offers to buy haha. Sweet bike DRC.

[pinkscoot]

That is a beautiful Vespa. You do know how to clean one up and make it run well.

[drc174]

Yeah in terms of $ value. If I leave the states and move to Europe, this bike is worth taking simply because of the value it has

[drc174]

LOOOOVED Making this one