Now that it's home, I have been able to take stock of this scooter I found out in the country. It's a 1968 Vespa Super 125 (VNC). The front fork is the wrong one. The headset isn't connected and I just noticed the fork is even backwards in the pic! I will have to hunt down a proper one.
The problem is the piston. It's seized. I knew this when I bought it so it isn't a horrible surprise. When I first saw it, the owner said he had been spraying penetrating oil on it for several months. You can smell the penetrating oil as you walk up to the bike.
I was taking stock of the Vespas I picked up this weekend, making a mental checklist of what needed to be done to get them running and rolling. I got to this one and the front fork issue is easy and apparent. I took off the engine cowl and took some pictures of the engine and tried turning the flywheel. I saw that this was happening:
The piston is not seized in the case as I had assumed. It's seized to the cylinder barrel which was moving back and forth with the free piston arm. I am hoping this is a very good sign.
The flywheel is on the left. The piston is the bright metal in the center and the rest is the cylinder barrel with the sleeve around the piston. If the piston was to the left by an inch or so, I could pull the clip, free it from the arm, and remove the cylinder and piston at the same time.
The engine will probably need a rebuild with new bearings and seals etc... so this is not insurmountable.
Difficult? Probably, but they're just parts. It's all just parts.
Foolhardy? Yes. Most likely. Still, you don't learn by always getting it right the first time and I have some great resources. Again, it's just parts.
I even have access to a sandblaster.
It's a beautiful color. I'd hate to ruin that.
Everything's grimy.
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