My quest for a barrel and head suddenly kicked off. Shortly after having agreed with Patrick that I would have a go at sourcing the bits I received a call from my son in law, Neil, saying he had been on Ebay looking for me. Neil would agree that he is not the most enthusiastic mechanical engineer, in fact his wife Jax is more into things mechanical. He is very supportive and has an interest in scooters so he had found some potential suppliers. He had even contacted one with a view to locating my barrel. What could I do? I couldn't let a Sunderland supporter accuse me of not trying, I just had to get my finger out. I left a message with Neil's contact but we never actually tied up. Time for alternative sources.
I had previously had a suggestion from Tim that K & S Scooters might be a source, they had been very helpful to him. I tried Sundar Scooters but they didn't have anything. I tried Cambridge Lambretta workshop, again they did not have a steel barrel but could offer me an aluminum one at about £250.
Torsie, John's wife, had introduced me to one of her sales reps who was into scooters in the hope he might be able to help. It was Ashley Marples who had encouraged me to buy the scooter in the first place so I Emailed him to ask if he had any advice. He put me onto Armandos Scooters in Sheffield. When I phoned I spoke to Julio who proved to be most knowledgeable on LD150's. At first he thought I was looking for the barrel, head and piston and we started discussing the size of the big end. I eventually explained that Scooter Surgery would supply the piston from his stock and things became easier from then on. Julio quickly found a 150cc barrel (57mm bore) but said he would have to search further for a head and would call me back. To my surprise and joy, he did. Yes he had found a head and wanted £100 plus VAT for both. He agreed that if I payed cash we could forgo the VAT.
I phoned Patrick to see if the price was right, I had no idea of what the cost might be. Patrick said it was a good price if OK and he had seen barrels at much higher prices, "Buy it". So the next problem was how to get the bits to Bramfield and finally Hammersmith. Ashley had already said he would collect anything I bought so it was just how to get the £100 to him. Events rather then took over. I received a text from Torsie saying that Ashley had already picked up the parts and would take them to the NEC where he and Torsie were on the company stand at the Classic Car Show.
I was able to give cash to John who would give it to Torsie who would give it to Ashley who would hand over the barrel and head. I understand this has been done and the items are now with John, only an hours drive away. I still have to collect them and get them to Patrick but things are looking good, I have the bits and from what Tim tells me they look OK. The next milestone is to get Patrick's approval when I make the delivery. He has told me that he does re-bores and stocks a range of pistons so hopefully all will be well.
Not a lot really. I've had my operation and June has started her chemo, this has taken up most of our lives. I have managed to get the odd moment to make some progress on the scooter. I had intended that whilst I was convalescing I would spend time resourcing all the bits I need. This didn't really happen for one reason or another but I still had my "Wish List No1" down at Scooter surgery with Patrick so I had made a start of sorts.
In early October I phoned Patrick and spoke to Maude. She said she had received my list and had put in a folder for Patric to price up. Apparently Patrick hadn't seen it yet but Maude would remind him as he was very busy at the moment. Tell me something new. The main thing he had my list and would eventually do something with it. I really needed to know what he could supply so I could start the search for the bits he couldn't. Since my list No1 can't be complete because I don't really know all the bits I'm looking for I need to start thinking about list No2, the less obvious bits.
In mid October I received my Wish List No1 marked up by Patrick, Maude had obviously done her magic. Patrick had done a great job identifying the bits he had in stock and the bits he said he would collect during he trip to Italy in November. This left a few items with no indication, mostly odd nuts and bolts. There were some missing prices but adding up those that were there it looks like it's going to cost me £275 plus VAT for the identified bits. Heavens knows what the bits he is going to pick up from Italy will cost.
Patric had been unable to source a 150cc barrel and head.. He had a 125cc barrel in good condition. Patric argued that the porting on the 125 was the same as the 150 and the performance was not that much reduced especially if you weren't going to make long runs on Motorways. It was always my intention that this rebuild would tie up with the log book otherwise why was I spending £1200 on the engine rebuild alone. We agreed that I should Have a go at sourcing the barrel and head and report back to Patrick. Patrick warned me to avoid offers of the aluminum modern replacement because of their weak exhaust connection. Having put the phone down I realised that I was now in the hot seat and progress could be reliant on me finding a barrel. Where to start?
