THE BARREL

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.