TO HAVE AND TO HOLD

Patrick phoned out of the blue last week at about 1730hrs.  He was just checking if I had make any progress with the barrel and head.  As it happened I had just arranged to collect them from my son over in Essex at the weekend.  Patrick was pleased to hear this as he was reaching the point where he was going to need them.  Apparently he had arranged for the kick start leaver bearings to be sleeved as they were badly worn and hoped to collect the casting next week after which he would need my bits.  I promised to try to deliver them on Thursday 25th November.  He was happy because he was away until Tuesday and could do nothing before that.

I collected the barrel and head from John on Saturday.  This was the first time I had seen the bits and despite having had reports that they looked good I was apprehensive.  I needn't have worried, they looked fine.  I had to wait until I got back home before I could confirm that the bore was 57mm as near as I could measure, correct for a 150cc engine.  

Barrel and Head

Crankcase flange

All looks in good condition.  I can't see any chips or damaged threads so far.

Head

The bore

The bore looks good with no excessive scoring or signs of seizure.  There is a small lip around to top of the bore but nothing too much.  Patrick assures me that he can re-bore if necessary and has a range of pistons up to 58mm.


I have to say I won't be happy until I have Patrick's approval.  I have so little experience of two strokes all my observations have little value.  When Tim  http://www.blackspanner.blogspot.com/
rebuilt his Vespa he was advised that a re-bore was unnecessary.  Since I hadn't seen the condition of the bore I have no idea how much ware there was.  Judging by the other problems he found I guess there could have been quite a bit.


Having now got a barrel and head in my hand the next move is to get them to Patrick. When I have done this it will complete a long journey for these parts, from Sheffield to Birmingham NEC, to Ridgewell Essex, to Bramfield Hertfordshire and finally to Hammersmith London.  I hope it's all going to be worth it.

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.

AN END TO THE TORSION BAR

I'm afraid it's back to the torsion bar again, but take heart it should be the last entry on the subject for some time.

Having looked at three different tools for releasing the tension on the torsion bar I found myself reconsidering the "bodge clamp method".  The more I thought of it the more I liked it.  It was simple, quick and above all didn't involve me having to make a special tool.  The draw back was that i didn't have a clamp that was large enough and that would fit in the space available.  I would have to buy one (you can never have too many clamps I say).  Despite not finding one in the Tillgear catalog I drove over to Cuffley to see what they had available.  Much to my delight they had one which I thought would do the job.  I was so excited I bought a couple of files just in case I had to revert to making a tool.

As with the "bodge" method I used wood blocks to provide the pressure points.  I then realised that I didn't know what pressure to apply to overcome the torsion bar force.  I made a guess, i.e. I tightened the clamp. Hoping this might be right I started to drift the link pin through the engine mount.  It wasn't long before I noticed that the washers either side of the link were missing.  this enabled the link to move between the engine lugs.  Having driven the link pin back I was able to fit a spacer to replace the missing washer.  Just another mystery, why weren't they fitted during assembly?

With the spacer fitted I could now drift the link pin fully out.  At the Lambretta Club forum there a number of references to the dire consequences of not retaining the needle roller bearings during the removal of the pin.  I cut a short length of tube to replace the pin as I drove it out so at to retain the bearings.  I can't remember exactly when the glued lug fell off but needless to say it did not survive the removal of the pin.  It wasn't even glued over the full face of the break!

With the pin removed and the clamp released there was so little misalignment that I suspect I was overloading things.  Thinking about now (I should have done this earlier) the fact that the rear bump stop was missing had probably already released the tension.   
No bump stop, Why? 

The good news is that the link been uncoupled and the torsion bar unloaded.  As they say, "end of story".

There still remains a mystery!  Why weren't there any needle roller bearing in the link?  It is fitted with a plain bronze bearing.  It's a good fit on the pin and so should work but is it correct?  I will have to take advice.

It now remains to remove the engine from the frame.  I think I have to remove the fuel tank if I'm going to leave the barrel and head in place, more fun.  It would be nice if I can do this before I go into hospital because it will be some time before I will be allowed to start work again after the operation.

WAS I CONNED?

You know how it is when you see something and you turn a blind eye?  I've been experiencing this for a while now.  Because I have been spending so much time working on the engine and torsion bar link I have become very familiar with the parts.  Some time ago I, whilst working on the engine flange for the MK3 tool, I noticed what I thought was a casting mark.  The sort of flash produced when the mounds don't quite line up.  It was only small and I didn't take much notice of it at first.  As time went by I started looking more closely and discovered what I thought was signs of a repair.  This was the moment when I turned my blind eye.  

I couldn't help thinking about it because if it was in fact a repair it could right off the engine as a viable resale option.  I had hoped to put it on Ebay to recover some of the costs for the rebuild of the other engine.

My worst fears were realised later when the mounting lug fell off!  Oh bugger!!

Broken engine lug

What I had thought a molding line was actually a line of "glue".  I can only guess that it is some sort of "metal repair adhesive".  How could anyone actually think that a stressed part would survive after being glued together? It was a good job that I didn't go ahead with the MK3 tool because it relied on this lug to provide the engine clamp point.

When I bought the scooter Mark seemed a nice guy who had put in a lot of work on the bike with the intention of showing it.  I wouldn't have expected him necessarily to have said anything about the repair but it would have been nice.  Perhaps I'm upset because I miss judged him, my error.  I thought he was a nice guy with high standards.  I've been finding other things that are not quite right, this is just another one.  I ask myself, is there a reason why he has never replied to my Emails?  Was I conned?

So what to do now.  I can only press on and count my blessings that I don't actually need this engine.  I just hope that Patrick from Scooter Surgery doesn't find similar things on the unit he is rebuilding for me.  I did see a crankcase for sale on Ebay some time back for £30 odd so it might be possible to do something if I really have to.

Down, but not out -  yet.

THE PROJECT GETS A LIFT

The motorbike lift table has arrived.  I'm really excited about it as it represents a further commitment to the project.  I decided at the outset that I'm too old to be laying on the floor sorting things out.  This piece of kit will save me having to do that and at the end of the project I can always put it on Ebay to recoup some of the expense. 

True to the suppliers word it arrived at 1230hrs and the driver dragged into the project office, it was really heavy.  Once the driver had left I couldn't resist the temptation to unpack my new acquisition.  I was pleased to find that it was just as well made as it appeared on the web site and all for £235 plus delivery.  It's very red and there bits that look as though they have been cut using a cold chisel but in general the quality is good.  I think it's great value for money.  I raised the table to its full height with no difficulty and lowered it again, it's going to be great.  The removable plate at the end provides a ramp to enable the bike to be easily pushed onto the table.

I decided to fit a length of conveyor belting that I had left over from a previous job.  I thought this would make a nice surface to work from.  I cut holes in the belting to enable the front wheel clamp arrangement to be fitted.  All was ready for the first attempt at putting the scooter onto the table.  The first thing I encountered was that the stand "just" catches the point where the ramp meets the end of the table.   It's not a real problem and can be easily overcome by putting a block under the end of the ramp plate.  The result was that there is now a small loss of red paint on the ramp, still plenty left.  With the scooter on the table and on its stand I was able to assess the situation.  I certainly needs the front wheel clamp.  Without this there is a risk that the scooter could come off its stand.   I'll have to look into this because I don't think the stand goes overcentre enough for it to be secure.  With the front wheel clamped things are much more stable and I was prepared to lift the table.  What a joy to have the engine at a working height.


So there we have it, no progress on the scooter but it's progress on the project.

TOMORROW'S THE DAY

I had a phone call from Mark Flanagan (the guy who is selling the scooter) at about 1100 hrs to confirm all was well and he anticipated arriving at Bramfield at 1230 hrs on Saturday morning. It makes your heart jump when you realise that's TOMORROW. I asked about photographs from his project up to the point he sold the scooter. He has some and said he would Email them to me at some point. This would be great as it would allow me to assemble a complete rebuild history. If I hear nothing I will give him an Email reminder, I don't want to miss out on this opportunity.

Having run through all my doubts again I decide that I really should sort out where I'm going to put it when it arrives. Obviously it will go in the Project office but at the moment the TF is in the way and will need to be pushed to one side. This is not a problem in that I bought four "GoJacks" from Ebay and these allow me to lift each wheel and push the car where I want it. My problem is that I'm suffering (as only a man can, says June) from Sciatica in my right leg. This is making it very difficult for me to walk. It's been so bad that I haven't even tried out my GoJacks, how bad is that? Well, tomorrow being the day I had to do something. Perhaps it was the excitement of the scooters arrival or may be the fact that I had been laying in the garden for most of the afternoon, whatever it was, the system worked fine. With the TF moved to one side I had plenty of room to put the scooter.

I think I'm ready. Let the project begin.

OBJECTIVE

This Blog is intended to document the journey that I make getting a Lambretta LD 150 on the road. I have no idea how difficult it is going to be or how long it will take but I shall enjoy looking back and seeing how I overcame the problems, who I met on the way and assessing if it was really worth it.
Having said that I guess I should get underway.