Sundry items

While that sat soaking, start to clean up the pressed steel mag and cylinder covers. Theyre covered in surface rust but solid, also covered in gunge & tar type stuff.
The rest of the scooter is sat there with the rear wheel propping up the back, - so it still looks like a complete scoot while I work on the engine. Didnt want to strip it totally and end up with boxes and boxes of bits then lose enthusiasm - as it is now I can still sit on it and go 'brum brum'!

The plan is to get the engine done, in a frame and running before attacking the rest, maybe just take off things that leave it looking fairly complete, - petrol tank, mudguard etc. - and do it for as little cost as possible!

The siezed piston.....

On to the next problem, - the siezed piston.
I had taken the cylinder head off a while back and could see the piston head, looked in good condition, no scoring to side of cylinder, - might come out easily? - fat chance! Now with the mag flange off and access to the crankshaft, started tapping the crankshaft round with a bar in one of the crankshaft holes - it started to move, - got all excited, - until I realised the cylinder was moving off the casing with piston firmly stuck inside - der! Once cylinder had seperated by about an inch, put some wood inbetween and wacked top off piston with a large hammer on a piece of wood - after a while - nothing, its stuck fast.
Have a google search for inspiration, - cutting through the conrod is an option, but want to save as much as possible.
Have a plan, - over next couple of days cobble together a stand so that the cylinder is supported upright with engine swinging freely below, so that when I whack the piston theres no force on the engine.

above pic shows the completed stand - engine with cylinder head bolts/studs removed- an old steel framed stool with seat removed ( and placed underneath in case engine drops) and two pieces of square profile tubing (old table legs) kept together with a couple of bits of 6mm threaded bar with nuts/washers. Top up the cylinder with diesel and leave to soak for a week.

After a week give the cylinder a good going over with the blowtorch - get some wood and start hammering the piston head, - then start really hammering the piston head, -  the start really, really hammering the piston head, until Im surrounded by mounds of smashed wood, - cant see any discernable movement - but convince myself its moved at least a tenth of a millimeter. Clear up the carnage, top up with more diesel and leave for another week.

6 - Assault on the mag flange

Made a mag flange pulluing tool - happened to have a steel mounting pole used for projectors from ceilings - the base of which was ideal to cut off - a fair bit of sawing and drilling involved, finished off with a bit of welding to keep nut in place.
In it goes and fasten down the two 6mm bolts into the recommended threaded holes - start winding it up while tapping around the outside witha block of wood, - nothing - keep winding up - bang! one of the 6mm bolts has stripped, - bugger1 - and not a sign of any movement.
After a fair bit of cursing and swearing and wondering what to do now I come up with a cunning plan, - I rule out trying to retap the stripped 6mm as the flange seems that stuck it might just strip again - decide to try tapping out the three larger holes for inserting the stator plate fastening bolts. The problem is that the taps I have got start at a pointed end and wont start to cut a thread as theres only around 5/6mm thickness of flange and I dont want to ruin the threads on the casing side..  Plan B - ream out a shaving from end of the holes - place a 8mm bolt over the hole - and give it a good whack with a hammer - this causes it to get a bite into the alloy flange - then with brute force drive in the bolt to cut a thread as far down as the engine casing - works surprisingly well and do all three with relative ease, - nice!
This means drilling three appropriate holes in my tool (ow!) - duly done and insert the thing in to try. Start winding up, nothing - keep winding - getting bloody tight but still nothing, - use a bit of steel tube for more force - the steel late and tube on the tool starts to buckle and bend but still nothing, not half a millimetre of movement, - daren't wind up any more otherwise somethings going to break! - Give up for the day and retire to curse and have think.

Following day .......enter the garage with grim determination - that bloody mag flange is coming off today!
Start winding up the tool as far as I dare - there must be a huge pressure, just hoping the 8mm bolts will hold, - then get an old (well, it is now) kitchen bread knife with plain cutting edge and hammer it into the gasket between flange and casing hoping to break the seal or whatever, - keep at this for a while daring to have another quarter turn on the tool now and then - nothing! Getting pissed off now - grab a piece of 3x2 and use a hammer to knock around the edge of flange - eventually give it a few almighty wallops risking the casting - bloody hell - a very small gap has opened up!   Only just enough to get the knife in but its moved - wind up a little more, wont budge, - get a wide blade wood chisel and tap that in - more wallops with the 3x2 - hey, were up to about 2mm of seperation! - anyway - more wallops and keep winding up, it eventually comes out - fantastic, - chuck it on the bench - off for a well deseved beer or three!

Flange with home made tool in place, - the immense pressure has buckled the steel base and pulled in the sides of the steel tube and its pretty thick solid stuff, its as if the flange was glued in place. 2 of the 3 8mm bolts visible, - theres a nut on them to spin down onto the baseplate when theyve gone far enough in to reach the engine casing, - theres no way I would have got the flange off without this - I reckon even the official tool would have stripped the two 6mm bolts. What a b*st*rd that was!

5 - Flywheel off

 Well, theres no way the flywheel will come off by the preferred method with the proper tool (if I had one) but fortunately there are two slots in the flywheel so will have a go at making a puller.

Two strips of metal hammered into shape in the vice, drilled, and a bolt in the middle, - fairly sraightforward - try out my new arc welding skills after having a bit of practise - weld a nut onto underside of the arrangement, and one on the end to widen the contact point.  Decide to weld a T-bar on top for a bit of professionalism! ( dont look too close at the welding jobs!).

Just fits ok into the slots, so start winding up the pressure, tapping the flywheel surround with a block of wood now and again, - a few more turns and - bugger! - T bar breaks off ( crap welding!) and takes a chunk out of my thumb, - wack the flywheel with lump of wood in a revenge rage - and pop! - off it comes -great stuff!
Mark position of the stator now its revealed, remove three bolts fastening stator to mag housing/flange and outer fastener for cable - stator off. Undo three nuts attached to three studs holding mag housing/flange to engine casing.
Now - apparently you can force off the mag flange by inserting two 6mm bolts in the two other threaded holes now revealed - give it a try, winding them down a bit at a time after a good few turns one has that 'feel' that its starting to strip the thread from the flange (only alloy) so give up and decide its probably best to make a proper tool. At least its a step further.

4 -Clutch compressor

 

Made myself a clutch compressor- see pic - couple of bits of angle iron and a bent bit of bar, 2 6mm roof bolts and a long 8mm bolt through top with nut a couple of turns on the end to make contact with clutch centre - fashioned a holder for the top nut but could have used a spanner. Used a mole wrench as a turning handle.

1. 

Also shown is my flywheel holder - bit of 2" tube shaped to fit, with a bit of electrical steel conduit bolted on with 6mm roof bolts.
Removed drive sprocket assembly/chain guide - tried out the compressor - worked ok, removed clutch plates and housing etc. Time to have a look round the other side. Made a flywheel hoding tool but dont need it as the engine is siezed and flywheel is solid, - remove centre nut from flywheel.

The lambretta tool for removing the flywheel screws into the threaded centre but someone in the distand past has wrecked the thread somehow, -probably trying to prize it off - the shaft is in the way of getting a tap in to recut the thread.

3 - Engine dropout

 

The following Saturday - decide to drop out the engine. Pretty straightforward, just cut or saw through the cables as I'll need new ones anyway. But, - missed the flamin' choke cable and when engine dropped it broke the carb top casting - damn!

Engine out doesnt look in bad condition - just a lot of tar and gunge underneath, no damage. Whip off the wheel, exhaust and other bits and hitch it up on to the bench. Casing nuts come off nice and easy, all studs intact, no stripped threads.

Off it pops -. that chain looks a slack - in fact its too long - has worn a groove out of the casing bottom where it must slap up and down! Thats it for this weekend though.

2 - Lets see what weve got...

 

Time to have a good look over the beastie now in the garage, see if Ive missed anything nasty.....

Plenty of surface rust, but had a good prod before buying, no rot or anything, all feels pretty solid really, and its pretty much all complete,- all the major bits are there, Found a good few snails in there - all the way from Spain (its a Spanish made LiS). Might make a start next Saturday.

1 - Gone and done it!

Well, - I've gone and done it! - bought myself a rusty old lambretta Li150 special with the grand intention of restoring it. Been toying with the idea now for a few years but never bit the bullet and went for it, finally one saturday morning, 18th September 2010, thought 'what the hell...' and off I went - later that afternoon I'm wheeling a Lambretta 150 special into the garage.

Have I done a sensible thing? - dont know yet, but at the moment I feel quite pleased with my purchase - 58 year old and here I am drooling over Lambrettas just like I did in the 60s ' had a J125 in 1968 that got me started and a spanking brand new SX150 in 1969 ( £197!!) my pride and joy for the next few years ( LCP 436H - wonder if its still alive somewhere?).
Will I get it restored? - well here goes, it won't be a quick job, Ive set a target date of my 60th birthday approx 20 months from now. Ive started the blog as an incentive to myself to keep going at it, as the worry is I might get fed up and abandon it - ah well, here goes - pass me the spanner......................