Seals went bad on my back plate

Wow! I am frustrated. After cleaning my engine case gasket with a razor blade and brake cleaner (thx Tom G.) I found that my seals on my backplate had hardened and broken. I was shocked!
The seals I need are 93990 (qty: 2) and 93977 (qty: 1).
I spoke with Gene M. and it is difficult to find these seals he has told me. An alternative is to run P-Series seals, but the hole sizes are different and don't seal as well. It's been many months since I took the backplate off, but the seals were new when the engine was rebuilt years ago by Christopher M. I don't know if the seals he used were VSC or VSE. Bummed. So bummed. Going to hunt them down now if I can.

I spoke with Tom G. about options:

" They are just brake backing plate dust seals.

They are extremely hard to find, and for a while were completely out of production. I'd say there is a good chance that Chris M. did not replace them, because he probably could not get them at the time.

If you can get them from 25 bucks, thats probably the best deal you're going to find.

Not replacing them will have no effect on the way your motor runs, and will not cause oil leaks. The cracks and deterioration will just let water and dust into your brake area, and may cause the brakes to slip a bit, or may cause premature deterioration of the pads. Which means you may have to perform brake maintenance more often (cleaning mostly). So replace them if you can, but don't let it hand you up. They won't affect running, and you can always try to find them cheaper if you want (I would just pay the 25 bucks). and go back in and install them later, which is not difficult to do. It aint original, but you can also cut some custom rings out of sheet neoprene and use them in place of the P-type O-rings. But frankly, I think P-type O rings will seal fine on the two small holes, and may just not seal so good on the one larger hole."

I have ordered a set of dust seals that are repops for the GS/SS.

Layshaft Rebuild

No normal restoration takes this long. I have made many major changes throughout the process and therefore, well you know . . .

Before I can move forward I need to rebuild the layshaft. Thanks to Derek, who helped me with his mill and expertise. I rebuilt it with him and used nut/bolts to hold it together, per Tom G.'s recommendation. Tom recommended creating a small whole in the punch nut to catch the head of the rivet. Thanks Derek for helping with that.

Today, I riveted it shut using a palm nail gun (I highly recommend buying the MINI palm nailer for additional control and better view of the area you are working on) again per Tom G.'s recommendation. It went well.

Next step is to put the engine back together, which I hope to do in spurts in early mornings and late nights after my kids are asleep.

Update for September

Quick update . . .

Life again has gotten the best of me . . . a new teaching job and a young family has me spread thin. No complaints though! As you know the clutch is 100% rebuilt. The layshaft (cush drive) is rebuilt and held together by hardware. I will remove one nut/bolt at a tie and replace with rivets. Once that is done I will put everything back together and test it again. If the problem is still there a new clutch it is.

In the meantime we have replaced our two Bajaj Chetaks, which I repaired and sold in July, with a new-to-me bone stock 1979 P200 with 82XX original miles on it.



I am quite smitten with it.

Barry Gwin's Vespa Clutch Compressor Tool

I called First Kick Scooters yesterday to see if they had a clutch compressor tool in stock. They did not, but I was told they just use a bolt with washers and nuts to compress clutches that come in their shop.

Then I called SF Scooter Centre and they had them in stock for $20. I stopped by to pick one up as opposed to risking damaging mine without the correct tool and Barry said, make your own. Don't buy this $20 one. He usually sells his Home Depot version ones for $5, but was all out. He drew up his design and sent me on my way.

It costs me $2.25 to make and I tested it in Home Depot and it worked great. Here's what I bought:
- 1/2 inch wing nut
- two 1/2 inch washes
- 1/2x3 inch carriage bolt

The idea is the taper on the carriage bolt is similar to the taper in the clutch. I made sure that my carriage bolt easily and freely turned so it would not score my taper in my clutch. So I guess in theory this is just like using washers, nuts, and a bolt, because my taper is not fitting the sleeve perfectly. I quickly compress, remove the circlip, and release the pressure in case this design puts undue pressure on the clutch since it is not pulling from the sleeve. I do know it is not in contact with the brass ring nut as it sits on the lip above it.

I hit Ace Hardware up yesterday, but they did not have large enough carriage bolts, so I used washers, nuts and a bolt and it worked fine if you're in a jam.

Homemade tool for the brass nut on the clutch

Thanks to Derek G. who transformed a deep socket on a lathe into this beautiful tool for me.
Derek said "The tool came out perfect. There is a .001 interference fit, so you have to push it onto the brass nuts, which keeps it tight. "