Saturday, December 15, 2007

Floor rail installation guide

In the not too distant future I hope to be reassembling the Vespa and since I am so terrible at just sitting and twiddling my thumbs I have been researching on how to install the floor rail kits.

I posted my question on BBS and Self Preservation Society sent to me a "how to" post he had written with photos (copy and paste link into your browser):

http://www.scooterbbs.com/bbs/dcboard.php?az=printer_friendly&forum=10&topic_id=316305&mesg_id=316316

I then wrote mentor Tom G. and asked if he approved of this method and this is what Tom G. said:
Yes.  Very easy, but you need to practice a bit to
make sure your tools and settings are correct. Also,
you need a quality air regulator to get the chisel to
slow down enough to control it - the cheapie
regulators don't work well.

I also wrote up a hand peening method on the BBS years
ago, and it has been posted on various restoration
sites. I recommend that you take a refrigerator
magnet and punch a hole in it. Place it around the
end of the rivet that sticks out of the body before
you start hammering. That way if your hammer slips
your paint is a little protected.

Tom
At this point I want to find out if my floor rails are reusable (I hope to just clean them up if they have tiny scratches and such) and if I can find replacement rubber for it. Maybe Claus Studio can produce the rubber?

Lesson Learned:
VSC owners -- the closest floor rail kit is for the Rally. Note: it is a bit short and maybe a dozen people tops in the USA will notice this so Rally is not a bad way to go. But make sure that you purchase the floor rail kit and shape it against your frame BEFORE it is painted or you run a high risk of messing your paint job up.

Again, sucks to me. Learn from my mistakes. I have to find a way to shape my floor rail (if I don't use originals) kit along my freshly painted bike. Not smart!

For more info search "floor rail" on the Vespa-Sport Yahoo Group. Good info in the archives.

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