Author Topic: 40s scooter restoration  (Read 1231 times)

40s scooter restoration
« on: 07 May, 2021, 09:47:37 pm »
I found this 1) relaxing and 2) impressive. Those handlebar grips!

https://youtu.be/EVShbpzeh0E

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #1 on: 07 May, 2021, 11:23:29 pm »
Good grief. How absorbing was that ?   Sat through the whole thing.
Rust never sleeps

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #2 on: 08 May, 2021, 12:25:49 am »
Barking!
It is simpler than it looks.

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #3 on: 08 May, 2021, 02:12:28 am »
That was terrific: engineering and artistry are inseparable.  Members might like to try this:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMq-BuBRbtQ

There are two or three separate videos.  Chastening to think that the work is probably being done at 40 degrees below that in the scooter video!

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #4 on: 08 May, 2021, 09:26:36 am »
Wonderful stuff. The scooter took 50 days!
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #5 on: 08 May, 2021, 02:16:34 pm »
Well, that was delightful.
I was particularly impressed by the T-shaped tank, fabricated for nickel plating the bars and stem.
That was, until I saw how he made the 3-part mold for the hand grips. Genius.
All the kit you saw him using in that video, plus a whole load more (woodworking machinery - table saw, wall saw, spindle former, thicknesser, etc, etc) we had in the workshop during my tenure at The Science Museum.
How I miss that workshop.
7 years of much tool contentment.
You could make anything in there.

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #6 on: 08 May, 2021, 03:39:36 pm »
Yes, tool-envy of the first order:  I've just pared a pair (unintended, sorry) of poorly-adjusted brake blocks with a blunt Stanley knife - and I'm ready for a lie-down!

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #7 on: 08 May, 2021, 06:38:19 pm »
That really is impressive.  When I first started work I spent a bit of time with one of the fitters learning about the practical side of pumps and he told me that he could not think of an example where a thread should be done up dry.  It had to have either grease, anti-seize or thread lock depending on what the thread was holding.  He was also most insistent that nuts and bolts had to have washers to protect the paintwork.  Neither were used in this restoration, is there a reason for that?

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #8 on: 08 May, 2021, 06:42:52 pm »
The lack of washers and grease certainly had me wincing a bit.
Rust never sleeps

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #9 on: 08 May, 2021, 06:48:17 pm »
The lack of washers and grease certainly had me wincing a bit.
Agreed.
Unless you wanted to be doing the job again in the next couple of years. (With some remedial work).

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #10 on: 08 May, 2021, 07:39:10 pm »
Everything was a bit too clean - especially the fingers.  The bit that really made me wince was the handlebars spinning around out of the back end of the lathe  :o

Pingu

  • Put away those fiery biscuits!
  • Mrs Pingu's domestique
    • the Igloo
Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #11 on: 08 May, 2021, 09:35:26 pm »
Wonderful stuff. The scooter took 50 days!

I watched it 2x speed so it only took 25.

Re: 40s scooter restoration
« Reply #12 on: 08 May, 2021, 10:08:22 pm »
Everything was a bit too clean - especially the fingers.  The bit that really made me wince was the handlebars spinning around out of the back end of the lathe  :o

Me. too!  and the cavalier fashion in which he emery-ed parts in a moving chuck.  But the film was generallly terrific - loads more fun than TV!  I particularly liked the way he re-welded and finished the handlebars.  But, as has been mentioned up-thread, pride of place goes to the casting of the wheels and grips.  This is a nerd of the first water.  Long may he prosper.