[Mitch]

Hello everyone, I have been following this thread from the UK and find it very interesting. I have a couple of Indian built Lambrettas, a SIL Vijay Super MkI and a Allwyn Pushpak. Both were scrap when I bought them here in the UK but are now being used regularly, in fact I went to Belgium on the Vijay last year and Belgium & France on the Allwyn this year. Quite a distance from Yorkshire!
I also have an Italian import 1968 SX150 which I will restore when funds allow it.

It is interesting to note the lack of available parts in India, particularly when the UK has an abundance of such items sourced from the sub-continent.
I wish it was possible to find a solution to this but as in many cases, greed seems to dictate.

Keep up the good work fellas

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Sidman

Poor Stanher! But your troubles will soon come to an end, and you will look back at all these troubling times, and laugh!
And a lot of other advantages as well...Great way to make new friends

Thanks sid! And yes, thanks again for the idea on making new friends!
Yes, it would work out, Iam sure!

Anyways, update: frame stripped off the seat and patrol tnak flap, air filter scoop etc. and primered up today. Ready for the first coat, which they said they would do either today or tomorrow. Pics. later.
I do hope to make it there by all mean tomorrow, considering I'm not feeling too well today.

Originally Posted by Mitch

It is interesting to note the lack of available parts in India, particularly when the UK has an abundance of such items sourced from the sub-continent.

Hello and welcome Mitch!

Nice to know that our Vijais and Allwyns have found a better home, even if in another part of the world. Any pics. of your scooters to share? Also is your Allwyn the later type with the Vespa VBB type mudguard or the early type with the "standard" GP mudguard?

To add further to your note, the 2 things (outlined in Bold) would be
related, AFAIK! All the more interesting to note, isn't it?

Anyways, jokes apart, it's not (yet) the lack of available parts in all parts of India (you can still get more or less evrything from Delhi/B'lore) but more so the lack of quality parts available in India.

[Mitch]

Nice to meet you Stanher. Yes I have a whole load of pics of both scooters and will post them in the next few days, however, there are a lot to choose from!.
I understand what you are saying about 'quality' parts. There is a huge influx of Indian stuff here but a lot of it is very poor. In fact there is a saying here 'buy cheap, buy twice'. A lot of people who have bought the cheap stuff end up buying Casa from Italy or other after market items from UK companies to replace it and whilst it is very high quality, it comes at a price. In the UK, scootering simply is not cheap.

Just about every Indian made item has to be 'fettled' to make it fit, usually by grinding off bits. Sometimes things are just too bad to bother with. There are also such items as stainless wheel rims from Vietnam but we have had a problem with these breaking which is not ideal!
In the UK, I think restorers are a stage or two further on than you appear to be. Some people spend vast sums having their beloved Lambretta or Vespa custom painted, there are even a few gold plated ones. These people never ride them. What a shame.

I'll give you a couple of pics of both scooters when I bought them.
The Allwyn is the one with the turning front mudguard but everyone here turns these into the GP which was the UK version with the Series III fixed mudguard.
Ah! just tried to upload them but they are bigger than 1 mb.
Will do it later when I have reduced them

Cheers

[Mitch]

Right, here's the Allwyn

[Mitch]

Ah! I see the pics have loaded up. Its a bit confusing.

The Vijay (first pic) arrived in the UK in a metal, shipping box which is very useful. The headset and front forks etc are taken off so the lot will fit into the box.
The first thing I did was completely dismantle the scooter. Just about every part on the frame other than the tank, airbox, toolbox, headset, panels, floor runners and legshields are discarded!
A few dents can be seen.
The lot is taken to a beadblaster who removes every bit of rust.
Unfortunately, as viewers can see, I managed to break one of the engine mounts off! This can be welded up but I wanted a a 200cc engine so I picked up a new SIL casing.
Off to the nearest Lambretta dealer to check out and replace all the engine items.
I purchased a new, SIL 200cc barrell, piston and head etc and began reassembly of the engine once It was polished.

Next episode soon

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Mitch

The lot is taken to a beadblaster who removes every bit of rust.
Unfortunately, as viewers can see, I managed to break one of the engine mounts off! This can be welded up but I wanted a a 200cc engine so I picked up a new SIL casing.

Nice to see the pics. I understand restoration of scooters is done very meticulously indeed over there! I daresay one of our lot in India was inspired by you folks! You can find his Li150 restoration saga in this thread itself.

You seem to be lucky to have got reasonably decent scooters, even prior restoration. We've seen worse here!
One thing though- by beadblasting, do you mean sandblasting? But I understand you're not supposed to do that on body-panels?! And a scooter's panels would be all the more delicate, right?
Your engine casing mount breaking doesn't surprise me- I read in a book on Indian Lambrettas that Vijais made in the early 80s suffered a rather poor quality in their casings, as the company was going through rough times then.

And now, after quite a break, here I am with an update on my 'MDS':

After the 'corrected' denting took place, the scoot now had to take a repeat paint-job. So here she is being readied....incidentally, the guys claimed to have a problem taking the front seat off! Which I did in a thrice. Next was the air-filter scoop, for which you needed to have Allen key wrench (5mm), which none in the compound had.

So then I decided to buy a whole set ('Taparia' brand- costs only 170+) and then the scoop was out too.

Then came the primer and the first coat of paint. At this time, it so happened that only today, on calling up the painter, I was told that the shade of white that I'd bought didn't match the existing paint on the scooter! ie., it was a bit "yellowish" and so on!

Fortunately, the painter too had to visit the paint-shop today, so accompanied him and him check the re-mixing and matching in the shade s this time, until he finally approved of it.

And the painting begins. I made sure they covered up the inner parts of the scooter before spraying on the paint.

No pics. after the scoot got it's final coat as I left immediately after it was done, not feeling too well today.

'told the mech. to collect the scooter tomorrow. I hope it will be smooth-sailing atleast from now!

[Sidman]

Hi Mitch, welcome, and looking forward to more pics of your restorations! I recently had my 1970 API LI 150 S2 Lambretta restored. Money, and the lack of top-notch parts and infrastructure forces us to make do with what we have available. But we are just as driven in our quest for (near) perfection as other restorers are.
Three LI 150 S2 restorations were at one point going on concurrently, mine was the first to finish. The other two restos are Stanher's 1960 S2, and SA7VA5's 1968 S2. Both are very close to completion. SA7VA5 is doing an extremely thorough job on his scoot, and I have learnt much from both Stanher and SA7VA5's restos. Stanher and myself have had to deal with chassis problems, which required really skilled denters to fix.
Lambrettas and Vijais in India have usually had a very hard life, quietly taking all manner of abuse over the years! "Unmolested" scoots are hard to come by!
You can see the resto of my scoot documented in previous posts on this thread.

[Mitch]

Stanher, I am still puzzled as to how your scooter got so badly out of alignment?

Rather than 'hijacking' your thread, I think I will start a new one based on the restoration of my Vijay (or maybe 'italianifying').

I agree, my Vijay was not in such bad condition to start with, however, there are some pretty rough ones coming in of late now that the sourcing of Indian Lambrettas is drying up.

Keep up the good work. I'll help with any advice I can give.

[Stanher]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Stanher, I am still puzzled as to how your scooter got so badly out of alignment?

Rather than 'hijacking' your thread, I think I will start a new one based on the restoration of my Vijay (or maybe 'italianifying').

Keep up the good work. I'll help with any advice I can give.

Thanks mitch. To be honest, I too don't know how that happened (and I hope I never get a chance to know! )

That reminds me to tell you- I live in the city close to which the APSL (Andhra Pradesh scooters ltd.) factory that made the Allwyn Pushpak existed.

Well, the scooter was supposed to be driven back to the mechanic's place today, but the guy happened to have a change of plan and left for an outing without even informing me- ironically he'd agreed to take the scoot even when I called him this morning!!

Today would've been ideal too as there is hardly any traffic on the roads, being a holiday due to the local Municipal elections.

He later said he'd do it tomorrow! I'm just too fed up with all that these fellows here are making me (and my scoot) put up with...!

[the mole]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Rather than 'hijacking' your thread, I think I will start a new one based on the restoration of my Vijay (or maybe 'italianifying').

Hi Mitch look forward to your thread.Its good to find a restoration thread from a another country even if the scooter is indian.

i too have a 1962 Li 150 Series 2 which I plan to heavily italianify, I have sourced all the parts from England but just havent got into the mood to start working on it. Maybe your thread will provide some inspiration.

[Mitch]

Stanher, when I got my first Indian scooter I was unaware that there was more than one builder of SIL parts in India and was (after I had purchased the Vijay) advised to get an Allwyn because they were the better quality ones. Must admit, although my Allwyn seems to have some thicker steel for the side panels and a few additional features, the frame loop has been welded to the tubular frame too much to one side and it looks dreadful from behind. It also makes the rear tyre rub on the rear mudguard!

Is the APSL factory still there?

Mole, if you want to italianify your scooter can you get hold of all the italian style parts and bages etc in India?
In the UK there is real 'genuine Innoccenti' snobbery. Some people will only restore an original Lambretta using the original parts. A horn cast badge for say a 1966 SX will cost as much as you will pay for a scooter!

Some of the rarer Italian machines i.e. TV 200 can go for as much as £7,000 (I reckon that's around 530,000 rupees)

[Mitch]

Ok, I've started my new thread here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/post-1...ml#post1597619

Stanher, I hope you don't mind me putting this on.

[SA7VA5]

Come'on Mole - Its time we got to see your machine and the parts that you have sourced from England....want to see it all. Come'on come'on

And dont be lazy - get on with the resto NOW!

Cheers

Saurabh

[the mole]

Originally Posted by Mitch

Mole, if you want to italianify your scooter can you get hold of all the italian style parts and bages etc in India?
In the UK there is real 'genuine Innoccenti' snobbery. Some people will only restore an original Lambretta using the original parts. A horn cast badge for say a 1966 SX will cost as much as you will pay for a scooter!

I know its highway robbery, but i am happy with the quality of Casa Lambretta parts. I imagine they are pretty close in terms of quality to the originals as possible. Besides the weather is so bad in Bombay that everything you put on starts corroding after some time.

Well Saurabh I am not going to start till you finish your thread, Need all the gyan before I start (Also the free research)

[Mitch]

Mole, I can let you know of UK companies that manufacture high quality parts. A lot of them are innovative and an improvement on the original.