In my last post I explained the reasons for buying this restoration project, what I failed to tell you was that I have never EVER pulled an engine apart let alone put it back together again in my life! I’ve mucked around with my Vespa’s in the past, but nothing on this scale.

So I had a steep learning curve ahead of me.

One of the great things about the global scooterist community is that it has been going for a long time and as such a lot has been written about restoring scooters - Lambretta and Vespa.

The initial starting point for me was Scootering Magazine, I had been a reader of Scootering 20 odds years ago when I was zipping around town on my 1983 Vespa PE200 and later on my 1994 PX200E, I actually found it useful for the ads as much as the articles and scooter showcases it had. So off to Humphreys news agency in Manly for the latest copy and I was all but set to learn what was happening in the scooter scene since I last bought a copy, needless to say the ads were as helpful as ever.

One of the ads I saw was for a DVD by Scooter Techniques, so i jumped online and bought myself a copy of the Lambretta Engine Rebuild, this was well worth the money and the guy who I assume owns it Ian Skinner seemed like a nice bloke as well.Lambretta Engine rebuild DVD

Disc one deals with stripping the engine and covers in details the following:

  1. Intro
  2. Engine removal
  3. Cowlings removal
  4. Top end removal
  5. Flywheel  / stator removal
  6. Magneto housing removal
  7. Brake shoes / hub retaining plate removal
  8. Chaincase removal
  9. Clutch / front sprocket removal
  10. Gearbox removal
  11. Crank removal

Disc two covers the actual rebuild, and is very detailed.

  1. Silent block replacement
  2. Rear hub bearing / gear selector fitting
  3. Gearbox (inc. shimming)
  4. Crankshaft / magneto housing (inc. bearings)
  5. Front / rear sprockets and chainguides
  6. Clutch
  7. Kickstart  / chaincase
  8. Stator / flywheel / brakeshoes
  9. Top end
  10. Timing
  11. Refitting engine / gearbox oil

I cant say how much I enjoyed watching this when I first got it in the post, it really immersed me in the project and made it feel less daunting and will be a permanent feature in my workshop during the rebuild.

Next purchase is what most scooterists, well those that ride Lambretta’s consider to be the bible - the Complete Spanner’s Workshop Manual By Martin ‘Sticky’ Round, this was hard to find and recently only found out that the original version is now out of print and that a revised version is due out later in the year.

I ended up finding it online via a German scooter shop of all places, I also bought the English version of their catalogue and that in itself was a worthy resource as it was packed with heaps of information about the various parts that you can buy along with some great comments about what to pair various performance parts with, the only downside was the way it was written, this ha obviously been translated from German to English and had some serious typos, but some funny ones as well.

Two other books I bought were the Innocenti Lambretta Restoration Guide by Vittorio Tessera & The Lambretta Bible by Pete Davies, both were useful in there own way from a pictorial perspective but not as good as the DVD, Sticky guide and the catalogue.

So my advise, if you are thinking of doing the same thing, start with the DVD, Sticky guide and a catalogue of some sort and buy the other later when you start to think about what colours and style of scooter you are going to rebuild.

Here is the book & DVD list: