"Cherry", the 1965 Vespa 50S 50cc scooter. (Originally thought to be a 1968 scooter, but the engine number proved otherwise.) This is a "luxury" version of the original 50cc Vespa, with four speeds, a speedo, and ten inch wheels.
He arrived in my garage in a cling-wrapped metal cage off a back of a truck from a town in N.S.W.! Had to borrow a friend + tool to open the damned thing!
I rode him around for a year or so before I decided it was time... he didn't have sizzling performance, so I thought I'd go for looks instead!
I
got a friend of my sister to weld in pieces from a new floor section I got from
Vietnam, and he also closed some of the previously drilled holes in the bodywork.
Then the scooter spent about six months with the mechanics, to have the wiring
loom replaced, a new coil, new cables, new gaskets and oil seals, and new clutch
plates. It didn't need a rebore, just new rings. It took so long mainly because
of the delay in getting parts. Funnily, the quickest arriving bits came from the U.K.! And not
too expensive either. While the engine was out, I rustproofed and painted the
inside of the chassis, on-site at the mechanics'.
Once the scooter was back at my place, I prepared for painting it, as I hadn't been able to contact the painter I'd used last time. Up for a challenge! As the scooter was now running well, I would be painting it fully assembled, in my garden shed. Once I'd moved the mower out.
I reconditioned the seat base and made a new seat cover and rear soft carry bag
to match. I cut the new foam with an electric knife in my kitchen.
I worked in sections, doing the tank top, headset, mudguard, and the body in
two halves. I spent days using paintstripper, steel wool and a big old flat
screwdriver to get the red paint off. Underneath was the original pale
greeny-grey Vespa paint. I never realised that paint scrapings could be so
bulky. I must have got several supermarket bags full!
I masked off the bits I'd already done with cling wrap. This is the first layer
of "Purple Haze" over the primer. I spent a few weeks scraping,
masking, priming, sanding back, priming again, painting... I also whacked the
legshields (a lot, noisily) to ensure the bolt-on legshield trim would fit once
painted. That pretty much took an entire evening. I had to wear earplugs - I
reckon the neighbours must have hated me!
Well, that's the paint done. I had already painted the muffler and flywheel with
high temperature paint. (The brick is a highly technical device for lowering the
rear brake pedal so I could spray around it.) I was sick for about two days
afterwards. I did have a mask but it didn't really work, and the smell of paint
seemed to get more revolting as I went along.
I got the wheels and stand back from the powdercoaters, and fitted these cute
little hubcaps I got off Ebay ages ago. And yes, those ARE Lambretta stand feet
- it seemed to be difficult to get the right size Vespa ones. I even got the
speedo working properly!
Now to the trim. I got really friendly with the guys at my local nuts & bolts place, they almost had the metric bits out and ready for me as I walked in! I also had to get a particular rivet tool as most of them didn't have a nozzle which would go between the metal of the floor strips. The legshield trim went on easily (thank goodness) but the mudguard bumper bar took ages to get sitting right. Still, swearing a lot is part of any restoration!
The finishing touch was the crashbars, which I had had rechromed and powdercoated. Cherry is now wearing the correct sized 3.00 x 10 inch tyres, and delaying the traffic as before!
All finished!!! 
With
new exhaust, added in an effort to increase performance. I was not able to
kit it as well, as it's an early version of the 50 and later ones had different
engine dimensions and the kits only fit later ones. 