Restoration of API Lambretta

[ss80]

Hi everyone,
One of friend has purchased a Lambretta in a reasonable condition (still with OEM paint I guess, although not in good shape) I will be doing the dismantling, cleaning, fixing new ones & of course painting of his Lambretta.

Dismantling has started & will finish by tomorrow.

More details later, Here are a few photos taken today & yesterday

I will be needing a lot of support from you all, especially the Lambrettians :D

SS80

 

[350Z]

Awesome find. This is going to be one of the most exciting restoration threads around in our forum. Just make sure to keep us updated on time. Looking forward to more.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[P3T3R]

Is this a Lambretta? I think it's a Lamby 150. Anyway after restoration it will be worth a lot of money.

 

[Vishwas]

Wow nice to see you got a Lambretta, it's very tough to find this vehicle in south.I like the Lambretta for the comfortable back seat it has and the sound it has! people like this for the sound too.Please please do share and update the restoration works that you do for this beauty.How much did your friend paid for this?

. Anyway after restoration it will be worth a lot of money.

+1, you can see people earning till a lakh based on the original parts it has.

 

[Varun560061]

WOW !! SS80 you are back with another restoration.

Please keep us updated, BTW where do you source the parts for this ?
Is it still in running condition ?

 

[ss80]

Awesome find. This is going to be one of the most exciting restoration threads around in our ........

Drive Safe,
350Z

Thanks 350Z, yes I will do my best in updating here regularly. Thanks for the support.

Is this a Lambretta? I .....

Yes it is indeed a Lamby 150. Yes You are right, The worth of the vehicle depends to what extent we restore it. I am sure we will be able to put it back in its Original shape & condition.

Wow nice to see you got a Lambretta, it's very tough to find this vehicle.....

+1, you can see people earning till a lakh based on the original parts it has.

When I saw this Lamby, I expected it to be well built. Later I realised the metal used is very thick & strong. This Lamby does have the original engine & other mechanical parts (As far as I know), however one of my friend is a mechanic & I will take his opinion on the same, to check if some parts are from a Chetak/ any other scooter.

WOW !! SS80 you are back with another restoration.
Please keep us updated, BTW where do you source the parts for this ?
Is it still in running condition ?

OT: ha ha haa Little did I realise all these days, that my M800 ownership has become like a restoration thread.

Yes the Lamby is in working condition, my friend rode it from his house to mine, almost 7kms. I guess this is a 1980's model, not sure. Will check the papers tomorrow.

As mentioned above, most of the functional & metal body panels seem to be original. So we should not have any issues with repairing them, however the missing/ non genuine parts we have identified as of now are

1. Rubber & Aluminium strips on the floor (Rubber is missing/ cracked & has to be replaced)
2. We have only 4 or 5 Aluminium strips, we need one more
3. Rear View Mirrors - Right & Left (Chrome ones I guess)
4. Lambretta & 150 Monograms in the front & sides
5. Rider Seat bottom is cracked (cut) & needs welding & new springs
6. Throttle grips (are in poor shape)

We should be able to source them from Shivajinagar/ J.C.Road area (near Wilson garden signal).

Other smaller yet significant things about this Lamby:
1. Heavier than almost all scooters in production
2. Sounds awesome
3. Engineering is so so simple, In fact I will post clear pictures showing how a couple of bolts are holding the entire back wheel, engine, trans etc, Also proper routing is done so that all brake & clutch wires are not hanging lose
4. Very stiff chassis

Here are a few photos


Dirt inside engine bay, when I received the Lamby


Did some mild cleaning with a old brush, and here is the aluminium part ( I think its called CLUTCH CASE). This part will undergo buffing pretty soon.


ROuting of wires, very neat Italian work


Inside headlamp mounting area


Ignition coil


Carburator (I guess)

sorry for the blurr images, will post better snaps from next time.

To all viewers: "Incase you find any non-OEM part in any of pictures, please let me know on this thread itself. It will help me & anybody else doing Lamby restoration.

 

[sethumurugan]

Fantastic job ss80. Actually our family was labratta family. My father had a lambretta till 1990. I learned two wheler driving in that vehicle. it was convinient bike for 5 of us. my last sister will be on the front, my father will drive, my middle sister between mom and dad, mom at back seat, I will be on the career. and it never choked anywhere even when five of us travel on that.

My father sold it when I came to madras for job without telling me.

Even Now iam looking for lambreatta.

Best of luck for your restoration. May be I can follow your footsteps once you complete it.

 

[visran]

Wonderful project buddy, can't wait to see the final outcome all the best

 

[smooth rider]

seeing the lamby brings back old fond memories of my dads lambretta, we had named it winky. her reg no was KLE 2402. we sold her to buy our bajaj super.our greatest trip was from cochin to kozhikode with me and my brother standing between dads legs in front, mom carrying my little sister in the back seat. and a large suitcase with our clothes on the carrier.i still remember kids running behind our scooter shouting house on the move seeing all five of us on her.

 

[sreejeshtpl]

Best of luck for your restoration SS80!

 

[ss80]

Parts Sent for Tinkering

Fantastic job ss80. Actually our family was labratta family. My father had a lambretta till 1990......
Best of luck for your restoration. May be I can follow your footsteps once you complete it.

Happy to know that you are from a Lambretta Family. Please share some of your pics here, it will help us also.

Wonderful project buddy, can't wait to see the final outcome all the best

Thanks a lot. This restoration project should be complete within ten fifteen days, as my friend is very eager to ride this beauty.

seeing the lamby brings back old fond memories of my dads lambretta, we had named it winky. her reg no was KLE 2402. we .........move seeing all five of us on her.

Lambretta does bring back the fond memories of the Golden days, Please share some more info about your Winky. It can be very useful to us & others too.

Here is an update guys:

We stripped the vehicle completely & gave it to the tinker yesterday. He has already completed the whole tinker work & we have brought it back carefully.

I did one small (important) mistake, that is I should have sanded before giving it to the Tinker person. Now I have to be extra careful as to not create any dents/ cracks/ uneven surface etc while sanding.

Learning never ends in a restoration job

Here are a few pictures of the stripped parts sent to Tinker. I will post the received items photos by tomorrow.


The engine + rear wheel seperated


The fork


The Head Unit


Rear Coil spring to be sent for servicing






Photo taken before sending to tinker

 

[visran]

Is it easy to source the spare in such a short time?

 

[Varun560061]

Wow.. you have stripped off every thing. Will you get those cables and wires ? Or you need to swap it from other scooter.

BTW - I could not find the petrol tank in the above pic's.

 

[sethumurugan]

Wow.. you have stripped off every thing. Will you get those cables and wires ? Or you need to swap it from other scooter.

BTW - I could not find the petrol tank in the above pic's.

pls see the attached image. i think I have marked correctly. It is been more than 20 years I have seen our vehicle closely..

 

[ss80]

Sreejesh: Thanks a lot pal.

Visran & Varun: Most of the cables are still available for the Lambi 150 @ Balaji Automobiles near Shivajinagar (this is the info I got from our Tinker). However cost of the parts are sky high. For Example a choke cable costs approx. 150Rs! actual cost is only 35!

In case we fail in sourcing in parts, the tinker shop owner will supply us parts for a margin of 300 - 400Rs. on the whole bill.

Most of the cables (Brake cable, clutch cable) can be swapped with cables of Chetak kind of scooters. The main worrying points are the Aluminium strips with rubber insert, monogram, a chrome design on the sides etc are a bit difficult to source. If nothing works, then we may even think of getting parts from Tier2 cities of Tamil Nadu, where we still have reasonable stock of Lambis.

Here are pictures of parts after tinkering.