All attempts to contact the business I ordered parts from have failed. The order was placed in March and I’ve received no contact since! I’ve tried emal, telephone, and snail mail, with no reply. Guess they don’t value their customers much.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Waiting on parts can be rather depressing, expecially when they’re the last parts needed to finish something. I hope I’ll have something new to show you soon to make up for the recent lack of anything at all.
Filed under: Chassis
The chassis is reassembled and I’ve installed a new pedal chain. Not very exciting but essential.
The rim strips arrived today. These are “Demolition” bmx rim strips, they’re a little wider than the ones the lbs had and should be perfect. They even match the bike, though you wont be able to see them when installed.
At first I felt the tires were a bit on the expensive side, about double of your regular moped tire but now having the tires in hand they are rather nice. They are very fresh, the rubber is soft, no cracking and they are still covered with the mold release wax. One thing I was worried about is the color of the whitewall, often repro tires are a bright bleached white and look out of place on a faded machine. These are a beautiful shade of what I would call antique white and fit the look of the bike as if they came with it. The flash makes them look brighter than they are.
I received most of the parts today, most of the good stuff. I was slightly disappointed at first seeing such a small box considering the price I paid, though I feel that the prices of most of the parts were pretty fair. The tires were main reason for the high cost, hopefully they last many years. Such things are to be expected I guess considering the nature of unusual vintage machines.
Started painting the worst of the frame parts using duplicolor hemi orange, looks pretty close to the faded orange of the rest of the bike.
I also installed the front fender and replaced the mostly missing plastic mud flap with one made out of leather. I cut it out kind of crooked but you cant really tell.
The block is also ready to reassemble once the parts show up.
The cylinder has been wire brushed and painted with Duplicolor “cast coat iron” which is very similar to the correct factory color, much better looking than gloss black no doubt.
I’ve also started stripping, sanding and painting some of the body panels. The unique design of the solex chassis is intriguing. Most parts are just stamped steel, requiring probably very minimal welding to complete the whole bike. The construction process must be quite simple and inexpensive.
Filed under: Engine, Parts | Tags: bearings, Moped, procrastination, solex, Velosolex
After a long period of procrastination/parts sources falling through I’m ready to get back to work. To start I’ve ordered the two crankshaft bearings today. The bearings are 6203-2rs for the crankcase side and 6202-zz for the magneto side.
I finished cleaning up the crankshaft, its ready to be re-used. Upon cleaning the connecting rod I discovered more damage. The needle bearing assembly for the piston pin appears to have broken and the rollers are misaligned. Another part to add to the wish list.
The official parts list is pretty much done, its turned out to be fairly long and will probably be divided into two or so orders.
Engine:
Complete piston assembly, Connecting rod bearing, 2 main crankshaft bearings, crankshaft seal and protective dust plate, complete gasket set, exhaust/intake gasket.
Air/Fuel system: Choke assy, air filter gasket, air filter, Fuel pump membrane, membrane backing plate.
Chassis: 2 Michelin tires, 2 tubes, pedal set, rear brake cable, decompresser lever, decompresser cable, front brake pads, front mud flap.
