The hubs were both quite badly corroded, the spokes and rims beyond redemption. The rims will be scrapped along with the spokes, the hubs will be cleaned and polished.
Everything on this bike has been lightened to a point where it only just about holds together. Note how the hub has been drilled between the spoke holes and large slots have been cut. I don't know if this was to help cooling or just to lose a bit of weight.
My regular readers will most likely remember that a while back I picked up an incredibly rare Maserati racing moped from about 1958, well I have at last made a bit of a start on it. One of the gear shafts is being remade, the original was corroded beyond repair so I had no choice in that. It has to be hardened after machining so it may be a couple more weeks before it comes back. In the mean time I have stripped the bike so I could assess each part individually. One of the front forks was seized but it didn't take much to get it moving again, most other parts look quite usable. I have bought new seals and bearings for the engine but have to wait for the gear shaft to come back before I can assemble that, I will get all the parts clean and ready, it came with a gasket set, which was a bonus.
The wheel rims and spokes are beyond redemption so new ones have been ordered, I shall clean up the hubs ready so I can build them back up when the parts get here. I can already see a number of challenges and not so many solutions but I will take it one step at a time and am confident that I will end up with a really nice machine.
I am trying a bit of a different approach with the frame, I have heard of this Nitromors paint that treats rust, undercoats and top coats all in one go. Weirdly the silver they do is an almost exact match for the remnants of paint that I have uncovered, I am trying a bit on one of the frame tubes to see how well it comes out, if all is good I will do the whole frame. I have heard good reports about it and it certainly seems to go on nicely. I have no idea if it is petrol proof, I shall test that out before going too far.
I cleaned up the carb, it was in very good condition for it's age, I think it should work without too much trouble, the slide and choke slide both move freely. I have to work out exactly what goes where before I start final assembly, as I didn't take it to pieces there may be things that are easily missed, there may be some critical parts missing, which is by far my biggest fear. I intend to do a dry run so I don't end up wasting gaskets assembling stuff only to find it all has to come apart again.
Once the frame parts are all painted I can reassemble them and then make a start on the wheels, the spokes haven't arrived yet so I may not be able to do too much more until they get here. In the mean time it's just lots more cleaning, polishing, painting and general boring stuff, which gives me plenty of spare time to annoy the Mrs. Tomorrow is van MoT day so I won't get much done, I may have to spend some time fixing the van if it fails. I hope it won't but you never know.
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