Police scooter went to another home.....

After several months of inactivity, I decided to let someone else finish the quest to restore the USPP scooter. I am going to leave this blog up for future reference for anyone that can use the information gathered. Thanks for following....

The frame makes it to the media blaster

Well, I dropped the frame off at the media blaster June 10th. It could be ready in as little as a week. He uses a combination of aluminum oxide and plastic media to remove the paint and surface rust. He had another Vespa that had just been blasted and it looked great.

It has been somewhat slow going these past two weeks with progress. The frame is now ready to go to the media blaster and I am finalizing some parts purchases. I did pick up a Versahaul scooter carrier Saturday to make transporting the scooter to events easier than using my trailer. Pictured below is the exact one I bought. I got a good deal on it and it even came with the straps and a Canyon Dancer for the front handle bars.

I am looking for the front reflectors for the fender that look like the below picture. They are about 7/8 high and 1 3/4 wide. UPDATE: It looks like my new friend Carl is taking care of me on these reflectors. These are actually the pics he sent me. I am just looking for one rubber base now and maybe another reflector that the pin is still present. They say "guidex" on them.

Pictures of the super rare police scooter windshield

Here are pictures of the super rare Vespa police windshield. I purchased this complete with the lower vinyl wind deflector. I will go out on a limb and say these may be the only pictures of this vintage windshield on the internet. I searched the internet for weeks trying to find a good picture of what this windshield looked like with no luck. I have cleaned up the aluminum and replaced the clear insert with a high quality acrylic thicker style insert to make her look new again. I may have the vinyl lower insert reproduced since it is not in the best of condition. The mounts are angled strange so I may need to do some modification on those before I mount it. This is a really neat vintage piece that was needed to complete the restoration. All of the hard to find parts have been found!

United States Park Police Logos!

I received the green side decals from Tony today with some surprises inside the package as well! I have scanned them for all to enjoy. Also, I scanned the blue logo side decals for comparison. These green decals are the exact same ones that were on the scooter before I started the restoration process. Once again, Tony saves the day and helps make for the perfect restoration!

What the cowls look like after acid dipping

Pictured is what the cowls look like once they come back from the acid dipping. Also pictured is after they are cleaned up and painted with self-etching primer.

More progress over the weekend

I finally got the scooter completely stripped down and the frame ready for the media blaster this past weekend. There is no turning back now. Tony emailed me and let me know that he had located a 3 piece set of the green style side and front decals for the scooter. I know it originally had these on it so I sent back the blue ones(also correct for this bike) today(5/18/09) to trade for the green ones. Pictured above is the scooter ready to go to the media blaster.

The "Goodies" that Tony the Sgt. sent me last week...

The original side and front decals along with an original shoulder patch. Below the original white shoulder patch is the Marine Patrol's shoulder patch. How neat is this stuff?!

Closeup of the "P" for Police button on the side of the helmet.

Mystery revealed! The unknown sticker on the front leg shield of the Vespa is actually the decal from the back of the original helmet. McHal was a vintage manufacturer located in California that made Police helmets! Police I is the model of helmet.

Closeup of the front badge decal

Full helmet picture. It's a large and I can wear it!

I am forever indebted to Tony. Without all of his help this Police Scooter restoration would not be possible. Thanks Tony and all the Officers of the USPP!

The "New" fuel tank

Here are some pictures of the freshly acid dipped and primered fuel tank. Looks like new with no pin holes or anything else that would prevent it from looking and working like new. I used self etching primer to ready it for the white topcoat.

Pictures of the progress so far as of May 10th, 2009.

With the help of Patrick, I was able to pull the motor last week. Dirty would be an understatement for the condition it was in when pulled. I soaked it down with engine cleaner once it was out and pressure washed it until it looked like the pictures below. It is the original engine and I am planning on having it rebuilt with a 200cc piston/cylinder as well as electronic ignition and a 12V conversion. I hung the frame up from the rafters so that I could continue to strip her down to get the frame ready for the media blaster. The cowls, seat frame, and glove box are being acid dipped this week to rid them of paint and any surface rust. I should be able to pick them up Friday. I will post pics when I get them. The fuel tank came out VERY nice.

The Sgt. sent me a helmet, new decals, and a USPP shoulder patch this past week. I will take pics in a day or so. As a little hint, these items that he just sent are absolutely awesome!

Pictures of some of the challenges ahead with the body

Pictured below are some of the challenges I face with the frame. The frame is not rusty but it has been pretty dinged up since leaving the USPP.....

Some updates for the last week of April

It looks like I may have found a NOS lower windshield cover up in NJ at Scooter Originali. I am awaiting pictures to make sure it is the correct one. Gene and I spoke about the possibility of converting the engine to 12V and upping it to 200CC. The NOS lower cover would be a great start to my windshield quest. I also met Eric today from American Scooter Center in Texas via the telephone. He has seen one of these windshields and had several ideas as to how to make a new one with more readily available parts. Eric may also have some of the actual parts to one of these windshields as well as other hard to find parts for the Rally 180. Eric was very knowledgeable and we had many similiar interests including this scooter and the history behind the USPP. I look forward to working with Eric locating the parts needed! No word yet on the fuel tank de-rusting but I should hear something by Friday.

Good news from the Sgt.

I had the pleasure of speaking with the Sgt. last night. He shares the same interest as I on this scooter. Tony is a super nice guy that is really going to great lengths to help me put the Vespa back together as it was originally. Tony has located 2 original side decals and even a period USPP helmet for it! I am really excited to see these items and will take pictures to post when they get here. Tony also mentioned that the Metro DC police department may have a windshield since they hardly ever get rid of anything. I am going to put out some calls to see if I can get to someone in the motorcycle division or property office. The Metro DC is a very large department so I think it is going to be a challenge. We'll see. I purchased a couple of parts from ScooterPartsDirect last Friday. I now have a new fuel petcock, Haynes manual, and oil site glass. I sent the fuel/oil tank out to have it acid dipped to remove all the rust and paint. The fuel tank should be ready this Friday.

Police windshield search pictures

While trying to locate a supplier for the windshield last night, I found several neat period pictures of other police departments with Lambretta and Vespa scooters with the same windshield. Apparently the windshield attached at the mirror mounts with two bars that went straight up for the windshield to attach to. The gray vinyl cover below the frame acted as a wind deflector and was cut out around the headlight. See the neat pictures. The one that has all of the DC scooter police parked was taken in 1973 during the Nixon campaign in Washington,DC. The first one pictured is one I found quite by accident but it is a USPP officer on a Vespa Rally 180 at the Washington Monument?

The Picture

Saturday the picture that was found by the Sgt. in the archives of the USPP arrived. Wow, what a neat picture. I assume it is from 1972 or so, but it looks like a stock photo for press purposes. It shows the scooter in the correct police format. The officer pictured sadly has passed away. The Sgt. explained to me that he was one of the best liked officers on the force. I took a second picture yesterday to show what it looks like now in the same format. I would like to find out as much as I can about the front windshield that is missing now. I have looked quite a bit on the internet and can't seem to find anything even remotely similiar. If it is going to be put back to original, I am going to have to find one. The search for the elusive windshield is on!