Carbs...Not the tasty kind.

I've been reading about carbs this evening.  For once, not the dietary kind!  No...I've been reading about Carburetors, and if it's normal for them to be leaking gas and oil all over the floor.  Turns out it's probably not a great sign.  I'm not worried though. While I know so little about scooters and how they run, one thing seems to be consistant when someone purchases a vintage scooter :  Rebuild the carb!

No, I won't be going into any detail about how I whipped open the carb and rebuilt it, and set the idle and all that stuff...I'm not there yet, and that is one of the things I know I'll ask someone more knowledgeable to help me with when I am.  It's a start though, right?  Learning about carburetors, how they work and what isn't normal.

Here's why I was picking at my carburetor anyways:  As mentioned before, the Lammy was leaking a lot of smelly oil and gasoline on the floor.  This lead to some concerns from my Dad, and because it IS his garage, I thought I would try to alleviate the problem if possible.  So today I pulled off a bunch of the body panels and pieces, tucking them away safely in the tack shed for the time being.  After I was done with that, I decided to search for the source of the leak.  I was kind of hoping it was gearbox oil...only because I know where the gear box actually is, and how to drain oil from it. :D   But it wasn't...  Good news though, it didn't take an exceptionally long time to find the source (yay!).  It was coming from my carburetor,  so I pulled out the main jet base plug and allowed everything to run out.    I'm hoping that won't cause problems in the future, I have faith that it won't.

Then I went online, to find out what I could about what I did.  So far all I can find is that either the float is out of whack.  I'm not totally sure what that means, but if it works like a float in a horse-water...and I like to believe it does,  then it just means that it's probably stuck on something and causing fluid overflow of some sort...  technical, I know.  If anyone wants to correct that, or embellish on it,  please feel free.  The second bit of studying on the subject simply pointed to the fuel line being left open.  Now, I'm not sure if it was when I started, but it is certainly closed right now.  It's been open and closed several times in the last few days, though (I like turning handles and pressing buttons, sue me).   At this point I'm not sure why that would effect anything or how, but it at least gives me a starting point to begin reading about things.

I've also found that while many of the small screws, nuts, washers and bolts seem to be present, none of them match, all of them are rusty or stripped, and all look like crap.  I'm thinking that when this project is further along, all the little bits should be replaced.  Every single one.  I'm not sure if that's a normal course of action, but it is the course of action I will be taking.

Luckily, it seems as though Lambretta Works Online keeps the same catalogue numbers as the original spare parts catalogue for Lambretta. That gives me hope that it won't be insanely difficult to figure out what kind of screw goes where.  I may be sweating the small stuff right now though, I'm not sure.

Also, while picking away at things today, I scrapped off enough dirty mucky oil buildup to actually read the engine number on my Lambretta.  Now I have all the info I need to fill out my Lambretta Club USA application form.  Patches...here I come! :D

Sunday I will be going to Calgary to look at parts at Benzina.  I'm not entirely sure my legshields are as bad as the pictures seem to show, but if the ones Daaren has are significantly better, I'll take them.  He's also got a front fender that apparently needs some work, but should be useable (yay!).  I've also taken more pictures so that he can look over the scooter as much as possible and see if there's anything obvious  that I need.  I'm also going to see if he has a centre stand, because the one that is on there is clearly not super functional.  I'm scared the lammy will fall over and break one of the few things that isn't already a mess.  :P

Next Step(s):  Read up on carburetion and fuel systems and see what I can actually figure out.  Continue taking inventory (Shannon should really come and help me with this!).  Send in my Lambretta Club USA application form.  Visit Daaren at Benzina to look at parts and maybe get a bit of advice.

Damage So Far:  $1000 + Paper and Ink I stole from my parents.