Project Pandemic: Part 3 – Sticky situation
Our T5 is stripped, the engine’s not been touched and the front forks are suspect, so last month Stan concentrated on buying stickers…
Our T5 is stripped, the engine's not been touched and the front forks are suspect, so last month Stan concentrated on buying stickers…
If asked, Mrs Stan will say that when it comes to admitting mistakes I'm always the first to hold my hand up. Then, when she's finished laughing, she'll tell you that I'm one of the most pig-headed people she's ever met. However when it comes to the paint on our T5, even I've got to concede I may have been over-optimistic.
News summary
For the benefit of anyone who's catching up on this year's build, the short story is that we've decided to celebrate Vespa's 75th birthday by breathing life into a somewhat tired T5. Our example was first registered in the UK and has survived, largely, in factory-fresh condition. From the outset we knew the paint was rough as at some point it's been attacked with what looks like a wire wheel. However most of the paint was sound and my aim was to polish out the wheel marks and blend in anything that looked too brutal. At least that was the plan.
Gauging the gouges
The first components I tackled were the side panels and these, together with the frame, have polished up beautifully. Buoyed up by this success I turned my attention to the legshields. Although these don't look too bad on the ‘before' photos they were by far the worst area on the entire scooter. The wire wheel had been dragged through their paint, exposing bare metal and even worse, these gouges ran in directions that could never be disguised as natural wear. When a friend described them as ‘wounds' I couldn't argue.
Even the most ardent Vespista has to admit that Piaggio weren't always generous with their paint coverage and our T5's legshields are living proof of that. Even though I never went any coarser than 1500 grit, by the time I'd feathered out the edges I was left with a lot of bare metal, a little primer and even less red paint. Being blunt, it looked awful.
Throughout this build friends have told me to accept that there are areas that just need repainting. Where the front end's concerned I've had to admit defeat. It sounds counterintuitive but I've come to realise that the best way to keep the scooter original is by repainting the legshields and mudguard.
Method behind the madness?
Over the past few weeks I've almost pressed the ‘restore' button several times but there's more than pure stubbornness behind wanting to retain the original finish. Our T5 is a survivor and mostly wears its age with grace. However if I fitted the existing plastics, seat and accessories against pristine paint they'd instantly look very tired. Even if I could track replacement parts down there's simply not enough cash in the budget to fund a full restoration.
Winning formula?
Even after deciding to repaint the front end there were still areas of damage elsewhere that needed disguising. After a few days of thought I decided that the way forward was to use stickers.
This wasn't my first choice by a long way but hopefully, even if stickers won't fully conceal every piece of damage, they may direct an observer's eye away from the worst areas. The question was, which theme to follow – and fortunately there was an obvious candidate.
From its birth the T5 had a close association with Formula 1 racing and the Pole Position sticker refers to Piaggio's sponsorship of that trophy. Fortunately the sport has been commercialised for decades so there's no shortage of stickers to choose from.
My first purchases were original stickers relating to the 1988 season, this being the year our T5 was registered, but I soon realised that this period of racing held no appeal. For me there's only one Formula 1 driver worth celebrating and that's the legendary James Hunt. Before Formula 1 enthusiasts point out the obvious, I realise Hunt's best seasons pre-dated the T5 by a decade. My excuse is that if I'd built a James Hunt tribute in the 1980s this would be it. His Texaco-sponsored scheme also suits the T5's factory red paint. The original intention was to use period stickers but I quickly discovered that modern vinyl is far more accommodating of the T5's surprisingly curvaceous panels.
Moving on dub
I know the result won't be to everyone's taste but Mrs Stan's just happy to hear me admit that I'm wrong. However, “What about the difference in paint?” I hear you cry. A half-new, half-old paint job sounds awful but fear not, dear reader, I have a cunning plan and it involves a man with some cotton ear buds…