I cleaned up the front fender and front wheel today; although no pictures.
I also tackled the pipe. Like everything else, it was pretty damn grimy.
After 45 minutes of scraping and scrubbing, I ended up with this.
The pipe turned out pretty good though. There are a few minor dents, but overall it’s nice.
I’m not sure why I didn’t put new nuts on the end of the pipe. I have them. I just didn’t do it. I’ll be sure to take care of that tomorrow.
I picked up my new 6″ buffing wheel from sears yesterday. I decided to try it out on the headlight. It was pretty rough.
Here’s the wheel and the compound.
I’m not sure how I feel about the wheel. I does a decent job of bringing out the shine, but I think I can do just as well with the 00 steel wool. I wasn’t able to get inside the ring with the wheel, so I had to use the steel wool. I think it turned out just as nice. I guess it doesn’t require quite as much physical labor though.
Check out how nasty the center stand was.
It’s much better now, but it took me quite a while. I don’t it would get any cleaner without sandblasting it and then painting it…and I’m not willing to do that just yet.
I pulled off the carb and intake. The intake wasn’t too bad, but the carb was nasty. It had all kinds of grime on the the outside and a bunch of VERY old fuel on the inside.
I’m happy with how it turned out, but I might have a problem. I’m not sure how the choke is supposed to work and I’m pretty sure the cable is stuck in there. Anyone know how to get it out?!
I haven’t looked over the wiring yet, but this probably isn’t right.
Second question…anyone know how to get the flywheel off. I haven’t really looked at that either, but all I see is the 3/8″ square drive in the front. Is that just a cover?
I spent some more time cleaning parts last night and reassembling things behind the seat.
Some new hardware and a little elbow grease goes a long way.
The shocks were pretty beat down.
I’m happy with how they cleaned up. I spent about 5 minutes on each one with a wire wheel and some steel wool.
I also pulled the air filter off last night. The next time I work on it, I’ll probably pull the carb and see what that is all about.
I made some more progress last night. I guess I wasn’t in much of a picture mood though. Sorry.
I got the rear wheel back on and installed both of the chains. I had to take a few links out of the new bicycle chain, but that wasn’t a big deal. I think I was able to get the tensions worked out on both of them without too much trouble.
I also cleaned up some more of the frame and some of the variator parts. I’d like to clean more of the variator and even behind it some, but I have yet to figure out how to get it off. I’ll look at it again sometime soon.
I plan to stop at the hardware store to get some new fasteners today. A lot of the ones that were mounted to the rear fender were corroded to the point of not being able to use them. I also need some more steel wool. I didn’t realize how helpful that stuff is in cleaning up old metal and I’ve already burned through my small stash.
I hope to work on the carb next and start cleaning up the front end. Stay tuned.
The rear wheel is all cleaned up except for the spokes…I’m just too lazy to do that right now.
The chrome is in great shape.
Freewheel all cleaned up and ready to go.
Rack and side covers cleaned.
Next is removing the rear fender.
I don’t know if all the hardware on this thing is factory or not. It seems to be a hodge podge of phillips screws and bolts. I already had to cut the heads off of two of the phillips screws…even with a properly fit screwdrive they still stripped out. It was time for new hardware anyway, right?
I recently picked up this Motobecane Mobylette from a lady in Chicago. She really didn’t want to sell it. I think last year she spent some money having Warbux work on it and get it running for her. I’m not sure what has been going on with it for the last year, but it definitely needs some attention. It’s SUPER dirty and it needs a lot of little things to be fixed. However, that’s pretty much the same condition I have found every other moped from the 70’s to be in.
Initially my intention with this project is to clean it up and get it running. I have absolutely no experience with Motobecanes, but I know I can figure it out. After that I’ll determine whether or not I am going to keep it and possibly do some modifications from there.
I’ve always liked the style of the Motobecanes ever since I saw Peter’s Shred Ped. I’ll have to dig up a picture and add it here. It’s definitely an inspiration.
Well, here are the pictures from the first night I worked on it.
I started by removing the rear wheel and chains. Both of the chains were nasty. I’m going to salvage the main drive chain and replace the pedal chain.
The freewheel was pretty crusty too. Here you can see it soaking in PB Blaster. I’ll try to remove it the next time I work on it.
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12 30th, 2009| 
