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With help from Josef, I was able to locate this leva accensione motore completa per ape AC4T!

Now I just have to have it shipped to a friend in Rome and back to the States.

maybe its better to have your friend in rome collect some more , saves on shipping cost.......
with the help of 3rad you will find everything ..........josef also holds the list of the parts i have ( i have no idea anymore )

After a long break, I am back and I have enlisted some help locally on my restoration. The team at Gran Sport Cycles
in the Quad Cities in Iowa (near where I live) have been helping me with the restoration. You can see our progress in the pictures attached. I am currently looking for some tire rims for my Ape, front and rear. Additionally, I need turn signals for the for the front shield. I was told that my Ape was built for the French market so that is why I have the front light up above the fender. I guess normally, for the Italian market, it was on the fender.

I have been speaking with a gentleman named Abraham from Scooter99 who sent me photos of reproductions of calessino cassones that he does.

Pictures here
Shipping photos here



I was hoping you all might be able to provide some insight into your thoughts about whether to go for a reproduction cassone, like Abraham's, or whether I should try to find an original somewhere and restore it. Maybe there are blueprints online where you could build them yourself? His work does not look too bad. Any thoughts?

Thank you for all your help! Glad to have this project moving again!

All US models of Api had the headlight bracket above the fender as did ACMA in France and also in Brasil. Contact Aniello in Sarno for tires, tubes and rims and other bits - Ken - http://www.kjjohnson.ca/piaggio/picture ... APE%20USA/ - - https://www.subito.it/accessori-moto/ru ... ?from=shop -

kjjohnson ha scritto:All US models of Api had the headlight bracket above the fender as did ACMA in France and also in Brasil. Contact Aniello in Sarno for tires, tubes and rims and other bits - Ken -

Any thoughts on the calessino cassone? What do you think of the reproductions that Abraham at Scooter99 is making? What other route (besides building one yourself, assuming you could find a blueprint) is there?

Thanks for the insight on the wheels!

Matthew

the calessino project will wind up being expensive as the wood box is only the start. If you're not a carpenter by trade it will be a big process to get it right the first time. Consider looking for an original furgone or cassone and restoring it to complete your project. Or - build a scale model first - Ken Ask Olandese Volante if he still has some blueprints from when he was building a cassone

advertised incorrectly evidently - didn't look close enough - here's one on AC3T - Ken this one on AC4 this Ape C for sale in UK

Scusate ma questo non è assolutamente un cassone di AC2.
Non facciamo comprare ricambi sbagliati a chi non è esperto.

Kris over at Gran Spot Cycles had to remove the inner brace because it was so rotted. Underneath the brace was also very rotted. He cut a lot of it out and replaced with new fresh metal. Then he had to fabricate a new brace and weld it back in. Side braces were also rotted, but he was able to cut sections out and weld in new ones. It is now finally primed and just about done (at least the windshield part!).

kjjohnson ha scritto:the calessino project will wind up being expensive as the wood box is only the start. If you're not a carpenter by trade it will be a big process to get it right the first time. Consider looking for an original furgone or cassone and restoring it to complete your project. Or - build a scale model first - Ken

Ape 50 legno kj02.jpg

Ask Olandese Volante if he still has some blueprints from when he was building a cassone

Ken,

I really have my heart set on doing the restoration as a calessino project. Outside of the cost, is making this Ape a calessino not appropriate for this model? Out side of the cassone, what other elements would be needed to make it a proper calessino?

What do you think of this craftsmanship https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipO ... V3WmRhMWRB Would you use a cassone like this on a restoration that you did?

Thanks for all the help and feedback!

Matthew

Welcome to the World of Ape restorations! - Keep it up - Ken
Follow your heart wherever it leads you or you may look back with regret. Being a carpenter/builder for 48 years I would have constructed my own wooden cassone - if of course I could find the time. I'm doing woodworking in the Birra e Vino Ape at the moment.

One last question for the day: I have both the manual lever and an electric starter for this Ape, any thoughts on which option you would use if it was your restoration?

kjjohnson ha scritto:This is not a TRUE restoration but a sympathetic one - use the electric starter - Ken

What steps are missing that would make it a TRUE restoration? Do you mean original/New Old Stock parts, etc or something else? I guess I am trying my best to restore it properly, but trying to learn the steps of what that means in the world of Ape restorations.

kjjohnson ha scritto:Welcome to the World of Ape restorations! - Keep it up - Ken
Follow your heart wherever it leads you or you may look back with regret. Being a carpenter/builder for 48 years I would have constructed my own wooden cassone - if of course I could find the time. I'm doing woodworking in the Birra e Vino Ape at the moment.

IMG_20180221_080408.jpg

That looks sweet!