Allstate Vespa

Dirty Dirty Engine – VNB Rebuild Part 1

Aaron Milligan

This engine is gross. I don’t even know what all this stuff is. Doesn’t look like rust. Might be clutch material or something. Nothing looks pitted so far. The clutch basket looks hairy, but it all seems to wipe off. There was so much varnish from old oil that the shift mechanism was stuck. After soaking it over night in PB Blaster, it came free and I was able to unscrew the top (reverse threaded) with a modified 11mm wrench. The gears were also glued in place. I got them spinning first, then was able to get them out one by one, then I got the whole shaft out with some head and a hammer.

I went ahead and ordered all new bearings along with a new cruciform, castellated nut and washers. Once I get things cleaned up, I’ll measure the transmission shaft to make sure there’s not too much wear there. That and the connecting rod big end are the only things that I think could be concerning.

Some of these nuts require special tools too, so those were in the last order. The nut on the clutch basket is a special castellated thing, requiring a special tool, and I think is reverse threaded. Same goes for the output shaft bearing which is reverse threaded and requires a special 9 pin tool. I’ll be popping some of this in the parts washer today.

1962 Allstate Super Cruisaire

Aaron Milligan

The Allstate Super Cruisaire was private label Vespa made by Piaggio and sold by Sears from the late 50s to the mid 60s. They tended to lag behind and have fewer bells and whistles than Vespa models. My particular Super Cruisaire has a VNB engine, with a few parts bin features like the split case steering head, 105mm headlight and squarish speedometer. The speedo was an optional $13.79 accessory from Sears, but it appears that mine wasn’t ordered with one.

My Allstate was acquired a few years ago in trade for a Yamaha TY250 that I had. I was no longer interested in it, and my friend was no longer interested in the Allstate. It has a little crash damage in the floorboards, but a little experimental banging with a hammer and dolly has been promising. The underside is caked in greasy mud, which in this case, seems to have created a protective layer to keep out moisture.

I pulled the engine last night. I stated removing stuff and then decided to look up the engine removal steps. I did it all backwards. Pulled the pivot bold and shock mount first, then realized that the cables were hard to get to with nothing holding the engine in place. Then realized that the transmission oil was getting all over the place. Basically, I did everything backwards. This contributed to smashing the bakelite junction box. Oops.

It looks like the thing was moto crossed. The engine number was under a half inch of mud. Luckily, it seems like it’s oily mud, so the metal is clean underneath.