Restoring Papaw's 70 Ambassador

[70Ambo21V7]

The Bootmakers Ambassador (one of them). Papaw was a cowboy boot maker, know to some as Bootmaker. Was an honor that Ken Hand remembered him at last years GRiT Rally. He rode Moto Guzzis because Mamaw said Harley's were for hippies. Anyway, when my family started liquidating his belongings after he passed I asked to buy the "red Guzzi" with my fingers crossed this one didn't have a side car. Turns out it didn't, and I was given the bike. Always wanted motorcycle but this one wasn't going anywhere under it's own power as it had been setting 20+ years.




Tore it down, sandblasted and painted the frame, had the chrome redone, and started buying parts. That was pre pandemic.




Progress was slow during the pandemic as I started cleaning other projects out the garage and waiting for the buffer polisher to arrive (lots of aluminum on this bike). Fast forward to November 2025...just to show there's been progress. I'll come back and fill in stories and details as I get the opportunity and notion to do so.

[Dave Swanson]

I am looking forward to your renewed efforts!  Good going so far!

[Turin]

Nice!

[70Ambo21V7]

Here's the cleaned up dash and speedo. Joe's Speedometer did a beautiful job. The dash was in too bad of shape to polish, if that's even possible. Took a lot of work to make it look nice in paint but I think it turned out well.
I got the nut for the ignition switch from Antietam Classic Cycle via Wild Guzzi, the switch cover came from eBay, a Bosch peice similar to the original.





Bike was in really sad shape to start so not going for a full restoration, just want to build a nice bike. The red paint was done by my Papaw and his friend, it will stay at least until all the bugs are worked out.

[Dave Swanson]

Although I heartily approve of painting the dash since it goes well with the bike, after studying the picture of your dash it certainly looks as though it was a good candidate for polishing. 

I do love how it turned out in paint.   

[70Ambo21V7]

I tried Dave, there was some heavy pitting from corrosion and keys flopping in the breeze, and some random deep gouges. I was going to lose the sharp edges if I continued sanding.

I made the mistake of sandblasting and really made a mess of it, even using a fine grit that had already been through the blaster several times. It's a really soft alloy. Wont try that again. Replacement dashes in decent condition were expensive so I decided on black paint to match to fork shrouds.

Sanding and filling, repeated many times, and a several rounds of painting to get a finish to my satisfaction. I don't have the luxury of a paint booth so everything is painted in the driveway when conditions are acceptable (temp, wind, humidity). Plus I'm 100% learning as I go.

[70Ambo21V7]

Before picture of one of the wheels.





Disassembly in progress.





Polished the spokes and nipples on a cheap 8" grinder with a  Harbor Freight buffing wheel. Of course the thin layer of nickel polished off leaving the brass. I sourced a few replacement spokes and nipples from one of the Facebook groups. I soon learned the 8" buffer was inadequate for polishing larger aluminum pieces. Ended up with a  12" 1.5 HP Southbend from Grizzly using Busch polishing wheels and products for the larger parts.









Work in progress photos. Many abbrasives were tried as well as many buffs and compounds. Sanding the scratches and gouges out of the rims was tenacious for sure. Knowing when to stop sanding and live with a few gouges is something I really stuggled with. I almost bought new Chinese reprodution rims, and then new Borranis, but persevered. The bucket and strap was the best method I found for holding the rim while polishing around the nipples.





Finished product. For context I've build a few bicycle wheels over the years and watching Cycle Garden's YouTube video gave me a little confidence. Also watched a bunch of dirtbike wheel building videos and read everything I could find on building motorcycle wheels. They're straight and round and all the nipples where coated with nipple grease and torqued. Fingers crossed they hold up on the bikes eventual first trip around the block.

[faffi]

You do great work, and the I like the brass on the nipples

Personally, I try not to go overboard when doing mods or restos, because it takes too much time and I get afraid of using it since it can ruin the finish. If something looks nice when you stand 5 feet away, it is plenty good enough. Most important is function and reliability, the shiny parts do not take you anywhere on their own.

[70Ambo21V7]

Thanks, faffi.

My dad says this bike would have probably gone for scrap had I not taken it. No amount of distance would have made this bike look good. I'm a sucker for saving stuff that most would throw away. I also believe in using things to their full, so while it may get babied in the garage it will be used and enjoyed.

I don't count dollars spent, that would be depressing, it's all about the enjoyment I get rebuilding and hopefully using.

[Dave Swanson]

Thanks, faffi.

My dad says this bike would have probably gone for scrap had I not taken it. No amount of distance would have made this bike look good. I'm a sucker for saving stuff that most would throw away. I also believe in using things to their full, so while it may get babied in the garage it will be used and enjoyed.

I don't count dollars spent, that would be depressing, it's all about the enjoyment I get rebuilding and hopefully using.

We are like brothers from another mother.  I get the same kick out of saving a bike that has both feet in the grave.  For instance the $500 71 Ambo.  I have already added 5000 in parts and not done yet.  There will probably be close to another 2k in expenditures to get it road worthy.   For 7500 you can buy a very nice Ambo/Eldo done up well.  But this poor thing needed saving from the scrap yard. 

[Dave Swanson]

And that was a bang up job on the wheels!  Well done! 

My wheel building got started in my bicycle racing days and has carried over.  I am sure yours will be fine.

[faffi]

We are like brothers from another mother.  I get the same kick out of saving a bike that has both feet in the grave.  For instance the $500 71 Ambo.  I have already added 5000 in parts and not done yet.  There will probably be close to another 2k in expenditures to get it road worthy.   For 7500 you can buy a very nice Ambo/Eldo done up well.  But this poor thing needed saving from the scrap yard. 

I have a long history of spending way too much on bikes that sensibly have been abandoned. Partly because I think that if something is worth doing, it is worth doing right. Not mint, but right, making sure it is mechanically sound and safe, and getting rid of corrosion etc. Selling when done up is guaranteed to be a loss, but fixing things come with a satisfaction that cannot be measured in money.

[70Ambo21V7]

Cool box, even if it didn't contain Guzzi parts. Reminds me of my childhood toy box.




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[70Ambo21V7]

A nice cable adjuster was hard to find. Kind of wanted brass but figured stainless would look better than a cheap chromed something. Will probably need to be shortened but I'll leave that for the fine tuning.