When Ghislain contacted me about restoring his “blue Solex,” I thought I was embarking on the restoration of a blue 3800 or a blue luxury model.
But when he told me about his favorite 3300, I understood that we were looking at a complete restoration if we wanted to return this Solex, which is a rare model, to its original appearance.
Released between the well-known 2200 and the essential 3800, the 3300 remains a connoisseur’s model: a “modern” frame that would be reused on the 3800 and an engine directly derived from the 2200, the 3300 is a bridge between tradition and modernism.
For Ghislain's Solex, we are going for a nut-and-bolt restoration and a small engine preparation. Small, because the crankcases of the 2200 are not known for their great robustness, so there's no need to look for trouble; a Solex moped must be a reliable vehicle.
To follow its restoration, the first photos are of the “before,” always interesting to compare with the “after” photos and to see what work has been done on the moped.
general view
the engine
the "cockpit"
pedal assembly detail, note the bolts and chrome painted light blue
detail of the rear wheel... we need some chrome!!
Front view…
..and from the back
.
No hesitation: complete disassembly and transport by crate for the various treatments:
Chroming and engine parts to be treated:
Frame to be stripped:
The screws, meanwhile, will be sandblasted to remove the paint, then re-galvanized.
And then it was the engine’s turn…..
Broken roller, no good used roller anymore… and therefore a total blockage of the restoration work……..
No good used roller left, "re-glued" roller lasting 18 minutes on the test bench... in short, a pain!
This is one of the reasons why the Workshop got involved in producing metal rollers adapted to "2200 type" engines... the whole story can be found here:
Once this "detail" was resolved, the rest of the restoration proceeded more quickly: renovation of the metal tank, special plastic paint to restore a "new" look to the specific 3300 stamped headlight cover, general re-chroming, wheel reconditioning, etc., etc...
to arrive today at this result, to be compared with the initial photos 😉
On the engine side, it's a Stage 2 preparation (the metal roller allows this because it's sturdy), for the rest, everything remained original.
One more on the road!