1966 250 Monza / Scrambler reassembly

[amartina75]

nice work so far on the project, looks like the motor cleaned up very nice.
I think you getting a little hung up on the idea that you have a "scrambler" you really don't you have a monza that someone decided to modify
to run about on their farm or in the country. that seemed to be pretty common for people to do, I've seen many old Ducs that have lived a hard life and ended up
chopped up, with some jap forks and plastic fenders stuck on. whatever the people had laying around.
I think what you have left is more monza then scrambler.
Do you have any fenders? those will be the hardest thing for you to find. they always sell for a good amount.
monza seats are pretty easy to find they sell on ebay all the time, more common then early scrambler seats
its hard to tell from the pictures but the shocks you have aren't Redwings like you say, they look like either later widecase shocks with painted or replaced
springs or earlier NC shocks with the covers removed, you should be able to find new seals that will work. just measure the seal area to see what will fit and search for that size seal.
you should be able to find the fork parts you need on ebay, spring covers and headlight ears.
did you check the swingarm for play? its probly completly original and pretty sloppy. it needs to be tight and shimmed or will be squirrley when your riding.
i probly have a throttle cover and screw you can have, also some old cable adjusters. what other small parts do you need?

[StewartD]

Hi Basketcase,

The shocks are standard Ducati issue as shown in Clymer manual for the 1964, 1965 and 1966, 250 and 350 models. The upper mount eye and the body with lower mount eye are polished aluminium castings. The Mach 1 and Mark 3 didn't have spring covers, all others had spring covers. The adjustment ferrule was chrome plated; I think only the Mach 1 and Mark 3 had chromed springs.

Cheers,

Stewart D

[double diamond]

This is a late production square style frame that has been re-painted blue. It was originally black. Bike dates from 1966-67? Not an early Monza as previously speculated. The engine also is consistent with a later square style Monza. It has the valve cover castings that accommodated the valve lifter used on 350 Sebrings. It's probably a 5-speed. The early blue frame Monzas are 4-speed. Also, the hubs are the later Grimeca hubs that didn't appear until about 1965. Have a look at the date stamped on the brake plate lug cast into the left fork leg. This will give some idea of the production year. Also, the engine number. Matt

[basketcase]

nice work so far on the project, looks like the motor cleaned up very nice.
I think you getting a little hung up on the idea that you have a "scrambler" you really don't you have a monza that someone decided to modify
to run about on their farm or in the country. that seemed to be pretty common for people to do, I've seen many old Ducs that have lived a hard life and ended up
chopped up, with some jap forks and plastic fenders stuck on. whatever the people had laying around.
I think what you have left is more monza then scrambler.
Do you have any fenders? those will be the hardest thing for you to find. they always sell for a good amount.
monza seats are pretty easy to find they sell on ebay all the time, more common then early scrambler seats
its hard to tell from the pictures but the shocks you have aren't Redwings like you say, they look like either later widecase shocks with painted or replaced
springs or earlier NC shocks with the covers removed, you should be able to find new seals that will work. just measure the seal area to see what will fit and search for that size seal.
you should be able to find the fork parts you need on ebay, spring covers and headlight ears.
did you check the swingarm for play? its probly completly original and pretty sloppy. it needs to be tight and shimmed or will be squirrley when your riding.
i probly have a throttle cover and screw you can have, also some old cable adjusters. what other small parts do you need?

Thanks amartina,
I dont have the Monza fenders, seat, tires, air cleaner, handle bars, etc etc. Its closer to a scrambler/flat tracker than a Monza.
And Dad used to race in the dirt so thats the way its leaning. It can always be converted back. I will not do anything detrimental so it could not be put back to original. I do have the square Monza tank and headlight housing.
I will look for the stock shock covers. Its good to know that they are the original Ducati shocks. The Red Wing thing is what someone told me....i dont know enough about Duke's to know for sure.
The swing arm is nice and tight, I just greased it and called it good.
Thanks for the parts offer. I need the whole throttle now. The hole with the M3 screw stripped out after i made a cover out of sheet metal.
It turns out that the perches for the cable adjusters were retapped at some point, so we went with it.
The down shift part of the shifter was cut off, so you have to get your toe under it. I would like to find one thats not cut.
The throttle return spring is missing, so i am using something from the hardware store. Its not strong enough to snap the slide shut though.
Thanks,
Randy

[basketcase]

Hi Basketcase,

The shocks are standard Ducati issue as shown in Clymer manual for the 1964, 1965 and 1966, 250 and 350 models. The upper mount eye and the body with lower mount eye are polished aluminium castings. The Mach 1 and Mark 3 didn't have spring covers, all others had spring covers. The adjustment ferrule was chrome plated; I think only the Mach 1 and Mark 3 had chromed springs.

Cheers,

Stewart D

Thanks for the shock info Stewart. So they might be stock without the covers.....if they are off a Mach 1 or 3.

[basketcase]

This is a late production square style frame that has been re-painted blue. It was originally black. Bike dates from 1966-67? Not an early Monza as previously speculated. The engine also is consistent with a later square style Monza. It has the valve cover castings that accommodated the valve lifter used on 350 Sebrings. It's probably a 5-speed. The early blue frame Monzas are 4-speed. Also, the hubs are the later Grimeca hubs that didn't appear until about 1965. Have a look at the date stamped on the brake plate lug cast into the left fork leg. This will give some idea of the production year. Also, the engine number. Matt

Thanks for the info double diamond,
Im told its a 1966 so the blue paint is not original. It is a 5 speed too. The front brake lug has a 66 on it.

[basketcase]

OK, I don't know how rare the color or the bike is but I do know that a lot of Scramblers were sold in the US and much fewer streetbikes like the Monza were sold.
The blue is a very desirable color on those bikes and IMO the Monza in the blue color would be a far more desirable bike than the scrambler or a flat-tracker.
I'd restore it back to original if it were mine

Hi flynbulldog, It turns out that the blue is not the Kingfisher blue that was original to the Monza. So i hope you will feel better about me going the scrambler route. It can be converted back to Monza someday. This bike is in honor to my Dad who was racing back in the late 50's & early 60's. He was a scrambler, dirt tracker, cross country racer. So it will go that route for now.
Randy

[basketcase]

Here is the thread with some pics of what I started with.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1066

[basketcase]

Here's some more pics for you guys.

[basketcase]

I had some trouble getting the exhaust pipe to tighten up. I ended up sanding the flange on the pipe flat on the belt sander. This also allowed the nut to screw in a little further. But it was not enough, so I removed the gasket. It was still not enough, so I sanded the end of the nut also. and finally the pipe tightened up. Hopefully it will stay that way. I noticed there was some little holes in the brass nut so I am going to drill a small hole in the head and safety wire the nut tight. I think that was what the holes were for..? Either that or a spring.

I never did finish the Dew-cat-tea Bob electrics, so for now to get things running I ran it direct off a battery and it started on the second kick. I think it has a vacuum leak cause the idle is not consistent. But it runs!!!! For the first time in over 45 years!