TamW

I stripped the carbs and had them ultrasonically cleaned then reassembled them with new needles etc. All the electrics were fitted and I removed the electronic ignition and went back to points. All that was left now was to fit the tank, seat, side panels and exhaust then the moment of truth. Will she start and will she run. She did both and I had this

Cams were refitted and valves shimmed up and the rocker cover went back on . Starter motor was fitted and quickly followed by the generator, clutch and kickstart covers.

The next job was to lap the valves back in and rebuild the head slapping plenty of new oil on.

Once that was done the barrels and head were refitted

It’s time to sort the engine. First job was drop the sump. The pump gauze was pretty clean. All seemed quite well then . . .

It looked like a piece of piston skirt to me. Both the pistons I removed were intact  but on examination one looked much cleaner than the other. This suggested one of the previous owners had had a problem and just r…[Read more]

I left those to dry and harden for a couple of days and set about cleaning the other parts. The bezel retaining ring is Stainless and cleans up a treat. I picked up a tip for cleaning the glass of using cigar ash. Believe me it does work a treat. The seals although tarnished with rust were in great shape and rcovered well with a soak and cle…[Read more]

I took the top and bottom covers back to bare metal then resprayed them with primer then gloss black. Note the upcycling of the pepsi bottles . . .

With the paint needing at least 6 days curing time I decided to get on with other stuff.

First the clocks. I tried masking and painting but I couldn’t achieve a satisfactory standard and what I did just emphasised the dirty glass.

I decided to split the clocks making it easier to repaint and clean. A jig to hold the clocks is essential

I…[Read more]

My next job was to paint the engine. I am using POR15.

There is not much information out there but it has come highly recommended. It seems very watery in texture but trust it. Also you don’t need much. It needed 2 coats and I only used half of this 1/2 pint tin.

24 hours between the 2 coats and this is the result.

Time for a well earned beer

Will probably be #7 that has failed.

You need #6, #7 and #9

KK

That suggests at least one of the seals have failed and although you have managed to seal the screw in part it is still getting through the cable part and then out of the cable outer.

I am very impressed with how clean your engine is especially as it isn’t painted. How did you have it cleaned or was it like that when you got it?

It is quite a common problem KZ_Kon.

There should be 3 seals in there (an O-ring, an oil seal and a fibre washer) all are which are still available from Kawasaki. It is worth replacing them all.

KK

It is a messy job with dust and drifts getting everywhere but I certainly does get rid of all the muck and corrosion

That is a trade secret Coleighf . . .

Cylinderhead and barrels had returned from the blasters so now time to attack the engine starting with the cut stud. I took to 2 engineering firms who both failed to remove the stud. I was looking at spark erosion when my son-in-law offered to do it. He assured me he had the skills and even came to my house…[Read more]

The wiring harness wanted some attention. A few connectors were replace as well as these repairs

Resulting in a healthy wiring harness

Next I addressed the brakes

Usual offenders were present

But finally fully stripped and cleaned down to bare metal

Then we plant them

And look what a bit of sun can do

I sent the barrels and head away to be blasted

The cut stud in the crankcases was put to one side for now

and I started the Rolling Chassis build

And now we can start to reassemble

So the work starts here. We need to refurb

Then stuff started to come back in.

Zinc Plating

Rebuilt wheels

And the powder Coating