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Ive used cast aluminum engine paint on several projects with good results. It's much easier to clean and gives it a nice uniform appearance when used on the jugs, heads, cases, etc. Then polish the engine covers.

Way to dig in to the project man. Best of luck.

While leaving the engine bare was clearly the most durable way to go, I got to looking at photos of just engines, and the coordination between painted/polished/bare parts was just magic to me. So considering that, I'll be painting the lower end, and leaving/polishing parts of the upper.

I needed to build a spray booth for my airbrushing/clearcoating endeavors, so I set that as a priority before I started painting the cases. Now that it's done, I can spray fume-free through the winter. (A necessity with baby #1 one the way!). Here are a couple photos of the booth/primer, and black paint. Will give it a good cure in the oven this evening before my wife gets home..

Nice paint booth! I might have to borrow that set up idea. Although humidity is my worst enemy as I live in Florida. I can on ly clear coat in the winter. I'm sure part of you looks forward to finishing the project and part of you dreads carrying it back up the stairs.

Wow! a lot going on here.Nice thread. Like you,Im building in the basement. CSR1000. Its going to take a few able bodies to get it out once its fiinished.On the plus side,Im being very sure its right first time as I dont want to have to drag it i again.
As for the cases,of course they are going to get dirty. Very dirty.Its a motorbike. Blasting seems the best bet but you say its out of the budget (congratulations and best wishes with the baby) but I have been watching quite a few DIY soda blaster videos on utube. Worth having a look. Very cheap and as the cases are apart,it would be a waste not to blast them.(In my opinion).
I had mine ice blasted and was told that they were good,I wouldnt need to treat them with anything. I have also heard that a wipe with deisel
will protect blasted casings but I havent tried that yet.
Good luck with your build.Enjoying the thread.

Cases painted. Now to decide what else gets painted/polished. That's the hard part!

More painting! Side covers have all been painted (still need to be cured). Started cleaning up some of the aluminum accent pieces too. Used 600 grit, scotch brite, followed by Flitz metal polish and they're right in my wheelhouse. Not too much shine, not too dull either. Hard part is going to be keeping them that way!
I hit them with a gloss clear right away and immediately grabbed a rag with thinner and cleaned them off. Going to try flat clear on the bare aluminum pieces. Just a dusting really, to keep my greasy fingerprints at bay.

Also got lights installed in the spray booth.

Okay! I've got the engine 90% complete! I'm going to wait until the engine is in the bike for the final time to install pistons/cam, as I think it will be easier to install the engine into the frame staring with only the case, then build the engine up once in the frame.

I might need to replace an engine stud. The threads a teensy bit boogered ( the nuts turn, but with a small amount of resistance). May just try getting a die on it also.

I managed to lose one of the "D" shaped orings between the jug/head, so I'll be dishing out $9 for one of those.
That said, I'm moving onto carbs. Everything in the photo is what was included with the bike.
I plan on getting these cleaned/rebuilt and put on the bike to get it running. There's a possibility that I'll switch to mechanical carbs at some point, but for now, these will do.

The first carb is already in the dip.

I found out that one of the rubber pilot jet plugs is missing. Anyone have a good source? I'm scouring the net now..

Best looking KZ400 engine I've ever seen. Nice work! Ed

Very nice. Did you fix up that jagged front edge before you painted it?

ThatGPzGuy wrote: Very nice. Did you fix up that jagged front edge before you painted it?

Sure did. It's not perfectly smooth, but I hit it with the dremel long enough that it no longer looks like a portion of the case was broken off in an aaccident..

I agree looks great.

As for the pilot jet plugs. I could not find any. However pilot plugs from a GS1000-1100 work but need trimmed a bit. I think I still have the bag they came in so I might be able to track down a part number.