TOPIC:

Tomorrow I'll take out the valves to see how they look.

All piston rings are present, and free in their grooves.

I'll also be getting out the measuring equipment to see where I stand on the bores (they are stock 66 mm) - they look in reasonable shape bar #2, which has a very slight but detectable (fingernail test) ridge all around the bore 2/3rds of the way down. Hmmm.

One positive is that I found that both the head and the jugs will fit in my ultrasonic tank, when the time comes.




Right now the carb-holder screws are soaking in Kroil. Someone either put Loctite Red on these, or they tightened them with an impact screwdriver. Grrrrrr.

To break the monotony of scraping off the baked-on headgasket using one of those freebie plastic drill guages (where the heck is my plastic razor blade scraper, huh kids??) and while waiting for the foaming gasket remover to work its magic, I decided to get out the bore gauges and micrometers to size up the cylinder block.



Surprise, surprise - this motor HAS already been bored to its first oversize ... 66.5 mms. (My initial measurement was quick and dirty using just a Mitutoyo engineers steel rule.) Overall all four are in good shape and within 1-2 thou's of round. I checked each bore at top, center and base, and in both North/South and East/West orientations. A quick hone to restore cross-hatching and they should be good to go.



Explains why the pistons are aftermarket. A quick search reveals that 'ART' is a Japanese piston maker.

Next up I'll put the mic on the pistons and see if there's any wear there.

BritGuyUSA wrote: Tomorrow I'll take out the valves to see how they look.

All piston rings are present, and free in their grooves.

I'll also be getting out the measuring equipment to see where I stand on the bores (they are stock 66 mm) - they look in reasonable shape bar #2, which has a very slight but detectable (fingernail test) ridge all around the bore 2/3rds of the way down. Hmmm.

One positive is that I found that both the head and the jugs will fit in my ultrasonic tank, when the time comes.

Attachment Ultra2a.jpg not found

Right now the carb-holder screws are soaking in Kroil. Someone either put Loctite Red on these, or they tightened them with an impact screwdriver. Grrrrrr.

Attachment Ultra1a.jpg not found

what solution do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner?

eddiem wrote:
what solution do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner?

Right now it has a solution formulated for carb gum and varnish removal as supplied by the cleaner manufacturer Sharpertek.

To clean the cases/head/cylinder after I wet-blast them I'll change over to a formula made specifically for aluminum 'brightening'. I'm still doing my research on which product is going to be the best for that.

Art makes Kawasakis oem pistons.

Kidkawie wrote: Art makes Kawasakis oem pistons.

Thanks Kidkawie. That was surprising (but good) news to me. Given the huge spectrum of Kawasaki Heavy Industries' business activities, I'm surprised that they didn't have piston manufacturing in-house. I now see that ART is also an OEM supplier for Honda and other Japanese manufacturers too.

I'm 99.9% certain that this is the original motor for this bike. The engine # is just 183 ahead of the frame #. That looks about right from what I can gather.

That suggests to me that either the odometer reading of 18,500 isn't anywhere close to genuine, or that this motor suffered an early top-end failure in the hands of one of the PO's. Owner abuse/neglect or 'factory lemon' warranty job? ... who knows. Given the Z1's reputation for reliability the former sounds the most likely.

Kidkawie wrote: Art makes Kawasakis oem pistons.

True. Here's a new old stock Genuine Kawasaki KZ650 piston. Ed

I used the carb cleaner from sharpertek also with good results. I'd be interested in how the brightener works for you. I did get the more aggressive cleaner for aluminum but have not tried it yet.

BritGuyUSA wrote:

eddiem wrote:
what solution do you use in your ultrasonic cleaner?

Right now it has a solution formulated for carb gum and varnish removal as supplied by the cleaner manufacturer Sharpertek.

To clean the cases/head/cylinder after I wet-blast them I'll change over to a formula made specifically for aluminum 'brightening'. I'm still doing my research on which product is going to be the best for that.

eddiem wrote: I used the carb cleaner from sharpertek also with good results. I'd be interested in how the brightener works for you. I did get the more aggressive cleaner for aluminum but have not tried it yet.

Their carb cleaner is pretty effective, plus I like the fact that it is filterable and re-usable. Which more aggressive cleaner did you choose?

Unfortunately I'm a few weeks to a month away from that stage now. I just (today) ordered a new Eaton V4 10 hp 120 gallon compressor for my blasting cabinets as my old 60 gallon 5hp Campbell Hausfeld is on its last legs and barely up to the task anyway. Those things use a LOT of air.

The new one will blow 38 cfm @ 100 psi all day long, so I can double the size of the nozzle in the wet-blaster and get some serious, continuous cleaning power! They've promised me a 1st week of December' delivery date so I'm going to re-plumb the shop with some 3/4 inch lines while it's on its way.

BritGuy, are you a professional antique bike restorer? Bike shop owner? Very impressive garage.

This is the cleaner I was telling you about. I tried it today and it seems to work pretty good but I can't say beter then the carb cleaner. I just got a new ingersoll compressor that's 7.5 hp and sure do like it for the blast cabinet I'm sure you will be happy with a 10hp.

BritGuyUSA wrote:

eddiem wrote: I used the carb cleaner from sharpertek also with good results. I'd be interested in how the brightener works for you. I did get the more aggressive cleaner for aluminum but have not tried it yet.

Their carb cleaner is pretty effective, plus I like the fact that it is filterable and re-usable. Which more aggressive cleaner did you choose?

Unfortunately I'm a few weeks to a month away from that stage now. I just (today) ordered a new Eaton V4 10 hp 120 gallon compressor for my blasting cabinets as my old 60 gallon 5hp Campbell Hausfeld is on its last legs and barely up to the task anyway. Those things use a LOT of air.

The new one will blow 38 cfm @ 100 psi all day long, so I can double the size of the nozzle in the wet-blaster and get some serious, continuous cleaning power! They've promised me a 1st week of December' delivery date so I'm going to re-plumb the shop with some 3/4 inch lines while it's on its way.

car5car wrote: BritGuy, are you a professional antique bike restorer? Bike shop owner? Very impressive garage.

No. No. And thank you. I just wish that I could spend more time in there.