new guy

hello. friend aundershaft referred me to website, have old 1977 KZ1000 LTD that I have pulled out of the garage after many years of sitting. When bike was put away it needed engine work. I now have time to enjoy the bike again but want to rebuild the engine and in need of a GOOD mechanic that knows the bike and is capable of also boring out engine to larger size along with other items that would be essential for peek performance. I live in Philadelphia PA and would appreciate referrals to a competent craftsman that can be trusted. Thank you in advance for comments Andy C

many many years of sitting... :laugh:

am I doing this right?

Chances are you won't find a mechanic who's going to work on it. For things like getting heads reworked, or cylinders bored, any automotive machine shop should be able to deal with it. But for mechanc work, pretty much everyone here does their own. If you did find a mechanic to do all that, it'd probably cost more than a running bike to pay him for all the labor of stripping everything down and rebuilding it. Get yourself a service manual, and you should be able to do most of the work on these bikes yourself.

Welcome posst some pics of your bike

What he said Paying someone else to rebuild your motor is a costly adventure
my head was seaping oil around the gasket so while I was picking up some bolts at
a local bike shop (not dealership) i asked the guy I have known for years about replacing the head gasket 600.00 if it didnt need anything else.

with that said if you have a mechanically inclined buddy and a shop manual it can be done
there is a mountain of help here on this forum

Appreciate any and all comments so far. Most of the issues with the bike I can take care of myself, but a competent machine shop for the engine is needed since the tools and equipment is the issue ( a little bit out of my league ). Maybe I am over thinking this but want a person that can steer me or produce the engine that I desire for this project. I am going to take the engine out of the frame for this and will take it to where it needs to go while I touch up the frame and get the tank and fenders painted. Again thanks for your help and advice

Welcome Merlin
If you need work done contact some of the site advertisers here on KZR and see who you are comfortable with for engine or machine work.
Also Larry C who is a member here is well respected for head work, and may do other work too.
I have had good luck with piston and cylinder boring with Joe Hooper at Pitstop.
APE, Z1 Enterprises, and Redline do work and or sell parts and are in my phone speed dial as good sources as well.
But as stated before , most of us do are own wrenching and can offer advise on your project to help get your bike back on the road, but I suggest using someone mentioned above for parts and machine work
Best of Luck to you on your project, and we all want PICTURES
Dave

Welcome, Merlin.

I won't try to change your mind. Do what you're comfortable with doing, although, you'll gain confidence with time and experience as you do various things on your bike.

Andy C ,meet Larry C at cavanaugh racing heads hes over there on your side of the country.
Welcome to z-jungle

Del_Herring wrote: Chances are you won't find a mechanic who's going to work on it. For things like getting heads reworked, or cylinders bored, any automotive machine shop should be able to deal with it. But for mechanc work, pretty much everyone here does their own. If you did find a mechanic to do all that, it'd probably cost more than a running bike to pay him for all the labor of stripping everything down and rebuilding it. Get yourself a service manual, and you should be able to do most of the work on these bikes yourself.

Just say no to automotive machine shops for motorcycle machine work. :sick:

What these people have said rings true. Learn to get comfortable with working on the bike, because you will not find a competent mechanic that will be willing to spend all the time you are going to need to get the bike of your dreams without taking out a second mortgage on your home.

First off, what are you intending on doing with this bike? If the bike has sat up for this long, have you been riding more modern bikes in the meantime keeping riding skills up. Are you really going to need a hot rod that you haven't ridden in 20 years or more?
What indications make you think the engine needs to be rebuilt? Was it in bad condition when you parked it?
If it was in good shape and needs new seals, replace them. If the engine/bike was inside and kept out of the moisture, it is entirely possible you will be ok without a full rebuild.
Rebuilding these engines isn't cheap, or easy. And is frustrating when you have to ship large items to a shop that will do the work. Then you have the possibility of dealing with work that wasn't done properly, IT DOES HAPPEN. So beware of all this.
MMO is your friend when you begin to spin the engine over for evaluating the cylinder condition. A bore scope isn't a bad idea either, then a compression test. Your engine may be in good condition needing only maintenance work.

The last bike I bought sat in a closed garage since '93. After a close inspection and doing required maintenance, the engine runs like a sewing machine.

Appreciate all the comments that have been received. The reason for the engine rebuilding is that when the bike was put in the garage 20 some yrs ago it was parked because I was racing an old Chevelle and at around 110mpg the bike let out a backfire and shut down, so with my tail between my legs I got to a phone (no cell phones) called a friend with a truck and got it home. Upon inspection I found that one of the cams must have jumped a tooth and was not in time with the other timing marks, the timing chain has too much play (nothing left in chain adjuster) one plug is now stripped in the head that must be addressed. So trust me that I am not just rebuilding the engine for just something to do. Also knowing this I just figured when the engine was getting done I would give it a few more ponies for fun. I have other bikes that keep me occupied so maybe that has something to do with the length that the bike has sat (getting married and putting 2 through college might have something to do with it also). Also as to the concern about the power of the bike afterwards, I am not intimidated by it although it will be respected. The bike and I have many memories of peg scraping rides late at night on country roads and only once being beat in a race with other vehicles (and by the way Amtrak's high speed lines go faster than 140mph, so maybe beat twice). I dont intend to be doing these speeds anymore since I am older and commonsense is a little more abundant, but appreciate the concern. And to most of the other work I have no problem and the tools to do it all with confidence and be professional about it. So far I have found a Kawasaki dealer in my area that does work on the older bikes, ( says 30% of his work is the older bikes and seemed quite knowledgeable as he worked on a Z900 doing what I was looking to do to the engine). Will post pics when bike is respectable looking since it is some what disassembled at this time. Again thanks for any and all comments