1966 Kawasaki A1 Samurai restoration project

First and foremost...a pic with both wheels on!





I did manage to clean up the brake housing with some sandpaper, and then some steel wool. It's a little smudged from reinstalling it, but it should shine up nice with a little polish.





I didn't feel like diving into the engine, or tearing down the carbs tonight, so I spent a little time with some sandpaper and steel wool. I cleaned up the smallest cover I have (engine sprocket). Here's a pic with another cover for comparison.





I'm not sure how you guys get in between the fins when polishing your engines, but I'm planning on polishing the whole thing, rather than repainting it. Any advice for getting the fins, and other hard to reach nooks and crannies would be awesome.

Seal it up and soda blast it. If you want it to look polished, you can use rope or a 3" wire wheel. I cleaned my 900 engine by hand (pre-soda blaster) and I'll never do that crap again. Took easily 2 solid days.

two strokes typically have expansion chambers.





not sure how your performance is going to be affected with straight pipes.

just a thought.

leon

Cleaning/polishing between fins see here.
www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/42497-cle...ngine-fins-and-cases

She's gonna be beautiful!Keep up the good work.Your machine is so rare here in England I'm looking forward to seeing the finished bike!
Best Regards.

531blackbanshee wrote: two strokes typically have expansion chambers.

not sure how your performance is going to be affected with straight pipes.

just a thought.

leon

Expansion chambers on the exhaust? This is the stock exhaust (straight pipes):

Yeah, that early they may still have been using straight pipes.

I started tearing into the engine today. I didn't feel like messing with the carbs just yet, so I went for the scarier project. (LOL) I got the top covers off





Fought against 45 years of build up on the studs to remove the cylinders







The clips holding the piston pins in place, were a breeze to remove, as was the right side piston pin. The left piston pin gave me some trouble, but I eventually got that one out too.







And that is where I am at the moment. The book goes through some measurements and what not that I will do when reassembling. The next section goes through clutch removal (probably needed before splitting the cases. I'm just following the manual so far, and I am doing ok. I'm a little less intimidated by the motor now that I have the pistons out. I plan on putting it back together IN the frame if I can, to make it easier to reinstall, but I'm not sure the motor mounts will help me in that area (mount to different parts of the case I think). In any case, I just decided to take a break and post my progress

Kidkawie wrote: Yeah, that early they may still have been using straight pipes.

Should I look for something with expansion chambers to boost performance, or I will be fine sticking with the stock style straight mufflers?

yamaha rd 350/400 pipes look kinda like your originals also.




i would be curious to see inside to see if they are actually straight or if there is some chamber inside of the pipe.

expansion chambers are for performance.

try your straight through style and if it doesn't run good look for some chambers off an rd close to the same cc's as your bike to mod to fit your bike.

just a thought.

leon

531blackbanshee wrote: yamaha rd 350/400 pipes look kinda like your originals also.

i would be curious to see inside to see if they are actually straight or if there is some chamber inside of the pipe.

expansion chambers are for performance.

try your straight through style and if it doesn't run good look for some chambers off an rd close to the same cc's as your bike to mod to fit your bike.

just a thought.

leon

The ones I have are really dinged up...I may cut one open just to see what the guts look like. LOL!

if you do take some pics if there is anything wierd :woohoo: .

i have always wondered about this.

i have only ever had dirtbikes and banshees and they all had expansion type pipes.

you can have custom pipes built but they can get expensive fast.

highwaymanpipes.com/?p=8

so that is why i suggested that you find some rd pipes that are for close to the same cc (rd's were built from 125cc through 400cc)and mod those to fit.
if you decide that you need expansion chambers.


leon

see what i found on that highwayman page :ohmy:




leon