'78 KZ1000 makeover

ha, nice. well ,really, if you need a hand and you can wait for a weekend, just say the word. be good to get out of town for a minute get some motivation to work on my projects. looking good.

also, i just came across this

forums.kz650.info/index.php?topic=10539.0;topicseen

www.boltdepot.com

I think I bought my last set of case hardware, stainless, high quality, from Z1 or a place like it- I will try to go through some old orders on my computer, and see if I can find you something, the main thing I remember about them is that they were all allen heads and high quality, not the butter-bolts that came stock.

porchev914 wrote: Lucky me, the stealership had one!! Who would have thought? :whistle: But of course, another little snag I seem to have misplaced the tab washer for the drum locator bolt....I suppose its time to make a new one.

On a side note, has anyone ever purchased new case hardware? The bolts are exceptionally expensive from places like bike bandit at $2-$4 each :blink: My hardware looks like trash, and its going to be tough putting crappy looking hardware on my new pretty engine. Has anyone had luck cleaning up the stock stuff?

Its a good thing the dealership had that 18mm o ring. when i assembled mine i had to wait on that same o ring. By the way its a good thing you bought that because you will need two all together anyway.

You're absolutely correct powerstroke, 2 are required. I have 2 on order, so I'll have a spare Oddly enough, the dealership had 4 in stock!

sorry porchev914, i thought above you said you only ordered one, Thats why i said that. Your engine is looking real nice so far.

No apologies man, my post was ambiguous. I did say I was waiting on one particular 18mm o-ring to assemble the cases. I would have made the same assumption

I drug my freshly painted frame into the house and laid out a harbor freight $6 moving blanket and wend to work this afternoon :woohoo: First went in the assembled bottom end:





I seemed to have misplaced some of the bottom motor mount hardware, so I made some new ones out of stainless nuts and some 1/4" stainless rod. Stock on the left, my stuff (including a titanium motor mount plate) on the right:



Then I got the rear suspension bolted up:



Followed with the front end:

Once my Z1E order shows up tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll get the pistons and jugs on. For those who have assembled these engines before, what's your take on copper coating for the base gasket? I've heard it both ways, and I definitely do NOT want a base gasket oil leek!

Looking good mate. I have a copper base gasket which does not leak but I used the standard head gasket as the copper head gasket always leaked no matter how or what sealant I used.

porchev914 wrote: Once my Z1E order shows up tomorrow or Tuesday, I'll get the pistons and jugs on. For those who have assembled these engines before, what's your take on copper coating for the base gasket? I've heard it both ways, and I definitely do NOT want a base gasket oil leek!

I did the copper coat on mine when I put it together. I haven't had any leaks around the base gasket at all. I did spend a bunch of time making sure that the mating surfaces were perfectly clean before I assembled it.

BTW the bike is looking spectacular!

I put mine together and my base gasket leaked bad. So i bought some gasganich as suggested by cometic gaskets. Of course iam bored out to 80mm also, but i really hope its stops the oil leak. I will hopefully be putting the top end baxk together tonight.

That looks awesome! It's exciting to see it coming together. :woohoo: I'm sure you're a little excited too! :lol: