Peavylotus' Rebuild of the KZ Cafe

Well sh!#... that sucks. That makes sense, I read an engineering technical article on piston and ring design and it mentioned briefly on graphite and how it works like a lube when under pressure and some pistons having a thin layer of graphite on the skirts to help break in the pistons.

It didn't say anything about piston rings and graphite lube but I thought it would be alright.

When I make little hick-ups like this its fun to say to myself "Good job Mr. Mechanical Engineer". I am in school for Mech Eng haha.

They say moly lube doesn't break down either so for that reason after 30 minute run time, change the filter and top your oil off. I have always done this on my auto engines that I build.

Peavylotus,
That orange material that you found in your oil pan is the potting material that Kawasaki used to attach the magnets to the rotor. I found the same stuff in the oil pan of my B4 and one of the magnets was loose in my rotor.

sbc1320 wrote: They say moly lube doesn't break down either so for that reason after 30 minute run time, change the filter and top your oil off. I have always done this on my auto engines that I build.

I will do that, I am going to clean the moly out and put in some graphite free assembly lube in its place on the cylinder walls.

80B4 wrote: Peavylotus,
That orange material that you found in your oil pan is the potting material that Kawasaki used to attach the magnets to the rotor. I found the same stuff in the oil pan of my B4 and one of the magnets was loose in my rotor.

I did notice only one magnet had orange on it, I will check them to make sure they are all solid in place.

Are you going to UW? What year are you in? I've hired quit a few engineers from UW over the past few years.

Alan

Haybus wrote: Are you going to UW? What year are you in? I've hired quit a few engineers from UW over the past few years.

Alan

I am in my second year at Seattle Central and in all honesty about one more year to go after this one. UW is next, I am taking intro mechanical engineering classes. I just got a tutor who graduated from a California Biochemistry University and in UW medicine working on a doctorate to help me with Chemistry. Also Volunteering on a Racing Team called NW3S. We are building a 72 Camero 390ci big block blown full drag car. Thier previous car was a 918hp mitsubishi 3000gt.

I figured I would tell ya all I have going towards an engineering degree to convey how serious I am since I am only in my second year and the success rate is like 1 out of 3 people who stick with it.

I assume you are in the engineering field?

Good deal. Stick with it, it's a good field. I'm a Mechanical Engineer at the Lazy B in Everett. I work in an R&D group on all kinds of automation projects. We're negotiating lab space in the ME building to hire grads and undergrads to do some research. Maybe il see you there in a couple years.

Alan

Haybus wrote: Good deal. Stick with it, it's a good field. I'm a Mechanical Engineer at the Lazy B in Everett. I work in an R&D group on all kinds of automation projects. We're negotiating lab space in the ME building to hire grads and undergrads to do some research. Maybe il see you there in a couple years.

Alan

I will remember this when I am in the position of prospecting jobs in the field. This might sound weird coming from a guy in a forum but do you think I could get a tour if you guys offer tours? I have never seen the workspace of engineers so it would be really interesting.

We have public tours at the Future of Flight, but they're pretty strict about who gets let in. The public tour is pretty awesome. It is the largest building in the world after all, or at least it used to be. We hire 1000's of interns every year. Building your own bike and working on race teams looks really good on resumes. Of course I'm a bit biased though, I like gear head engineers rather than book smart engineers.

Alan

I do hope being in the automotive industry before starting school helps me as well as the race team. My overall goal is to be R&D for a auto manufacturer...preferably Lamborghini haha. That is my sky high dream but R&D for any car manufacturer would be ideal and maybe in a distant land...my own car company. Though, thats pretty far away from where I am sitting now so I just need to stay focused and see where it takes me.

I will look into the tour, My girlfriends dad is a electrical engineer for the port, so if I can't get a tour on my own for any reason I'll get with him about it.

So I got a lot done this weekend.

Using vacuum fittings and vinyl hose I set up the carbs for balancing. I also made a really make shift wooden carb holder. Being in an apartment and not wanting gas in my living room I used 70% isoprople alcohol since their density is close to the same. Though I adjusted the height to the highest tolerance so when the gasoline is in there the floats will raise faster with the more dense gasoline.



Next I started on the cams. This was a huge undertaking because I ended up dropping a bolt into the timing chain slot, then got the timing chain wedged between the crankshaft sprockets and the case, causing the crank shaft to not move. I ended up pulling the oil pan to get the bolt and while I was in there pry the crank in reverse direction just enough to free the chain. Put the oil pan back on and continuing.

Setting the timing was easier than I thought, being this was my first OHC engine I ever done the timing on. I have been lucky with OHV until now. Since my cherry is broke I'm not afraid any more.




Here are some more pictures of the progress. It's coming along nicely and I am thinking I will have her running in the next few weeks.




The only thing holding me back from calling the engine complete is the pressure plate. While torquing it down it broke two of the five bolt/spring housing clean off the plate. I am out of funds for now so its just a waiting game on that.

My next step is to get the engine back into the frame this week and start on the front brake conversion as well as the electrical. After all that I can collect more money to buy a seat and plastics.