1984 GPZ 1100 cam lobe hight

ANY HEPL ON HOW TO INSTALL THOSE 4 PISTONS INTO THE BLOCK ??? ANY TRICKS!!

Personally i would not use those pins.
I would go buy some new.
Wiseco pins run very good tolerances,better then kawasaki's.
The clips are only there to stop the pins from working their way sideways and gougeing the liner walls.
The pins should be a reasonably tight fit in the piston (there is a pin removal and install tool especially for this purpose) This is to ensure that the piston does not rotate on the pin in operation (the piston pin bore is not meant to be a bearing surface).
The pistons alloy will expand more in relation to the pin during running and cause excessive clearance,wear and noise if they are loose from cold.
The piston will move on the pin with the directional changover of each stroke causing ovaling of the pin bore.
Ultimately this will close up the piston/head clearance with possible contact of those components in extreme cases.
The rattling from this happening though will probably have you reaching for the spanners again,it sounds like really bad detonation.

There are several ways to install the block
Here's a couple.
Firstly there is the proper ring compressor.
Either the genuine kawasaki tool or four individual clamps.
Next is the cheap diy method. accuire some plastic drain pipe of suitable diameter,cut four short lengths (approx 30mm) and slit them so they can be removed from round the rod. also create a chamfer on the outside end of each pipe to sit in the lead in of the cylinder liner.
Fit each one around the lubed piston and lightly secure with a zip tie or hose clip, just enough to compress the rings without gripping the piston too tightly.
As the block is lowered on to the pistons the pipe will slide down the piston allowing the compressed rings to enter the bore, once all are in cut the ties and remove the pipe.

Another option ---

www.kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/360628-sm...ng-compressor#360628

cruspeed wrote: Get some metal pallet banding and run a wire wheel over it to get it smooth and clean and coat it with oil, use this against the piston. I also put a small bevel on each side to keep sharp edges away from scratching the piston. Bend it tight so there are no flat spots and clamp it on your piston rings with a zip tie. Place the zip tie end over the outer end of the banding so you can get it tight. When you have your piston in the block just cut the zip tie and your done....

Good Fortune!

Thanks for the heads up on the pins. I'll look in on geting a new set tomorrow. Shouldn't the engine builde known that honing the piston would have created a bearing surface?? he builds engines for a living for crying out loud. I'm now thinking if getting new pins would help,or do I need new pistons seeing he honed the piston.

zed1015 wrote: Personally i would not use those pins.
I would go buy some new.
Wiseco pins run very good tolerances,better then kawasaki's.
The clips are only there to stop the pins from working their way sideways and gougeing the liner walls.
The pins should be a reasonably tight fit in the piston (there is a pin removal and install tool especially for this purpose) This is to ensure that the piston does not rotate on the pin in operation (the piston pin bore is not meant to be a bearing surface).
The pistons alloy will expand more in relation to the pin during running and cause excessive clearance,wear and noise if they are loose from cold.
The piston will move on the pin with the directional changover of each stroke causing ovaling of the pin bore.
Ultimately this will close up the piston/head clearance with possible contact of those components in extreme cases.
The rattling from this happening though will probably have you reaching for the spanners again,it sounds like really bad detonation.

There are several ways to install the block
Here's a couple.
Firstly there is the proper ring compressor.
Either the genuine kawasaki tool or four individual clamps.
Next is the cheap diy method. accuire some plastic drain pipe of suitable diameter,cut four short lengths (approx 30mm) and slit them so they can be removed from round the rod. also create a chamfer on the outside end of each pipe to sit in the lead in of the cylinder liner.
Fit each one around the lubed piston and lightly secure with a zip tie or hose clip, just enough to compress the rings without gripping the piston too tightly.
As the block is lowered on to the pistons the pipe will slide down the piston allowing the compressed rings to enter the bore, once all are in cut the ties and remove the pipe.

The biggest mistake is to jump to conclusions without talking to your builder. I personally would have to hold a piston in my hands with the pin to draw a conclusion on tight / loose.

It's like describing a shade of a color.... How loose is loose? Unless you hold it..feel the pins slide...try to rock the pin.... you can't really tell what's what

I'll say this, if you open a brand new piston box, the pin slips through with a push of your finger. That's the way I like them to fit. You should NEVER have to drive a piston pin in with a hammer when you assemble one of these engines.

Full floating piston pins are common in race setups. You have Cast and Forged Pistons. OEM's are cast. Yoshimura held out as a supporter of cast pistons for a long time after everyone else was going to forged because they felt their alloy maintained expansion rates better.

It's one of those things that can lead to all kinds of opinions and debating.

I've built many of these engines with stock, Wiseco, MTC, JE & Venolia pistons. Never had an issue with a too loose pin bore, ever. What I have found is burrs on the small end oiling hole in rod. I had that with a crank that just came back from a rebuilder last year.

Take nothing for granted. Inspect every part. Make certain things that should spin, will spin,etc. Talk to your builder. Voice your concern. Have him show / explain things to you so you'll be comfortable.

Thanks for bringing me down from the lemon tree.

LarryC wrote: The biggest mistake is to jump to conclusions without talking to your builder. I personally would have to hold a piston in my hands with the pin to draw a conclusion on tight / loose.

It's like describing a shade of a color.... How loose is loose? Unless you hold it..feel the pins slide...try to rock the pin.... you can't really tell what's what

I'll say this, if you open a brand new piston box, the pin slips through with a push of your finger. That's the way I like them to fit. You should NEVER have to drive a piston pin in with a hammer when you assemble one of these engines.

Full floating piston pins are common in race setups. You have Cast and Forged Pistons. OEM's are cast. Yoshimura held out as a supporter of cast pistons for a long time after everyone else was going to forged because they felt their alloy maintained expansion rates better.

It's one of those things that can lead to all kinds of opinions and debating.

I've built many of these engines with stock, Wiseco, MTC, JE & Venolia pistons. Never had an issue with a too loose pin bore, ever. What I have found is burrs on the small end oiling hole in rod. I had that with a crank that just came back from a rebuilder last year.

Take nothing for granted. Inspect every part. Make certain things that should spin, will spin,etc. Talk to your builder. Voice your concern. Have him show / explain things to you so you'll be comfortable.

man-of-war wrote: Thanks for the heads up on the pins. I'll look in on geting a new set tomorrow. Shouldn't the engine builde known that honing the piston would have created a bearing surface?? he builds engines for a living for crying out loud. I'm now thinking if getting new pins would help,or do I need new pistons seeing he honed the piston.

As Larry states no-one can really give a conclusive answer without actually holding the parts.
However i've never had to hone a factory piston for more pin clearance, Kawasaki knew what they were doing (mostly :laugh: ) when they built these engines.
I will say that the average car engine builder won't be used to building with such close tolerances as those required on motorcycle engines.
Best to arm yourself with a factory service manual really and stick within the wear limits enclosed therein.

I'll talk the the builder tomorrow and see what he has to say about the piston and pins.

On another note Im having trouble with the piston ring end gap. these are the numbers from the standard rings out the box...TOP COMPRESSION RING GAP .012''OR 0.3mm
SECOND RING GAP .009'' OR 0.2mm

any help just to confirm!!
heres a link to the book

www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.291852...&type=1&l=e39e0c2749

The gaps quoted are .2 to .4mm
Yours are ok as they are within that range.
I assume they are going in re-honed/glaze busted bores as they don;t need trimming.
Just be sure that second ring is on or above 0.2mm minimum.

Thanks zed,those were the numbers I went with out the box.

How do I go about breaking in the engine?

zed1015 wrote: The gaps quoted are .2 to .4mm
Yours are ok as they are within that range.
I assume they are going in re-honed/glaze busted bores as they don;t need trimming.
Just be sure that second ring is on or above 0.2mm minimum.

Just take it steady but not too steady (normal varied riding) and don't over rev it straight out of the gate.
You might want to use some cheap oil for initial start up and after getting it nice and hot, drop the oil and refill with the good stuff.
Let it cool overnight and re-torque the head the next day.
If it's just a hone and re-ring then 300 to 500 miles should see them bed in.
Change the oil again and filter some time in that period to flush any remaining particles.
The idea is to increase the work load on the engine in that time period.
Excessive labouring or over revving will not allow a good seal to form between the rings and liner.

Does that mean I have to do the HWY speed limit

I'm looking for a bigger oil cooler for this 84 gpz 1100 any links.

Zed do you own one of these bikes? You and Larry have lots of knowledge on them.