TOPIC:

Hi guys I'm Vince and I could use your help on replacing cam chain guides ... I cant find any vids or post on the procedure... do i remove head and block ?
I've attached a pic of what I'm believe to be part of a guide... engine runs great no noise but I dropped the bottom pan anyway to clean sludge and found that piece in the pic

More than likely yes. But I don't see the pic of the part you found?

The barrels must come off to replace the front guide. The center roller is plastic and must be replaced as well. I suggest replacing all the rollers with Liska billet rollers and will last as long as the engine. They're 1/2 the price of stock. The "rubberized" stock rollers get hard and come apart. They can cause a cam chain to break destroying the motor. While you're at it replace the valve guide seals too.
Steve

SWest is correct however just be prepared to pay. I just put an engine together using the Liska parts they were almost $500 to replace all the pieces.

Best money I ever spent. Busted a cam chain in 78. Weren't available then. Had to replace the stock ones over and over until 13 when I got the Laiskas. Half the price and still going strong.
Steve

The part you found in the pan may be an old front guide that has been there since the PO fitted a replacement which may expain the lack of unwanted noise which is usually a rattle as the chain slaps the cylinder ( also acompanied by alloy particles in the oil ) .
It's worth pulling the cams so you can see if there is a guide still in place before pulling the head for no reason.

I cant imagine someone pulling the cams , head and barrels and not dropping the pan to remove the leftovers lol . But I suppose there's someone out there that dumb lol

Yes you are the one that drop the oil pan and clean the oil pump filter Screen

Nice job

Vincent J wrote: I cant imagine someone pulling the cams , head and barrels and not dropping the pan to remove the leftovers lol . But I suppose there's someone out there that dumb lol

I've rebuilt engines where people have done some pretty stupid shit so in my experience there are lots of those idiots out there and I always seem to get their engines.

Vincent J that photo reminds me of a local friend and his 74 Z900! He rode his around for YEARS until one day he was having 1st gear hook-up issues, would feel as though it was jumping in and out of first. Then he thought it was the clutch slipping. I ended-up dropping the oil pan for him to have a look-see. Exactly like the item you show in photo, except his piece had finally jumped-up into the gear cluster and destroyed the matching first gear teeth, well I few of them at least. Like mentioned someone in the past had torn-down the upper end and replaced the small chain guide but never bothered to find the broken bits from the old one. I Always replace these when redoing an upper end! Even though they "may" look intact more often than not the rubber is getting weak. Remember this is Not a solid metal bracket coated in rubber. The section that is sandwiched between cylinder and case is All rubber up to about 1/3 the way up, when mounted. This allows for built-in flex but Non-maintenance/General fatigue/Age and You have a failure just waiting to happen

Forgive my ignorance, it's been a long time since I worked on a Kawasaki 900/1000. I am looking at buying a '77 KZ-1000 with 5500 miles on it. It appears to be all original and in stock condition. Would it be a wise idea to drop the oil pan and see if any foreign material is in there before trusting the bike on a long ride? Short of hearing the cam chain slap the cylinder block is there any other way to tell if something is amiss with the cam chain or related components?
How long do cam chains usually last before they should be replaced? If one does decide to replace all the cam chain guides and roller what pieces would be needed from Liska? Thanks for any info on this....

Rick H.