Spare Cylinder repair

I am still working on my spare Z1B cylinder head, cleaned, flattened, valves lapped and installed, new camshaft bushings etc. But now it is on my bench and i want to put the cams in to control and adjust the valves. But i have a question, how can i turn the cams without damage to controle the shim/lobe distance.

Willem

screw driver in cam sprockets and protect aluminum from damage.

Only fit one cam at a time and make sure the head is elevated away from the bench top other wise you risk bending valves.
Once you have bench shimmed the valves you will still have to re-check and most likely re-shim once the engine has been run and the valves have settled in.

Thanks guys, job done, no problems

Finished the spare head, my first job to repair and assamble a Z1 cylinder head like this. After lapping the valves there were no leaks , i took a valve clearance between 0.10 and 0.15. After installing that should be controlled again. Most shims needed were between 2.20 and 2.40. I put a pair of NOS hollow cams in that i had on the shelve for may years.

I'm sure it will be fine at that clearance but the correct clearance for a Z1 is 0.05 to 0.10 mm. Also, you probably know that hollow cams were installed in the early Z1's. They are hard to find nowadays and highly sought after. Z1B cams were solid.

hardrockminer wrote: I'm sure it will be fine at that clearance but the correct clearance for a Z1 is 0.05 to 0.10 mm.

0.05mm is too tight.
Kawasaki changed it to the higher 0.10 mm to 0.15 mm due to many bikes suffering from burnt exhaust valves when run at the lower end of the limit.

My aim for the valve clearance is 0.10 mm but that is when it is nessecary to install the head. I know that the hollow cams are rare but i have nothing else and they are never used. I bought them 25/30 years ago on a motorcycle show for not much as spares for my Z1B, they were new with the 1973 price tag on it . At that time i did not know they were rare, i oiled them put them away and forgot them. I am always looking for spare parts for my Z because i am never gonna sell it but at the moment it looks like spare parts for old Z's are gold plated

You should aim for the higher figure of 0.15 mm as once you run the engine the valves will settle and the clearances will close up which if starting at 0.10mm will put them on the tight side.
I also see some of your shims are towards the lower limit at around 220 which may require even thinner shims once the engine has been run.
You should consider tipping the valves by 0.30 mm whilst the head is off to get the shims heading back to the upper thickness and give you a few more years before the head needs to come back off for more work to retain the correct valve clearances.

Ok zed 1015 , thanks for the advice, i will do that also to my Z1B

Suzuki GS 8 valves engines, which are clones of KZ 900/1000 engines, run .03-.08mm and they are supremely reliable engines (as long as the owner maintains the clearance in that range.) I suspect Kawasaki bumped the range higher because people don't do maintenance and extra clearance is safer.

I think the clearance was bumped up in 1978 or maybe 1979 and suspect it was because the engines were running hotter by that point as compression ratios began to rise.

I agree that 0.05 is too tight. That is why it's the lower limit. However, there was no service notice that I am aware of to change the clearance for Z1's so I've continued to set valves at the old clearances, although I aim for 0.10 and don't worry if it's a bit higher.