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I guess I should start a thread on this, if only as a kind of personal diary so I can record what I've done !

I've had the Zed for many years (about 30-35 in total). During that time, I've used it as a daily ride, a sunny Sunday special, a despatch hack (briefly) and everything in between. But it's spent the last 10 years laid up, because real life sometimes just gets in the way. Running my own business seems to be horribly time-consuming, and I'm not quite sure where the years went.

Because I don't have a garage or workshop, the plan with this rebuild is to break everything down into bite-size chunks, so that I don't just end up with the thing in pieces never to come together again (it's easy to take things apart and then find other things come up that get in the way of getting it all back together again). I do have the advantage of many, many spare parts both old and new that have built up over the decades, and I've done enough work on it that I mostly just need the manual to check torque settings or refresh my memory.

The plan is that everything will get three passes;
1. Functional.  I just want to get the thing legal, safe and rideable again, even if it's tatty.
2. Basic prettification. Once it's working reliably, the worst of the cosmetic issues will get addressed in a relatively low-budget way. Lots of polishing, and a few new parts.
3. Once it's a bit prettier, then I'll see how far the budget will stretch in terms of new chrome and significant cosmetic improvements. I won't be taking it back to showroom condition, but it'd be nice to have it looking good with the kind of mods used at the time.

I've already set up a spreadsheet so I can list what needs doing, assign priorities, work out what needs to be lined up for each task (tools, parts and consumables), and identify any synergies. Time is likely to be more of a constraint than budget, so let's see how it goes !

Sounds like a solid plan!

Where in the uk are you, I'm by Brands Hatch and have 2 b1's.
You might want to check out  z650.proboards.com it's a UK based site and has some die hard 650 owners with parts stashes and good knowledge of UK specs. 

SeanBP post=858757The plan is that everything will get three passes;
1. Functional.  I just want to get the thing legal, safe and rideable again, even if it's tatty.
2. Basic prettification. Once it's working reliably, the worst of the cosmetic issues will get addressed in a relatively low-budget way. Lots of polishing, and a few new parts.
3. Once it's a bit prettier, then I'll see how far the budget will stretch in terms of new chrome and significant cosmetic improvements. I won't be taking it back to showroom condition, but it'd be nice to have it looking good with the kind of mods used at the time.
 

^This is my usual method. In your spread sheet you should keep a list of parts you want to replace so you can keep your parts orders more efficient. It sucks to need a small part and have to pay more in shipping than you did for the part. 

The first job will be stripping down the carbs (yet again) and getting them set up at least enough to get the bike to run. Fine tuning can happen later !

To measure float height, I finally went out and bought a proper tool.

Next to it in the photo is a thing I made from a spare float bowl. The windows were originally clear, but have misted over due to the effect of the fuel - it still works, because you can see where the fuel comes to. It works well on the outer carbs, not so well on the inner ones.

Somewhere I've got a home-made version of the posh one, with a drilled brass screw, but it came apart after a few years in the toolbox. I might repair it at some point. It gets me closer to being able to measure all four float heights at the same time !  

 

I use a piece of clear tubing (or rather 4) like you have that's been pencil pointed so to speak using a grinding wheel.  The tube is threaded into the float bowl drain hole and tightened as tightly as possible.  Works fine and is cheap.  

Use similar on the Z500 carbs, just a bit of tube from the drain tube.
 

Cheers guys - I'm most definitely over-thinking (and over-engineering) this !  I really should learn that simpler is better.

But before I get anywhere near re-checking the float heights, I'm going to be begging for help in the carb forum to hopefully solve a problem with the choke.....

Edit to add; just solved the choke problem, it was me being stupid and putting the lifters back on upside down. Working late at night is definitely a daft idea. Persuading my immensely tolerant wife to let me work on the carbs in the living room in front of the TV and in the warm and dry, not so daft

I thought I should do a quick update on the project, although it seems to have been going backward rather than forward !

After initial mechanical synchronisation, the carbs went back on, and the bike started up first kick. But random cylinders kept dropping out. New plugs were put in, made no difference. Then the brake warning light started flashing, indicating that the brake light wasn't working. A bulb change didn't fix it, and in the process of trying to clean up corroded connectors to eliminate any shorts, there's now no lights or ignition at all. ; I suspect the ignition switch or the block underneath it. I've come to the conclusion that a "quick clean the carbs & ride it while ironing out gremlins"  has become a "wiring is totally rotten, going to have to totally strip and rewire the thing" nightmare.

Sadly, I don't have a garage or workshop, and working outdoors in the freezing cold between outbreaks of rain is hardly an ideal way to do a good job. I don't have room to build a workshop, although I might be able to at least jury rig small bike-port to at least get a roof over the thing. Then I'll pick up the project when the weather is warmer and dryer. Not ideal, but it is what it is.

The good news is that if it's wet and cold then it's not biking weather!  Not having a decent workplace is bad news.  It always leads to bad work.

Before doubting the wiring I think you may want to question what you did first.  And focus on one problem at a time.

On the cylinder dropping issue I would suspect the carbs are still causing problems...possibly the pilot circuits are not clean.  On the wiring issue...go back to basics.  Do you have a good battery?  If the battery is good then check the connections...especially the ground.  The negative battery post should be grounded to the engine.  Unbolt the connection, clean with a good electrical cleaner and a wire brush and replace it.  Are all the fuses good?  

Maybe a shed like this with a space hearer? I had a similar one once. It held up to the wind ok, but collapsed under a heavy snow load.