81 750E2 get-it-back-on-the-road-project

Hi fellow passionate kz owners

To start of with some background, I became the proud new owner of a 81 750 E2 in December. Visually it wasn't in too bad a shape (as you can see in my avatar), but I was told that there's some huge electrical problems and of course if wouldn't start. I took it anyway because the price was right.

I left it parked in the garage for a few weeks to gather my thoughts to what the next steps should be and get as much information from this bottomless-site-of-invaluable-info as possible.

I've got the wiring sorted out (sort of) for a start just to see if it would fire up. With a messed up starter clutch and carbs that still needs a lot of work, I got it to start up.

What I've done so far:
- new oil and filters
- sorted out the chaos wiring
- repaired starter clutch (replaced the assembly, kit was fine/newish)
- cleaned out carbs (keihin cv34's)
- started prepping panels, tail piece, tank for re spray
- repaired oil leak from top gasket
- installed relay to coils-best spark ever

Still needs to be done:
- finish up wiring and re-wrap. Wire in indicator lights front and back
- shim replacement- huge gaps, some up to 2mm
- adjust carbs. 62 pilot and 115 secondary jets in at the moment, fixed needle. (I read somewhere in archive posts 70 primary and 140 secondary jet should be better for a setup like mine with pods and 4 into 1 exhaust. Correct me if I'm wrong?) It starts with a push of the button with the new relay, but dies as soon as I open up the throttle?
- also I to get the timing spot on.

That's it for now, but I will keep you all posted and surely a lot of questions to follow.

Gerhard

Well I quite conveniently forgot that you don't really get replies if you don't post a few pics to go with your process.

With a budget not far from next to nothing (for mechanical repairs and upgrades), I'm stuck at the moment cleaning up and doing some paint work from what I have. The PO let a lot of brake fluid spill/drip on the right side of the tank, so together with that peeling paint and a couple of paint chips, I decided that it needs to re sprayed sooner the better.

I'll try loading some pics tonight....

.

Stripping the paint from the tank showed about 8 different layers of colors!

Oops
The previous pic shows what I'm working on at the moment. Hope this is the right pic attached..

@martin, electrical fault finding is definitely not my specialty, but I'm up for any challenge. Its kind of part of my job description, but its the electronics that gets me down most of the time.

..And then there's Mfolks and Lou that gives good advise on what needs to be done!

See the pic on what the wiring looked like when I removed the tank, side panel and seat. Not a nice sight for someone working on his first bike
Tomorow I will finish up with the wiring and lagging after finding the fuel light wires.

Most of the work that needs doing, needs to be done during daylight because I don't have power in my cramped garage yet. That made me decide to clean some parts during the evenings using the kitchen table as workbench (and my wife isn't very happy with this at All)
With the engine that is in need of a repaint as, I stripped the cam cover for a start. During the cleaning process, there came 2 layers of paint off in bits and pieces and that made me to experiment on removing the paint completely. I do like the look of it a lot, with a bit of buffing/polishing over the weekend still to be done...

What did you use to strip the multiple layers of paint?

The first patch of paint peeled because of brake fluid so I used that again for a try, but the process took too long for my liking. Some of the paint was almost 2mm thick on some places! I had no other paint stripper at that time so I used a heat gun.

Now I heard some horror stories of people that blow up a tank and themselves halfway as well. So I sealed the petcock and fuel level gauge holes off with duck tape and filled the tank to the top with water (not the best idea I know)

After burning the paint off, I emptied the tank and put it in the sun to get the last of the water out with the help of a normal hair dryer. A few hours later when I was sure the tank was dry inside, I sprayed A LOT of WD40 all over inside the tank for some piece of mind. And so far so good. The tank is still shiny inside.

n8miller wrote: What did you use to strip the multiple layers of paint?

My apologies, only realized now that you asked about the cam cover and not the tank. My bad. Think I might have replied while I was still half asleep this side of the world.

Some brake fluid (again, that's all that I have at the moment), fine steel wool and sandpaper got me through the paint, but that took me three days and a lot of patience. I'm sure there is a quicker/ easier option but at the moment I'm $$$$ stuck.

Following the previous reply, I did a bit of searching on the forum and the net regarding soda blasting the whole engine. Although there's a lot of nice shiny end products, the net is quite shy on describing in detail how the procedure works and what to use except promoting equipment. Will it be possible to use an ordinary compressor and if possible, what kind of kit/accessories to go with it.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

DIY

www.kzrider.com/forum/21-tools/318083-budget-soda-blaster

kawpen.edebris.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2049

www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

www.garagenight.tv/diy-soda-blasting-build-your-own-rig-cheap/

Good Fortune!