Kz440 Redemption

Smallest belt drive Kwak = Gpz 305 I think.
Good to read about your bike, I'm doing similar with mine!

Project update: it's shiny :woohoo:

Today I reassembled the instrument cluster. It felt awesone to finally put something together!

I think the paint job is really cleaning up this old bike nicely.
I need some input though. My initial idea was to put upholstered pads in the knee wells that would have the same upholstering as the seat. Thoughts?
A)

Or

Based on replies that I have recieved regarding DIY upholstery, I went and stopped by Chinook Upholstery due to a recommendation from the Old Motorcycle Shop here in Calgary. Monday my seat will be dropped off.

In the meantime, today marked the first coat!

This post will be pic heavy I think. Take a peek at where the seat and tank meet. I cut the round from the tank into the seat foam. Is it just me or does this part of the 440 just not seem to line up well!

Things are coming together nicely though!

I did do something I thought I would never do...
I heard about sealing up the engine with garbage bags and clear silicone (waterproof tub sealant) and then oozing the engine with degreaser and then running it through the power washer. My thinking is that once it's been degreased, then I can prep it for paint.

Aside from the intakes, exhaust, and header breather, what else would a guy need to seal? Is there a better way to do this?

Honestly, today I'm just happy my tank is finally orange :laugh: . Seriously loving the 1K Fillclean Solvent based spray max cans that I had custom mixed. It's been weeeell worth the wait!

When I did mine,I also pulled out the starter motor and sealed that hole (same method). And the crankcase breather will need sealed ( I just banged a wooden stake into that. First, wind some plumbers tape around it) Also,I had to close the hole where the tacho cable mounts into the head. (but I cant,for the life of me,remember how I did that!). A set of old spark plugs will seal the plug holes .
Like I said in an earlier post,If I were to do it again I would first grease the exhaust ports before applying the silicone. I didnt do this and it was a real bugger to get it all out without losing any silicone inside the head (which you definately dont want to do!!) The plastic bags are only to give you something to build the silicone up against so you dont need to wedge a whole bag in each port. I cut up the bags and pushed them in just enough to clear the opening,then built up a nice thick layer of silicone. ( I think I did it in 2 layers) Leave it a day or so to go off properly and then wash the engine.
The MOST IMPORTANT thing is to be sure that whatever you put in,you can get out again. So dont be too heavy handed.
Another thing I would advise is to be carefull with the power washer.The silicone will seal the holes but you dont want to put the powerwasher directly on them.It might force water through or worse blow the whole lot out (powerwashers can be pretty powerfull!).
Likewise with any joints/gaskets and the output shaft.
Use common sense and a light touch and you should be OK.
As far as I know,all silicone kit is waterproof. Thats a bit the point of it. I just used something for bathrooms that was lying around.The colour of the silicone is not important. Just choose something that matches your eyes!!
Good luck with it. Im looking forward to seeing a nice spanky clean engine.

Heres my engine after cleaning and before painting.You can see the ports siliconed on this one;

And heres how I did the inlets and the crank breather; (you can also just about see the silicone in the starter motor hole)

First I cut small plates from 9mm MDF .Then I cut a second set from a plastic milk bottle to act as a gasket. I put a bead of silicone around the ports and bolted everything down.

Davido, it was a case of knowing I had read it but not recalling how far back and on which forum! Thanks for sharing those things again haha. I did the starter motor hole as you said and I feel pretty sure about how this is going to turn out. Is there a trick to covering up the wiring that is hanging out of the engine covers on each side? I really don't want to get moisture in those... Tomorrow the 'cone should be set and it's off to the cleaners!

I wasnt too worried about the electrics as they are for later on. The easiest way to protect them is to put them in a plastic bag ,twist it around the wiring and tape it closed.
When you say its off to the cleaners,what do you mean? Are you having someone else wash It? Think about that.
I borrowed a power washer from a friend in work and did it myself. Then I was sure about what was happening. I wouldnt have trusted it to anyone else. When I did my frame,I took it up to my local filling station/petrol station/gas station. They have a car wash in the back where you can do your own thing.

Davido, "off to the cleaners" was more of a figure of speech than anything. I am cleaning her up all in house. Definitely trying to do as much myself as I can!

I did drop off my seat to the upholsterer and I am just itching to see what the guy does. Basically, the more stitching, the more the seat takes on water due to the holes. I have drilled relief holes in the base of the seat pan but this is one of those areas I am assuming on. Being a tradesman myself, there are things that just make sense yknow!

The hunt now consists for the battery, new plumbing for the fuel system, a filtered breather for the engine breather, and figuring out what to do with those funky drain hoses at the rear of the engine. Oh yeah, and the wiring tray haha. Might look more seriously into clear coating the paintwork I've done to date. Just a hunch.

They did a very fine job on the seat! Primed some perforated light guage steel for near the rear footrests.

In other news, my fork ends paint didn't fair well at the bike shop while they replaced the fork seals. That VHT paint is a lot less impressive than I wish. A whole lot of bogus on the scratch, dent, and corrosion resistance. The 7 day cure wait has left a lot to wish for. May have become an expensive undercoat...

Taking another stab at the wiring tray template. Just not happy with the old one enough to cut out of my limited aluminum stock! Cut the pieces for my idiot light box! Once I get the LED's sourced, I'll post a few pics. After seeing the pieces chip off the fork ends like they have, I am leery about even trying it on the engine as well as clear coating... Man do I hate crap paint!

Ive just been reading spdygons thread on his 76KZ900 restore and he has blocked his engine ports in a far nicer looking way.
www.kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/597628...emi-restore?start=20

P.S. Great looking seat. Nice shade of red.Hurry up and get it finished!

Davido, that is a great idea from spdygon! I had thought that way but lacked the rubber supplies to make stoppers like that. Future idea! Agreed on the seat. I took the weekend off as Dom can attest to, sometimes you need a break from the bike in order to have the drive again to work hard on it. You just can't always be working on it and not riding! So I went camping :woohoo: . Even with all this seemly on its way and near completion, the front forks really soured my attitude as I really really don't want to redo the paint after one ride. I found the best template material! Cereal boxes . So much more awesome. I'm thinking positively again about the project and drove the roads while camping that I am just itching to take the bike on.

Do you mind me asking how much it was for the seat upholstery? I'm doing almost the same seat and trying to figure up a budget...