gbot's 79 kz650

Thanks guys, ended up using a suction cup, worked flawlessly. Right now, im in the process of making a valve compression clamp. Will post pics when the valves are out.

Found this video www.wrightwayrestorations.com/?p=902 of a guy using a brass wire brush Dremel attachment to clean the combustion chambers, might try this.

swest wrote: Looks like one set of rings were failing. If I could, I'd replace all of them. How do the rollers look?
Steve

Steve, all the rings seem to be in place. Not sure what you mean by "falling?" All the rollers seem to be in good shape, dont see any wear or build up.

Damn laptop. Failing. The clean area around the edge of the piston suggests that. Be sure the roller rubber isn't hard, cracking or sloppy' They will come apart in no time. After all these years I finally put in Liska's. They won't come apart and are 1/2 the price of OEM.
Steve

Yes, install new rings. Get a flex hone to "de-glaze" / re-finish the cylinder walls and follow the instructions it comes with. Clean the pistons thoroughly, removing all carbon from piston heads, ring grooves, lands, and skirts. Use carburetor cleaner on the pistons. Brass wire wheel will work to clean combustion chambers and valves. There are non-metallic / fiber "wire" wheels available that work for this, also. Use carb cleaner on valve seats and faces, too. Using a weak magnet to remove the buckets is o.k., but as Ed says, suction cup is better because of the magnetism...although it is possible to de-magnetize the buckets afterward.

swest wrote: Damn laptop. Failing. The clean area around the edge of the piston suggests that. Be sure the roller rubber isn't hard, cracking or sloppy' They will come apart in no time. After all these years I finally put in Liska's. They won't come apart and are 1/2 the price of OEM.
Steve

Actually Steve, you said failing the first time haha, That was my bad. I will double check my rollers though, thank you.

Kray-Z wrote: Yes, install new rings. Get a flex hone to "de-glaze" / re-finish the cylinder walls and follow the instructions it comes with. Clean the pistons thoroughly, removing all carbon from piston heads, ring grooves, lands, and skirts. Use carburetor cleaner on the pistons. Brass wire wheel will work to clean combustion chambers and valves. There are non-metallic / fiber "wire" wheels available that work for this, also. Use carb cleaner on valve seats and faces, too. Using a weak magnet to remove the buckets is o.k., but as Ed says, suction cup is better because of the magnetism...although it is possible to de-magnetize the buckets afterward.

Thanks for the reply. Yea i was told honing the cylinder walls would be a good idea while im inside the engine. What would be a proper grit? Do you think something like this would work? www.amazon.com/Brush-Research-FLEX-HONE-...rasive/dp/B005ANHYF6

Ive been looking around for pistons rings, found these. Has anyone used these before? www.disastermotors.com/collections/pisto...aki-kz650-piston-rin


Also ive been looking at the gasket set from z1enterprises, which all probably purchase soon. Already have my viton stem seals ready to be installed.

gbot9000 wrote:

Kray-Z wrote: Yes, install new rings. Get a flex hone to "de-glaze" / re-finish the cylinder walls and follow the instructions it comes with. Clean the pistons thoroughly, removing all carbon from piston heads, ring grooves, lands, and skirts. Use carburetor cleaner on the pistons. Brass wire wheel will work to clean combustion chambers and valves. There are non-metallic / fiber "wire" wheels available that work for this, also. Use carb cleaner on valve seats and faces, too. Using a weak magnet to remove the buckets is o.k., but as Ed says, suction cup is better because of the magnetism...although it is possible to de-magnetize the buckets afterward.

Thanks for the reply. Yea i was told honing the cylinder walls would be a good idea while im inside the engine. What would be a proper grit? Do you think something like this would work? www.amazon.com/Brush-Research-FLEX-HONE-...rasive/dp/B005ANHYF6

Ive been looking around for pistons rings, found these. Has anyone used these before? www.disastermotors.com/collections/pisto...aki-kz650-piston-rin


Also ive been looking at the gasket set from z1enterprises, which all probably purchase soon. Already have my viton stem seals ready to be installed.

Flex hone - get a grit in the 240 - 320 range. Replacing rings without re-finishing the cylinders is doing only half of the job...only remove as little material as needed to get a good 60 deg. cross hatch pattern - no more than that. You should check piston to cylinder clearances on all 4 before, during, and after honing the cylinders. It is absolutely critical to wash the cylinders at least once with soap and hot water after honing to remove the abrasives. I usually wash the cylinder first with solvent, then twice with soap and hot water, then a hot water rinse, and a final wipe out with clean towels and fresh / clean ATF until no residue is left on a clean towel w /ATF.

BTW - if you had a J model 1000 or 1100 I would recommend using a rigid hone vs. the flex hone, but that isn't a problem on the 650 or 750 engines. For glazed cylinders with normal wear, the flex hone gives the best results while removing the minimum amount of material.

By O.E.M. rings or aftermarkets made in Japan (Z1 Enterprises' are Japanese manufactured) - I would caution against using anything else. The set in your link look o.k., but find out were they are manufactured. Most quality ones are made in Japan by NPR and re-branded.

I have used both Cometic and Vesrah aftermarket gaskets with no complaints about either. The Athena gaskets work o.k., but aren't quite as nice, in my opinion. Z1's are Vesrah, I think....