Piston Hole Kz1000LTD 1982

When rebuilding a Suzuki GS1000 engine with similar crankcase web and bearing marks, I degreased really well and used a few drops of Loctite retaining compound on the bearing saddles.  I'm not sure if this was a good course of action, but it made me feel better, and there wasn't any downside that I could tell.

Looks to me small particles of aluminum got into the saddles leaving me to believe the cases were opened before. 
Steve

I agree Steve
 

Thank you Steve. Probably a question of language. What are the bearing saddles? Are they the metal movable parts in the upper and lower cases where the crank is supported?

I called those crank bearings; but it´s probably the wrong name. 

If this is the bearing saddle you refer to, Steve, then we are talking about the same part. I did not see these parts in the CMSNL website. Are these parts available from Kawasaki, or is there a generic replacement? Cheers. Carlos
 

Hi Carlos, your picture shows what look like "shell bearings" but your KZ has a "roller bearing" crank. The outer race of the bearings is pinned in place in the upper crankcase half so the crankshaft doesn't spin in the locations you have highlighted (the pictures with the metal deposits) this location clamps the "outer races" statically. You have also mentioned "thrust washers" as used on a "shell bearing" crank but to the best of my knowledge "end float" on a roller bearing crank is controlled by the bearings themselves.

Wookie is correct.  There are no journal bearings on that crank.  They are roller bearings.  Each bearing outer shell is pinned (92043A) in place and the inner shell is press fit on the crank.

Thank you both. So there is really no need to change them, as the crank doesn´t "move" on those, and would be just fine to polish them ever so slightly to take out any imperfections. 

Right?

Yes but don't take out any material.
Steve

Yes. It´s clear. Just a slight polish 

cartal wrote:

Thank you both. So there is really no need to change them, as the crank doesn´t "move" on those, and would be just fine to polish them ever so slightly to take out any imperfections. 

Right?

I wouldn't polish the bearing saddles ( which is simply where the bearings sit in the cases - not shell bearings as shown in your last pics ) .
You don't want to reduce the fit of the bearings in the cases any further.
Your cases show signs of vibratory movement between the bearings and their saddles which shows as those shiny areas on the mating components,
As Steve suggests some evenly spaced light pop marks or bearing fit on the saddles to tighten up their fit on the bearings is the way to go if you do anything.
I've noticed this evidence of bearing movement on many of these later J/GPZ style cases and have come to the conclusion that they have been machined at the upper end ( slack side ) of the fit tolerances. 





 

My cases are well worn and one pin was damaged in the wreck in 86. Had it welded and refitted the pin. While in there I noticed sharp edges on all of the saddles. Obviously the crank was "walking" but after the fix it couldn't move side to side anymore. You could see the wear marks on the side of the journals where the crank was rubbing. I don't see that in your pics. In my case I measured the clearances on the crank rods and checked for lateral movement of the crank. All were within spec so I installed the 903 crank and moved on. While checking the run out with the cases together I noticed a slight tight spot at one point of rotation. Not having anything to measure with I put a dab of silicon on each saddle and bolted it back together then rechecked it. The tight spot seemed to be better so I removed the crank and looked at the journals to see what the silicon looked like. There was evidence of wear judging by what was left of the silicon so that was why I used a punch to dimple in three spots on each of them which would create raised spots to take up the clearance. I repeated the process and noticed the punch marks had flattened out taking up the clearances. The welding process slightly warped the top case causing the tight spot. At that point I decided to put the engine together and see what happens. It was that or look for new cases I could ill afford at the time. 
Before at low idle the engine sounded like a bunch of small nuts rattling around in a tin can. I ran it that way until I stored it 15 years got it running again then changed the Z2 750 for a 903 crank, repaired the broken journal and installed the locating pin then RODE THE PISS OUT OF IT.
I've since installed a 1075 kit and the bike runs stronger than ever. 
The bike had been hit on the right hand side causing all the damage but still kept running proving these engines are BULLET PROOF. 
I'm not suggesting you do all of that it's my story of saving Bossie the Kaw. 
You may however try the punch trick to tighten things up a bit. Mine was extreme yours doesn't look so bad. 
Steve