Well it's time to fire this thread back up again, as the (almost) final pieces of the Z1-B puzzle have finally arrived, woohoo! When it was all still so far off I ratted the Z1 parts tubs for the 1428 build, but now that I'm sitting around waiting for piston rings for the 1428, it was timely that the big heavy bits arrived today.
I say "almost" because of course I'm building this bike from parts, starting with a bare 1975 Z1-B frame and swingarm that I bought here in Oz, and a set of bare 1975 Z1-B engine cases that I bought from the US. If anyone else here but me is stupid enough to have built a bike completely from parts, you'll know that just when you think you have everything you need, you'll go so far and have to stop dead. Hopefully if I hit a wall I can steal something from the 1428 to keep the project moving right along.
Anyhoo, today I was both surprised and happy that 4 heavy boxes arrived, only 6 days after leaving the US. Two crankshafts (yeah, I don't know why either.....) an alternator, and a ported Z1 head with big (too big for this bike, but good for the 1428) Norris cams, bigger stainless valves, underbucket shims, APE springs, etc. The cranks were beautifully packed with lots of that 1/2" thick foam sheet stacked side by side so they couldn't move, the alternator/starter clutch wan't that well packed, but it was OK. Hell, it's made out of steel, and all the bits that fell out in transit were stuck to the magnets in the rotor, so no biggie.
The head, on the other hand, was a disappointment. No, it was a travesty. This was how it looked when I opened the box.
Damaged Ebay head by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Seriously? The jerk who sold it to me just threw it in the box, with no packing materials at all. Well, I did find some of those little air filled plastic bags that were all deflated, a couple of greasy rags and 3 pieces of dirty shop towels that may have been wrapped around the cams, or maybe not. I lifted the head out, and there was more loose stuff underneath.
Damaged Ebay head 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
As you can see in the pics, the Manley valves were just rolling around the box, as were the camshaft hold downs, that were missing most of the dowels, all but 1 of the 16 cam bearings were missing, and it looked like the cams (complete with sprockets) had been bouncing up and down in the 6 inches or so of space above the head, that should have been filled with packing material.
Damaged Ebay head 5 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Damaged Ebay head 6 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
As much as that pisses me off, I do have another Z1 head that I can either use instead of this one, or rat for the missing cam bearings. Apart from that, the head looked pretty good, or so I thought, until I saw this. Fcuk.
Damaged Ebay head 4 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
The busted fin (that wasn't mentioned in the description) was missing before it went into the box, because I couldn't find any of it in the sealed box. I've contacted the seller and sent him the pics, and let him know what I think of his packing skills. I'm trying to think of a time when I've received a consignment in worse condition, apart from when those oafs at MyUS.com re-packed my K2 triple clamps and gauges so badly that the gauges were destroyed, but that wasn't the fault of the seller, this one was on him, it wasn't re-packed by MyUS.com. These parts cost a lot of money, and to me, it's just reprehensible that someone would take your money, then just throw the fragile items in a box with heavy steel camshafts with sprockets attached, with nothing to stop them from being damaged. what a turd. Even the cam cover had a hole in it, from over enthusiastic dremeling to clearance it for the big Norris cams.
Damaged Ebay head 7 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
No matter, nothing that can't be fixed, the show must go on. Luckily I have spares. At least I've got a complete (I think) bottom end to put together, so I won't dwell on the negatives. More tomorrow.
