Wow, well the thing about having 4 projects at one time is that you can go a few days, weeks, or even months, before you get back to one or the other to actually show some progress. In the last week, I've collected the frame and swingarm from blasting, stripped the rusty gears and other components from the engine cases, and painted the frame and swingarm.
The frame looked way better after blasting.
K0 22 Oct 2020 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
But there was rain on the way, so I quickly etch primed it and the swingarm to ensure that moist air wouldn't cause flash rusting.
K0 22 Oct 2020 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I had a few little repairs to do to the frame and swingarm after 50 years of neglect, including filling some holes after a PO had pop riveted something to it at one stage, so I used my MIG and a little JB Weld Steel Stick filler to tidy them up. But in the mean time the weather was pretty crappy, so I concentrated on removing all of the rusty gears and bearings from the bottom case, the kickstarter assembly (God I hate those compression pins that hold the shaft in place, bad enough in an engine that has been freshly opened, but in one that's been sitting open in humid conditions for at least 20 years, it required heat, penetrant and several different attempts with various pliers, multigrips and vice grips, before I got it out.
K0 case cleanup Sun 25 Oct 2020 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
K0 cases 21 Oct 2020 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
K0 cases 21 Oct 2020 5 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Anyhoo, I went to the $2 Shop after physio on Monday and bought a big plastic tub and tipped 30 litres of stagnant fuel out of my son's Explorer that's being resurrected after my old red one's transmission went to God, and dropped the filthy bottom crankcase into it, and gave it a god scrub. As filthy as it was, it impressed me that there were no broken castings, no apparent stripped threads, and even the original paint looks pretty good.
K0 clean 26 Oct 2020 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Once I'd flushed it well with water, I put it in my industrial oven @ 110 deg C to thoroughly dry.
K0 bottom case cleaned by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I only had to remove the sprocket shaft and gear assembly from the top case, which I was happy was in perfect condition, because I didn't have one, and like most K0 parts, it's different from a K1-K6 part.
K0 cases 21 Oct 2020 9 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
Luckily for me I bought a good K0 crank and gearbox gubbins a few years ago, so tomorrow I'll go find them and give them a clean in anticipation. The top case was in really nice condition too, apart from the usual K0 chain damage.
K0 cases 21 Oct 2020 9a by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
It's survived OK with the then "Go To" fix, Araldyte, a clear 2 part epoxy, so I'll grind that old sh1t off, and use some JB weld to repair it, and it should last another 50 years. Anyhoo, the top case is bathing in the stagnant fuel tub, and tomorrow I'll finish cleaning it, and think about giving the cases a coat of engine enamel and baking it on before I fill them with good mechanical guts.
I looked at the weather map today and it looks like there's more rain on the way, so I sneaked out this morning and gave the frame and swingarm a coat of gloss black ceramic enamel (whatever the hell that is) paint. Looks good.
K0 Frame Paint 29 Oct 2020 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
K0 swing arm 29 Oct 2020 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
K0 swing arm 29 Oct 2020 1 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I drove over to my local Repco store (big box auto parts) to buy some fancy plug leads for my Dyna 2000 ignition I bought for my Kawasaki 1428 project, and another can of frame paint, as I still need to paint a few spots underneath the frame. The store has just re-opened after 16 weeks of home delivery and pre-order in car pickups, so I became quite excited as I walked around the store. I picked up a jug of good quality motorcycle 15W-50 oil for the F2 and some blue RTV case sealant, some more JB weld and a couple of things I'd pre-ordered that didn't come in until today.
They didn't have a selection of random plug leads that I could just grab off the shelf, I had to tell them what model car so they could sell me a set etc, which I think is ridiculous, so didn't buy any, I have some copper core plug wire here and new NGK caps, and another set of those pretty blue flashing caps, so I'll just use them. I drove to the gas station and filled my car for the first time since March(?) and took it thru the car wash, which was very disappointing, I spent another 5 minutes with the gas station windscreen mop cleaning all the bits that the car wash brushes missed. I then realised that I hadn't bought a can of paint, so was driving back to Repco when it started to spit rain. Fcuk! Fcuk the paint, I broke all records getting home as quick as I could so I could get the frame under cover.
My garage is so full of bikes and parts, there is just nowhere to put a shiny but tacky black frame:
K0 Frame Paint 29 Oct 2020 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
So I carried it into the "Sheltered Workshop" and found just enough room on the bench, previously taken up by the GPZ1100 engine. Thank God.
K0 Frame Paint 29 Oct 2020 2 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
So tomorrow, depending on the weather, I'll paint the cases in preparation for the engine rebuild. If it's raining, I'll go back to finishing the GPZ1100 engine install into the KZ1000 frame, or fix the leak in the F2 gas tank, or finish buttoning up the Kawasaki Z1-B 900 (Moriwaki 1100cc) engine, or fabbing some additional crankcase breathers for the 1428cc Kawasaki engine. It's good to have options.
My oldest son wandered out with a pic of my old Drag Bike, the 1100cc Suzuki GS1000 based beast (Yoshi cams, 13.5:1 pistons, ported head, bigger valves, welded and balanced crank etc etc) that I was given by one of my young soldiers who was taking discharge from the Army, and didn't want to take it with him. I had no use for a drag bike, I like to go around corners, so the 140 RWBHP engine found it's way into a stock GS1000 that I bought cheap with a blown gearbox. It was great fun, but after a close encounter with the Great Pumpkin at maximum warp, I sold it to a guy in Britain, who paid a heap of dough to have it shipped to England, stripped it to have the frame and wheels blasted and powdercoated, and all his parts were stolen, never to be seen again. Some guys have no luck at all...
1428 GPZ Drag Hag by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr