Topic: Maui Z1 1973

[Terry in Australia]

That’s good news Steve, so what caused the spun bearing, blasting grit in your engine?

[MauiK3]

No beads in the engine
I've gone through blowing air in passages to make sure there are no blockages. When you look up the center of the oil filter you can see the underside of the oil pressure gauge, it's a pretty simple system.
I must conclude the error was mine somehow in the fastening of the cam.
This time, after initial cam assembly I'm going to push oil up from the plug on the side of the engine to assure it comes out at the cams. It may be messy but I need to see for myself that it gets up there. I'm making a little adapter to screw in to the plug. I'll use container to gravity feed it. If it won't gravity feed I'll help it along with a bit of air, not more than 2 psi so as to imitate the pump. I'm sure all this is not needed but I'd like to see oil up there before I button it up. I'm not used to this type of problem.

[PeWe]

Have you searched about similar cases?
I could not resist.
Here is one interesting thread when scrolling down, good info about oil pumps, earlier and late plus shim info.

https://www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/606916-cam-problem

Another one
https://kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/616352-cam-don-t-seem-to-be-getting-enough-oil?start=0

Burping filter if airlock?
https://www.z900forum.com/index.php?topic=4027.0

Lets hope you'll find out what cause the problem and can ride it very soon.
I'm sure the bike will be a people magnet when parked.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, I'm not keen on beadblasting cases as the very fine glass dust will stick to anything with oil on it, so the few occasions that I've had something blasted I've washed them all in hot soapy water as well as blowing all of the oilways out with compressed air before assembling them. Kawasaki's, like Suzuki GS series bikes didn't run high pressure lube systems, so oil pressure can be as low as 5 psi, and as high as 15, they use a "High Volume" system, as opposed to High pressure on bikes like our SOHC4's with plain main and big end bearings. I'll run an oil pressure gauge on my bike anyway because it's not a stocker, and I don't trust oil pressure lights.

[MauiK3]

I’ve been distracted by some other projects that needed attention while I waited for parts.
I determined that my cam bearing problem was caused by me letting a bearing get out of position during assembly. A real rookie mistake. DOH!
New bearings and undamaged cam are back together.
Today, with the cam cover off and a LOT of assembly lube I cranked it with the starter until I saw oil come out at the bearings. I can’t tell you how nervous I was because this problem spooked me. I decided I needed to see oil in the head before I buttoned it up.
I’ll get the carbs back on and try running it next.
The whole thing made me feel horrible but it’s getting better now.
My Hagons are almost here, my bashed tank is supposedly making progress on Oahu. He tells me he has photos which I’ll post when I get them, assuming the work looks good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. It will be great to

[Stev-o]

Takes a big man to admit his mistakes on a public forum.  We all make them but dont always admit it!

We always learn from our mistakes so I always write it off to a learning experience.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, don’t worry about fcuking something up Steve or you’ll never finish it. As you know, I built my entire engine out of mostly used parts that I bought on Ebay and I think part of the reason that I shelved the project in 2020 was that I wasn’t 100% certain that it would run properly, especially since a lot of the parts are non OEM parts from drag bikes, so even hsrder to diagnose if there’s a problem, but these old Z1 engines are very simple, robust devices (I’m in the process of buying another Z1-B engine that I might build as a stocker) and as long as you don’t mess up the valve timing, it will run.

I’m looking forward to a video of a running, unobtainium 1972 Z1 about to celebrate its 50th birthday!

[MauiK3]

I've lost track of how many times I've counted chain links to check valve timing. I just did it again this afternoon, just to remind myself it's still 28.

Many, many, many years ago I was assembling a large heat exchanger on the USS George Washington, a now defunct "boomer" (missile submarine). It was a symmetrical heat exchanger and I put it in exactly backwards. Since I was supposed to be done i had to go tell my then supervisor of my foible. He was a great guy that had been at Pearl Harbor during WWII. He told me to go back down, fix it, and no one will ever bull$hi! you ever again about how that particular item goes together. Great lesson.

[grcamna2]

I've lost track of how many times I've counted chain links to check valve timing. I just did it again this afternoon, just to remind myself it's still 28.

Many, many, many years ago I was assembling a large heat exchanger on the USS George Washington, a now defunct "boomer" (missile submarine). It was a symmetrical heat exchanger and I put it in exactly backwards. Since I was supposed to be done i had to go tell my then supervisor of my foible. He was a great guy that had been at Pearl Harbor during WWII. He told me to go back down, fix it, and no one will ever bull$hi! you ever again about how that particular item goes together. Great lesson.

I like what your Supervisor did to cover you Steve 

[PeWe]

Described mistakes easy to make and other errors with description how to fix make this forum to a great place!

It is a nice feeling when the assembly is double checked and you know that everything is correct.

I remember when I was on a holiday trip on my heavy loaded K6 on a downhill between Austria and Italy (after Brenner pass), speedo showed 210kmh, had to pass that Jaguar V12. A little left corner with bike leaning to the left.

I got the thought, did I really tighten the wheel nuts enough last winter?

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I've done just that Per! In 1979 I was riding a Suzuki GT750. I'd lost my car license, and he bought the Suzuki but was scared of it, so we swapped for 3 months. I rode the Suzy and he drove my old Ford. I'd installed a new rear tyre on the Friday so decided to ride down to my folks place 200 miles away on the Saturday.

On the trip down I encountered a guy on a Kawasaki H2 750, and a 100 mile race ensued. We had a ball, he was much quicker than me, but had to stop every 50 miles to change fouled spark plugs, and we both had to stop for gas at the halfway mark. I did just under 200 miles total, in 2.5 hours.

Before the return ride the next day, I noticed that the chain had a light coat of surface rust. (no fancy chain lubes back then) I popped the bike up on the centre stand, and when I grabbed the back wheel, it moved sideways? WTF? Bad swingarm bearings? Nope, we'd never tightened the back axle when we adjusted the chain, and the only thing stopping the wheel from coming out was the chain adjusters holding it in alignment! And my mother wonders how I ever survived my teenage years......

[craz1]

Your cam bearing issue isn't to bad compared to the job the PO did on my current Z1B project. He didn't believe in gaskets I guess because there weren't any installed. Relied on RTV for everything, even when mating the cases, and for extra good measure used it on all seals that he installed.

[ken65]

Wow, that's just amazing

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, I had the same visage when I opened up my "Professionally rebuilt" 836cc engine that I had to completely rebuild in 2020 because the "professional builder" had used a full tube of RTV to glue that engine together. It destroyed the crank bearings, and I had to replace most of the internals.

[ekpent]

 Those pictures deserve to be posted on a builders wall of shame. What a mess.

[MauiK3]

Wow, pretty extreme.
I've had a series of distractions competing for time recently. The bike is about ready to test run again, I need to get back to it. The tank and paint work are still on Oahu, the fellow doing the work is also busy but says it's going well. I sure hope so.
When I get things going I'll post some stuff.

[Alan F.]

Yep, I had the same visage when I opened up my "Professionally rebuilt" 836cc engine that I had to completely rebuild in 2020 because the "professional builder" had used a full tube of RTV to glue that engine together. It destroyed the crank bearings, and I had to replace most of the internals.

Same with my K8, thankfully nothing had been torqued down, no oil added, and it hadn't been run. Still plenty of clean-up work needed.

[BenelliSEI]

Ha ha, I've done just that Per! In 1979 I was riding a Suzuki GT750. I'd lost my car license, and he bought the Suzuki but was scared of it, so we swapped for 3 months. I rode the Suzy and he drove my old Ford. I'd installed a new rear tyre on the Friday so decided to ride down to my folks place 200 miles away on the Saturday.

On the trip down I encountered a guy on a Kawasaki H2 750, and a 100 mile race ensued. We had a ball, he was much quicker than me, but had to stop every 50 miles to change fouled spark plugs, and we both had to stop for gas at the halfway mark. I did just under 200 miles total, in 2.5 hours.

Before the return ride the next day, I noticed that the chain had a light coat of surface rust. (no fancy chain lubes back then) I popped the bike up on the centre stand, and when I grabbed the back wheel, it moved sideways? WTF? Bad swingarm bearings? Nope, we'd never tightened the back axle when we adjusted the chain, and the only thing stopping the wheel from coming out was the chain adjusters holding it in alignment! And my mother wonders how I ever survived my teenage years......

Been there, done (or not done?) worse!

[MauiK3]

Meanwhile………
I’ve had two parts ordering flaps on this project I’ll describe.

1. I ordered the oil gallery plug on the right side of the engine from an outfit called Megazip. They charged me for it but never shipped it in spite of numerous emails and promises. It wasn’t a lot of money and my refund claim with PayPal did not work, their process is tilted toward the vendors. I made the order December 30. Maybe I’ll get it some day but they no longer answer my requests for update.

2. I ordered a set of stickers from John Clifton in Australia. He says he sent them the second week of January. They have not arrived. This may be just a slow mail problem. There was no tracking number, my bad, I should have requested a tracking number which would have cost more but that’s life. If they show up that will be great, if they don’t I’m not sure I’ll order another set even though his are supposed to be the best, I don’t think I’d be comfortable wondering if I’m buying them twice.
Lesson learned……get a tracking number, every time.

Hopefully I’m just being paranoid and these items will eventually show up.

[grcamna2]

Meanwhile………
I’ve had two parts ordering flaps on this project I’ll describe.

1. I ordered the oil gallery plug on the right side of the engine from an outfit called Megazip. They charged me for it but never shipped it in spite of numerous emails and promises. It wasn’t a lot of money and my refund claim with PayPal did not work, their process is tilted toward the vendors. I made the order December 30. Maybe I’ll get it some day but they no longer answer my requests for update.

2. I ordered a set of stickers from John Clifton in Australia. He says he sent them the second week of January. They have not arrived. This may be just a slow mail problem. There was no tracking number, my bad, I should have requested a tracking number which would have cost more but that’s life. If they show up that will be great, if they don’t I’m not sure I’ll order another set even though his are supposed to be the best, I don’t think I’d be comfortable wondering if I’m buying them twice.
Lesson learned……get a tracking number, every time.

Hopefully I’m just being paranoid and these items will eventually show up.

I hope that oil galley plug shows up soon. 

[Terry in Australia]

Meanwhile………
I’ve had two parts ordering flaps on this project I’ll describe.

1. I ordered the oil gallery plug on the right side of the engine from an outfit called Megazip. They charged me for it but never shipped it in spite of numerous emails and promises. It wasn’t a lot of money and my refund claim with PayPal did not work, their process is tilted toward the vendors. I made the order December 30. Maybe I’ll get it some day but they no longer answer my requests for update.

2. I ordered a set of stickers from John Clifton in Australia. He says he sent them the second week of January. They have not arrived. This may be just a slow mail problem. There was no tracking number, my bad, I should have requested a tracking number which would have cost more but that’s life. If they show up that will be great, if they don’t I’m not sure I’ll order another set even though his are supposed to be the best, I don’t think I’d be comfortable wondering if I’m buying them twice.
Lesson learned……get a tracking number, every time.

Hopefully I’m just being paranoid and these items will eventually show up.

John Clifton is a great guy Steve, he lives in Geelong, from memory, so not far from me, but has an excellent name, so it won't be a problem at his end, more than likey just Australia Post/USPS. I've bought some parts from him (including my front wheel) in 2020 and everything I bought is just as expected. He owns more 1972/73 Z1's than anyone else I know too.

[MauiK3]

I'm hoping for the best, it may just be that snail mail is slower than snails.

[MauiK3]

Progress
Megazip shipped! Got a tracking number.
One down.

[Terry in Australia]

I'm hoping for the best, it may just be that snail mail is slower than snails.

Yep, I always pay extra for fast shipping with tracking Steve. At the moment I’m watching a set of slightly milder cams for my Z1B slowly moving across Europe from the seller in Britain who sent them via UPS “3Day Priority shipping” (2 days ago….) with tracking. It’s very therapeutic playing “what country are my cams in now?” Every six hours or so?

[ken65]

The one and only time I paid for super duper fast shipping was a big let down. Mikes XS site.
I needed some gaskets etc to finish the  bike. Instead of the standard $15 buck delivery. I paid nearly $50 for  the rush job.
It took 6 weeks.  Got to Sydney Australia in a week but then went over  to Montreal from sydney then every capital city in the US.  Very frustrating. Wasn't Mikes xs fault. As far as postage goes. The system is only as strong as the weakest link. One nit wit who confuses the senders address to the buyers address and thats that.