Topic: Terry's NEW big Kawasaki build, the "Lockdown 1428" special.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, yeah, I'm still scratching my head over the Honda 'box Alan, that was my first ride with that engine after I'd pulled it out of the same bike 2 years earlier due to a problem I had with our version of the DVA, but I'd done a few hundred miles on it before then, and had no problems. Having said that though, I'd dropped the pan before I installed it and found a gear tooth therein. Per suggested that I crack the engine open to have a look, but I didn't, in hindsight, I probably should have? Oh well, "That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger", ha ha!

Scott, a slot drill is like a normal two flute drill bit that doesn't have a point, so it's used for cutting "slots". Looks a bit like an end mill, but without as many flutes, and designed to plunge into material then cut a slot from within, as opposed to cut from outside the material, like an end mill. I had a heap of slot drills and end mills years ago, but I've put them somewhere, and it's been so long I've forgotten just where..........

[Terry in Australia]

Hey Terry, is the cam chain going to be long enough with the spacer under the cylinder block?

Sorry Scott, I forgot to reply to this one, to be honest, no idea. To quote the X Files, "The truth is out there", I'll find out when I put it back together for a test fit, hopefully tomorrow after work. I actually got snowed under with "working from home" work today, but I'll remove all the rings tomorrow, put the block back on, install the head and cams and time it, and see what happens.

I'm using a new heavy duty cam chain, and was surprised to see that I had to adjust a fair amount of slop out of it last time, but that might just be because I'm using an aftermarket (APE, probably) manual adjuster. I suppose if the worst became the worst I could always buy another chain and add a link or two, but there are other options, including swapping in the other crank with the slightly shorter rods.

I was only thinking before that if I had one more set of pistons, I could build another engine, then I remembered that I have some good 70mm Suzuki GS1000 pistons, which are the same as Kawasaki KZ1000 pistons. And I've got another frame, forks, front wheel, tank, ducktail........... Hmmnn, I don't think it's gonna end here..........    

[PeWe]

I'd like to hear about the K2 gearbox, but not at the expense of anyone's safety or even as you said (too many bikes apart). I'll raise my glass in favor of faster delivery so the choice is yours.

That gearbox is a safety issue Terry whitnessed and able to talk about afterwards

I'm sure we are many curious guys!

[Terry in Australia]

I'd like to hear about the K2 gearbox, but not at the expense of anyone's safety or even as you said (too many bikes apart). I'll raise my glass in favor of faster delivery so the choice is yours.

That gearbox is a safety issue Terry whitnessed and able to talk about afterwards

I'm sure we are many curious guys!

Very true Per, I was a Paratrooper for 5 years, and there was a saying that went "Any jump (parachute descent) that you can walk away from is a good jump. Same/same when your gearbox locks up, and pulling the clutch in does nothing. There were two skid marks that day, one on the road, and one in my pants..........

New Years Eve Bitsa disaster 2019 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[PeWe]

Lucky it happened on a straight road, not in a curve.
The bike does not need to slide much, just enough to enter the other lane, hit by a truck.

[Alan F.]

I'm sorry, I should have written that I'd be interested in your findings after investigating the K2 gearbox.

[754]

2 flute milling cutter, similar to 4 flute b, but it center cuts, therefore it can be used to make slots, or keyseats with closed ends.
 Different names in different parts ot the world, i often call it a 2 flute endmill.

[PeWe]

I'm sorry, I should have written that I'd be interested in your findings after investigating the K2 gearbox.

He might have photos of his underwear!!?? Can be framed and hang on the garage wall beside the photo of the bike on the road.

[Alan F.]

Findings not Droppings 
Some riders don't rattle easily I guess. 





(Finally figured how to reliably post a .gif in a forum! Download from source, upload as forum attachment then right click - open in new tab, copy URL from new tab and add the URL as a hosted photo.)

[754]

I am still waiting to see if my hunch on Terrys stuck tranny was or is correct..

[seanbarney41]

Findings not Droppings 
Some riders don't rattle easily I guess. 





(Finally figured how to reliably post a .gif in a forum! Download from source, upload as forum attachment then right click - open in new tab, copy URL from new tab and add the URL as a hosted photo.)

damn you, alan!  I can't stop watching!  Over and over!...

[Alan F.]

Damn you, alan!  I can't stop watching!  Over and over!...

Time to raise the bar one last time with BERT'S AVATAR!

[Terry in Australia]

I am still waiting to see if my hunch on Terrys stuck granny was or is correct..

What was your hunch on my stuck Granny, Frank? I only have a vague memory of her, so I can’t remember why she was stuck?

[754]

Tranny , i said it looked to me like it had water sitting in it at one time,  you thought not.
 Opening it  up will tell a tale..

[Terry in Australia]

No, that’s the Swamp Rat’s engine Frank, not the one with the gearbox failure that’s in my K2 bitsa build. I may pull that engine apart also, as I need some better cases to swap the guts of the bitsa’s engine into, and I can steal the gearbox parts while I’m at it.

[scottly]

 Different names in different parts ot the world, i often call it a 2 flute endmill.

I always call that a 2 flute center-cutting end-mill?? Yes, you can plunge with them, but a real drill is much faster and more efficient.

[grcamna2]

Lol  tranny 

[scottly]

So Terry, what was the increase in stroke? With "standard" length rods for a given motor, shims of 1/2 the stroke increase are required under the cylinders to give the same clearance in the combustion chamber.

[PeWe]

No, that’s the Swamp Rat’s engine Frank, not the one with the gearbox failure that’s in my K2 bitsa build. I may pull that engine apart also, as I need some better cases to swap the guts of the bitsa’s engine into, and I can steal the gearbox parts while I’m at it.

1. Circlip is missing. Might have been flipped wrong from factory.

2. Or there is an extra metal part that now block the gears. Part that gone missing during an earlier repair.

3. One of the "half rings" keeping 3 bearings in place might have fallen off during assembly if assemble as I do. All parts in lower case, testing gears before  add the upper part where outgoing shaft is hanging in the oiler plate and oil seal behind front sprocket.

The half rings are then placed in the 3 bearings grooves.
They have never gone off for me.

[Terry in Australia]

So Terry, what was the increase in stroke? With "standard" length rods for a given motor, shims of 1/2 the stroke increase are required under the cylinders to give the same clearance in the combustion chamber.

No idea yet Scott, I haven't yet measured the later crank with the shorter rods, which I didn't use. The Z1/KZ1000 crank's standard stroke is 66mm, but with the Arias pistons, the intake valves are hitting. I should measure the height of the Arias block compared to the stock Z1/KZ1000 cylinder blocks, and see if the Arias block is shorter? Good question!

I haven't been out to the sheltered workshop to go any further, I realised that my latest batch of Ginger Beer (of the alcoholic kind) has been fermenting for almost a month, almost 2 weeks longer than usual, so decided that I'd bottle it before it loses it's fizz. 28 litres and 2.5 hours later, it was done, so I shouldn't need to want for any booze for the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Ginger beer bottling 14 Jul 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[ekpent]

No, that’s the Swamp Rat’s engine Frank, not the one with the gearbox failure that’s in my K2 bitsa build. I may pull that engine apart also, as I need some better cases to swap the guts of the bitsa’s engine into, and I can steal the gearbox parts while I’m at it.

1. Circlip is missing. Might have been flipped wrong from factory.

2. Or there is an extra metal part that now block the gears. Part that gone missing during an earlier repair.

3. One of the "half rings" keeping 3 bearings in place might have fallen off during assembly if assemble as I do. All parts in lower case, testing gears before  add the upper part where outgoing shaft is hanging in the oiler plate and oil seal behind front sprocket.

The half rings are then placed in the 3 bearings grooves.
They have never gone off for me.

I think he mentioned he found a broken gear tooth in the oil pan once. Maybe there is another one or two in there gumming up the works.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Eric, I think he did. One of the Aussie members is wondering if that gear that lost a tooth might have broken up, but who knows? I'll do the autopsy if I run out of Kawasaki jobs to do while waiting for more parts.

Speaking of which, the parts I ordered for the engines top end cam chain tensioner arrived today. That's good, I was gonna spit the dummy out of the pram when I emailed them yesterday to see where the stuff I'd ordered from Sydney 10 days ago was at, only to be told they'd be sent yesterday? WTF? But they arrived today, which was nice. What wasn't so nice was they haven't refunded me $180 for parts they listed as "In Stock", only to tell me 10 days ago that they are no longer available? Hmmnnn.

Anyhoo, I removed the rings from the pistons and slid the Arias block back on, all good. Installed the head gasket and head, tightened it down just a tad, threw the cams in, timed them, and confirmed that I will indeed need a longer cam chain. No biggie, for some reason Kawasaki added a tooth to the later (1979 on) KZ1000's cranks, along with 2 extra teeth to each cam sprocket, so there's a standard 124 link chain which I've just ordered to replace my 122 link chain, along with a couple of joining links, plus some other impulse buys,  from Jeff at Z1 Enterprises. (top bloke, and a member here occasionally)

1428 engine build 15 Jul 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr 

By this stage there wasn't much more I could do apart from admire my spacer plate and turn the engine over a few times just to watch the valves open and close without smacking the pistons. I bought a cheap bore scope on "Wish" last year because my expensive one's lens would only just fit thru the spark plug hole and look at the top of the piston, whereas the new cheapie has a much thinner scope tube thingie, so I should be able to get a look at the valve to piston clearance, just for fun.

My youngest son came home and told me that he and his girlfriend had to have a CV test today because her new flatmate (who helped her move in last week) has just tested positive for the virus, so Tim's banished to his room until he gets his result back in a day or two, and his mother's not talking to me because I told her  that she couldn't play Florence Nightingale and take his food into his room, but to leave it by his door and retreat. She's been pretty critical of other folks not taking precautions, but when it's her own little (34 year old) boy, she's lost her mind. If she gets it, and gives it to me and I snuff it, I'm gonna haunt her something terrible. Hopefully he's good, but I feel sorry for his girlfriend, her family lives interstate, so she's got nowhere to go, so she's gotta share her apartment with her new best friend who will more than likely give it to her. Oh well, I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Terry in Australia]

Another beautiful sunny winter day today, and of course I saw most of it from my "Working from home" workstation. By 3pm I'd had enough, and wandered outside to the sheltered workshop. A big box of parts from Oink arrived a week or two ago, which included an alternator for the Z1. As the Z1 is still a little way away (more waiting for parts...) I quickly bought another one so I could use this one on the 1428. First job though, was to remove my home made starter clutch thingie that I'd bodged up so I could use the button.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I'd done such a good job turning an internal 5 degree taper that it didn't want to come off, so I had to drill and tap a couple of holes and use a puller to pop it off.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It's a Z1 crank, which is keyed, but the alternator is a KZ900 or 1000 item with no slot for a key, but that was no problem, it was a nice fit on the taper, once I gave it a clean out. What I didn't have is the OEM bolt that holds the rotor onto the shaft, (I ordered one for the Z1 weeks ago from England, but no sign of it so far) but according to my parts book it's just an 8mm x 1.25 and a washer. I've got plenty of 8mm bolts, but I didn't like the idea of covering up this big gaping hole with just a washer.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

So I jumped on the lathe, and turned up a little alloy spacer to better seat the bolt.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It's not a tight fit, as I don't want to make it any more difficult to remove the rotor if I need to, it's just a push in fit.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I did some measurements to make sure the head of the bolt wasn't going to be obstructing the fitment of the alternator cover. (I still remember using a slightly wider nut on a CB750 points cam stud once, and wondering what the grinding noise on the inside of my points cover was.....) All good.

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Time flies when you're having fun, and I was just about to finish up as it was getting dark around 5pm, when I remembered my cheap Chinese bore scope, so I found where  I'd put it and before I finished up I shoved it into #1 spark plug hole, and was surprised that the imagery is probably better than my much more expensive borescope that I bought 10 or 15 years ago. Obviously the technology has evolved...........

1428 Alternator 16 Jul 2020 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It comes with a few different attachments including a mirror, so hopefully I should be able to see the valves opening and closing when I turn the engine over. I've got a new stator and a new regulator/rectifier to install, but I might wait until I have it running first. More soon.


       

[grcamna2]

Terry,The tapered shaft on the alt. rotor should be enough to hold it onto the crank without a keyway

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Bill, yep, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen a keyway on a tapered shaft, just another example of Kawasaki over-engineering everything on the Z1, just to make sure it was gonna be a success on the road, on the track, and at the strip.