Z400J

[needaz1100r]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1987-Kawasaki ... 2196713375

There's your engine - instant bolt-in horsepower and oodles of spares to boot.

[Kwackman]

Today I collected this...
It's an 81, and the engine number means it's a proper Z400J engine.
It has sat in a dry garage for 10 years, full off dust etc, but I'm hoping the engine is relatively OK. Loads of other spares on the bike too. Not bad for the equivalent of £135.

Why hire a van when you can get a 400J int the back of a Hodna Jazz!

[PAULJAC47]

Bet thats the other halves car

[needaz1100r]

Bet thats the other halves car

I don't know how people live without a van!!

[Kwackman]

Ha- no, it's my Jazz, it's like a van with windows!

The Z400J might be small, but they are heavy little buggers.
Having fun stripping bits off this bike, hopefully the engine ain't seized, but other little bits will save time and postage on eBay! For £135 it seemed like a risk worth taking.

[Bonneville]

Love the project. Who needs a van? I got 2 x 400F's in the back of an Austin Maestro back in the day.
400F had great geometry and I put my 550 engine in it for a while. Handled lovely but monoshock linkages wore out fast so I binned it.
Engine went back in the twin-shock and I restored it here:-

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=35395

Many 550 bits interchangeable with 400 as stated and there are Wiseco/chinese big bore kits that take it out to 600.
Webike has lots for the 400FX (Jap market 400J and very popular over there) and Z550/500 but be careful with the wallet.

http://japan.webike.net/Moto/KAWASAKI/251_400/

http://japan.webike.net/Moto/KAWASAKI/401_750/

[Kwackman]

You resto was an interesting read Bonneville.
Very impressed with the paint job from a spray can.

[Kwackman]

Interesting oil pump filter and sump contents!

[LeeJackson]

I pulled a bunch of dead beetles out of my ossa crankcases when I restored in Texas and fossilized roaches out of an H1 headlight. Lol.

[Kwackman]

Hi,
Taking this old engine apart (newbie at this sort of thing) has gone OK, but I'd like some advice.
The big end of the conrods on this bike have 2 nuts that hold on the conrod "big end cap".

According to the manual, you just remove the two nuts and remove the cap.
No so simple in my case. The 2 nuts came off easily, but the big end cap only comes off so far.

By tapping gently on the end of the threaded bit, I got them this far apart, but I can't get them to move any further.
Do I just need a bit of brute force, which might mean marking the faces where the end cap meets the main conrod body.
All 4 conrods are at the same stage.

Any advice welcome!

[zed1015]

The caps are likely hung up on the bolt threads.
Tap the caps back on to the crank and then knock out one of the bolts.
This should free everything up.
Best to use a copper mallet as this won't damage or mark anything.
If not already done you must number the caps to their respective rod and mark their orientation so that they go back on the same rod and in the same position.

[Kwackman]

Thanks Zed1015.
You were right, knocking the bolts out was the answer.
I've just spent this morning gently doing it, and making sure the conrod, shell bearing and cap end for each cylinder are kept together. I didn't think to note the orientation of the caps though, so there might be another problem to deal with in the future!
Thanks again for the reply, much appreciated.

PS. Unless I'm doing something wrong, the links in your sig don't seem to work.

[zed1015]

Thanks Zed1015.
I didn't think to note the orientation of the caps though, so there might be another problem to deal with in the future!
Thanks again for the reply, much appreciated.

PS. Unless I'm doing something wrong, the links in your sig don't seem to work.

Regarding the cap orientation you may be able to see which way they go by matching up the machine marks , corrosion stains etc across the joins before you go about cleaning the parts for reassembly.
Also on the cap and rods machined faces you may be able to make out where the tang on the opposing bearing shell has been.

As for the sig links, it looks like they went to the old forum pages which don't exist.
Thank for discovering that , I didn't know they didn't work on the new site.
Spent 10 min's resetting the links to this site and they work now.

[Kwackman]

Thanks again zed1015 for the advice. I'll have a look tomorrow to see if I can figure out which way round the caps go.

I clicked on your top link.... I've only got half way through that thread, but you have a VERY impressive skill set! Next time I've an hour or so free, I'm reading through that again, but slowly, and nicking your hints. I'd never heard of Graphogen, and the trick with heat shrink sleeving is now on my desktop too! Cheers!

[Kwackman]

Another question!
My first engine strip down has gone fairly easily, but I've found (or at least I think I've found) a bolt that has been sheared off. I've tried an easyout but it's not moving.
I have 2 of these engines, and I'd a look at the other one and the same bolt is also sheared off- or is it?
I can't find what it holds on in the manual, and it just seems to go into the crankcase housing.
So, here's a photo, the rusty looking bit below the engine mount hole, what went there? The black cap in the foreground is the oil filler cap to help navigate where the "bolt" is/was. This is the spare untampered with engine.
Thanks for any thoughts on this.