Z650 / 1100

[trikerdrew]

being the total knob that I am....

Clear as mud, was actually asking after the tailpiece

[Bevelhead]

being the total knob that I am....

Clear as mud, was actually asking after the tailpiece

Ah I see. Well I collected the side panels and tail piece today from Z-Power, I went for the earlier style side panels (better looking imo), while I'd heard that the later tail piece was slightly wider than the earlier version. But sat side by side, they were the same width. Only difference was the mount for the two different kinds of rear light. Its very well made, with little 'give' so if it doesn't fit over the frame, I don't think there's enough flex to 'persuade' it to fit. I wont be able to try until later this week.

BTW.. here's the latest vid of the build.. https://youtu.be/K4TOmzJADVY

[Bevelhead]

The Z1 tail unit from Z-Power is very well made but not unexpectedly didn't fit the now widened frame. Its made from ABS and was far too nice to cut up. So I bought another, cheaper tail unit, this time made from fibreglass. Of course this one also didn't fit, so I promptly cut it in half, as it'll be a lot easier to widen. Not sure yet what the best looking angle to arrange the two halves.. parallel to each other or angled in like in the photo below, or probably somewhere in between..

Meanwhile work on the inner plate for outrigger bearing support continued, its almost ready to go on the miller to be shaped now.

Oh and also realised the petcock will need to moved forward as it hits the Z1 side panel.. sigh

[Bevelhead]

The outrigger bearing support is coming along nicely. though the lovely Oberon clutch slave cylinder I bought wont quite fit, pity as it cost £100. Since the engine originally had a cable clutch, I went for a ZRX1200 slave, as then I could fit ZRX master cylinders to match. Oh well, lesson learnt.

Seems I should've gone for a ZXR750 unit, as its got a smaller 2 mounting bolt body rather than the ZRX 3 bolt body. In the pic the block is missing, as its gone off to be bored out by a mm to fit the larger pistons (72.5 to 73.5mm).

[chrisNI]

At least you’re making progress

[Bevelhead]

The outrigger support bearing set up is almost done now, just need to get a new gasket so we can machine the inner plate to its final shape. The gearchange shaft normally just passes through the standard alloy cover, which eventually wears, so in this version the gearchange shaft will sit in a roller bearing (not fitted in the pic) as it passes through the outer plate.

[chrisNI]

Nice bit of kit

[Mr Puffin]

Very nice

[Bevelhead]

I collected the block from the machine shop with its 1mm over size re bore, and then made a start on the engine cases. My original idea was to have everything vapour blasted.. cases, cylinder black, head etc, the work to be done by a specialist in St Helens. But it turns out vapour blasting isn't powerful enough to remove the original black finish, therefore the parts would have to be 'dry blasted' first, which costs more money, ok I thought, needs must etc. But I was surprised to be told that they couldn't dry blast the engine cases, as their blasting cabinet wasn't big enough. I was advised to go elsewhere to get the cases blasted and once the OE black finish was removed, then take it to back to be vapour blasted..

Well, I was in two minds about having a raw alloy finish anyway, so I decided to keep the engine black. Which in turn meant I needed to paint it... easier said then done..

Having read on here that Simoniz Tough paint was recommended, I bought a few cans of satin black (not cheap at £9 each), and made a start on the cam cover and sump. The former didn't need much prep and didn't take long, while the sump needed a lot more work to strip off the old black finish..

[Bevelhead]

That done, I turned my attention to the engine cases, having bought 5l of Gunk to hopefully make the job a bit easier. I don't know if modern Gunk has changed over the years, but it proved to be pretty useless in removing the old oil and grease from the cases. I found washing up liquid worked better, though after hours scrubbing away with tooth brushes and wire brushes, I had to admit I didn't seem to be getting very far. The problem is that the old oil seems to be hard baked to the surface, and is almost impossible to remove, particularly in between the cooling fins.

What I needed as to have them bead blasted, and as luck would have it I know a man with such a set up, who'd let me use it, for a packet of biscuits or two. However, I do have a slight worry that after all the time spent prepping, masking and painting the cases, the end result wont be durable enough to last unscathed in use.

Therefore I'm now considering having the cases and block ceramically coated by Camcoat (who are local to me), I've worked on an engine before which had this finish, and I was impressed how tough it is. its not a cheap option.. checking their website.. 4cyl cases are £250 and a cylinder block £65. Decisions decisions..

[Bevelhead]

I took the cases and newly machined block to a local specialist (http://www.camcoat.com) where they will be given a high tech very tough coating. I wanted satin black, but it was only available in gloss black, so that's what they are having.

This meant that my newly painted satin black cam cover, sump etc had to repainted to match. Pity, but thy would look odd left as they were. I used Simoniz engine enamel which gave a good finish, though no idea how durable it will be in use. But if needed, it'll fairly easy to remove them in the future and have those parts treated in the same way as the cases and block. While for the cylinder head I may have it vapour blasted and left unpainted, but not sure if that'll look odd or not?

[trikerdrew]

Sounds spiffing

shame the linky no worky

[Bobajob1963]

Hi bud good luck in doing it just finished mine z650 frame z900 tank vfr750 wheels and swingarm zephyr forks gpz1100 with fuel injection

[Bevelhead]

Thanks for posting, what mods did you do to the frame to fit the GPz motor? I see its been strengthened around the mono shock conversion.

Not sure when I'll be getting my engine cases back, probably not till this lockdown is over with.

[Bevelhead]

Anyone know why the pics don't show anymore ?