Z1000A1 Restoration

[Philippe]

Hi men
as announced last sunday (12/07/20) I started the restoration of a Z1000A1.
It will be a bit of a special: standard look but cast wheels and perhaps a 4 in 1 exhaust.
The 4 in 1 will depend on the fact if I can find an original left hand muffler or not. I have the right hand one and the downpipes but no connecting pipe or a left hand muffler. So if someone has a left hand muffler and/or a connecting pipe for sale they want to part with just send a PM.
I have almost all the parts to make her complete, just a few little things are missing but I'll find those somewhere.
After completion and after I'm sure she runs and rides as she should, she'll come up for sale .
I already have a Z1000A1 in my colletion so...this one will go.

As usual I start with the engine.
The upper crankcase had an issue with the lugs where the starter motor is attached. They were broken off some time in the past so they had to welded and the threads needed to be repaired.
That was done by a pall who knows how to weld aluminium. Thank you Freddy!

I usually put a new endless camchain on before the crankshaft goes in the upper crankcase.

Then the gearshafts and the kickstartershaft go in .

The gear selector and the forks go in the lower crankcase and the two cases are assembled.

Don't forget to put a new oil seal between them!

Afterwards the outer gear selector and the cover are mounted. New oil seals are mounted. Don't forget the tiny O-ring on the outgoing axle behind the bushing where the front sprocket is mounted !

After a few hours the lower engine is completed and now it's time to mount the other parts.
That'll be within a few days.
I'll be back!
GrtZ
Philippe

[TiBolts]

This is great to see since I will be rebuilding my engine soon. I also had one of the starter motor fixing lugs broken off...
Look forward to seeing it completed!

[deka]

the finish you get on the cases that i know you do by hand is exceptional

[Philippe]

Hello men I'm back
the engine will have to wait until the new piston rings arrive from Germany.
The gap between the two ends was 0,75 mm. Too much to mount them again so the cylinders will be honed and new piston rings will be mounted.

I decided it was time to do something about the " issues " of the frame...
See for yourselves:

Oh oh...

You can see right through the passenger footrest brackets...not good, not good at all!
OK, something must be done to repair them.
So I decided to grind them off and to replace them with good ones.

One off, one to go.

After 15 minutes of fear, the two brackets were off the frame.
The frame tubes are not damaged, only a bit rusty.

..to be rusty or not to be rusty, that's the question

More to come soon!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hi men
an update on the frame:
- rear footrest and exhaust hangers welded on the frame
- the old paint mostly removed of the frame

the partally cleaned up frame

the rear footrest and exhaust hangers welded on

I made a jig in wood and took some measurements before I removed the exhaust hangers from the donor frame so it would be easy to attach them on the new frame at the correct place.

the wooden jig

A long M10 bolt was used to attach the hanger on the wooden jig.

the long bolt

Two pieces of wood were attached between the rear frame tubes to find the correct place

the two wooden pieces

As you can see : it's no rocket science, anyone can do these things.

More to come !
GrtZ
Philippe

[Martin B]

Nice work. Did you fabricate the new exhaust and foot rest hangers?

[DavidZ1R]

I had the same issue with the hangers on my 650 resto, I got Tony from Pitstop Motorcycles in Leigh to do the repair, cut the back out, plated the front, filled with weld, new plate on the back, never know, did a great job

[thebuelligan]

Fantastic work!! Really inspirational

[Philippe]

Hi men
the next episode:

- the frame is painted

fresh paint

- a lot of frame parts are painted, those that need the "glossy" look

frame parts painted "glossy"

Painting parts is always a bit of a challenge. You have to make sure you can hold them when painting and you have to make sure you can hang them to let the paint cure. In the mean time you must take care that, when you paint the parts, you don't forget to paint a spot. After all you can't spray behind a corner, the spray of paint goes straight ahead . It' s always turning the part around and up and down to see behind all the corners.

Now it's time to prepare the other frame parts, those that need the "dull" black paint.
The brake calipers were allready painted, now it's time to prepare the wheels and the disc rotors.
That'll be for a next time.
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hello men

I have some progress on the engine and on the frame.
The new piston rings arrived and were mounted on the pistons and those were mounted on the crankshaft, the cylinders were honed and
mounted over the pistons.
After that I couldn't resist to mount the engine in the frame so see for yourselves...

the engine is in the frame

Before mounting the engine I placed the SSK400 conical bearings in the frame.
The top and bottom shell of those were mounted in the yoke tube.

the top shell mounted

When mounting the conical bearing on the yoke you should take care of some precautions:
-the correct way of mounting parts: first the big flat washer, then the rubber seal and afterwards the bearing.

the correct way of mounting parts from left to right

-use a lot of grease to lubricate the steering stem and the tapered roller bearing.
-use and old shell to place on top of the new bearing

the old shell on top of the new bearing

-take a hammer and slide along the steering stem left and right to get the new bearing at the correct place

a gentle knock on the left hand side

and a gentle knock on the right hand side

-make sure the rubber seal sits correctly centered so it protects the bearing against water and dust

The top tapered bearing is a peace of cake to mount, here again,use plenty of grease.
A handy tool for giving the big nut the correct tension without damaging it: the tool to change the preload of the spring of the rear shock dampers.

a handy tool

So, that's it so far.
I'll be back soon.
GrtZ
Philippe

[chrisNI]

Good progress Philippe

[Philippe]

Hey guys

I made some progress the last week.
At the front of the bike:
- the front fork was cleaned, polished and given a clear coat
as usual I use the nylon brushes to clean it and the white rubber brush to polish it
a string of "scotch brite" is used to give it a bristled look

the string of "scotch brite"

- the clear coat had to cure for a few days and this morning was baked in the oven.
- the front fork was then assembled and mounted in the yoke

the front fork mounted

- the handlebar switches were painted, assembled and mounted on the handlebar

the original Z1000A1 handlebar

- the handlebar was mounted
- the clocks were assembled and mounted

it starts to look like a Zed

At the back of the bike:
- the swingarm and the rear shock absorbers are mounted.

the swinarm and shocks mounted

- a new endless chain was mounted at the same time
- a grabhandle with "ears" found it's place

the grabhandle with "ears"

Now I'm waiting for the BT46 tyres to arrive. They should be here next week.
A bit more patience, the old lady is almost on her wheels again !
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hello men

because I'm waiting for the tyres to arrive, I decided to do some work on the engine.
It was time to mount the cylinderhead and camshafts.
Most of you have done this and know how it goes. For those who never tried to mount a cylinderhead and camshafts I took some pictures.
You start with mounting the dowels on each side of the cylinder block, you put the front and rear sprocket with their rubber parts and with the camchain tensioner in the cylinder block and don't forget the O-ring around the camchain tunnel.

just before mounting the cylinder head

Don't forget to mount the carburettor intake rubbers, it's easier now!

much easier on the workbench!

Now it's time to mount the cylinder head.
After you put the head at the correct place you can start with the copper and steel rings. The four copper rings go on the outside, the steel rings on the inside.

copper and steel rings in place

Now it's time to fasten the cylinder head nuts. They must be done in a specific order, the first time at a torque of 2,5 Kg, the second time at a torque of 4 Kg.
Then it's time to put the camshafts in.
Before you do anything else: put the number 1 and 4 piston at the top dead point. You can do this by turning the crankshaft and look at the ignition timing advancer. The "T" must be aligned with the mark . This is very important and something you have to check before every further step.

the "T" mark

Start with the exhaust camshaft. Pull the camchain taut and put it over the camshaft sprocket.
Make sure the mark on the camshaft sprocket alignes with the upper surface of the cylinder head;
If that is OK bolt the camshaft caps 1 and 2 in place. Do this gentle and equal at both sides. Push a bit on the camshaft to release the strenght on the bolts.

the exhaust camshaft in place

Now it's time to mount the intake camshaft.
Start counting 28 pins of the camchain and make sure that pin is on the "28" mark of the intake camshaft sprocket.
If that worked out you can mount the number 3 and 4 camshaft caps.

the intake camshaft

Mount the cenrte sprocket,

the centre sprocket

mount the camchain tensioner and activate it by releasing the M6 bolt.

the camchain tensioner

Take a 17 wrench and turn the crankshaft around, do this several times to be sure that the timing is correct

check, check, check !!!

If the two indentations on the side of the camshafts face away from eachother and they are aligned with the top of the cylinder head, you did ste the timing correct!!

the indentations

See you next time!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Philippe]

Hi men
it's been a while since you heard something about the project but here it is:

- the BT 46 tyres arrived, they were mounted on the wheels and now the old girl is back on her wheels again.
- I had a lot of work on the body parts, the paint of the fuel tank, the side covers and the tail was completely stripped, dents were filled up with filler, an adhesive primer was applied on the plastic parts and then base coat was applied and a thin clear coat.
- last friday I received the decals and they were applied to the fuel tank and on the tail after the clear coat was grinded with wet and dry n° 2000.
- during the weekend I recovered the seat and mounted it on the frame.
- I hope that the temperatures will rise over 15 °C so I'm able to apply a clear coat over the body parts.
I took some pictures of the decals. I have a Z1000A1 fuel tank and tail with the original paint and decals on it so I used those as a reference to apply the new decals.

the blue and the red fuel tank

You need simple tools to apply decals. A bit of water with a few drops of dishwashing soap to moisture the surface where you want to put the decals. A few adhesive ruban to use as reference marks , a piece of rubber to wipe the water away and a hobby knife to cut the decals at the correct place. You allso need kitchen paper to dry the decals after applying them.

the "tools"

This is the result. Just a few days to allow the decals to dry completely and higher temperatures to apply the final clear coat.

the result

As soon as I have more news I'll let you know!
GrtZ
Philippe

[damien.wrl]

I am sure the photos are great, can’t see them now