Z1-A going back to the Grave(Diggers)

[Z903]

Bit of a lazy holiday going on, so thought I might annoy you all with my current project
It's a Z1-A that I picked here in Oz just about this time last year as a flat pack kit
I'll add progress updates over the next day or so to where she's up to currently.

Sooo,
Previous owner had it all stripped down for a rebuild that unfortunately never quite got there.
We just happened to be on holidays over on the big island (We live in Tasmania) when it came up, and there was no way on God's Earth it wasn't coming back with us So the frame was manhandled onto the roof rack and everything else rammed in amongst clothes bags and fishing gear.

[Z903]

Digging her out on the otherside revealed the frame heavily braced and lots to do. It had been bent and previous owner had it off to an engineering shop to straighten and brace.
He also had oil cooler mounts added at that time as well.
I made the decision that it was not viable to do a 100% restoration on this one and rather build a Stone replica bike instead.

[Philippe]

Hi Z903
THAT'S a basket case!
A completely stripped Z1A, with a strenghtened frame and lots of fun !
Looking forward to see your progress , good luck!
GrtZ
Philippe

[Z903]

Should have posted this pic....as the previous owner found her

[garyd]

At least you have a guide to what it should look like when you've finished

[Bill P]

What a cracking project enjoy

[Gonzo]

I like these threads, I find them very uplifting to see a once forgotten bike brought back to life.

[ADRIAN H]

How come I can never find a barn with a Z1 inside.
Lots of scope there to do your own thing.

Will be following this with interest. Keep them pictures coming.

[Z903]

The decision was made to clean up the frame and get it back to "reasonably" standard look.
Rear bracing had to go as I wanted to fit a standard airbox, also I didn't want an oil cooler hanging of it so those fitting went too
Thought I could live with the under tank braces and that front cross tube.
I also got hold of a cut off steering damper bracket and added that

[Z903]

Off to the blasters we went....blasted, primed and painted

[RAYZ1]

Looking good , what did you paint it with ?

[Z903]

Looking good , what did you paint it with ?

Standard old 2-Pack Gloss Black

[Z903]

Engine was a complete basket case, torn down to it's smallest components Way past anything I felt comfortable putting back together.
The state of the valves kinda says it all....not much chance of lapping them in. lol
Luckily we have a Z guru a couple of hours from here and he agreed to do the rebuilding for me.
So off I toddled with boxes and bags in hand to see the master

[Z903]

While the engine was away it was a chance to get on with sorting the rest of it.
Took a bag of parts off to the zinc plater and made a start on the wheels. Hubs had been painted Black but some old fashioned elbow grease along with a good amount of paint stripper and things are on the improve.

Cleaned up the front hub and gave it a fresh coat of satin black, then back to the rear hub parts to scrub them back to alloy again.

Hub painted.jpg (50.71 KiB) Viewed 11314 times

[Z903]

Finally got all the old paint off and onto the thankless job of polishing things up
Got the rear hub shiny along with some other parts while I was in the mood. Forks are from an XL350K0 I'm also playing with.

Hubs polished.jpg (50.86 KiB) Viewed 11315 times

The bike previously had a front end and calipers from an A4 but retained it's original wheel and twin Z1 discs...one of which is the right date code for the bike
Managed to source a set of Z1 fork lowers locally and got stuck into them as well.

Forks polished.jpg (157.93 KiB) Viewed 11315 times