1981 Kawasaki KZ750 Resurrection

[Nessism]

Got the top end installed but didn't take photos yet. Soon...

Had a visitor at the door this evening. A man from across town brought me a package with my missing parts! The PO delivered to his house instead of mine. I didn't ask why he waited so long. Oh well, now I've got spares.

[Nessism]

Bottom end is together. It was quite the jigsaw puzzle. Had to backtrack a time or two to make sure I put it together properly but think I got it.

P1020648 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020647 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020646 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020645 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020649 by nessism, on Flickr

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[Nessism]

Looking good Ed.

(by the way - If I missed a call from you the other day let me know. There was no message so maybe it was a butt dial!)

Sorry Dan, thought your number was Costco pizza! Oops.

Happy to report that I got all the damper parts. Finally! Bike Bandit sent me the invoice saying they were sending one piece but as I was opening the package I was thinking/hoping that they sent two and I got my wish! At any rate, the engine is going back together and I'll put up some photos tomorrow. Happy days!!

[salty_monk]

Looking good Ed.

(by the way - If I missed a call from you the other day let me know. There was no message so maybe it was a butt dial!)

[chuck hahn]

I just wrap a tshirt rag tightly around a finger and use acetone to wipe off the raised areas. I polish first, paint, then wet wipe the unwanted paint off.

[Nessism]

So are you saying you sprayed the " Kawasaki" and the raised portions then sanded the color off ?

Yes on sanding off the paint. VHT is quite brittle and you have to be careful as you feather back the paint to the edges of the letters. I used a paint stick and wrapped it with sandpaper (I'm spacing out and forgot the grit level already, but it was something like 220).

[Vmass]

Awesome job on the engine cases!!

So are you saying you sprayed the " Kawasaki" and the raised portions then sanded the color off ?

[Nessism]

Got a shipping notice from Bike Bandit today. Not to be fooled again I check the shipped quantity and low and behold, ONE piece. Damn! Still gonna be one piece short.

[Nessism]

In addition to ordering those damper parts from Partzilla I also ordered them from Bike Bandit too. BB supplied 4 of the needed 8 parts right away, and listed the others on backorder. Some people bash Bike Bandit but to me they are the fastest and most responsive OEM parts source.

Fast forward to late last week and I get an email from Bike Bandit notifying me that a shipment is coming. My missing dampers! Parts arrive yesterday and low and behold 2 dampers, not 4! Damn! Still waiting...

[Nessism]

Been itching to get back to work on the engine but still don't have the parts I need. The damper rubber parts that USPS lost are on national back order so no clue when, or if, they will come back in stock. Not happy. The PO has not responded to my inquiry and I spent 40 mins at the local PO trying to get answers. I had two USPS deliveries on the same day; one at 3PM and the supposedly delivered parts in question, which tracking shows were delivered at 4PM. Right there it's obvious that we have a problem.

Partzilla was denying the issue but has now changed their tune and wants to replace the lost shipment. Problem is the parts are not available. At any rate, I've removed them from the $hit list since they are trying.

P1020644_zpsvv6mpyqf by nessism, on Flickr

P1020642_zpsnkr0phir by nessism, on Flickr

[Wallowgreen]

Had a few packages delivered in this manner from Amazon when not a prime member and using free shipping. Think it's called UPS "smartPost" or something like that, obviously some cheaper alternative to actually using UPS door to door. My experience is tracking info is as you'd expect while the package is in the hands of UPS but non existent when handed over to USPS. Again by experience it can take a minimum of two days and up to five days to be delivered after USPS have got their hands on it. Never had one go missing though.... yet!

[Nessism]

Still waiting on parts, damper rubbers for the secondary shaft cushion hub in particular.

Ordered from Partzilla. They use a shipping method where UPS delivers the package to the local PO, and then they are responsible to get the package to the door.

Long story short: tracking shows delivery, but no package. Two days later tracking is updated with "updated delivery date" (that same date), but again, no package. Only thing I can figure is they delivered to the wrong house but the recovery hasn't gone as planned.

Sent a message to Partzilla and they say "tracking shows the parts were delivered" (the first date). I told them this was wrong and that USPS updated the delivery date to something else, and they keep coming back to "tracking shows the parts were delivered". Very frustrating. They won't even acknowledge that a mistake has occurred, and they clearly don't believe me when I tell them there is no package.

My only hope at this point is for the PO to find the package. Partzilla doesn't care and have washed their hands. They won't even assist in filing a lost package claim. Not happy.

[jsandidge]

That looks great. Wish I'd tried the DA. My hands are still hurting.

[Nessism]

Still waiting on engine parts. The one part that's a must have is the last to arrive.

Keeping busy none the less. Did one of my least favorite parts of the restoration: polish the engine cases. Kawasaki, in their infinite wisdom, doesn't clearcoat engine covers, like Suzuki, so the corrosion sets in DEEP.

Restoration process included the following:

- Glass bead blast the cover. Was hoping this would remove the corrosion pitting but no. Had to go to step two...

- DA sander with 220 grit paper to remove corrosion pitting- Jim (Posplayr's) suggestion, and a good one

- Sisal wheel on buffer with black cutting compound, Not going for a mirror polish job, so no need to use rouge compounds and fluffy buffing wheels.

- Mothers polish by hand (quicky job) to remove any buffing marks.

- Mask and paint the background color with VHT engine paint. Baked the paint for an hour and then used sandpaper to highlight the lettering.

They are not perfect, but good enough. Can't seem to find the piece that goes in the center of the sprocket cover. It will turn up before the bike is together though (hopefully).

P1020637 by nessism, on Flickr

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[Nessism]

Thanks Dale!

I've been putting the engine together but had to pause for parts. O-rings, cush hub dampers, those sort of things.

Putting the engine together has been like figuring out a puzzle since it's been awhile since I took it apart. Think I've figured everything out now though.

I'll throw a couple photos up later today showing progress.