1981 Kawasaki KZ750 Resurrection

[mottyl]

Nice!!

That is an awesome job on the frame. Good work.

Chris

[GSX1000E]

It looks much better than they ever did when new. Good job!

[Nessism]

I can't wait to look at your work in hi-rez. Did you use just the minijet? Or did you use the EGA along with it?

Dale, used the Minijet to shoot the black. The DeVilbiss touch up gun was used for the primer. Greatly prefer the "cup on top" design of the newer guns. The older guns leave paint in the cup, are harder to clean, and drip when you tilt them too much.

[rustybronco]

Dale, used the Minijet to shoot the black. The DeVilbiss touch up gun was used for the primer. Greatly prefer the "cup on top" design of the newer guns. The older guns leave paint in the cup, are harder to clean, and drip when you tilt them too much.

I greatly prefer the gravity feed guns of today as well. I did convert my old MBC to a dripless cup years ago with a brass elbow and some brake line tubing. Took the worry out of shooting a horizontal panel.

I zoomed in on the frame. Some very nice work. Loved how close you got to to the vin label.

[Nessism]

Dale, the VIN sticker has a clear mylar over the top which overlaps onto the black. I trimmed it back to the edge of the white label. The mylar is starting to lift in places so going to see if I can carefully remove it. We have similar mylar's at work to use as a replacement.

The paint looks decent, but not perfect. Hit all the little brackets and tabs from all angles possible to get paint underneath. Getting paint behind the steering head area was a real challenge. At any rate, it's done.

[SVSooke]

Nice work there Ed.Think my 82 GPz might be a bit rougher looking.Think they changed the 82 GPz to Mikuni's but I didn't really take a good look

[salty_monk]

Got the chain. It's gold. Didn't know that. Oh well.

I have a 530 chain on the shelf for the skunk which I'm due to fit in the near (ish) future. Can't remember the model but it's a decent one & not gold. Think it's an X & is definitely a DID, RK or something.

If the lengths match up we can swap if you like. Gold will look ok on the Skunk with the gold trim... and you're the "stock" guy not me

Let me know. I even think I know where it is in the garage... quite the achievement after the move last year!



P.s. let me know when the engine is going back in... I will come help. Don't want you to scratch that new paint!!

[ron bayless]

looks ok so far.

[Nessism]

Reworking the wheels this weekend. Decided to try Gun Kote since it's supposedly durable and chemical resistant. Main concern is removing all the old paint first since this material is designed to be applied to "white" metal.

Started by bead blasting the polished surfaces (band around the rim and the edge of the spokes) to remove corrosion. Next was polishing with a sisal wheel and heavy gray cutting compound. After that the polished sections were masked and the wheel went back into the blast cabinet for more blasting, this time to remove all the old paint. Tried using coal slag in the cabinet but the flow is too slow. Switched over the aluminum oxide and it's working better, but visibility in the cabinet is worse. Can't wait to finish these things.

Also going to try Gun Kote on the brake calipers. Will shoot them as soon as things warm up a little.

[Nessism]

Gunkoated the calipers as well as the wheels.

Not too happy with the gloss level. To bright. Not bad enough to redo them though. Color is "Satin Black". Anyone see any satin in this coating? Oh well...

P1010523 by nessism, on Flickr

P1010524 by nessism, on Flickr

[SVSooke]

I do but it is a glossy satin for sure.

[Vmass]

Fantastic work Ed.

I should pick up a spray gun......... is the minijet the brand name?

[Nessism]

Fantastic work Ed.

I should pick up a spray gun......... is the minijet the brand name?

Thanks for the props Rich. All those restorations you have been doing is inspiring me.

My "good" spray gun is a Sataminijet. https://www.sata.com/index.php?id=mi...=11#ad-image-0 Bought it a few years ago. It's a regular minijet, not sure what changes they made when it went to "3000 B" model. Prices on these has shot up quite a bit since I bought mine. No way I'd pay retail now a days. At any rate, having spray equipment is a "must have" in my opinion.

[MrFreeze60]

Awesome work on the rebuild. She will be sweet when she is done.
One thing I would have done is to clean up those welds a bit. At least get some of the high spots down. I know most of it will be covered with the tank and various parts, but I like a clean smooth weld. Just me I guess.
I'm going to start on mine in a few days getting her ready for the summer riding. I will get some pics up hopefully this weekend.
Again congrats on a sweet rebuild.

[Nessism]

Bought some "All Ball's" wheel bearings and tried to install them yesterday evening. Note the word "tried", maybe should be "failed". Pounded in the first bearing no problems (or so I thought). Drove it all the way in until it seated on a machined shoulder in the wheel. Kawasaki wheels use a snap ring as a safety retainer, and when installing the second bearing realized the first was in too far (by about .100"). Tried to push it back using the only available way, pushing on the inner race, and wound up destroying the bearing big time by dimpling the races. My fault all the way.

So now need a new bearing. Just for kicks, took one of the old bearings, which similarly had the inner race pounded (only harder), and cleaned out all the blast media grit and old grease. Low and behold, it's silky smooth. KOYO bearing company makes some seriously good $hit. No comparison. Going to repack this thing and slam it in.