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1981 Kawasaki KZ750 Resurrection

Finally got my butt in gear again. A couple weeks back I started to bead blast the engine case parts but was about to shoot myself because it was taking too long. :upset: Today I dumped the glass bead and slammed coal slag in the hopper.:devilish: Much better.:cool: The finish is a little rough but it's going to get painted anyway so no worry.

Oh, and the valve cover is from a KZ750 Turbo. No air injection junk on top. The oil pan is from a later model 750 that has the oil cooler outlet ports on the front. :D

P1010994 by nessism, on Flickr
 
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Seems like you have a collection of all the best bits there Ed.
Is that how the engine was when you got it, or did you go shopping for the cover and oil pan?
Those bits look good, slightly rough is good for paint adhesion I would think, the paint will smooth it out as it flows.
 
Bought the oil pan and valve cover off ebay Stan. Oil pans with the take off are dime a dozen. It took a good while to find an affordable valve cover though. Bought a cooler from a ZR-7. Will have to figure out the frame mounts. And speaking of frame mounts, Kawasaki rubber mounted the engine for '82 (I think), so that's one thing I wish I had. Would have required welding on the frame though so took the easy way out. Still thinking about it though...
 
If the difference between rubber and solidly mounted is that much different, I think I would do it. The cost to weld the brackets on can't be all that great. The rest is obviously just time and effort.
 
rustybronco said:
If the difference between rubber and solidly mounted is that much different, I think I would do it. The cost to weld the brackets on can't be all that great. The rest is obviously just time and effort.
Click to expand...

The problem Dale is that I'd need a frame that has the mounts to pirate from, or I'd have to fabricate them from scratch. The photos below show the difference.

P1010487_zpsf6590e2e by nessism, on Flickr

rubbermountframe_zpsfc5d03d3 by nessism, on Flickr

rubbermounts_zps5eaebae9 by nessism, on Flickr
 
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I figured fabrication shouldn't be much of and issue for you. The only thing is the lack of a welder.

Are those brackets steel only or do they have sleeved rubber inserts in them for a lack of a better term? It's hard to tell form that picture. If they are all steel, they should be relatively easy to make with nothing more than a hack saw and a bench grinder.
 
That mount kit would make the frame mounts steel.

See if someone on the KZ(?) site you frequent can get you some measurements.

The downside of the whole thing is it would be a shame to mess up your pretty paint job on that frame.
 
My 82 GPz750 has rubber mounts on the front,just the front mind you.The 750 cruisers are a variation on the Kawi 750 with shaft drive,not sure how much crosses over.I can do mount measurements if you like.
 
SVSooke said:
My 82 GPz750 has rubber mounts on the front,just the front mind you.The 750 cruisers are a variation on the Kawi 750 with shaft drive,not sure how much crosses over.I can do mount measurements if you like.
Click to expand...

Fishe shows the sporty/standard 750 bikes using rubber mounted front only, and the cruisers have four rubber mounts. The fronts look doable, but there's a lot going on in the back to attempt a frame mod for the rear mounts.

Kawasaki added a frame cross bar with two tabs underneath the front mounts. What is that for? I can imagine the need for a little extra bracing but what are the tabs for? Support the engine in case the rubber mounts fail?
 
Doesn't look like much but some progress.

Two coats of VHT engine paint primer followed by three satin black coats. Rattle can paint sure makes things easy compared to a spray gun. Scrubbed out the inside of the cases before painting of course to make sure all the grit was out. Generally speaking I don't recommend media blasting engine parts like I did because the grit goes into all the oil passages. The blind passages were plugged before blasting of course, and then liberal amounts of cleaner was forced through all passages regardless. Broke out the long engine brush kit and ran out every passage I could find. Should be okay. Going to bake everything tomorrow night. After curing I'll take some sandpaper to the DOHC highlights on the valve cover and skim off the paint. Good fun!:D

P1020001 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020002 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020003 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020004 by nessism, on Flickr

P1020005 by nessism, on Flickr
 
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Oh, and the Kawasaki engine case casting quality sucks compared to Suzuki. The surface finish was abominable; rough, slag everywhere, casting sprue removed with a hatchet (or similar), just plain sucky. I smoothed out some of the rough marks but lost patience and said F it. Good enough.
 
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LOL you should see all the spatter,slag and other stuff on a 83 GS750+ frame,the 78 1000 and GPz frames aren't perfect but are MUCH cleaner.
 
Ed, I know what you mean. The castings on my GS1000 were so crisply made. What impressed me the most was how clear the bolt tightening sequence numbers were.
 
Baked out the paint last night. Didn't stink as much as I was expecting. The instructions said 200F for one hour, which was done, except the temp was cranked up to 230 for the last 15 mins.

Blasting and painting the head and cylinder are next...
 
Blasted and painted both cylinders: original and cylinder from the spare engine. Need to decide pretty quick if I'm going to just re-ring, or put that big bore kit into play.

Had a little over spray inside the valve cover after painting, but brake cleaner on a rag takes it off pretty easily. Mind you, this is after baking the VHT paint per the directions. Not a fan of rattle can paint for this reason. Wish I knew what kind of paint was used originally. Kawasaki painted the engine inside and out before machining, and whatever they use it sticks well, doesn't flake, and is impervious to oils/chemicals for the most part. A far cry from this VHT rattle can crap.

P1020011 by nessism, on Flickr
 
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chuck hahn said:
Been following along Ed....looks awesome.
Click to expand...

Thanks Chuck!

When baking the cylinders at 200F a few of the liners raised up. Pushed them back down easily using a press at work; they are quite a loose press fit. Read on someone's KZ650 hot rod build thread that when boring liners such as these the machinist mustn't take fast cuts or the liner will spin in the casting. I believe it.
 
I put the jugs on a cookie sheet head side on the sheet. This keeps them setting all the way down when the case expands and loosens them up. Leave them as is and let them cool on the sheet and they dont move. Learned that lesson when I suddenly heard what I thought was the oven rack collapsing when I baked the 73 TX 750 jugs. Sat the jugs on the bottom of the liners and then they just popped up the top about 4 inches. Thought WTF!!!!!!

Grabbed the hot mits and sat the jugs on some 4X4s and then pushed the liners back down. Lessons learned.
 
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