1984 Katana 7/11

[Guest]

Hey Larry, yeah all good here but no progress unfortunately. Still waiting for the seat to get done (upholsterer has been crook) and got delayed getting the 450 seat ready for him. Just finishing two weeks' leave from work but had to enclose the back deck, so nothing done at all unfortunately.

I'm still hoping to get the seat back in time to get the frame etc. powder coated before Christmas but time is fast running out.

 

[Guest]

Still no sign of a seat, so I figured I'd move on and get the shed ready to paint in and start on the calipers. At least I can make some progress that way.

So, first step with the shed is to finish up the little temporary expansion bit so I've got some room to move around while spraying. Bit hard to get a photo of as there's not a lot of room, but when the doors open out there's a little section of wall that will slot in between the two doors, and a little section of roof that will go on top of that area.

The little wall section is just a frame at the moment, need to get some cladding for it.





I've yet to work out how to attach the roof when it's up there and it needs to go on a bit of a slant, but you should get the idea at least.

It's also hard to show but the extra room this provides is impressive!



Then last night I put a loaned caliper piston tool to use and got the calipers mostly dismantled. Even with that I couldn't do more than rotate the front pistons, so I'll have to try the compressed air next weekend. The rears came out easily.

Definitely need a paint job and a rebuild! Hopefully I can order the bits this week.

 

[ShadowFocus603]

I did compressed air trick when I rebuilt the calipers on her 750L. Just be careful. A little air goes a long way. I used too much and damn near hurt myself when the first piston shot out and did a 7 point ricochet in the garage.

 

[Big Rich]

Yep - plenty of potential for disaster when you use air. You have a good head on your shoulders though Pete.

I recently had to rebuild one of my 6 pot Bandit calipers. Trying to get a single piston out at a time can be near impossible, so I cut up a thin piece of wood. One side had a notch cut on the outside (so only the outer pistons could come out), and the other side had a notch cut from the center (for the middle pistons to slide out).

 

[Fjbj40]

Put the caliper in a sturdy cardboard box. When the piston pops it stays in the box as does any residual fluid.

 

[Guest]

Cheers guys, I had to do the compressed air trick on the 450's caliper and I stopped the flying piston by stuffing a rag in front of it, worked well!

I got a hot tip to persevere a bit more with the front caliper pistons though but still no joy on those yet. Sprayed a heap of Inox around the seal and in from where the banjo bolt goes and used a block of wood to push the pistons back in to try to break any grip left on them. I'll keep persevering with them during the week but if there's no success by the weekend I'll break out the compressor.

I took the front master cylinder off the Kat last night and tore it down as well. Not in bad shape but looking at the state of the rubber bits and the little bits of corrosion starting here and there I'm definitely glad I'm rebuilding it also. It also lets me paint the mirror mount bit black along with the rest.

At least now I know the piston and cup set I got a while back is the right one too.



I also ordered the front piston sets and caliper axle boots, a rear master cylinder piston and cup set, and the 84 GS1100G rear piston set from our friends at Mick Hone yesterday (matching part numbers for the Kat seals). The rear set isn't in stock but once it arrives we'll get to see if the gamble pays off with it being the same as the Kat set.

In case you're not aware the rear caliper piston set is NLA from Suzuki but the seals and boots on the 84 1100G (and a few other models) are the same part number, so given how Suzuki likes to share bits between models I'm taking a gamble that the pistons are the same as well.

 

[IanC]

Cheers guys, I had to do the compressed air trick on the 450's caliper and I stopped the flying piston by stuffing a rag in front of it, worked well!

I forgot to put a bit of wood in front of the piston once and stopped it with my sandal-clad big toe. That was pleasant.

 

[Guest]

I bet that tickled!

I always wear my extra tough safety thongs so I should be fine...

 

[Guest]

Firstly, Merry Christmas you lot!!! Hope you have a good and safe day and get lots of cool stuff under the tree! Kat stuff preferred of course

This has been distracting me a bit... between last Sunday and yesterday morning I now have the temporary roof and wall bits done, just need another coat of paint and some latches or whatever to hold them in place when they're in use. Still can't easily show the extra space it gives.

Still need to work out how I'm going to seal it while spraying but that should be the easy bit.





I finally got a chance yesterday to give a borrowed master cylinder a shot, and yep, both pistons out nice and easy.



They're both actually in pretty good condition, but I still wouldn't take the chance if I knew it and would rebuild them anyway. Plus, this way they can get a shiny new paint job.

 

[gs scott]

Merry Christmas Pete!
Awesome project!! I'm sure enjoying watching another Kat come to life. Keep up the great work!!

 

[Guest]

Cheers Scott!

I'm enjoying finally getting some progress going again and can't wait to get that shed ready to paint, calipers and master cylinders will be the first things done ready to rebuild once the various bits arrive for them.

 

[Guest]

A little disappointed this morning... was watching a genuine GSX1100 manual and the Kat supplement on eBay, no bids sitting at 99 cents so I waited up all night to get them cheap... seller ended them early so I missed out... I knew I should've put an early small bid in! Oh well...

While I haven't touched the Kat as such, I've been concentrating on finishing the shed ready to paint stuff like the calipers.

The end where the shelves are needs to be protected, so I put a bit of a frame work up and screwed in some press stud bases.



The best colour tarp I could think of was silver (never seen a white one), so I started putting the press studs on it so it will seal that end up as well as possible. Not finished obviously!



I've also had a re-think on the fan/filter idea. Given I'll only be doing occasional paint things in there, I think my big plans are just way too much and overcomplicated, so I'm going to do something a lot more simple.

I'm thinking I'll build what will basically be a recirculation box on top of the compressor cabinet, and in there will have a fan and some paint booth filtering material. It'll exhaust back into the shed but I'll do that through an activated carbon filter (like in a range hood).

I'll also put an inlet filter of sorts into the temporary wall piece I made for the extension so some fresh air can get in rather than just recirculating the same air.

I know my original plan of positive pressure and inlet and outlet will give the absolute best environment to paint in, but it's way too much overkill and is going to keep taking way too much time from the Kat. It'll also be a waste once the Kat is done.

Also, with this method, I don't have to be so paranoid about making sure the shed is 100% sealed unlike a positive pressure environment. It still has to seal well to keep the fumes in and I'll have to make sure I get it pretty clean before painting, but at least they won't be forced out.

 

[Guest]

I've forgotten to mention I spoke with the seat guy last week and he had an operation so more delays with the seat unfortunately. He's back on light duties already so hopefully won't be too much longer before he's back in action fully. I'm not going to hassle him while he's still recovering though.

I got a present in the mail yesterday... caliper and master cylinder stuff! Ordered these before Christmas but the rear piston and seal set was back ordered so they were a bit delayed.



The box has the rear piston and seal set which was the big gamble... does the kit from the 84 GS1100G work for the Kat caliper?



Sure does!! I already knew the seals and boots were the same part number so surely the piston was the same, and yep it is. I didn't note the measurements but I used the verniers to measure the height, outside diamter, inside diameter, groove height, etc. and they are all the same. Nice to have a win!



Next step is to prep the calipers, brackets, and master cylinders for paint.

The shed's getting closer... put an exhaust fan in as an inlet fan in one of the doors to get fresh air in. I put some fly screen on the outside to stop the bugs getting sucked in and got some cheap universal air con filter material for the inside to stop the dirt and dust getting sucked in.





I thought I had my recirculation box pretty close but a pedestal fan motor just won't drive a belt driven fan, so I found an alternative on eBay dirt cheap instead so I'm just waiting for that to arrive.

 

[Big Rich]

That's good news on the brake parts Pete. And that fan in the shed will make a huge difference!

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Man, i love this build

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Where did you order the caliper rebuild kit?

 

[Guest]

Cheers guys! Yep Rich, while the fan doesn't move a huge amount of air it will definitely keep some fresh stuff coming in, and hopefully combined with the recirculation box filtering out the overspray and fumes it should be a much better environment than I had in the garage when I did the 450.

Brandon, I get my genuine parts from a dealer down in Melbourne over here called Mick Hone. They are *the* best to deal with in Australia for genuine Suzuki parts and in particular Kat parts as Mick Hone himself used to race.

I also received this in the mail yesterday, exciting!

Paid a little more than I wanted but after missing out on the cheap ones on eBay the other week I didn't want to miss the opportunity again.



And it includes the Kat section!

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

You cant beat the service manuals. Im a tech at my local chev dealer and all of our manuals have been transferred to online but watered down, i like to go up stairs from time to time and grab one of the old paper manuals when im working on an older vehicle

 

[Guest]

Yep, there's nothing quite the same as being able to flick through those pages. I have my old work laptop here and a soft copy, but it's just not the same. I have a re-print for the 450 I bought on eBay and it's now well used.

 

[nvr2old]

Bump.. I just couldn't watch your project move off the first page, Pete..caught it just in time..now get back to work..