1984 Katana 7/11

[Guest]

Haha cheers Larry! Unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time lately. It's been way too hot to think of doing anything at night as well. I at least got a motor sorted to run the fan for the recirculation box, just need to finish mounting that up and get the box sealed. Then I can get back to prep'ing the calipers and master cylinders for paint. Sounds quick and easy but probably not... they're predicting 38 celcius (100.4F) for Sunday which is the next chance I'll get, so not sure how much I'll get done.

 

[nvr2old]

Holy crap..100 degrees! We have 3 feet of snow right now. I can understand why it would be difficult to get anything done in that kind of heat. I always look foreword to your progress, though, Pete. I'll be patient.

 

[Guest]

The humidity has been the biggest issue, stays warm at night and you're sweating sitting still...

Anyway, hopefully I can get at least something done tomorrow. I'm looking forward to getting back to the point where I can do at least one little thing each night like I did on the 450. That helped get some good progress done.

 

[Guest]

Well no Kat progress done but I completely surprised myself by getting a bunch of stuff done on the recirculation box yesterday.

I got the filter cages sorted, motor mounted up, another of the internal walls done, and the motor room door on.

All that's left now is the left internal wall where the belt channel goes through, some bits at the top of the front, and some sealant then she's ready to roll as soon as the filter material arrives.

It's not the prettiest but I'm just using whatever offcuts I have left around the place.

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Well no Kat progress done but I completely surprised myself by getting a bunch of stuff done on the recirculation box yesterday.

I got the filter cages sorted, motor mounted up, another of the internal walls done, and the motor room door on.

All that's left now is the left internal wall where the belt channel goes through, some bits at the top of the front, and some sealant then she's ready to roll as soon as the filter material arrives.

It's not the prettiest but I'm just using whatever offcuts I have left around the place.

This is a serious case of "when life gives you limons, make lemonade" love it man

 

[Guest]

Haha cheers mate, yeah gotta make the most of what little space I have available. I won't be spraying in there constantly but it's got to be effective all the same.

 

[Guest]

I had the opportunity to do something a bit different yesterday and went with a mate to meet a fella called Joe Marshall for the first time. Joe's retired now but did me a huge favour and inspected my crank which was awesome.

For those who don't know, Joe Marshall is *the* guru in these parts for GSX/Kat motors (plus others of course) and is highly respected amongst the drag and road racing communities and just in general.

Turns out the crank isn't too bad after all, but does need some minor adjustments. The rotor end is the worst but spreading the webs there should sort that, and the timing end needs a small adjustment also. Other than that, the bearings and rods all got a clean bill of health. Happy days! Just need to have a chat with another mate to see if he's keen to do some truing for me or help me do it.

Aside from that, I left Joe's place with my eyes bulging and jaw on the ground... there is some amazing stuff there and his wealth of knowledge is immense. I think my brain was full a few minutes after arriving...

 

[thebrandonbeezy]

Thats awesome news pal!

 

[Guest]

Yep sure is! Pretty happy with that news especially seeing as I have no idea on the history of this motor.

 

[Guest]

Well I finally received the paint booth filter material from Hong Kong on Friday. It arrived in Sydney on the 27th January...

Anyway, that let me finish up the recirculation box at long last. Whether it does what it should do is a different story, but at least now it's done. I got all the gaps sealed up and added weather stripping under the motor room door then put the filters in.





When not in use I'm taking the filter material out and sealing it up in a plastic bag, which I did after the photos.

Then I put the Kat in her new home to give me room to move in the shed...



...and got started on the brake components.

I need to repair the rear master reservoir where the threaded hole broke out trying to remove the remainder of one of the screws.



First I needed to drill the remainder of the screw out, so I made up a jig of sorts to hold it nice and flat and steady.



And away we went.



I'll need to clean it all out thoroughly then I'll build it up with some JB Weld and drill and tap it. I need to find out if I can get a new sight glass for it first though as the one in there is buggered.

Then back to the shed where I assembled all the various components ready for paint stripping.



Some stripped reasonably easily, others will need some more attention yet.



So glad to be getting stuck in again!!

 

[nvr2old]

Nice to see you back at it, Pete. Always look forward to progress on your Kat.

 

[Guest]

Cheers Larry, it's good to be back into it!

 

[Guest]

I got a second round of paint stripping done yesterday, this time using a wire brush instead of a scraper.

Still a fair amount of paint to be removed from some parts so I think the wire wheel on the drill will come out to finish the job and begin the prep for paint process.



Then I formed a bit of a mould from some thin aluminium to repair the broken post in the rear reservoir and coated it in anti-sieze.



And built it up with JB Weld.



Went down after dinner last night and the anti-sieze did its job and let me take the aluminium mould out so now I just need to let it cure and I can drill and tap the hole again.

 

[nvr2old]

JB Weld is such a versatile product. Love the fact it can be tapped and threaded. I imagine you're going to smear just a bit over the joint to fill it in..?

 

[Guest]

Yep Larry, very handy! My plan is to dremel it back smooth with the original post, the bottom of my mould sat away from it a little which is why there's a ridge there as there'll be an overlap on the outside of the post.

Drilled and tapped...



Success!



All that's left to do is run the dremel over the JB Weld as above to smooth it down in line with the original post which I'll do hopefully on the weekend when I can make a bit of noise.

 

[nvr2old]

Oh, I see what you're saying now about it being held out a bit..that makes sense to me now. That's a pretty rough lookin' master cylinder on it's way back to being proper. Nicely done, Pete.

 

[bobgroger]

Harbor Freight glass bead cabinet was the best money I ever spent. Just sayin

 

[Guest]

Cheers Larry, as long as the JB Weld holds after sitting some brake fluid in there I'll be happy. And I believe I have a source for a new site glass also so it should come up real nice with a lick of paint.

Bob, that'd be nice... but that stuff ain't so cheap over here. It would be handy though!

 

[SVSooke]

I picked up a DIY blasting cabinet for $25 by scanning the local Craigslist alternative.There was one for $50 recently to,it was done to plans and a bit better than mine.You would need a higher CFM compressor to,my 2 (real)HP just keeps up to my blasting needs.My older one similar to yours wouldn't cut it.It really is a step above removing old finishes and corrosion.

 

[Guest]

Ah yep I recall seeing your blasting cabinet on here Greg, very handy! I don't quite have the room for something like that and yeah definitely would need a bigger compressor. I had to sand blast some steel reinforcing to fix some concrete cancer on our back deck and that was somewhat challenging with my compressor. No way I could blast even small components with that.

But it's all good, I'm happy to put the effort in to clean this stuff up by hand. The biggest issue will be the frame but I'll get that sand blasted and powder coated for me when I can.