Kawasaki Z400J1 Restoration

[Laverda Dave]

Time for an update and things have been moving on apace over the past week.

I got the cases, barrel, head, cam cover, cam chain tensioner and exhaust collars back from I-Cleenz last week. They have done a fantastic job of the vapour blasting and they do know what they are doing, they left all the internal bearing surfaces well alone just giving the inside of the cases a light going over to remove the residue. All the oil ways were sealed with rubber bungs and when finished everything was cleaned with very hot water and compressed air. The quality of the engine painting is also fantastic and many, many hours were spent by the painter in masking-up. I still cleaned everything three times again when I got them home just to be ultra safe.

On with assembly and everything went back in smoothly with the exception of the countershaft bearing that despite being placed in the freezer for two days and the cases heated refused to go in easily resulting in me making up a suitable drift on the lathe. I used a very thin smear of Hondabond on the cases to join them. I then lifted the bare crankcases in the frame, gez it was heavy, Kawasaki like to make their castings thick and heavy!

On with the pistons, rings and barrels, no problems apart from the pattern gaskets (High Gear, they were the only ones available) not having the cut out on the l/h side as a genuine gasket would do but to be honest I cannot see what the cut out is for, there isn’t an oilway or holding stud anywhere near it and the gasket fits either way up, it’s absolutely symmetrical?

On with the re-assembled head (just a light hand grind of the valves was all that was needed and I 'knocked back' the paint on the top fins at the sides to expose the alloy) and gasket. I didn’t use the High Gear supplied head gasket but an Athena gasket as I trust these, and then on to the cam timing. Haynes explains this subject over three solid pages of text and I had to read it four times to get my head around it. All went well and the timing appears to be spot on.

Today will be spent running the main loom before installing the air box and my least favourite part, having a wrestling match installing the carb bank into a tight fitting space without damaging the surrounding paintwork!

I called the painter today who is still preping the tank, hopefully I should be able to collect within the next two weeks.

I also recieved the overhauled speedo and tacho from Peter Horton, utterly superb, like new, fantastic work from Peter, I can see why he's the 'go-to' man for this type of work.

I have to mention Z-Power, what a great supplier they are. Always willing to speak on the phone, parts appear to be a lot cheaper compared to DSS for the same type of part, ‘normal’ postage charges apply AND...with next day delivery. I ordered a tacho oil seal, a pair of mirrors, oil filter and a couple of screws at 3pm yesterday; they were here at 10am this morning. I’ve had to wait over a week for DSS parts to arrive and that’s after paying the £5.95 standard delivery charge.

[Laverda Dave]

More progress over the past three days whilst the sun shines and I can still hide in the garage before all the fun begins again in May and I can sit in a pub!

The valves were timed and the cam cover replaced along with the clutch, oil pump, sump pan and transmission cover. I had to buy a 'universal clutch holding tool' in the end as I couldn't get in to lock the engine any other way and I didn't really like the idea of wedging a piece of wood in the drive gear and then applying the 97LB of torque. At least I now have another useful tool in the collection!

Closing the engine up allowed me to install the wiring loom that takes on some strange twists and turns along the frame in order to avoid the airbox. This was followed by my least favourite job, installing the carbs and airbox. Unlike the Honda 400/4 the airbox on the Kawasaki has to go in first making the already tight space for the carbs even smaller! I got there in the end with the help of some WD40 and a mug of tea!

On with the side stand and its Heath Robinson cut out switch arrangement. There are three springs to the side stand together with a sliding bracket and a shaped flat washer that both fit in between the mounting fork of the side stand. All the holes then have to line up to get the main bolt in. I thought installing a side stand would be a ten minute job, it actually took two hours to set up and adjust as I had to remove a lot of the powder coat to ensure it was a sliding fit. 

Next jobs will be to install the instruments & headlight, completing the wiring, bleeding the brakes and maybe turning the engine over without the plugs in to build up oil pressure.

[AndyD]

Dave,
That's looking fantastic - a really nice looking bike all round.
Agree with the carb fitting pain - I can never understand why they couldn't allow a little extra space to allow carbs to be pulled back out of the stubs etc. without a full-on wrestle every time.
All the bikes I've done have had this to varying degrees and I found the 400/4 the easiest so far but still not easy.
Looking forward to seeing the Z400 finished.
Cheers,
Andy

[Piki]

Thank you friends, if you need a sticker and I can help you, do not hesitate to contact me, do not buy through my Ebay Link, since due to what you already know since the beginning of the year VAT is being applied automatically to all customers in the UK, if you need something ask me from the forum.
Best Regards.

I've recently bought a full set and seat stencil from you via ebay Piki - didn't want to appear cheeky contacting you via the forum - I'll know for the future!

Noooo, any member of the forum is welcome to contact me privately, you will also have better prices than Ebay and especially now due to the famous #@%$
Best Regards

[royhall]

You have my sympathy with the carbs Dave, I just refitted my GS1000 carbs that have the exact same layout. Why do they design them millimetre perfect when a 3mm smaller airbox would make the job easy. I used some swearwords that I hadn't heard myself, not a fun job and takes all the enthusiasm out of the project.

[AndyD]

Agree Roy,
On the GS1000 and the GSX1100 carb fitting was far and away my least favourite job.
Always feels like you're going to bend or damage something - or do yourself a mischief straining to get the bloody things on or off.
Cheers,
Andy

[Laverda Dave]

After an eight week wait I finally received the new registration document from the DVLA. I must give them credit as they were very good in contacting me for proof of ID rather than just rejecting the application.
I got a number plate made up and fitted yesterday.
Today was the first ride and it went like a dream, very smooth and turbine like, no noise at all, no doubt as a result of the very thick engine castings compared to a Honda 400/4.
I think the bike will now be sold as the BIL doesn't have a motorcycle license and I have enough bikes to look after! Surprisingly to add the bike to my existing insurance policy only cost an additional £6 (+£20 admin fee).

[philward]

That looks really nice Dave - great job

[AshimotoK0]

That looks stunning Dave ... wonder if it will end up back in the 'Land of the Rising Yen'  as Eric Trode used to say. 

[4wDaz]

Very nice job, whats the values like for the 400 ? I’ve a Z650 to do but I don’t like to put more into a bike than I can get back out of it but the 650 prices seem low at the minute

[smoothoperator]

Great looking bike Dave. Looking back through older posts it was interesting to see how similar the insides of the engine are to the Honda 400/4. Much beefier looking cam chain though.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Impressive looking build Dave.