Z1 as a project?

[MrDavo]

Look away now Roy, but you didn't have room for it anyway.....

The Hub came back from Inverness, the Timeserts were done the same day, and the box Fedexed back to me. Today I put new bearings in, and now it is off to Hagon's back in Essex where I bought the bike, for building into a new rim, with the spoke set I bought from France, so the front wheel is getting some serious mileage in even if I'm not.



It was too hot to work in the garage, so ever with an eye for a classy location, I set up in the sun next to the wheelie bins to refurb the clocks. they live in the cushion cover shown, for protection.



I fitted a new sub loom and idiot lights, and changed the ignition switch, so I have a key that works. I also touched up a couple of minor scrapes.



Sunday I got the frame out in the sun, and loose fitted all the hardware necessary to get the engine in, less the missing lower mount. I still haven't sourced one in the UK, so the one for sale in Ohio will probably be ordered this week. There was a choice of a chrome spacer bobbin or a nickel plated one, so I went for the stock look over bling. The clipboard has a copy of the relevant parts book page as a checklist.



There was no centre stand with the kit of parts I bought, after looking on eBay I realised there wasn't a lot of difference in price between a tatty old one and a brand new DoReMi stand, if you could find one. I tracked one down on German eBay, a quality bit of kit, it went straight on, no hassle.



This morning my glamorous assistants showed up to help me get the motor in. Brains on the left (engineer), brawn on the right (6'7"). We tried the conventional way lifting it in, but after getting it well and truly stuck, the engineer suggested we should be lifting the lightest part, so we lowered the frame over the engine. A bit of a faff, but it worked.

WARNING: You know the two 12mm engine mounting bolts that go into the tear shaped special nuts underneath? The parts book has them transposed - if we hadn't stopped to check after trying to fit a long bolt into a short hole, we could have punched through the crankcase!



Finally, with the engine in I get to tear off all the bubble wrap and tape, and see the freshly painted frame in all its glory. If you worry about the plastic crate being up to the job of supporting the weight, I rebuilt my Harley motor with the bike sat on that box!




 

[royhall]

Your right I don't have the room but I would have found some in the TARDIS garage. Check my rebuilds, all been done on a Warsteiner crate (classy) without any problems. Looking good so far.

[SteveD CB500K0]

When you can’t be bothered to clear the bench or get out the old Workmate, a wheely bin makes a great platform.


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[MrDavo]

Back at it over the weekend, I'm trying to make what progress I can before the car comes back from its body rebuild (which makes fixing bikes look very cheap) and uses up nearly all the space in the garage.

First job was the bottom yoke, on the first day I'd made a bit of a Horlicks of the unrestored one that came with the bike, failing to get the steering lock out, butchering the retaining screw with a drill, then  cutting into the stem while removing the original headrace bearing, so not a good start. I decided to make an offer on another at D&K, which already had the steering lock removed, plus a hole for the steering damper, which I've got. The stem bolts are horrible, but going to the chromers, with some other parts,  once I've dremmeled the manufacturer's marks off them. Here it is, freshly painted, with new lock and taper roller bearing.



Next, fitted on the bike with the top yoke and blingy mounting hardware.



I then decided I was going to fit the forks and headlamp brackets. I know from experience that all the time goes into the fiddly bits, but this looks like real progress. Unfortunately the forks didn't want to fit, I put the yoke over the centre stem, I could then fit one leg or the other but not both at the same time!
Starting to wonder if something was bent, or not actually off a Z1 after all - then I remembered an old IT saying - 'If all else fails, read the instructions'. Luckily I had these, Dennis (aka Spitfire) was kind enough to give me a genuine Z1 workshop manual that was hiding away in his attic.



The manual said to get the fork tubes so they were sticking out above the headlamp brackets by 30mm, lower the top yoke over them, then persuade the yoke over the steering stem. It wasn't easy but did work. Putting the bars on gave me leverage to wiggle, and looks good. Then I went to whole hog and fitted the clocks.



I'd have put the mudguard on too if I had the fastners, but I didn't. I did find a fitting kit for the battery box and seat latch, so I fitted them instead. Also I fitted a new set of inlet stubs, with new stainless screws, and the kickstart, which is pattern. I had an original one, which I was going to get rechromed, but on closer inspection, the splines were banjaxed.



I played with some electrics for a while, took photos so I could ask for help on the forum, and went inside to watch the F1 and order some fastners.

[Spitfire]

Glad the manual came in handy, better than going moldy in my loft, looks like you are cracking on with it, there's nothing nicer than seeing progress on a project like that, all them nice shiny bits coming together.

Cheers

Dennis

[MrDavo]

Well another weekend, another installment. I am going to have to slow down a bit I think, because (a) at this rate I soon won't have a project to play with in the garage, just another bike to worry about, and (b) the weekly spend on this project far outweighs the rate at which I can actually earn the money to pay for it. Still, I knew what I was getting into, and there's still the cost of an exhaust set to think about, as well as the small matter of the last installment to pay of my 911's long running body restoration.



I now had all the hardware necessary to fit the swinging arm, apart from the endless O Ring chain which I ordered from Germany. That arrived this morning, so maybe next weekend. Not having the special tool to hold the sprocket still, I have no idea of how I'm going to hold the sprocket still while I tighten the nut. I can use the back brake, but that involves having a back wheel, brake and torque arm, which is off to the chromers.

Also newly fitted is the airbox, oil tank and starter motor. Someone suggested that if I am to run the chain oiler 'dry' I need to remove the driving pin from the gearbox output shaft - well although I got the tank and pump with the bike, as far as I can see there is no pin there, so maybe it's just as well I chose to run an O ring chain.

I followed the measurements on the service bulletin on fitting an O ring chain, so I got a Z1B sprocket, the spacer for the rear sprocket, and ground 4mm off the lower bracket mount and bolt:



That refitted I am ready for the swinging arm. However without the chain my attention wandered to the front end, and I fitted the front mudguard.



Then the wring loom went on, I think I have the routing right to the right hand side of the headstock, please tell me if you know otherwise. That got plugged into the orange socket, and the turn signal flasher, at the front I attached it to the clocks and ignition switch plugs.



It all looks very Z1 from the front, I'd know those skinny forks and streamlined clocks anywhere.



 Finally I got curious about what would be left over for the lights and flasher once the switches got plugged in, so I fitted those. They are replicas, I think, but brand new. I think there must be a sub harness for the headlamp I haven't got.



I'm going to order the correct cable ties for the bars, as they do make a difference in my eyes. I'm just glad I don't have to start threading wires through the handlebars like you do on a Honda, although the result is so much neater.

Next I will be doing that swinging arm, also I may fit the new points plate and see if I can time the ignition. One quick question - which way does the lead from the points go to get to the coils? Photos I've looked at don't seem to show the lead going the obvious route, up the offside down tube, unless people are good at hiding it, does it go all the way around the rear of the engine and next to the main loom, or what?

[MrDavo]

Last night I put the swinging arm in, as the endless chain had arrived from Germany. I held the chain out of the way with a cable tie, my main problem was I needed 3 arms, or an assistant to put the spindle in while holding the swinging arm in the right place. getting frustrated I thought 'Ganesh (the Hindu elephant God with 4 arms) would be good at this'. Finally all in place I realised that the swinging arm was wider than the gap between the two exhaust hangers, and I had the swinging arm below it, out of reach of the shocks. Bad words were said, and out it came again. Finally.....

[MrDavo]

As my car came back from its major rustaration on Saturday, I had a to do a lot of reorganising in the garage. Fortunately, because I've been getting on with things, the Z1A takes up a lot less room than when it arrived in many boxes.

I was concerned about the carbs getting damaged, despite being wrapped in a towel, and decided that the safest place for them was on the bike, now I had all the manifolds and clips to mount them. Someone did a lovely job with them, they have been vapour blasted (or similar) and rebuilt with all new fastners and fittings. The slides look like new, or maybe they've just never been scratched by dust and dirt. I won't know until I have a running bike how well they have been set up, but Roger at Road and Race in Hyde has agreed to synch the carbs and strobe the timing on his diagnostic rig when it's all finished.

I had problems pushing them into the new carb rubbers, I knew I could see too much of the manifold for things to be right, and nothing says 'air leak' like permanently bluing a very expensive set of new exhausts. I took them off again, smeared some liquid soap inside the rubbers and had another go, they suddenly  went on properly with a 'pop'. Although I was very pleased to get a genuine original airbox with the bike, I also remembered why in the restorations I have done in the past, every single piece of plastic or rubber tends to get replaced, because it has turned to stone over the decades. One of the inlets from the airbox is only just over the lip of the carb intake, but I think when the wife goes back to work after furlough, her professional grade hair dryer may get borrowed for a while...

I can't find a plastic 'CHOKE' lever anywhere in the world, as they apparently don't exist, so I followed advice from the forum and got a Yamaha one that looks better than nothing.
 






This morning a pair of new BT46's arrived after I saw a very good deal on a pair the right size on eBay. Hagon have finished the front wheel so the tyre will go on when it gets back to me. I have ordered disc bolts and tabs, the twin discs will go on after I've mounted the tyre.

[MrDavo]

 I have fitted a BT46 to the new front wheel which had come back from Hagon. The first time I ever used proper tyre lube, boght cheap on eBay, left me wondering why I hadn't discovered it years ago, as the tyre went on so much easier.



Next was to fit the front discs. I knew I had a problem when I got the disc mounting bolts from Z-Power and noticed the label mentioned a special 1.0mm thread. While my hub in the past has had just a single disc, and so virgin threads on the offside, the threads in the nearside I could see were banjaxed, so at some expense I got Timeserts fitted in all 6 holes. Neither I or the shop that fitted them knew anything about a special thread, I doubt they do Timeserts in non standard threads anyway. Luckily Dave Marsden was a star, a quick exchange of emails and he had 6 suitable replacement bolts in the post to me.

Here we are, tyre on and discs fitted, this was all going too well. I'm not so keen on drilled discs, it all looks a bit cafe racer to me, but for now it is what it is.



Front wheel fitted in to forks, it all looks good but there is a mystery gap between axle spacer and fork. I will try putting in the lower yoke bolts, which are taken out ready for chroming, and see if it makes a difference.

[K2-K6]

"Front wheel fitted in to forks, it all looks good but there is a mystery gap between axle spacer and fork. I will try putting in the lower yoke bolts, which are taken out ready for chroming, and see if it makes a difference."

Try loosening the triple clamps and rotating each stanchion at a time to see if they are completely true,  or the gap varies as you rotate.

[royhall]

Yokes please.

[MrDavo]

A poster on the Z1 OC board has just informed me that my front wheel spacer, 27mm, is off a later  wheel (I got a Z900 A4 complete wheel with the bike, which I'm swapping for a Takasago rim with the right month code) the one I need is 30.5mm. That sounds about right, last night I measured the difference as 4mm.

Hopefully its as simple as that, and not bent bits.

[Lobo]

Wow - what a lovely project. Forgive my ignorance..... but what is the fluid bottle (?) mid-frame?

[Andrew-S]

Wow - what a lovely project. Forgive my ignorance..... but what is the fluid bottle (?) mid-frame?

That's the chain oil tank and an original is a very a rare thing, but a pain in the arse as just like the early CB750's it coated the rear wheel in engine oil. Kawasaki deleted it from 1975 on the Z1B.

[MrDavo]

There’s a genuine Z1 chain oiler oil tank  on eBay for £450, perhaps I should have some kind of lock on it!

I doubt I’m going to use it, for the reasons Andrew mentions, plus I’m using an (endless) o ring chain, but I also have the equally rare pump for the chain oiler system. Driven by a pin in the output shaft, it goes behind the small sub cover built into the ‘mission cover’ as the Japanese call it. The Honda system, that caught a bit of engine oil in a tiny ‘tray’ and flung it out of a hole in the output shaft was so much simpler, on my CB750K1 I didn’t use that either, I had an X ring chain.