‘Announcing the arrival of …’

[Glen]

Nice work Brian. Looking forward to progress on this one, with the ZRX bits etc. Are you thinking of painting it in Eddie colours?

[JimZXR]

Looks like you're onto another winner Brian, hopefully it'll be on the road soon.

[greenman43]

Nice work Brian. Looking forward to progress on this one, with the ZRX bits etc. Are you thinking of painting it in Eddie colours?

Thanks Glen, although the real work is clearly yet to come

I'm not a massive fan of ELR colours, only because they feel a little cliched to me, and they're certainly done to death in the Japanese magazines I buy. That said, horses for course, my mate is presently getting his GPz1100B2 project repainted in ELR colours.

I'm leaning towards a basic black colour, although still quite interested in the original MK II scheme of royal blue with gold pinstriping. I"m looking to more or less copy the bike in the attached pic, which coinicidentally is on a US ZRX forum. The only thiing I don't like about it are the ZZR600 handlebars, I'll be using ZRX triple clamps with an old-style handlebar.

Cheers,
Brian

[greenman43]

Looks like you're onto another winner Brian, hopefully it'll be on the road soon.

Cheers Jim, purely for financial reasons it's going to be about 2-3 years, but I hope worth the wait ! If you're not using it, could I possibly get the ZXr engine stand back ? Thinking I might be able to modify it to fit this engine once it's on the road to rebuilding.

Cheers,
Brian

[farmer]

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy17 ... 40a26f.jpg

[greenman43]

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy177/grshellis/SAM_0839_zpse840a26f.jpg

Yours ? Very nice ! Not 100% sold on the front guard, though.

Cheers,
Brian

[farmer]

Yes it is mine. Started with several boxes of bits and a frame. It took four years and parts from many places around the globe. But I am very happy with the way it looks and rides. One day it will be boy racers'!

[greenman43]

Yes it is mine. Started with several boxes of bits and a frame. It took four years and parts from many places around the globe. But I am very happy with the way it looks and rides. One day it will be boy racers'!

Fantastic, great work I hope mine can look as good, and within no longer a timeframe !

Cheers,
Brian

[greenman43]

So, skip forward a step, and after last weekend the engine and frame have been separated - easy work when you have 3 faithful helpers who require only beer in exchange for muscle power

I'm relieved to discover that the crank turns freely, the pistons move up and down in their unmarked bores (a little carbon around the top of the sleeves, but I imagine that's normal), and I can't feel any rocking of the pistons in the bores (not sure if that's actually a valid test, mind you).

Piston crowns a bit oily, maybe it's an oil-burner ?

And this must be the original colour, under the breather.

A question for the knowledgable folk out there: is this discolouration around the exhaust cam area normal ? I"m guessing the motor has run a bit hot at some stage, and left a little burnt oil residue. Irrespective, a big oil cooler will be coming. Also interesting that there are a couple of grooves on the rear camchain tunnel - I'd imagine the camchain has run loose at some point.

The budget has stretched far enough for ebay to let me have a couple of bits this week, a replacement transmission cover and this neat lo-rise crankcase breather.

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No more activity for a while, I need to get the 10 running properly for PI.

[greenman43]

I’m delighted to report that I have finally regained some inertia with this project. Early last year I sold on the ZRX 12 swingarm to a mate (grunt33) and lost interest for a while, but I’ve had a recent resurgence of enthusiasm, and have started to gather parts again.

In recent weeks, I got myself a ZRX 11 swingarm (on reflection, I prefer the styling to the 12), ZRX triple clamps, chainguard, and handlebar risers, and a ZXR front axle. The clamps are a bit of a problem, as due to stupidity on my part I bought a 1200 upper and 1100 lower – with different offsets this wasn’t necessarily the smartest move in the world. I understand the offset is only 2mm different, so I’m bouncing round the idea of welding up one side of the hole and re-drilling it. The alternative is $85 on ebay, which could be the lazy and simple way out.

When I bought a pair of ZXR wheels and discs, I was given a ZXR rear caliper and mount, which turns out to be virtually a bolt-up to the ZRX arm (I suspect the caliper is identical other than colour). The ZXR caliper was a roughie, but a good clean and a squirt of satin-black caliper paint, and it looks ok.

Engine is a bit of a story, sadly involving an attempt to separate cases without removing every last bolt … you would all probably have heard the loud crack as the lower case irreparably cracked, followed by my anguished howls. Such is life. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for a set of cases, and have found some from a Mk II that I’m shortly going to look at and haggle over.

The aim is to have a more-or-less finished rolling chassis by Christmas: wish me luck !

Cheers,
Brian

[JimZXR]

Sounds like you're on to a winner.
If you're ever after that set of black or polished wheels I have I'm happy to swap for your green ones!

[greenman43]

Thanks Jim, I may well take you up on that.

Brian

[Gosling1]

sorry to hear about the cracked cases Brian - that is a shame. I think I know exactly which bolt was still in place when you tried to seperate the cases.... MkII cases are a bit thicker in many places and are good and strong - this was one of the improvements from the earlier z900/z1000 motor. The thicker casings were for noise reduction as well as strength.

That discolouration around the cam caps - it has definitely run warm during its life. A good oil cooler will sort that. Once the bore size gets up much past 72mm, its always a good idea to run an oil cooler, as the cylinder liners start to get a bit thin and transfer heat a lot easier into the block.

Not sure if you have gotten all the cam-chain replacement stuff yet ? The top idler and the other rollers which form part of the whole system ? With the cases split, its a great time to replace the cam-chain, just unbolt the crank support block and pull the crank, the cam-chain can then be slipped over the crank without needing to split and re-join.

Looking forward to some pics of the build as it progresses

[greenman43]

Thanks Gos, we live and learn; I just wish some of the lessons were a bit cheaper ! The bolt was the one in the starter well, I'm told that missing it and doing just this kind of damage is fairly common - interesting to know that there are plenty of other idiots like me out there ... Last weekend I sourced a set of Mk II cases from another former Z Owners Club members, Paul Andrews - not sure if you know him ?

While the motor is definitely going to be built very standard (perhaps just skim the head a little, although I'm always open to cheap suggestions), I'm planning to run an oil cooler for looks if nothing else - good to know it may even perform a useful function

Haven't done anything about internal parts as yet, was planning on rings and camchain, but happy to leverage off your experience: is there anything else worth changing while I'm in there ? Plus, re the camchain itself, is there a preferred name brand (eg Tsubaki) I should chase ?

Many thanks,
Brian

[Gosling1]

that is the exact bolt ! lots of punters either overlook it or don't take the starter motor out in the first place - it just sits in there hiding away from the world

The name sounds familiar - he was a member of the Sydney branch I guess ? I used to know just about everyone in that branch but over the years have lost contact with a lot of them......not sure how active the Sydney branch is at the moment.......

best bet with new bits is to replace all the small damper rubbers that locate around the cam idler wheels - there are a number of these, small black rectangular blocks - over time they harden right up and do no damping at all. The short front guide for the cam-chain usually needs replacing- be careful with the single phillips head screw, if this has not been replaced in the past it will still have factory locktite and could be hard to undo - I generally use an extension on the impact driver to get down to it and undo with the impact driver. Its in a prick of a spot to get out if you strip the head.....

the centre lower roller and the big roller on the rear run of the cam chain should be replaced if they show any deep grooves or other signs of wear. If they are still in good nick you can re-use these if money is tight. Otherwise - replace them. The big roller at the rear - which the CCT bears on - costs a bit but there is not much point in putting in a new camchain if this wheel is worn.

The top roller also has damper rubbers which should all be replaced. This roller runs on needle bearings and can develop a lot of lateral slop over years of use. If it still has minimal sideways slop and no play on the shaft that runs through the middle - it can be re-used. If there is more than a tad of slop - I would replace it as well. These parts are not cheap - especially that top roller. You can buy really good quality aftermarket billet rollers for these motors but they are exxy - good quality though - Liska.

Use a manual CCT - APE do a good one. This is pretty much mandatory. Tsubaki camchains are fine, you can use an endless one (need to split cases, remove crank - to fit one of these ) or you can split the chain and fit a joining link - I have done this heaps of times when only replacing a camchain and not splitting cases - as long as you do it properly, it works just fine

Apart from all that - as the motor is apart - things like valve-stem seals should be replaced as well. The end rubbers for the cam cover. Check the valve seats to see if any of them have sunk into the head. Worth checking the inlet manifold rubbers for deep cracks.

These are all the basics that need checking over, the other valve-train stuff like buckets and shims etc - is pretty much bulletproof and should not need anything except valve clearance done - especially if you get the head skimmed. There are taller cylinder-head nuts available which can be used if the head is skimmed more than about 20 thou and therefore sits lower on the studs - sometimes the stock nuts just won't torque up properly on a skimmed head because they run out of thread

If you need anything else just sing out - happy to help