1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation - Almost finished

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

the motor looks gr8 where did you get your gaskits from did you get a full set ? did you do the valve stem seals ? and did you put in new pistions and rings ? i have not worked on my kz in about a year but i am going to get back to it soon your project gave me some motivation to get off my ass and get it sorted ;D gr8 work keep it up

I made my own gaskets for all the engine gaskets except for the head gasket which I purchased on ebay. I replaced the valve stem seals. The pistons and rings were in good shape so I reused them.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

I was originally planning on sanding the fins down on the black block to expose the shiny aluminum underneath. What do you guys think, should I do it or should I just leave it as is?

 

[kadavenport]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

I was originally planning on sanding the fins down on the black block to expose the shiny aluminum underneath. What do you guys think, should I do it or should I just leave it as is?

The engine already looks great, and sanding the fins down will make it look even better, as usual just my opinion.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

The engine already looks great, and sanding the fins down will make it look even better, as usual just my opinion.

Before I had painted the block I had sanded down the fins to make sure they were nice and smooth in preparation for sanding the fins after painting. I guess I am just worried that the paint might chip or something like that.

Also I plan to paint the valve clearence plugs and valve cver caps black. I think that should contrast nicely with the rest of the top end which is mostly cast aluminum in color.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

I still have not totally decided on wether to sand the fins or not but here are some updated engine pics

I also sawed of the knobs on the end of the clutch and brake levers and have started to sand them done in preparation for polishing

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

Here are some pictures showing the process of the mold creation

The plug waxed to ease in mold-plug seperation

Mold after being fully cured (made of about 4 layers of chop)

Inside of mold after some minor reworking

Mold covered in green partall film

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

So here is the final product, I am pretty happy with the results

Fiberglass seat still in the mold

Seat out of the mold with the green partall film still on it

Partall film being peeled of the seat

Trimming the excess fiberglass from the seat

Pictures of final seat mostly trimmed and cleaned up (the sides still need to be trimmed some more)

 

[Traveler]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

Make a mold of that before you do anything else!!!

Seriously....that is quality enough....you can sell those!

~Joe

 

[forcefanajd]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

http://dotheton.com/index.php?topic=12502.msg116875;boardseen#new

 

[jay_kent]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine


Engine soooo happy about the new seat. LOL

It's a lot of hard work to get that plug right, but the results speak for themselves. I spent hours with body filler on my seat and it wasn't 100% of what I wanted. I'm tempted to go your route. Great work on that plug and seat.

Jay

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

Engine soooo happy about the new seat. LOL

It's a lot of hard work to get that plug right, but the results speak for themselves. I spent hours with body filler on my seat and it wasn't 100% of what I wanted. I'm tempted to go your route. Great work on that plug and seat.

Jay

Haha, thats pretty funny Jay, it took me a couple of minuntes to figure it out but it does look a lot like a smiley face.

 

[noahdog]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

That seat came out sweet! Now we need pics of it on the bike. ;D I may have to have you make me one even if my gas tank bum stop seat turns out exactly like I want it just so I can trade off between the 2 seats as the mood strikes.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) -Rebuilt Engine

Yea it turned out pretty well, the only real problem I had was some warpage in the seat pan area but since I am going to have some type of cushion over it it won't matter much. I will post some pics of it on the bike soon. I also made sure the battery will fit nicely under neath the hump and it does.

 

[valvesprung]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

C'mon already all the KZ riders are itching to see it on the frame!!!! ;D

 

[thompsonmx100]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

Holy crap that seat looks good. How big is it? real quality work. You reckon the warpage was from the heat of the resin? Keep it up.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

Holy crap that seat looks good. How big is it? real quality work. You reckon the warpage was from the heat of the resin? Keep it up.

Probably, I know polyester resins experience more shrinkage then epoxy ones and since this was my first time working with fiberglass I decided to stick with polyester resin. The shrinkage can lead to warpage. It could also be due to uneven heating as you said.

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

Well here are the pics of the seat on the frame. Sorry about how crappy my frame looks right now but most of the parts are sandblasted and taken apart so it was not possible to show it on a rolling chassis. The specs of the seat are shown below:

Width: 8.5"
Length: 26"
Seat Height: 3/4"
Hump Height: 6"
Narrows to 7.5" in front of seat
Weight: about 3lbs

Battery located where it will be when the bike is complete

Battery under Cafe seat hump

 

[thompsonmx100]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

Hey that might work could you make another one? if so how much would you charge?

 

[slushie07]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

I have had a couple of PM's about buying a seat from me. I have enough supplies to make one more this last week of my winter break then I go back to school and will not be able to make any more for a while. When spring break rolls around I should be able to crank out a couple more of them. There was some slight distortion in the seat pan area about 3mm at the lowest point. I will try and make sure this doesn't happen the next times but it might. If you are planning on putting some type of cushion over it then it is no big deal but if you are going to go with just the seat then you might wanna reconsider. I am thinking about $100 shipped for the seats. Basically whoever PM's me confirming they want the seat first will get this one I am going to make in the next week and then all others I am willing to make them seats over spring break or at some later time.

 

[diesel450]

Re: 1976 KZ400 Cafe Transformation (First Motorcycle) - Cafe Seat Complete

Slushie,

I'm starting my seat build soon and I am going to copy your process, plug-mold-seat. I have a couple of questions.

You mentioned 4 layers of chop in your mold. I assume this is just shredded fiber glass that you lay on there and then pour resin over, do you let that partially cure or do you lay one right over the next while still wet?

Also, the partal film, is this readily available at like Napa? or something I need to go to a specialty shop for? and WHat is it exactly? a spray that drys to a film?

Lastly, why does your seat come out white? What did you add to the resin?

Pardon my ignorance, I'm new at the glass stuff.

Thanks for any help!