I have a 1976 KZ400 D3 that I bought about a year ago. I am currently in college and so I have very minimal time to work on it during school, and some time over the summer. I have been slowly plugging away on the bike since I got it. I was stupid and didn't take any pics of the bike when I first got it, but it was in relatively good condition. Here are some pics of how it stands now:
The tank has been mostly stripped and I pounded some knee dents with a dead blow. The weird color difference is from where I initially had hand sanded off the paint and in other places used aircraft remover.
The tires are in pretty good shape, so I probably won't replace those too soon.
I recently chopped the front fender and am pretty happy with it, but I am not sure what I am going to do about painting it. I have tried sandblasting the chrome off but my sandblasting setup is not very powerful and had no effect. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a close up of the brake caliper after glass bead blasting.
I would like to drill the rotors but I am still looking for a cheap drill press on craigslist. The forks, engine sides covers and gauge housings will all be polished as well as some other minor pieces.
I had painted the crankcase with duplicolor engine enamel, but that was before I bulit my blasting cabinet, so I plan on blasting off the duplicolor and appling VHT high heat engine paint as I have heard it is a better product. I plan to blast all the engine pieces that will be painted and apply VHT silver to the crankcase, and head and valve cover and breather cap. I will apply VHT black to the block. The frame has also been sandblasted, but I am still working on grinding off some of the old tabs and welding up a new battery box that will be placed under the hump of the cafe seat I will build out of fiberglass.
As you can see I have a long way to go but any tips, tricks or comment are greatly appreciated.
The tank has been mostly stripped and I pounded some knee dents with a dead blow. The weird color difference is from where I initially had hand sanded off the paint and in other places used aircraft remover.
The tires are in pretty good shape, so I probably won't replace those too soon.
I recently chopped the front fender and am pretty happy with it, but I am not sure what I am going to do about painting it. I have tried sandblasting the chrome off but my sandblasting setup is not very powerful and had no effect. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Here is a close up of the brake caliper after glass bead blasting.
I would like to drill the rotors but I am still looking for a cheap drill press on craigslist. The forks, engine sides covers and gauge housings will all be polished as well as some other minor pieces.
I had painted the crankcase with duplicolor engine enamel, but that was before I bulit my blasting cabinet, so I plan on blasting off the duplicolor and appling VHT high heat engine paint as I have heard it is a better product. I plan to blast all the engine pieces that will be painted and apply VHT silver to the crankcase, and head and valve cover and breather cap. I will apply VHT black to the block. The frame has also been sandblasted, but I am still working on grinding off some of the old tabs and welding up a new battery box that will be placed under the hump of the cafe seat I will build out of fiberglass.
As you can see I have a long way to go but any tips, tricks or comment are greatly appreciated.