75 KZ400 Break it Loose!

More painting! Side covers have all been painted (still need to be cured). Started cleaning up some of the aluminum accent pieces too. Used 600 grit, scotch brite, followed by Flitz metal polish and they're right in my wheelhouse. Not too much shine, not too dull either. Hard part is going to be keeping them that way!
I hit them with a gloss clear right away and immediately grabbed a rag with thinner and cleaned them off. Going to try flat clear on the bare aluminum pieces. Just a dusting really, to keep my greasy fingerprints at bay.

Also got lights installed in the spray booth.





 
Okay! I've got the engine 90% complete! I'm going to wait until the engine is in the bike for the final time to install pistons/cam, as I think it will be easier to install the engine into the frame staring with only the case, then build the engine up once in the frame.

I might need to replace an engine stud. The threads a teensy bit boogered ( the nuts turn, but with a small amount of resistance). May just try getting a die on it also.

I managed to lose one of the "D" shaped orings between the jug/head, so I'll be dishing out $9 for one of those.
That said, I'm moving onto carbs. Everything in the photo is what was included with the bike.
I plan on getting these cleaned/rebuilt and put on the bike to get it running. There's a possibility that I'll switch to mechanical carbs at some point, but for now, these will do.

The first carb is already in the dip.

I found out that one of the rubber pilot jet plugs is missing. Anyone have a good source? I'm scouring the net now..



 
Alright! Stock carbs are 95% rebuilt after a couple modifications down in the bowls. I couldn’t source any nitrile plugs to cap the slow jets, so I tapped the top ¼ of the tube and threaded in a ¼” brass plug and slotted the top.
I also couldn’t find main jet springs, so I used E clips and a spring to hold them in place. Neither of these solutions were my idea, but both seemingly worked great.
I have Keihin PE 28 mechanicals on the way, but I wanted to get the stocks in good condition to sell.
A set of used KZ1000P intake boots will be modified to mount up the new carbs.
I’ll modify all four to fit, so if anyone is looking for a set of KZ400 boots, let me know!
I also have forks from a KZ440 on the way (2” taller) and 1” taller rear showa shocks (used) coming in too.
Forks have been partially disassembled. Need to fashion a broom handle to hold the back of the allen nut at the bottom. That’s on the agenda for this evening..



 
Looking at 2" higher front and rear. Also started to set up the Keihin PE's, love these little guys.
Rear section mocked up in photoshop. Will end up laying it out in fiberglass.

 
DohcBikes said:
Swing arm angle is not gonna work. Put the chain on and see what I mean.

+1
You have to raise the forks in the triples about an inch to make the 440 forks work.
The KZ400 already has a relatively tall seat height to start with.


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Finally had a chance to keep things moving.

Found 1 over shocks for the rear.


Made a plate for mounting the new (smaller) headlight.




Welded up the tail section with steel tube. As the fiberglass cowl will be squared at the rear, so is the tail section.



Frame taped up for glassing. Since I'll have the actual seat pan separate from this, I added a small tray for tools/plugs.



Stage one glassed!



Shaping the tail with floral foam (wear a respirator!)




Glassed in! Still need to dig the foam out, make the seat pan, and make the cowl that will go over the tail to clean things up


 
Thanks!
Wanted to drop an update of where I'm at. Moving behind schedule, but that's okay.

I've got the rolling frame put back together to see how everything fits. May need to lower the front a tad. Some of the lines aren't coming out the way I had anticipated, so I'll be revisiting (headlight is too high/proud for my taste). I've ordered a slightly smaller bucket. We'll see how that fits up.



Cut down the fenders and got a bracket welded in to mount the rear to the swingarm. I'll need to adjust the angle a bit to match the wheel, but I'm on the right track.


 
On the stand, outside, for final assembly.



Bottom half in. realized I had lost one of the sleeves to hold the cylinders in place... $10 shipping for a 20 cent piece...



Plate mocked up in the tail



Tank and tail. Starting to look real again!





Totally underestimated how long running wiring would take. Learned a ton though. Used all of my down time during paternity leave to run wires!



Tank on the bench with fresh lines!



Annnnnddd!





Started on my second attempt! Been taking it for a couple rips around the block. It's REALLY rich at `1/4 throttle. I have larger needles on the way for the keihin pe28's. Hopefully that will get me in order.

Big bike show this weekend, and I'm hoping to ride it there!
 
wow!!that paint job is awesome!

may i ask you how you proceeded on the striping?I tried this too but always had ugly edges where i had the taped eges...is there a trick that the edges become nice and clean?

thanks in advance!
 
sorry i missed this! There are a few keys. One - use the right tape. Use a good tape intended for automotive paint masking. Second, back paint before laying down new color. If you're painting a black stripe on a white tank, mask of the region you want to be black, then hit the area with a coat of WHITE. This ensures that any paint that would have crept under the tape will be the same color as whats underneath it. Then, when you go to spray black, the first white coat will have sealed off all the tiny areas under the tape that the paint could have crept through. Finally, light coats! Put them on as dry as you can. Wet paint can sneak. Nice dry coats dry fast enough that they don't have time to sneak under the tape. Hope that helps!
 
Great tips on back paint, cheers. Doing my seat and tank in a few weeks with some stripes, that tip is going to be priceless.
 
Wow! Fantastic job on the paint! Did you spray it with an HVLP system? It looks professionally done. I suppose experience with the airbrush goes a long way.
 
Thanks guys!
I used an HVLP for the base green coats, but everything else was done with an airbrush.

I have plenty of experience painting helmets - this is the first full bike I've done though.
 
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