Club Restoration

[Bill Newman]

Time for the next instalment - better than Eastenders or Corrie.

The next job was to get the frame ready for straightening - I had put a straight edge on the down tubes and they were about 2-3mm bowed out of true



Seastar(the firm that did Dr Rods Z) advised that the frame must have cases fitted for jigging - these were supplied courtesy of Duane(DDZ900)



The cases fitted easily



Ready for the jig...



Seastar advised that the headstock was 12mm out of true(to the left - at the bottom) and short in the trail by 5mm. It is still short by 2mm but they did not want to pull it anymore. Not to worried - it should turn in like a ZX6R now

Before taking the frame to paint I blinded all the threads with bolts to save cleaning afterwards with taps



The frame was then taken to Simon(Flying Tiger) for bead blasting, bracing( much like on this diagram), welding repairs( those bastard centre stand bolts had cracked the frame lugs) and two pack black paint work



Spare tubing provided by Steve(Ginger Bear)



It should all be back with me by late March. This gave me the chance to box up the polishing - which is now with Mikey



At this point in time the bike was spread across the four corners of England - the engine in Hull, the cases in Manchester, the frame in Norfolk, the paint set in Bury St Edmunds and the polishing and plating in Bristol. The clocks had gone to Al Marshall.



They were in a terrible state with covers concealing the earlier repairs to the right hand side damage - they were odd, one having different internal colours, different needles and different lettering. I was not sure which was the replacement. It got worse when I turned them over to strip off the sub frame - a woodscrew held the cover on



After this, I found the previous builders idea of damping





And best of all his idea of fixing...



I will put a further update on later when I upload the latest pictures

[Bill Newman]

Got home late one night to find a box on the table followed by one of those conversations...

What have you bought on ebay?

I haven't bought anything on ebay...

Well, what is in the box then?

I don't know - let me open it

Moments later I have the box open and the contents unpacked. Turns out it was the clocks back from Al Marshall - they had only been sent off a few days earlier.

What a fantastic job he made of them:






Which then produced the response - have you bought new ones?

[Flying Tiger]

Clocks look great Bill! It'll be brilliant to see this go back together with all the parts so well refurbished! Si

[MCZ900]

they do look new lol

[Jappen]

Clocks look great Bill! It'll be brilliant to see this go back together with all the parts so well refurbished! Si

Seconded
Looking forward to se the bike ready Bill

[Bill Newman]

With all the main components away I could now turn to some of the smaller items requiring refurbishment. In the recent cold snap it got to -17c one night and was -5c during the day. To use Zed Man's expression it was bluddy cold in the garage



But I soon got toasty with the aid of my little workshop heater



I knew that the carburettor exhaust had been giving off a lot of debris and had removed it from the bike some time ago. A strip down revealed that the foam wrap had completely disintegrated





Everthing was very dirty



So I polished the alloy casing



I had ordered some flame resistant 15mm foam from the internet - £4 for a big piece. I have loads left over if anyone needs any, and wrapped it around the core, using stic-atak to keep everthing in place



then cleaned and polished the rubber outer casing - this took several attempts to get right but it is there now





Next job - rebuild the rear shocks.

[Zed man]

That looks the nuts. Just what i need for mine, same thing. I could do with a bit of foam wrap, for mine please. I think you know my address? lol.
P.s Switches out to you mid week.

[Bill Newman]

No probs Zed Man.

I do have your address and will put some in an envelope on Thursday night and post for the weekend.

Make sure when you cut it that you measure the outside diameter not the inside

Bill

[KwackerNut]

Hi Bill

Looking forward to seeing the finished bike.

I'm with you on the eye watering prices for parts. After a rebuilt engine, and lots of missing parts when i bought my Z1B as a rolling chassis with several boxes of bits (most of them useless), i don't dare add it all up. However, I'm still wearing a smile following the successful MOT on Monday and a few hundred miles of riding - its great !

Good luck with the rebuild mate.

Jim

[Bill Newman]

Hi Bill

Looking forward to seeing the finished bike.

I'm with you on the eye watering prices for parts. After a rebuilt engine, and lots of missing parts when i bought my Z1B as a rolling chassis with several boxes of bits (most of them useless), i don't dare add it all up. However, I'm still wearing a smile following the successful MOT on Monday and a few hundred miles of riding - its great !

Good luck with the rebuild mate.

Jim

Thanks for the encouragement - anyone that quotes Breathe as part of their signature must have good taste and good judgement!!!!

[Zed man]

Bill, Nice to see a A4 getting the full treatment.( i have one in the same colour)
If you could get your switches off, and sent to me (with return postage cost) i will refurbish them for you ...free of charge! (clean out a re-greased and re-painted) I restore suzuki gt750 switches, but could cross over to zed switches too. Pm me for an address. as long as no parts are needed. ZM.

Bill has asked me, to put my photo's on, his post on the clubs site, as he has put all the restoration photo's on there, as he is going along.
He was thinking of buying, reproductions switches, but wanted his one's refurbish, just as i asked if he would like them done! Lucky that?

They could do with some small black plastic slides (the one's with the small white line) but bill could do that anytime he's ready! What do you think for a first attempt?










j

[Zed man]

It posted twice. this one removed.

[DaveZ1]

Carefull Zed man, with work like that you'll get them all to do
Better than new

[Bill Newman]

Carefull Zed man, with work like that you'll get them all to do
Better than new

Dave - You are right. The photos do not do the finished article justice. I think the light and flash is too bright. In daylight they look just like the original article. The switches themselves now lets the rest down. Zed Man replaced the bodged wiring, put on new sheaths and heat shrink and cleaned up the block connectors to the point that I thought that they and the covers were new. The colour in the wording and on the kill switch is exactly right - I am really lucky to have had them done to this standard. I wanted to keep them rather than replace with patterns because they are date coded and match the bike: July 1975.

[Bill Newman]

In my post of 12 March I said that my next job was to rebuild the rear shocks. These are Koni Dial-a-Rides and are well suited to the bike and a "heavy" rider such as myself

The shocks have black painted springs and are quite corroded and I wanted to get a more authentic look without buying replica shocks which would not perform as well.



First job was to get the shocks dismantled





Then check out the damping and repaint the damper rod seals





The aluminium tops, collars and adjusting rings had seen better days too







A quick polish and buff has made them respectable








I managed to find new chrome plated progressive springs from Ikon - supplied through Norman Hide. Ordered on line responded to by email within a day and arrived a couple of days later. Excellent service and a nice item

This is how they were delivered



The bare spring awaiting fitment



and fitted



Both are now finished and ready for the bike



Went to Bristol last week and collected the polishing, plating and zincing.

Will post those picture in the next couple of days.