1975 Kawasaki Z1-900 Restoration

[Jeekinz]

First thread! ?

This was my Fathers 75 Z1 he bought new the same year I was born. It was stored in his garage (2nd wife didn't want him riding) for 14+ years. He passed in 97 and when the bike saw the light of day it began to deteriorate pretty quick. Surface rust popped up everywhere and the clear on the tank lifted, any of the zinc plated hardware/spokes tarnished. So I tore it down a few years back and finally getting around to restoring it.

Original brochure

Me and my Pops in 76?

The bike before teardown

This is how it sat for 3 years?

[Jeekinz]

And finally some progress:

I picked up a small sandblaster from Grainger, works "ok". I had some clogging problems until I installed a water seperator. Still took a while. The frame is stripped and in primer. I should have it painted by the end of the day. I ordered new rims and spokes so I'll rebuild the wheels and polish the engine while the paint cures. More pics to follow.

[Jeekinz]

Primed and painted with PJ1 epoxy frame paint. Never used it before but their OEM frame paints were pretty good. Powdercoating was out of the question since the frame tag was still in tact.

Made a polishing station out of an old motor I had. Found the arbor at Lowes on sale for $0.25! Bought 2.

Polishing & cleaning

Nasty wheels, spokes and rims on order.

[dfeckel]

What a great project! Keep it up. When you're done, you'll have a beautiful, tangible connection to your father. Make sure you never get rid of it.

[Jeekinz]

Thanks!

I just ordered a zinc plating kit from Eastwood. It got great reviews and will save me a TON of money in the long run. It only costs $70, alot of the factory parts were zinc plated.

[shrubitup]

Good project there.

[Jeekinz]

Thanks.

Moving along....

[Jeekinz]

Got a little more cleaning done today, and remembered to bring the engine mounting hardware.

New plugs and mounted the coils. Still waiting on more paint to arrive so anything that's painted black is on hold. Which is a total buzz kill right now.

Took the carbs apart and they were worse than I thought. I got the bodies cleaned, you can see the difference with the nasty bowls. New kits on order.

The hub is cleaned and polished along with the brake. Cleaned and greased the brake pins, cleaned the inside of the brake and installed new wheel bearings.

[scalejockey]

NICE!!!!! My dad had a new 900 kz and latter had a 77(?) 1000. In 1981 that i rode it a bit when i was in high school.Man,the things that i did on that thing! A buddy of mine and i would ride it,he'd sit back on the passenger rest and i could wheelie forever.. I almost had my licence taken away by the state. OH man those were the days!

[MEANDMYDRZ]

Very cool! How cool is that with the connection to your father. I'm looking forward to the updates on the rebuild:thumbsup:

[APE Jay]

If you are going to go inside the motor, bookmark this site; http://kzzone.com/

[R.D.]

My best friend had one brand new in 75. It had insane power for the times.

[martinfan30]

Very cool! Hows the build going?

[Jeekinz]

Sweet, I got some audience now. ?

I just got back from the Dominican, catching up on things then getting back to the bike.

I laced the rear wheel before I left but the new rim was messed up. I got the replacement rim, more paint and the carb kits so I should have some pics up in a few days.

The engine is fine besides a leaky shifter seal and the fact that it's been sitting for most of it's life.

Can't wait to fire this bitch up.

[Jeekinz]

Messed around with it a bit today. Got some small parts like little brackets, battery box, etc. painted. Still need to clean/polish the drive side of the rear wheel. So much work just in that one wheel! ? Got some electrical installed too. If it cools off here a little I might play around with a zinc plating kit I bought to restore some hardware.

[NoFiddyPilot]

First thread! ?

This was my Fathers 75 Z1 he bought new the same year I was born. It was stored in his garage (2nd wife didn't want him riding) for 14+ years. He passed in 97 and when the bike saw the light of day it began to deteriorate pretty quick. Surface rust popped up everywhere and the clear on the tank lifted, any of the zinc plated hardware/spokes tarnished. So I tore it down a few years back and finally getting around to restoring it.

Original brochure

Me and my Pops in 76?

The bike before teardown

This is how it sat for 3 years?

This is a cool thread. Subscribed!

When you're done, you'll need this:

http://www.sydneysvintageclothing.com/store/p/8470-Vintage-70-s-Brown-Leather-Men-s-Jacket-Coat-Large.html?feed=froogle

[Jeekinz]

This is a cool thread. Subscribed!

When you're done, you'll need this:

http://www.sydneysvintageclothing.com/store/p/8470-Vintage-70-s-Brown-Leather-Men-s-Jacket-Coat-Large.html?feed=froogle ?

? I need some Mutton Chops too.

[NoFiddyPilot]

The photo if you/dad riding + his passing just makes this a great story. Not his passing, but doing something like this in his honor. Sounds like a labor of love and something that can be passed down through the family. ?

[Jeekinz]

Thanks man.

I picked up a zinc plating kit from Eastwood to save money on new hardware. If any of you have restored something you know that a big part of your budget goes to new hardware and it's a necessity to have something that's done right.

Anyway, the parts came out better than expected. Eastwood doesn't give the best instructions on time in the solution, but I figured out that 4-5 minutes works the best for these sized parts. They say to leave larger items in longer so I left one of the axle adjusters in for 9-10 minutes and it came out all flaky and weird. So I sand blasted it again and put it in for 5 minutes.

These adjusters are available aftermarket for about $45, the plating kit only costs $70.

Before

and after

[martinfan30]

I've wondered how the zinc plating kits worked... Looks very nice! My dad and I have a few vintage honda's going now that we may try that kit.