zlMark
Cult Leader
Well the enigine should be going in today. I doubt we will get finished completly but I'm gonna give it a go!
The coolant manifolds were rusty so I had them blasted then repainted with some duplicolor ceramic engine primer and then low gloss ceramic engine black paint. After drying for and hour or so bake them in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes to cure the paint. These manifolds are discontinued. If yours are corroding I suggest you refinish them for longevity. The factory finish is some kind of anodizing or similiar and is hard as a rock, paint stripper won't touch it.
I also have to report that these Athena and Vesrah Complete gasket kits are not complete! No coolant manifold o-rings, no oil pump plate o-rings, no I-tube o-rings, and no J-tube o-rings....I think from now on I will buy OEM gaskets separately. I know it costs more but the quality of the OEM gaskets are better than the aftermarket kits.
I compared the old alt chain tensioner to the new replacement and indeed they have a slight bend to them at the very tip where the rod is factory chopped to length, but nothing like the bent one I took out. I installed Kwick's tensioner sleeve to keep the tensioner from contacting the clutch basket in the future.
I also installed the Factorypro shift kit w/detent arm. Nice kit and bacchus offers the best price for these. The bevel drive gasket included looks like the silver coated OEM Kawasaki. From experience, I know now to put 2 dabs of gasket sealer on the surface where the crankcae halves meet and leave the rest dry. If you try to seal entire surfaces and then torque the bevel drive to specs(appendix) the gasket will get squeezed out and leak.
We also eliminated the Dial-a-jet kit. This required new airbox rubbers. When furchin bought the holeshots he also bought bought the holeshot Stage 1 jet kit It will be neat to see the dyno results since this bike has been dynoed already at 89hp with the dial-a-jet. I'll bet he was running rich with the combination of the dial-a-jet and the stage1 holeshot kit.
Sorry I don't have any pics of the re-assembly. We're on a mission!
The coolant manifolds were rusty so I had them blasted then repainted with some duplicolor ceramic engine primer and then low gloss ceramic engine black paint. After drying for and hour or so bake them in the oven at 350° for 20 minutes to cure the paint. These manifolds are discontinued. If yours are corroding I suggest you refinish them for longevity. The factory finish is some kind of anodizing or similiar and is hard as a rock, paint stripper won't touch it.
I also have to report that these Athena and Vesrah Complete gasket kits are not complete! No coolant manifold o-rings, no oil pump plate o-rings, no I-tube o-rings, and no J-tube o-rings....I think from now on I will buy OEM gaskets separately. I know it costs more but the quality of the OEM gaskets are better than the aftermarket kits.
I compared the old alt chain tensioner to the new replacement and indeed they have a slight bend to them at the very tip where the rod is factory chopped to length, but nothing like the bent one I took out. I installed Kwick's tensioner sleeve to keep the tensioner from contacting the clutch basket in the future.
I also installed the Factorypro shift kit w/detent arm. Nice kit and bacchus offers the best price for these. The bevel drive gasket included looks like the silver coated OEM Kawasaki. From experience, I know now to put 2 dabs of gasket sealer on the surface where the crankcae halves meet and leave the rest dry. If you try to seal entire surfaces and then torque the bevel drive to specs(appendix) the gasket will get squeezed out and leak.
We also eliminated the Dial-a-jet kit. This required new airbox rubbers. When furchin bought the holeshots he also bought bought the holeshot Stage 1 jet kit It will be neat to see the dyno results since this bike has been dynoed already at 89hp with the dial-a-jet. I'll bet he was running rich with the combination of the dial-a-jet and the stage1 holeshot kit.
Sorry I don't have any pics of the re-assembly. We're on a mission!
Wished I could've been there to take it all in and learn more but was just too tied up right now. I'm sure Martin is one happy camper and tickled to death to be headed back home with it. Thanks for sharing Mark!!!
