Another amateur build thread

wrote:

TexasKZ post=907450 userid=14419

wrote:

TexasKZ post=907422 userid=14419 Also the bottom halves show no clear wear marks,. but the upper ones do. 

Also, will the cam cover need to be relieved for cam clearance? Keep in mind it is s smog cover.
Thanks.

I have clearanced the bucket bores and had to remove a little material from the side of the head, including a tiny bit of the of the gasket surface particularly around the castings for a couple of the the cam cover bolts. My concern is the corresponding areas of the cover near the bolt bosses, and maybe the casting for the reed cages. I am not quite sure how I could find out where the cams contact the cover, if in fact they do.  The cams are .418 lift

When the motor is together you could lay the cover on without a gasket and rotate the motor two full turns, if the cover moves  indicating contact you could paint the inside of the cover with "engineers blue" in the suspect areas then repeat and look for witness marks (just a suggestion)  if the cover doesn't move without a gasket then will be "well clear" with a gasket installed
 

I am thinking along similar lines, though I'd like to take care of this before sending the head to the machinist. I am envisioning making a small assembly stand for the  head, laying a cam and the cover in place, then slowly rotating the cam with a finger in the cam chain tunnel. Hmm. Guess I need to hunt a small container of machinists blue.

Popping the cams back in with the valves removed would make them easy to turn and you could do both at the same time without risking valves fouling

wrote:

Popping the cams back in with the valves removed would make them easy to turn and you could do both at the same time without risking valves fouling
 

Yup. Valves are already out for the bucket bore mangling, um, clearancing.

I am stoked.

I have been ruminating over what exhaust system to get. The Delkevic system seems nice and is popular and is very reasonable priced, but.........
Webike has a titanium system that gives me goosebumps, but I have no idea how it performs and the price makes my knees wobble. 
Then there is Hindle. Designed by a guy who actually races these old beasts. A true 4-2-1 system. Lightweight stainless steel. Kinda wish the muffler came up at more of an angle and wish it was just a touch less expensive. Wonder if it is too quiet. Noticed that their website, well actually the Ripple Rock Racing website, that they list three KZ1000 models and wondered if there were any differences, so I called. 
YEEEEHAAAAW!  Actually, they make two entirely different systems, one of which I did not see on the website. After chatting for a bit, I decided I should just explain what I am building and its intended use, and let him recommend something. Welp, I am getting a slightly modified race system with stepped primaries and an upswept muffler with a street-ish baffle in it. 
Oh, and all this for considerably LESS money than I expected. He even sent me a pic of the system on Brock's super bike.
I wish my bike was ready to install this thing and fire it up.

I apologize for breaking the cardinal rule.

Here is a pic of the system on Brock's bike. My system will be brushed stainless rather than black.

Since I am converting to shim under bucket, I am considering replacing the cam cap bolts with studs and nuts. I hope to use shoulder nuts and I am wondering if I should use a little blue loctite when I install the studs and later should I use a drop on the nuts when I install the cams?

Loctite on studs to head seems okay.  I wouldn't use same on the stud nuts, though.  Not needed.  

Wookie58 wrote:

Are you planning to use clamps on the caps when installing and removing ? if not and you are using "fruity" cams you my run out of thread before the tension is off !!!!!

A fair bit of fruit. I assumed ( I know) clamps would be necessary. My hope is to save wear and tear on those easily buggered threads in the head.

TexasKZ wrote:

Wookie58 wrote:

Are you planning to use clamps on the caps when installing and removing ? if not and you are using "fruity" cams you my run out of thread before the tension is off !!!!!

A fair bit of fruit. I assumed ( I know) clamps would be necessary. My hope is to save wear and tear on those easily buggered threads in the head.

I have described a method I have used (and will again) a couple of times on here which involves studs and nuts, however this is as a "service tool" rather than a conversion. If you replace the bolts with a stud and nut (one at a time) then use the nuts to remove and install the caps the studs stay "bottomed" in the threads throughout with no "rotational pressure applied to the threads. Once fully pulled down you remove the studs and re-fit the bolts (again one at a time) With you using "shim under buckets" and needing to remove the cams again in the future to set valve lash I think something along these lines would be beneficial.

Wookie58 wrote:

TexasKZ wrote:

Wookie58 wrote:

Are you planning to use clamps on the caps when installing and removing ? if not and you are using "fruity" cams you my run out of thread before the tension is off !!!!!

A fair bit of fruit. I assumed ( I know) clamps would be necessary. My hope is to save wear and tear on those easily buggered threads in the head.

I have described a method I have used (and will again) a couple of times on here which involves studs and nuts, however this is as a "service tool" rather than a conversion. If you replace the bolts with a stud and nut (one at a time) then use the nuts to remove and install the caps the studs stay "bottomed" in the threads throughout with no "rotational pressure applied to the threads. Once fully pulled down you remove the studs and re-fit the bolts (again one at a time) With you using "shim under buckets" and needing to remove the cams again in the future to set valve lash I think something along these lines would be beneficial.

What advantage would this have over a permanent stud and nut conversion? I see how it would be easier on the threads than the factory bolts alone, but it also seems like it would be more time consuming.

Hey Steve,
I've used Wookie's method and it works great.  To answer your question, studs long enough to do this operation are too long to fit under the valve cover. (especially with "fruity" cams)  Once I tried his trick it made sense.

TexasKZ wrote:

What advantage would this have over a permanent stud and nut conversion? I see how it would be easier on the threads than the factory bolts alone, but it also seems like it would be more time consuming.

Yes it would be approx 20 mins longer than the clamp method (if everything goes to plan) it's like so many things where there is more than one way to "get the job done" it comes down to personal preference. The clamp method appears to work fine but once my head is cerakote'd I don't want to be clamping on fresh paint. Also depending on what clamps you use releasing them equally may be difficult (especially in the frame since you are going "shim under") if you do the stud conversion evenly releasing the clamps is crucial to avoid "side loading" the studs (I have seen first hand the effect this can have, in my youth I was rushing and fitted a cam cap the wrong way round on a 924 Porsche, when I pulled it down it forced the stud sideways and cracked the tower in the head that the stud was screwed into. This meant head off and finding somebody to "stitch weld" the crack )