[leiflarsen]

(much of this was detailed in my introduction post).

I picked this bike up for next to nothing a couple of weeks ago. It's a Canadian 1995 ZX-7.

The PO was selling for parts, but it had a title, so I made him a silly offer and to my surprise he accepted it.

He warned me it had a nock...and I thought, maybe a bent rod, or something that would be relatively straightforward to address. Not so much. My pre-purchase inspection clearly left something to be desired.

I'm very curious to tear into the engine to see what's behind this. It looks like the rod cap failed. I've never seen that before.

In addition to this:

• The fuel system has been bodged
• The plastics are in generally poor condition
• There are some bits missing...like the shifter pad, rear fender, etc.

But the bike is pretty much all there (more than any other bike I've bought).

My plan is to clean it up and fix it up to be a nice runner. Not a museum piece...but something that's honest and a good example of this kind of bike.

I'll try and keep this thread updated as I go.

Please feel free to PM me if you have any of the parts I need -- I'm not above just buying a good running engine...although I am kinda looking forward to a full rebuild. Here are parts I most deff need:

• Fuel pump/filter assembly
• Fuel tap (petcock)
• Lower fairings (left and right)
• Rear fender (plate/signals holder)
• Left side footpeg bracket and shifter

Thanks!

 

[Honda434]

The motor wow that is crazy.

 

[92Ninjas]

Oil starvation caused that to fail.

 

[leiflarsen]

Oil starvation caused that to fail.

I guess I should make sure the oil pump is 100% before I think about reassembling this engine.

 

[92Ninjas]

I guess I should make sure the oil pump is 100% before I think about reassembling this engine.

The oil pump on these engines are more than adequate. That is assuming the pump in this one didn't experience some sort of failure or if the oil pick up isn't clogged.

 

[ninjanut]

Many possible causes for that. Improper assembly, oil starvation, beat on…

 

[57x]

Am I the only one here saying that engine is a total loss? You had a bomb go off inside there. You will never get all that shrapnel out. If any of that went through the oil pump that's done. Find a used engine and move on.

 

[leiflarsen]

Am I the only one here saying that engine is a total loss? You had a bomb go off inside there. You will never get all that shrapnel out. If any of that went through the oil pump that's done. Find a used engine and move on.

I'm not ruling that out. Any suggestions on where to find a used engine? I found one on eBay...but I would rather buy from a specialist than an eBay seller if I have a choice. And if I'm going to buy a whole engine, I would rather buy something already rebuilt as opposed to something I may have to rebuild down the road anyway.

 

[92Ninjas]

I'm not ruling that out. Any suggestions on where to find a used engine? I found one on eBay...but I would rather buy from a specialist than an eBay seller if I have a choice. And if I'm going to buy a whole engine, I would rather buy something already rebuilt as opposed to something I may have to rebuild down the road anyway.

I bought a salvage motor from a motorcycle salvage yard in Washington State through fleabay. Cycled the oil and adjusted valve clearance. Runs like it has 20k miles on it. By that, I mean it runs gooooood.

I look for details such as: "pulled from running bike" and a video to go with it.

 

[ninjanut]

PM sent

 

[Ruby Racing]

It has a knock! Understatement of the year!

I think you might need to add some crankcases to your shopping list!

Jokes aside, good luck with the build. I'd search out another motor, then pull that one apart and see what can be salvaged for spare parts.

 

[Old-n-fast]

Looks like a street race missed shift over-rev but whatever it was get another engine. The valves on that cylinder are probably bent too.

 

[leiflarsen]

Progress is happening. The old engine is out, and the new one is cleaned up and ready to assemble as soon as I have enough pennies in my bank account to pick up some new bearings. Carb has been completely gone through and is almost back together. I'm missing a couple of the washers/O-rings that sit under the mixture screws. Boy am I glad I decided to check the settings table in my Clymer manual...I have never encountered a bike that had different jets and needles for inner and outter carbs.

The wiring is highly questionable...I started correcting the nastiness I found, and I began repairing the body work...although that progress was halted because it was still too cold to open my garage doors and work out side (thanks Canada)...and covering everything with one layer of fiberglass dust was bad enough.

I got everything in the new engine measured...and it's all within spec. Not surprising for an engine with just 22,000 kms on the clock.

Fried main fuse connector.

Vapour honed engine cases/cylinders. Holy crap did it take a lot of rinsing to get all the blast media out. But boy are they clean!

Part way through a fiber glass repair. This is the nice panel. The other one is much worse!

 

[leiflarsen]

Rebuilt the front brake calipers.

Before

After

The paint started to peel after I ran them through the ultrasonic cleaner a couple of times, so I blasted them in a friend's vapour blaster. I'm not keen to repaint them. We'll see how the bare aluminium holds up. This bike is going to be something I only ride in nice conditions...so I expect better than on a bike that gets used every day.

 

[Slorg442]

Looks great. Vapor blasters are sweet. The fasteners and bolts can turn out nice as well. Bare aluminum will oxidize. The higher the ambient humidity, the faster the reaction. You could give it a couple coats of clear.

 

[leiflarsen]

Tackled the worst of the body panels today. I used the centre section and the other side to know where the curves go and mirrored that on the other panel. It's not perfect, but considering how badly damaged it was I'm pretty pleased.

Before:

After: