KH400A5 Restoration (Part 2)
click here for Part 1

Schurminator, on the UK KH & S message board, has chronicled his restoration with great detail. There are several hundred excellent pictures included. Although this is a KH400 restoration, there are great similarities to all late model Triples for reference.
The flow of this restoration is duplicated as it was done and published. While it is a good read from start to finish, a table of contents is included for easy reference to specific areas. Specifications and part numbers are not included and appropriate manuals should be used in conjunction with this document. Full size photos may be seen by clicking on any picture.

Contents
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So a couple of minor mishaps to mention this week from the garage........,firstly when having scaffolding put up around your house always check you can open the garage door before they leave   (no1, now I have to finish painting the house before I can go riding again, guess I had better get the brushes out ........had to get some repairs done as a leak over Christmas saw water coming in right where I plan to rebuild the 400 so a priority fix was called for now all done but painting to do.

Oops No2,......was the Clock panel   why it wouldn't go right god only knows but  when I finally got the finish right the lettering (Ignition) didn't look right. Problem was it ended up with too much paint on it and the definition was going around a couple of the letters. I could/should have left it but it wasn't right and I made the unfortunate decision to strip it.

All ended badly with the stripper getting on to one of the jewels and on knocking it out it shattered....Oh Bu**er and not a happy bunny

Oh well onwards and upwards all part of the story and lessons learnt we continue...................

On the plus side the seat lock all went well and is now back together and finished

The clock panel has been replaced with a NOS item (no beer for me for a couple of weeks) and just to rub salt into my wounds I got stung by customs for it too.
So no chocolate biscuits either

And the polishing continues, I found another couple of deep scores in the pump cover but was able to remove them. Oil pump just needed a wipe over.

Cleaned up my stator plate, it all looks to be in good condition but I will carry out a few checks on it with Martins assistance (cheers matey )just to make sure its ok.

I have also started work on the pistons and rings, one of the rings was originally stuck but now freed off and they all seem to be in good condition, I didn't realise there was a third ring under the lower one but very delicate it is.

 I Will be taking some measurements of the bores soon to check the condition of them and I am hoping to get away with just honing them.......we shall see....

So now it was was time to attend to the forks, the stanchions looked to be in good order but the lacquer was wearing off the lower legs, having learnt from the 250 resto they are best stripped and polished.
There is no sign of the fork seals leaking but they will be changed along with the oil just to be safe. Once the drain screw was removed the oil was pumped out and boy did it smell!!

Then after loosening the allen bolt on the bottom of the leg the top cap was removed and the internals taken out............Leaving the cap and spring in place should help when doing this though one of the bolts was fairly stuck and wouldn't play ball. (impact gun or air drill would help).

Using the allen key and my special socket (flattened 6 sided 14mm) and a bit of effort, the bolts were loosened and the inner valve and spring assy were removed.

And the stanchions were now free of the lower leg.

And the lower piston and valve assy can be removed.

On the lower leg the dust cover the retaining ring and washer were removed allowing access to the fork seal which was then removed.

All stripped

Putting my cooking skills to good use once again the legs were basted with stripper in an oven tray to remove the lacquer.

Before the polishing could begin, having no corrosion on them made the job easy unlike last time. After a good clean up.......

 

The new seals were fitted using the freezer and hot water technique (seal in the freezer for 15 minutes and leg top dipped in boiling water for 5 min roughly in case you didn't know) works well for me and I used the old seal to help drive the new one in place.

Then it was a case of reassembly, so pictures for reference.

Loctite and copper gasket on assembly for the allen bolt. And back together in no time.

I still have to finish the top caps off, replace the dust covers as they are cracking, fit the spring etc, the drain screws and  service with oil before they are ready to fit.

Thinking back to my first attempt in the early 80's at changing fork seals which ended up with me in casualty with a slashed wrist  :oops: sitting next to a chap in a Karate suit who had smashed his knuckles whilst trying to chop wood.      I am glad to say that this time it went smoothly.
 

With house painting and repairs taking up most of my spare time recently there hasn't been a great deal to show progress wise, but now we are leak free I can work on preparing the assembly area.
I hope to start on the engine rebuild very soon once I have ordered the new seals then we can start putting her back together again.

The delivery of gifts from Postie has slowed down but as ever there are still a few items that need to be purchased ie, chain, sprockets, tyres, tubes, filter, and a couple of cables but the list is getting smaller now which is always nice to see.

I have finished polishing and painting the last of the engine cases, and fettled and sorted out what I hope to be the last of the zinc plating plus a few more odds and sods that have been sitting around in various boxes.

I still have the seat to finish which I have started looking at and a couple of small items to paint.

The last of the Zinc was dropped off this morning on the way to picking up the last of the chromework (bar the Exhausts) I am now in a position to rebuild the wheels too.

Rims have come out well with ident's intact though one slightly less so.

The only flaw is with the fuel cap that seems to have given them issues and kept blowing the chrome it may have to be redone again due to some defects in the flatness of the polishing.

But happy all the same

So today I decided to work on the seat, I had already removed the hinges for refinishing and the bolts for replating and I thought the rest of the base was in good order which it was but as with everything else it had faults and would need a little work.

This ended up in a full strip down It wouldn't have looked right touching it up and as it turned out there was a lot more rust lurking under the cover.

First job was to cover the PDI sticker with clear film to protect it for the future.

Then I started to carefully unbend the retaining spikes and remove the cover.

The cover is in good order just rather stained and will be freshened up a little later.

And after removing the base edging strip.... the seat foam was removed.

Part number detailing possibly? and model imprint underneath.

 Quite surprised at the amount of rust on the pan especially down the sides considering the condition but then again there is no primer applied during production.

Spent today rubbing it down.

before applying the first coat of primer

To be continued................................

Making the most of the good weather, the paint shops open again for business. Seat base and brackets now done.

Now I have to keep well away from it before a final cut and polish, I think I will wax seal the seams and corrosion prone areas before refitting the foam.

Also picked up the last of the Zinc which is now safely back in the workshop again.

Sweet  

Back on the seat today and time to wrap it up so that I can start on the engine, even a seat can get quite involved and produce a lot of work but its all a challenge and worth doing in the end (so I keep telling myself) anyway................after a cut and polish it was back on with the rubbers all fixed in place with a dab of black silicon, then on with the edge trim.

The seat cover was given a good dousing of interior shampoo to clean and freshen it up and the foam panel covers were repaired after hunting high and low round the house trying to find a suitable material. A plastic suit cover is ideal but I had already used that on the 250!

With the cover done it was time to fit the foam. Using some spray adhesive (recommended product ) applied to the seat pan and the base of the foam.

It was stuck back in place. Then it was back on with the cover.

Final job was to replace the hinges, the latch plate and the handbook cover.

Job done and I am more than happy with it though rather relieved its finished

 

If the spikes are missing its going to be tougher, either cut some more into the metal if you can or I'm sure others have welded or pop riveted spike strips on........There are always solutions that can be thought up.

Engine rebuild time .......

 So the time has come to start getting the engine back together again Yippee!! another milestone reached (about time I hear )..... good thing is once that's done I can drop my workbench down and move the frame out of the dining room and start assembling.

As mentioned before this is my first full engine strip and the work is carried out with the help of the Kawasaki shop manual, mraxl's excellent resource site and finally and just as importantly the guidance, support and banter from you guys.  

This is how I have chosen to do it and will try and work in the reverse order to how I stripped it down. I don't assume to know everything but would hope to use the approved methods, manuals, parts, torque figure and correct (mostly) tools necessary along the way to complete the job.

Should you wish to copy and carry out this work yourself I would strongly advise you to do the same.

So we start with freshly Vapour Blasted cases which have been cleaned over again and oilways and threaded holes are checked clear.

 

The shift drum is fitted first along with its selector fork and the locating pin secured with a new split pin.

Next the remaining two selector forks are positioned on the shift rod and the circlip retainer fitted.

The left hand bearing set ring is put in place allowing the drive shaft to be positioned whilst making sure the selector fork is properly located in its groove and that the end bearing ring is seated on its locating peg.

Then a new clutch push rod oil seal is fitted at the end of the drive shaft.

Following on, the output shaft bearing set ring is pushed into place making sure the ends are sitting below the crankcase upper surface.

A new oil seal is fitted on the shaft before putting it in place,again checking the selector forks and bearing ring are located correctly.

Then it was on to the kickstart mechanism..........................................

I threaded the kick stopper bolt in and left it flush with the inner face until later, I  understand how this works now and its not as confusing as it seems.

With the kick start mechanism you must make sure that the kick gear holder and the tang on the kick spring are correctly located in the crankcase before closing the cases otherwise you will have problems with your kickstarter engaging.

Once you are confident with the positioning, you can place the kick start mechanism in the crankcase.
Here shows the kick stopper lever which will be rotated later and held by the stopper bolt.

Now after fitting the crankshaft bearing set ring in position which I seem to have forgotten to take a photo of due to the excitement of getting my crank out!!
But I did fit honest.

So here for reference is a photo from the stripdown showing it fitted.

Then you take one tasty new Crankshaft (thank you Gary downpipe3) and after a little wipe over set it in place.

With the Crankshaft in place it was time to prepare the lower crankcase.

After giving the case a good wipe over with degreaser a thin even coat of gasket cement was applied to the upper mating face.

Then before closing the cases together a few drops of loctite bearing retainer were applied to the crank and gearbox bearings.

Having done a bit of research on this and questioning it some people use it and some don't, and others prefer to use a different type of product.

The manual recommends loctite 609 but some recommend using 620,my choice was 641 which is similar to 609.

At the end of the day it is entirely your choice whether you think it is necessary or not and based on your experiences.

Also applying it to the gearbox bearings may not be entirely necessary but it certainly wouldn't hurt it.

Care should be made not to over do the application and assemble the cases together taking in account for product curing times.

After having last check over the cases were closed and the 8 x 8mm and 13 x 6mm nuts and spring washers were fitted and nipped up.

I did follow a general tightening pattern from the 500 manual and then it was a case of torqueing them up to the correct values and checking a couple of times after settling.....(note the use of red wine needed at this stage)

Job done

and looking a whole lot better than before

Time to fill my glass up again

With the cases now closed the next step was to tension the kickstart mechanism up, to do this I made a mark on the kickstart shaft and used a soft faced clamp to rotate the shaft anticlockwise.

Watching through the window in the lower crankcase you can see when the kick stopper lever passes by (left of window) and when you are confident that it has moved pass the kick stopper bolt, hold the tension and tighten the stopper bolt up.

 

The kick start mechanism should now be tensioned, and the shaft held in a different position to when you started.

Carrying on with the assembly on the clutch side of the engine, we refit the Crankcase Oil receiver.

the return spring pin

And the shift drum position plate.

I have replaced the screws with new items as you will remember I had to drill one of them out when taking it apart.

The new screws are centre punched after tightening to prevent them loosening off.

 Next is the Transmission Oil receiver. Then onto the shift set lever and spring.

 
And after fitting a new gear shift oil seal.... The Shift lever assy is set into place around the shift drum.

Before the engine became too heavy to man handle about easily I then decided to refit the rubber engine mounts which had been all been given the clean up treatment.

One of them had suffered a little over the years but was given the ok to use.

With a little bit of lubrication they all slid in nicely.

And before I forget, the drain plug and gasket were fitted and tightened.

Back on its base the primary gear and key were fitted, unfortunately the locking tab washer needs to be replaced and so I am unable to refit and tighten the nut at this time.

I did source a replacement but it has the wrong size centre hole (20mm) it should be 18mm so I am trying to source the correct part.

Moving on to the clutch housing, the thrust washer and very easy to miss shim were fitted on the shaft.

And the housing, bush and thrust washer followed.

along with the clutch hub, locking washer and nut

Again special care and the correct tooling should be used when tightening the hub nut levering against the Clutch housing fingers will end up breaking them off. Also check that the tab washer spigot is located in the hub housing hole.

Clutch plates are next.

Assembled as per the manual.... until they are all fitted.

Then its the spring plate pusher into the shaft before fitting the Spring pressure plate, springs, washers and bolts. Taking care not to over torque the bolts and making sure of the correct Spring pressure plate alignment as per link. http://kawatriple.com/partid/clutch/clbasket.htm bottom of page.

And that brings us to where we are today   ......Once I have sourced a locking washer I will put the engine to one side and move on to other things

So Christmas has finally come early this year,..........I may not get my money back, it may not be the best investment plan, it has will and may still cause me headaches and sleepless nights in the future BUT,...... feeling as excited as a kid in a toy shop ready to start unwrapping this little lot is Priceless    

Time to do some work.. made a little start last night.

With the frame now looking lovely again.

It was time to start rummaging in the boxes and find the airbox which from memory had to go in first. (Note: Airbox should be fitted after battery box and CDI cable run.)

After clearing the 3 mounting holes using a tap the front and rear parts of the airbox were bolted into place.

Still pondering at the size of that airbox, the battery box would be next.

So more holes to be cleared, and the coating was removed from the main earthing point on the frame in preparation for the wiring later on.

 

With the Regulator, rectifier and flasher unit unwrapped and bolts and bushes found
the battery box could be assembled.

Note the fitting of the grommets.

Regulator and flasher unit fitted fitted.  Then the rectifier.

Now off to the frame and slide it in, simples and the first little hic up.

With the complete airbox fitted it seems you are unable to put the battery box in place so to do this I had to drop the plastic part down and then fit it, not a huge problem just adds to the 400 learning curve and a note to remember.

With the battery box secured in place and the airbox refitted. In went the spare plug holder (must order some plugs)............

Next step was to fit the coils, these have to be earthed to the frame so an earthing point was prepared as originally done.

I can't remember seeing any earthing point on the frame for the centre coil and I wondered if they were linked somehow through the wiring, after checking the manual which showed it earthed I decided to prepare another earthing point on the other side for it.

The left and right coils were found.... and fitted to their mounting plate.

Same process for the centre coil.

They were then bolted into position and the earthing checked

The centre failed the test so an extra washer was fitted between the frame and the mounting bracket to complete the circuit and allow a good earth.

So today we added a bit of colour to the frame, first with the front reflectors.

Closely followed by the CDI ignition unit,.............I had originally changed the worn mounting rubbers for new grommets from Maplins but I was never happy with them being more of a plastic than a rubber type material, luckily I found some perfect replacements at an autojumble a while back and they fitted a treat.

New ones on the left, Maplins on the right.

Anyway fitting the CDI unit brought up my old friend the airbox again but this time I was expecting it as I knew where the wire went.  

The main connector plug runs past the airbox and you can't feed it through with it fitted so guess what..........................So glad I haven't fitted the swingarm yet.

With the CDI connector threaded through, the airbox refitted again and confident that there was absolutely no need to remove it again I fitted the oil tank.

Then it was another trip to the stores to find the fuse box bracket, the fuse box and the oil tank breather pipe and spring (sitting alongside Simon's Gasket set).

Next stop was the Horn, the body all original bar a little touch up and polish which I am  pleased with and the refinished mounting brackets and fittings.

For reference it is assembled as it is shown laid out in the photo ie Washer, brkts, washer, nut.

But most importantly, mounted the correct way up .................see I have been paying attention.

Coming along just dandy.

So with Chris todd and bonebaggers words echoing in my ear we have a late night in the garage and fit the wiring loom, and true to their word the airbox needed to be moved yet again to allow for the correct routing. Oh lordy anyway Cheers guys I will try and  remember to add a note at the beginning reminding others of this.....or maybe not.

Anyway so the wiring loom is in loosely fitted and as you can see all labeled up to make reconnection easy. I find it is a good idea to do this, spend a little time sitting with the wiring diagram and the loom and get to know it, does make life easier and can help with future trouble shooting.

Routing for reference.

I was then able to connect up the battery box components loosely attach the earth wire and wire up the horn.

Next was the inner rear mudguard with new rubber grommets and refinished clips.

The rest of the parts were laid out ready to fit, checking on the parts diagram there are various versions of how this is assembled depending on the model type and mine will be reassembled as it was found.

The original top hat bushes fitted first into the mudguard,

The large rubbers with washers and bushes fitted below the frame brace.

and the remaining rubber on top

Bolted through with the remaining nuts and washers, new wire retaining tangs to complete the assembly.

And further down the R clips were fitted to secure the front.

Time for some bling I think    with the reassembly of the rear shocks.

First dig out the parts........................ and unwrap.......best part.

Slide the adjuster ring and retainer on the body.... followed by the spring.

With the shroud fitted it was placed in the jig.... and the nuts tightened to compress the spring.

The top mount could then be screwed on and tightened.

A cycle hub spanner being very nearly the ideal tool for the job, just needed a light file to fit.

Then remove from the jig, making sure the top mount aligns with the shroud as you release the tension.

Fit the lower mount rubber and bush and shroud reflector to finish off.... and repeat ................

Nice  

Seat lock and swinging arm today.

Grease nipple goes in first followed by the spacer and the two swing arm bushes all lightly greased for now. And not forgetting to fit the O'rings on the end caps.

After checking the pivot holes for clearance the swinging arm slid into place nicely and the pivot bolt was pushed through.

And secured with the lock nut and washer.

Rear shocks could then be connected.

So we managed to progress a couple of small jobs when I could find the time to sneak out to the garage the top mounting nuts for the rear shocks I will leave loose until I fit the grab rail.

After fitting the steering lock I pressed in the steering head bearing cups using some threaded bar and made to measure aluminum washers.

Then with Simon's help I was happy to fit the new cover plate, pin and washer.

Bearings went in next 19 in all (each cup) nestled in a bed of fresh grease.

And the bottom yoke was prepared ready to fit, then slid into place and tightened.

I will re check and tighten the headraces later on once the forks are fitted and after a short bedding in period.

Next came a new headstock ident sticker which although meant to be identical to the original does seem to come up slightly wider, not a major issue though and looks good.

Then on to the top yoke, parts gathered together.

And the handlebar mounts fitted with new rubbers and secured with r clips.

Then with the steering head bolt, chrome washer and wavy washer read.

The top yoke was soon on (mmm I can build the clocks up now   excellent ).

And with the remaining fixings loosely assembled to both top and bottom yokes I can now also realistically fit the front forks. But for now they will have to wait.

While it is easy to access and the engine is still out the centre stand can be fitted, I had to lightly clean out the pivot holes before it would push through and after greasing up the stand it was slid home.

There are various ways of fitting the spring but I opted for the 9p version and you get your money back at the end!

And to finish up for now the engine mount bolts were loosely assembled

So its all coming together rather nicely and there is lots to be done just need to find the time to do it.

Good news is I now have the correct lock washer for the primary gear so I can finish the engine off and she can go in, but that's something for the weekend   ..........Can you remember when we used to be asked that

Happy days

So time to unwrap a bit more chrome, this time its the grabrail.

Which slips nicely into place........................

I find there are some bits of a restoration that are so satisfying to do more so than other parts and the indicators are one of them. It must be the combination of the bright orange Lens and the Chrome, whatever it is I always enjoy building them.

Here is the first of the rear ones ready to go.

 assembled

and fitted ........   Then there was 2.

On a similar level are the Clocks with their distinctive style and colouring you never seem to tire of looking at.

Now taking a step back and returning to the engine,......I had to source a new lockwasher for the primary gear and this could now be fitted and locked up.

Which just left the oil pump pinion, and lock washer to fit.

before gently lowering her back into the frame

With the engine now in place, the front and rear engine mounts and the all important earth strap are fitted and checked. As before you can't take it for granted that it is going to work just because its fitted and any powder coating is removed to confirm a good earth.

Engine breather pipe was also pressed home though this would be better to do with the engine out. Just made it a little more fiddly.

The ignition stator plate is now in place with marks aligned and plug connections made.

Also fitted are the battery earth and positive leads which should now finish up the wiring under the side panel bar the final fixing.

The coils have been connected and joints wrapped as they were found.

And the neutral switch has been fitted and wired.

Next in was the key for the flywheel.

And the flywheel itself........ man those magnets are strong

Reading up on setting the ignition I gather that you set it statically with the marks on the stator and crankcase then strobe it at 4000 rpm to check the alignment of the mark on the Flywheel with the other mark on the crankcase.

If it is then out you adjust the stator (right so far I hope) that is all fine but from what I can see that would mean removing the flywheel again to get to the stator screws they could have made that a touch easier .

Hope I have explained that correctly

The left engine case is loosely fitted to protect the workings, a simple job but the gasket didn't fit at all well and needed trimming to allow it to fit

Round to the other side, after fitting a new Kickstart oil seal and NOS tacho seal and with a final check over before closing up, the clutch casing went on with a new and this time nicely fitting gasket.

One thing I forgot to mention, prior to fitting the Stator plate I checked the mounting holes were clear from obstruction as usual and found quite a bit of vapour blasting residue stuck within the threads.
I was able to get them out with a little bit of patience but it just shows that there is always a chance some will be left behind after the cleaning process, so be aware and check all those oil ways and threads are clear before closing up.

Later on this was again to become an issue to resolve.

Anyway after fitting a new gasket to the oil pump it was back where it belonged. The Oil lines, banjo bolts and new sealing washers were gathered ready to fit.

The oil ways had already been cleaned and blown through prior to assembly but at the bottom of the banjo bolt holes was lying another compact layer of beads, good job I checked again

With my box of hoses and tubes around a mates along with my ezi bleed kit I had to be resourceful and made up a suction pipe from my plumbing box and a flexi straw attached to the hoover, worked a treat and the holes were cleared.

With that done the pipes were fitted. And connected to the pump.

A New 2t supply pipe was fitted but was found to be too short and would be changed once a replacement had been found.

So while we wait for that we can assemble the rear brake light switch, the front footpeg and mount and the rear brake pedal, spring and adjuster bolt.

So after a short break in proceedings (Wedding anniversary and Decorating duties) I was able to get back in the workplace today.

After being unhappy with the 2T supply pipe I have replaced it with a NOS genuine item which has now been fitted and sits as it should do.

Simon had sent me some fork dust covers during the week (many thanks) so we could now start on the front end.

First some pre-assembly preparation with the front indicators.

 

The Headlamp ears, the yellow marks being a liquid wax that I apply to the inside and all joint areas for added corrosion protection.

The Silver Hammerite which I didn't ask for was added by the platers and I have decided to leave it, after tidying it up a little of course.

And finally the headlamp shell and its rubbers.

Just for reference the assembly of the leg is shown here with some pictures taken from my 250 resto, its handy to know what goes where and what you have missing.

With that taken care off its time to fit the lower shrouds.

Then I slid the fork legs into place and lightly secure with the lower yoke bolts.

The new dust covers had previously been fitted and the legs serviced with fresh 10W grade fork oil of the correct amount. Headlamp ears and top rings and rubbers were next.

I like to temporarily fit the front axle to help line everything up before fitting the top yoke and tightening the steering head and the yoke bolts.

Headlamp shell goes in next after gently coaxing the mass of wires and labels through the hole.

The front indicators are then fed in, earthing points attached and nuts fitted to secure them in place.

Looking a bit more like a Motorcycle again

So to finish off the bottom yoke the brake splitter and the cable guide have been fitted and the brake switch connected up electrically, I have also fitted the smaller cable guide onto the frame.

Having purchased an air filter at the mini southern (thanks Alistair) this could now be fitted along with the airbox cover, however there was a small issue with the lower catch which had been bent slightly and the powder coating had bonded it to the outer frame.

After a little bit of fine fettling it was released and adjusted and after fitting a new rubber and a layer of foam it was ready for fitting.

A little while back I was asked about the routing of the Oil tank breather hose, this is how I found it routed on the strip down and so have added these photo's for reference.
Due to the fiddly nature of the routing I am fairly confident of its originality on this bike.

Now comes the only cosmetic issue I personally have to overcome on this project and that is with the US bars and they do stand out. It is one of personal taste and I do think the lower bars look better but as I am keeping to the Canadian spec they will be staying. I hope that once they are dressed up and angled correctly they will tie in nicely.

With the handlebars fitted it was time to rebuild the switchgear, because of some fine cracking around the Kill switch base I made a small reinforcing plate to bond onto it, which fitted perfectly within the casing.

After a quick rewire the right hand switchgear was done. Followed by the left hand.

Next comes the master cylinder.

First to fit is the seal.   Then the reservoir.

And its securing plate and screws...  Followed by assembly of the cap.

Piston assembly to fit next time Once I find the retainer  

Well I found the piston retainer and it was hidden in the "oh you really should have got this bit plated as well box" .... so to save time I had to source a new one which luckily was fairly easy and cheap to do.

So after another of Posties regular visits we continued assembling the master cylinder, thankfully there is no nasty circlip to fit, the whole piston assembly slides in and is held in place with the retainer and then by the white plastic liner clipping into the body a much simpler system thank you MR Kawasaki

With that done it just left the lever to fit. Before mounting it alongside the switchgear and a NOS throttle body and grip.

The clutch lever and perch and left hand switchgear are a temporary fit for now awaiting a washer.

But we can make a start on re fitting the original brake hoses which have been given a thorough going over and I am happy to fit them, if there was any sign of cracking or stress I would have replaced them.

With the switchgear in place they could now be connected up to the loom which just left the headlight to assemble and fit and we could close up the shell.

This model uses the sealed beam unit and has the beam adjuster screw fitted to the rim. I wonder how bright it is going to be:?:

The original rubber cover was perished but a replacement was donated by GPZ592 (Thanks again Mark ) and the delicate task of threading double bullet connectors through a 40 year old piece of rubber was definitely not for the faint hearted

But with perseverance and a little bit of lube we got there.

And with the headlight connections made and a final check over we could close up.

Nice

Have to say, some things make a huge difference and after some reservations I am loving the headlight, and the bars now they are being dressed are coming together nicely and I'm feeling rather happy with it

Thought it was time to put a bit more focus on the engine and hopefully assemble the top end. The barrels and heads had been packed away after vapour blasting to keep them safe and I wanted to measure them all up before fitting them.

Following the manual guide they all came up within limits were on standard bore as expected and were in good condition apart from the left hand which had suffered the crank bearing issue.

Size was good and within limits but there is an area of pitting on one side

So now I have to think about my options?.........
Guess I will be fitting the front mudguard and rebuilding the wheels instead;-)

Well the decision to rebore has been taken its a bit of a shame but the best way forward and the right thing to do for both man and machine though the pocket may say otherwise? After visiting an Old school rebore workshop yesterday which was filled with old lathes, barrels, crankcases and diverting pistons (very strange) the hone was lightly run through all the barrels and highlighted any issues, though still marginal and within the limits it did show up areas of wear and chemical markings in a couple of the bores that would be better off taken out.

So I need to put that plan into action now, thanks for all the advice given on this guys

So in the meantime we crack on where we can.

The NOS left grip has now been fitted but I am still a washer short for the clutch perch, seems its taking the long way round the world to get to me so it will just sit there for now.

The front mudguard has been assembled and protected from the elements, for when I ride home from the Southern!
The Hammerite being applied by the Chromers and the wax protection will help at the seams.

Before I fit it I am drawn to the Kawasaki advert on the garage wall and look at the front mudguard with the two holes on the right hand side,.......who said mine was on the wrong way round

A quick check through the album shows the 400's arriving with it fitted the other way round so that's the way its going back on.

Along with the guide bracket.

Brake caliper comes next and when I find the piston it can be assembled.

 And loosely fitted, typical for the day the rigid pipe was reluctant to join to the flexi hose as it should though the caliper end screwed in beautifully, so that became a bit of an issue to overcome though now happily sorted.

Still have to order some brake pads, and a couple of banjo washers for the lower hose are also doing the long way round so this will all be tightened up later.

Front wheel has also moved along, going from this.......... to this in a few simple steps  

Back wheel next .......and chase up those washers

Back wheel assembled now too...................

Inner spokes in first.

The final outer.

Smashing

Trying to push this project forward a notch or two now so though a couple of months behind my planned delivery date, today I dropped the paintwork off at Kasracepaint for a touchup.

Apart from the paint and a small area of rust at the back lower corner of the tank they are all in pretty good shape though the Sun certainly taking its toll on the colour.

Though I did spot one crack in the usual place on the oil tank cover panel.

Happy to have it booked in and away now and another big tickoff on the list.  

With the cylinders now on 1st oversize and given a clean bill of health I thought it was best to check the ring clearances first just to be safe.

I set them up as per the manual guide and all the measurements were as they should be.

Happy with that it was time to assemble the pistons, still using the expander on the bottom ring.

I had already obtained new piston pins, circlips and needle rollers so assembly could start.

1 down two to go.....

With the pistons fitted it was barrels next, a slightly more fiddly operation especially with the new rings..........

With that little job thankfully out of the way it was time to unwrap the heads and the fitting kit..........................

With new gaskets in place (there is three honest) it was on with the centre head first.

Followed by the other two.......how very satisfying too Then they were all torqued down.

more to follow............

With the heads and barrels torqued down we could move on to the intake side, new gaskets were fitted either side of the original heat insulator.

Then the intake manifolds were fitted and secured, here thin 8mm spring washers are used along with the plain nuts.

The carbs were then removed from hibernation, I had almost forgotten what they had looked like and there was a lot of pre assembling to do.

But once again very therapeutic work

Once assembled they were mounted on the intake manifolds, centre one first...

And married up with the original airbox rubbers and clamps.

With the left and right carbs following on. I have re used the original intake rubbers, they were still serviceable and fairly supple though the right one was a little more stubborn to stay fitted at the intake box for some reason, but I think we got over it for now.

Tomorrow I will hope to start fitting the throttle and choke cables, Very happy to see the engine almost completely back together again now, I had also better fit the kickstart and check she turns over.

Concentrating on cables, the throttle cable was next in line. My plan was to refit the original one but after fitting it the throttle seemed heavy, so having purchased a NOS item from a very nice chap at the micro rally that was the eventual fit.

Having checked the other cable over it seems fine and may have been down to a crossed cable at the intersection join, either way NOS is staying put now.

Pictures for reference

Throttle end and Oil pump cable and support and throttle slide ends, noting the different cable length's.

After attaching the throttle end first and routing the cable correctly the throttle slides were assembled and fitted and the cables adjusted as per the manual.

The oil pump cable and support were routed through and fitted and the cable adjusted to line the marks up. NB. trying to feed the oil pump cable and support through past the 2toil supply pipes is fiddly enough but not as much as trying to remove the little wire ring that holds the support onto the cable, would be best to route this through before the 2t supply hose is fitted at least.

With the throttle cable done and operating sweetly next came the starter (choke) cable

Original one this time and no issues routed and fitted nicely and adjusted as per the manual

I wanted to fit the kickstart next so that I could check turn the motor over, all the parts were assembled, I replaced the ball bearing as the old one was rusty.

Once greased up and assembled it was fitted, along with the loose fit of the oil pump cover and a new grommet.

Pleased to say the engine turns over nicely.

Clutch cable fit was next and was slightly more difficult to route, I don't know if it it is due to the higher bars but it seemed harder to find the natural fit and wanted to run hard up on the clocks. Small adjustments of the bars may help later on when I can sit on the bike and adjust them up to suit.

Either way it felt happy running in either of two locations though it was originally running in the upper position and this was the chosen one.

The clutch mechanism was fitted and adjusted along with the cable and upper lever adjustment, clutch working smoothly.......gear shaft bobbin also fitted.

After a steering check on the cables and wiring, a couple of harness bands were put in place.

Wheels and tyres delivered for truing and fitting this morning, hopefully be back on her wheels soon.

Tyres........

Plus wheels.............

Equals.................

Ready to roll

With memories of Stafford still stirring up the blood it was time to press on with the 400 and a couple of jobs, now that the wheels were built there should be no reason to stop me getting her back on her wheels......mmm

First job was to complete the front wheel, the newly refurbished disc was located...along with the speedo drive and cover plate.

I had somehow managed to order the wrong lock washers, the S3 seemingly having smaller attachment bolts so there was a small delay waiting for the correct ones to arrive.

Top man Postie duly delivered and the bolts were locked up, speedo mechanism finished that side off.

Round at the other side the spacer was located and the cleaned up cover plate positioned and secured.

 

With the front axle parts assembled and torqued up and after a bit of jiggling with my work board the front wheel was in.

and with a new set of brake pads the refurbished caliper was next.

On to the rear brake and the hub to reassemble,

The original shoes were inspected, deglazed and refitted along with a new spring as the original one was dirty (sorry rusty).   Some may frown at using old brake shoes but I don't have an issue with it as long as there are no visible defects, though I do tend to always change old brake pads.

And then finished off with the brake arm and pointer.

New front sprocket was fitted next and will be locked and tightened later.

Then I hit a little roadblock ........Sometimes the voices in your head just get in the way of progress and it was to be so with the rear sprocket and a rather frustrating anal moment.

So what a great day today was ........I woke up fired up and on a mission, first job was to sort out the roadblock.

So here was my predicament and my head just wouldn't budge, I had a brand new super dooper shiny new sprocket all ready to fit but the hole cutouts were shouting at me, and no matter how many times I told myself it is just a rear sprocket, the head wasn't interested.

I did think about getting the new one machined to match but after digging out the original sprocket and inspecting it in accordance with the 10% wear over width ratio they use it was found to have loads of life left in it and i didn't need a new one after all.......however it wasn't very shiny.

So after a quick bit of fettling yesterday it was off to the platers this morning.

Now I said it was a good day and it was because I had also decided it was time to sort the exhausts out (the final pieces) and after unwrapping them from their covers and checking them over I was feeling pleasantly optimistic on their condition. One of them I could actually do myself but the other two needing some specialist attention but not looking so bad.

After a quick drive down the A31 and a bit of groveling and the promise of Doughnuts the parts were dropped off with the plater with him agreeing to have them done by 12,this gave me plenty of time to pop the exhausts over to a specialist restorers for assessment.

Quick discussions led to a simple plan of action and even more optimism about their repair, glad to say there are still craftsman to be found in our fair and pleasant land.

Another quick dash to Tesco's to buy some Doughnuts........then back along the motorway to the Chromer's where the Exhausts were duly delivered for stripping.....happy days.

Back in the car return to the platers to pick up my sprocket, deliver the Doughnuts and home

Head is very happy now and I need a drink.

So with the rear sprocket now mounted on the hub carrier and securely locked in place, I started by fitting the rear axle collar and then gathered together another collection of bits,......glad to see the storage boxes now beginning to empty.

The rear axle sleeve was fitted in the rear of the carrier

and with the cush drives set in place and the brake and sprocket assemblies fitted I moved the wheel into position

and lifted it into place,.....this then made the bike rear heavy and called for some rapid stretching and balancing gymnastics to take place in order to get it some support  

The torque arm was connected at both ends to be finished off later

and the the rear brake cable slid into place leaving just the chain to fit next.

And she's looking more like a bike again

So moving on I am happy to say that the 400 now has a new chain fitted (many thanks to Simon) and very nice it is too. This allows me to finally tighten and lock up the front sprocket nut.

Then fit the chainguard

and the sprocket cover casing, attaching the all important engine earth lead to the upper attachment screw.

Now I can also sort out the left hand footpeg mount and the gear change lever.  Which is soon assembled and fitted , the final adjustments will be made once the exhausts are on.

Front footpeg finishes it off (picture making it look huge for some reason)

The infamous Helmet hook decals have been fitted as crooked as my head will allow,

though strangely and fortunately for me it seems mine were originally positioned by a Japanese teetotaler who hated Saki   ........the pictures don't lie

The swing arm block bolts have been painted black as they were originally

and she now sits proudly back on her wheels again.  

Well I'm beginning to run out of jobs now and winter is only just starting so that's not good... I am still waiting on the paintwork Zzzz but one must be patient.......and there is always some polishing to do.

Side stand has now been fitted... Along with a shiny new mirror.

I don't know if its because of the bars but I think I will be a rebel and only fit the one at the moment. So no overtaking me on the inside!

And in preparation for the paintwork I reassembled the fuel cap,...the inside has been wax protected and I greased up as I went.

Pictures added for reference:

Now we sit and wait  Zzzzzzz

So a little recap on the exhaust situation, all three were in a fairly good condition considering the age of the bike and compared to what you do generally see on the open market and on most project bikes for sale. Luckily most of the damage was located at the front portion of the exhausts where it tapers down and in an area which I have found to be a little more amicable to the process of working. Unfortunately unlike the 250 the 400's downpipes prevent you from getting to that area easily with dressing bars, or a jack handle as previously used.

The left hand pipe has a series of small dents at the front.

The right hand lower (upper in photo) is the best one with only a very minor graze to the bottom which I would have been quite happy to dress out myself but will be included in the repair job lot.

The remaining exhaust has the worst of the damage with a small dent and a longer creased dent in front of it.

The plan for the repairs is to either gain access from the back to work them or to split the front half off leaving the down pipe in place and rejoining them back together after dressing.

I will keep you posted as always I have been told 6 weeks but with Xmas is in the middle times scales generally extend, however good news is that if all goes well the Chromer's would hope to have them done by February.

But for now here are the pipes as they were this morning after stripping.

Some good news this morning, had a call to say my pipes are ready for collection, they have been repaired and I will be very happy with them. From what I understand they have split 2 to carry out the repairs properly and they are also in very good order inside. Hope to be able to get them booked into Chrome before Christmas.

So today after another 100 + a tickle mile restoration road trip I was reunited with my pipes and I couldn't be happier. Having dropped them off just under three weeks ago they are now all repaired and back at the platers.

Its refreshing to know there are still craftsmen out there and nice and genuine chaps with it too, impressive stuff. Here's a few piccies, its a shame I didn't get any taken during the work but I didn't think to ask, maybe next time.

As I said previously two of the pipes were split leaving the down pipe attached and the third one with the gravel rash was weld filled and cleaned. All the pipes were said to be in perfect order inside.

All being well they should be ready for collection end of January

Finally had the call.......... the paintwork's ready ...................Happy to hear it but feeling just a tad nervous now.... no pictures yet...............but pick up on Monday.........its so nerve racking, how the hell am I going to get through the weekend............   

So Unfortunately we have issues with the paintwork which has left me a little fed up. I wont go into details yet as I am waiting for the issues to be resolved and hopefully they will be and we can move on.

I guess this is all part of the story but after 14 weeks its not really acceptable and is very disappointing.....so now we wait again.

We all have to recognize the reality that some processes to take longer to get done and that is understandable but what is frustrating now is that I have a tail piece and side panels that I dare not fit until the tank is sorted...... and if its not sorted correctly the whole lot will have to be redone........which means more waiting......... suppose I could always look for the next project   or drown myself in Tikka Masala sauce!

Well after getting a tad emotional with my painter it seems to have stirred them up a bit and some progress has been made. I am still waiting for the final word on a minor adjustment but I am assured to have it back before Xmas.......which is only next week so we shall see.

I guess until its finished It could still go pear shape and may not be hard enough to transport in time which will mean further delays and somewhat frustration.........That being the case the Turkey will be getting a right old stuffing this year.

So after the disappointments of Xmas and with the start of the New year I decided to delve back into the boxes looking for something to do...........I dug out the rear light mounting bracket remembering that there was an original marking on it that I had traced over before I had it powdercoated........that will do nicely. The marking was just under the lower rubber and read 77K.

Armed with a fine brush and some white paint we set to work.

With this done it created another job of fitting the 3 original small mounting rubbers and a new centre rubber.

Covering up most of my artwork but not quite

That lead nicely on to fitting the iconic rear light assembly which was bolted into place.

Spurred on by this I made the decision to dig the tail piece out from the wardrobe and offer the light up to it,.....which resulted in me fitting it.

New and original rubbers combined were fitted first along with the two rubber grommets (one not shown) and along with the cover mounting screws and rubbers.

This was fitted and secured to the tail.

Which just left me the small job of threading the wires through the grommets and the fitting of the three mounting bolt and washer assemblies.

Another job done finally and maybe tomorrow I can fit it to the fame and fit the new battery and the battery mat and check the wiring and...........................mmm

Well another little update..... we are finally making some good progress on the tank and I am just waiting for a completion date now with a promise of early next week so fingers crossed.

So I guess we are really on the home stretch now with not a lot left to fit and if all goes to plan she could be finished by early February which would be great, then its just a case of setting her up, starting and testing, and mot and registration to take care of so still a few jobs to do before the sun starts to appear again.

In preparation, the front brake system has been filled and bled and works nicely, there is oil in the Gearbox and the Two stroke tank is nearly full.....its surprising how much that tank holds so its another trip to Halfords tomorrow.

And with progress on the tank I felt happy to move onto the side panels. With a new pair of badges ready to fit (Thank you Simon) the first step was to carefully clean out the holes with a needle file, protecting the paintwork with a cloth just in case of slippage.

 

Though fitting the badges is a fairly simple task as the new ones are flat it is best to gently ease and curve them with your hands to match the contour making sure you don't just bend them in the middle and crack the paint.

Once you are happy with the shape you can fit the new retaining clips, I used a small socket to gently press them home.

Then fitted the oil tank cover and grommet and left hand side panel, tomorrow we may fit the seat.

 
Smashing......................

In the meantime the battery and mat has been fitted and basic electrical checks carried out with everything working bar the indicator flasher unit which seems reluctant to flash more than once whilst and only when switching from side to side.
 

Which after doing a precautionary pre check with the live lead held on and not bolted down just in case, it was then strapped in and connected up fully.

And we have signs of life

As mentioned previously everything works as it should do except the indicator Flasher unit which seems a bit reluctant to wake from its slumber,...... however today it started to work correctly on the left side and after checking the voltage output on both sides which were the same I can see no reason why it should not make a full recovery, especially with the engine running.
Happy to report we have a spark on all three Plugs and no spark with the kill switch operated.

Cool

I found and fitted the rear brake switch band.

She's getting there

Well another missed promised date on the paintwork has prompted yet another emotional e-mail...................ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz not impressed near on 6 months now  
Why    
No response so far   hope i haven't upset him or i may never get it back ...............I really don't like to moan and i do understand that things don't quite clearly always go to plan and things do take longer sometimes...... BUT it does grate on me when I am given promises which clearly are not being met.......if its drying Tell me  If your short of labour Tell me if you have too much work and can't cope Tell me if you have buggered it up then Tell me............We are an understanding bunch I am a reasonable fella so what is the big problem GRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
On the Plus side as i am the eternal Optimist and usually looking on the bright side of life ..........my exhausts are in polishing and  may be ready on Friday .........or will they
I have to say that this time the paintwork issues have been Unexpectedly frustrating and for me added a totally Unnecessary trauma to the build.......and it's not as if I'm fussy or anything
Well to keep it short at the moment I need to find another painter,  the tank did eventually turn up 36 hours into a 24 hours express delivery service since then it has been an up and down relationship with it.
The colour I love and all was going fairly well until I noticed a flaw with it which if it showed in the sunlight would leave me no option but to have it repainted.  I even fitted the fuel cap and tap.
Its a difficult one as it only shows under certain conditions but it certainly is not acceptable to me and I know that if I was to show the bike, it would show up.
As you can imagine being so close to finishing I am pretty fed up, my options are to keep the set on and run it up for the summer or get it repainted straight away once i can find a suitable painter.
I have this morning sent a disgruntled e-mail and will await the reply.

On a positive note the pipes are ready and waiting for me................
Well moaning about it is not going to fix it and its not as if it is unusable but there were "uneducated" errors made from the start with this set and in trying to put them right they have created there own silly flaws within the paint scheme.
I am not going to slate them but have made my feelings very clear to them now and have asked for a full or partial refund for the work. I very much doubt if I will hear anything back if I do I will be surprised.
After a six month wait which is ridiculous you would have expected a flawless job, I have a feeling they have become a victim of there own success and are unable to keep up with the workload.
I will move on and put this one down to experience, its Bl**dy inconvenient but not the end of the world.

So amidst all the drama behind the scenes there has not been a lot of progress recently to show but I will continue with the build as it has been happening as it is all part of the story.

The tank finally turned up from its extended journey much to great relief and was excitedly unwrapped.

Excitement turned to disappointment with the paint dust   really.

But after a cut and polish things were looking up again and after finishing off around the filler mouth I carefully fitted the fuel cap and pin.

After cutting and polishing it again at least 5 times I fitted the tank rubbers in preparation for fitting.

And took a last couple of reference photos of underneath.

The fuel tap was dug out and serviced with new seals, the gauze filter is not shown but is already fitted.

and given a little rub which made me go all arty there's a lot of detail in a fuel tap you know.

After rinsing out the tank.... as least it was clean inside!! It was put in place.

Then it was back for a splash of colour and loving the red look.

Then it all turned a little sour again  

Okay so what has happened .......During the repaint the first time around the stripes and decals were wrongly positioned, way out in fact to the original scheme, don't know why but they were and we have seen it done many times before. But I won't dwell on the reasons it happened it just did.

The mistake was accepted and remedied over a period of time zzz until I was happy.

Tank was finished and came back and we cracked on.

As fate would have it whilst I was taking pictures in the garage to post I picked up a light that was laying behind the bike, again for some reason I switched it on and as it beamed across the tank it revealed the Ghostly image of a Headless Horseman ........sorry I couldn't resist it.. ...........it revealed the Ghostly image of the Previously Wrongly located decals

Further checks revealed more of the same with the stripes So that just about did it for me and has left me now in the difficult position of having a lovely new paint set which generally looks great but could look awful in the sunlight.

And worst of all is now I know its there  

But we move on and now for some good news, I picked up these from the platers yesterday morning, here's a sneak preview.

Happy to see the marks beautifully intact.

The rest of the pipes were unwrapped and detailed today.

The Baffles were sorted out and fitted.

and the first one went on tonight

So moving on, the exhaust clamps and sealing rings were fitted onto the pipes. And the original rubber mount bushes fitted in place 2 either side of the frame.

 

After fitting new exhaust gaskets and squeezing the sealing rings into the clamps, the left pipe went on first followed by the centre one. The mounting bracket for the centre one had already been bolted into place.

The original pillion footpegs secured the exhausts in place to the frame hangers.

and the front clamps were nipped up.

Then we were down to the final few split pins, one for the rear brake cable.

The rear footpegs and front footpeg mount nut.

The seat latch lever was fitted and secured along with the toolbag (empty at present) and retaining strap.

Then in Pre test Preparation I did as they did in the day and followed the KH400 Assembly and preparation manual..... awesome (Thanks mraxl) though I could do with page 18 as it tells you which fasteners to check are tight before road testing I may have to wing that one

So really once I have checked my nuts are tight I guess she is ready to start

wish me luck

So yesterday was D day and time to fire her up for the first time. With some pre mix added to the tank just to get her going and settled before the pump took over, I took my first swing on the Kick start, she gave a little splutter and on the third kick she roared into life. The tricky part was keeping her running on the choke whilst trying to hold the pump pulley open enough to bleed the pump and fill the lines, not an easy job on your own so I shut her off and wired the pulley open until the oil began to pump. Fired her up again and with the garage filling with smoke (even with the door open) and the smoke alarm wailing in protest it was happy days and she sounded great

So any issues?....well only one rather bizarrely .....after pushing her outside for the first time to have a look at her only to hear a rubbing sound coming from the back end the sort of noise you get when the wheel is rubbing on the plastic mudguard. Everything looked clear but the noise was definitely there, so puzzled by it and it was back inside on the stand to investigate.

The noise was coming from the back wheel and it sounded and felt terrible nothing for it but to remove it   With the wheel out and just I removed the brake hub something dropped to the floor and Bu@#ger me out fell a small slither of split pin!!

How the hell it got in there I don't know but obviously (and I am usually very careful to catch them) as I snipped one shorter it fired itself into the hub through the smallest of gaps imaginable and sat there waiting, chance in a million of it happening but it did,......another valuable lesson learnt

So I guess that's about it for this restoration with just the road test and paperwork to tidy up and submit now, to get her on the road.

I hope I haven't rattled on too much over the pass few months and gone too over the top with the pictures, all I can say in my defense is it really has been a pleasurable build and a knowledgeable one too.

A big THANK YOU for all the support, comments, help and banter along the way, its been emotional and I am happy but sad its finished.

So until the next one, maybe, possibly who knows.

Here's a few final piccies for the album  

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