1982 KZ1300 rescue and rebuild

These current photos are for mine and anyone else reference in case of facing such mess.

A few more....





The head cover was removed after removing one of the small top covers and wiggling it to the opposite side. I am being vague here about the little details, but it is very well described in the KZ1300 shop service manual.



At this point looking into the engine things actually looked quite good! Despite years of abandonment, surfaces and gears looks 'like new' and very clean.



At this moment things look good for the head removal.

I have been taking photos and marking, but I must to point it out that I am actually very impressed with how Kawasaki marked all the pieces by design! There are arrows pointing directions and numbers. Even if throwing randomly all in one box, parts can't be mixed up.

So here is the pic where all hopes and fears came together. The head is off, cylinders exposed and was it a nightmare....
If you read my previous posts there are pics of everything rusted. Nothing would move. I new it even before removing the head after pushing a rag into each cylinder. There were a couple that it took me almost half an hour each to remove all the water there.... Others had some moist rust on the rag... I knew I am in trouble.

This is where I started the removal of the cylinder head. Please look at my past posts to see how I did it - first manual rust removal, then Metal Rescue soaking for a couple months, cleaning and soaking again, all while applying upward tension with a system of pullies attached to the frame.

Eventually it came off. More photos will follow after editing.

I apologize for the quality of some photos I posted. My phone camera should be taking consistent quality pics. Still, I hope, while not a step by step walk through, I hope my entries will give an idea and some reference. It will be easier when putting things together.

Don't apologize. First you are amongst those who post pictures (and we appreciate), second the quality of your restoration should be given priority.
Thanks for keeping us in.

Holger

Pictures are worth a thousand words and your progress in stripping it down is great to see and no doubt helpful and interesting to many. Keep doin' what you're doin" StanG !

Thank you guys!
I was actually pissed off with my camera and some of the photos not coming out as clear as they looked on the small screen. I felt like WTF! I've done professional photography and this ain't it. Haha

I will just continue with posting whatever I am doing with this bike. For the bigger picture