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strate6 wrote: Phil,

The last time I saw that photo many years ago I asked you for the name and contact details of your interior decorator ........and I am still waiting !!!!

LOL

Pete F
UK

Lol That was in a lean-to at a terraced 2-up 2-down Victorian house I used to rent. I've bought a house a with a garage now, but unfortunately the garage is full of sh*t whilst I spend all my spare time doing DIY on the house. One day I'll convert that garage into a proper workshop

+1 on what Kawboy said. Prior to fitting my rings and barrels I measured the distance between the lowest part of the piston skirt and the top of the crankcase, while 3 and 4 were at TDC. I then made a jig from aluminium cut to fractionally smaller size than the measured width and slipped this under both sides of the piston across the crankcase top to hold the piston straight whilst lowering the barrels. Worked a treat. Just have to be careful when you remove the tool so as to not damage the gasket. A modified version of the Kawasaki tool.

Kwaboy, would you recommand the use of Permatex scellant on all gaskets? Or just the cyl. base gasket?

I am a very fussy fabricator of parts, and mostly, my own service tools, stuff that is co0mmon sense, and isn't made by anyone else, or, not made so workable by anyone else. That said, has anyone ever seen the factory service tool to compress the rings and hold the pistons in place for a Z1? It is a dual square bar tool, comes apart between the bars. Bars run along the front and rear of the piston line, and have 8 half circles that match, compress, hold rings/pistons in place, so the cylinder literally slips on, the tool is removed, done deal.

I made one for myself, holds 1, 3, 4 and 6 at the same height, UNDER the 2 and 5 pistons. I then guide 2 and 5 into the bores by hand, then, down to the other pistons, slip them in, remove the tool, done deal.

Of course, not everyone can do this sort of fabrication, but, it sure makes cylinder installation a breeze compared to other methods. I have also made 6 sets of half circles, polished stainless steel, to go around all 6 pistons, individually, held in place by zip ties, works as well, but more labor intensive, time consuming. The pistons are inserted two at a time.

Another tool is a mercury manometer, 8 cylinder. I built this when I ran Hilborn individual stack mechanical injection on a drag race big block Chevy engine decades ago, works great on a CBX, KZ1300, that Italian inline 6, and Gold Wings. I also service one of the only Morbidelli V8's outside of Europe, for a friend, this manometer works well for that.

A man's just got to use his tools, with vigor, and, enthusiasm.

If you cant get somebody to help you, this tip could help. I have used the finger / screwdriver / jiggle method when putting pistons in. I have used a pair of locking pliers on the head bolts to prevent the cylinder block from dropping down. When the block floats on the pliers, it is easier to jiggle the pistons in alone.