Dumped the Gpz, she's toast

[sheldonbourgeoi]

Found a metal fab guy up here that said he can fix the case, and his welds "which are damn perfect" will be on the inside to keep the case finish exact.

Best of all my buddy back home has a mint '85 GPz 550, and a parts bike. Well the stuff I need "pulsing coil, pulsing coil rotor, the cover, bolts, signal lights , brake lever, from the 550 are the same used on my 750! So he's sending me the parts and all I pay is shipping!

[cpg]

Sounds like the rebuild should be a bit quicker and cheaper than you first expected which is always good. Glad you're ok and good luck getting her running soon.

[sheldonbourgeoi]

Took a bit of work but I managed to track down a welder up here with 25 years mig experience. Can weld ANYTHING from magnesium, stainless, aluminum. Best of all says he can fix the engine cases with the engine still in the bike! That is going to save me hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

Also my friend Curtis back in Halifax rides a mint '85 Gpz 750, and has a parts bike for it. Turns out the brake lever,pulsing coil and rotor, plus the cover are the same as the Gpz 750! He's sending me EVERYTHING I need for only shipping, so lots of money saved there as well.

I'll just have to pick up new mirrors and signal lights "EMGO", new speed screen from Lockhart Phillips , left handlebar bracket, and maybe a new exhaust depending on weather or not I can smooth out the bit of rash on the right can.

I'm going to make ABS putty out of Acetone and ABS pipe shavings to weld the fairing. I've done it before and it works incredibly well. The ABS putty welds to the fairing, becoming one with it. So when its done its done. Body shop can match the paint and load it into a spray bomb for me for touch up. My buddy Duane back home is making me the GPz decals for the engine covers to keep it as close as I can to original as the covers now are black and have Kawasaki on them "from an "83 550 I believe."

Lastly I'm buying a set of engine guard bars. I've leaned a lesson, albeit the hard way.....


Be a bit before I'm back on the road if at all this year, but the main point is that I will be back on the road!

[zoro]

Sounds good Sheldon, dont know how long the riding season is up there but it sounds like you should be riding soon. You indicated the welder was going to "MIG" the case. Are you sure you or he didnt mean TIG? TIG welding is a much more precise application. Less heat, sparks, and smoke than MIG welding. Magnesium can only be welded in a controlled oxygen free environment such as a weld booth with rubber gloves the operator wears while standing outside the booth looking through a poly-carbonate window and the inside of the booth is filled with argon or helium to prevent the magnesium from igniting. He's a high caliber welder if he's welding magnesium. TIG's the way to go!

[sheldonbourgeoi]

Dave's Specialty Welding, Victoria, B.C.

Yeah you're right, TIG, don't know what I was thinking.

Only thing really stopping me is the wife, and it's not really her fault. Since we moved to Victoria she's had a hell of a time finding work "paralegal" She had a great job but after 2 months it just didn't work for either side so they both agreed to call it quits. So I'm taking care of supporting 3, rent etc, and living in Victoria ain't cheap. Soon as she finds work she said I can get what I need for the bike and get it done.

The engine cases was the only thing that really concerned me. As for the plastics, I had the bike dumped over by winds years ago and it snapped the fairing, side panels and dented the tank and I took care of it and learned a lot in the process. Only crappy thing is not having a garage anymore.


While I'm at it, any idea what kind of plastic the rear outer fender would be??? Looks like polyethylene. Want to know so I can pick a scrap piece up so I can make a putty with Acetone to fix a crack in the fender as well.

[zoro]

Dave's Specialty Welding, Victoria, B.C.

Yeah you're right, TIG, don't know what I was thinking.

Only thing really stopping me is the wife, and it's not really her fault. Since we moved to Victoria she's had a hell of a time finding work "paralegal" She had a great job but after 2 months it just didn't work for either side so they both agreed to call it quits. So I'm taking care of supporting 3, rent etc, and living in Victoria ain't cheap. Soon as she finds work she said I can get what I need for the bike and get it done.

The engine cases was the only thing that really concerned me. As for the plastics, I had the bike dumped over by winds years ago and it snapped the fairing, side panels and dented the tank and I took care of it and learned a lot in the process. Only crappy thing is not having a garage anymore.


While I'm at it, any idea what kind of plastic the rear outer fender would be??? Looks like polyethylene. Want to know so I can pick a scrap piece up so I can make a putty with Acetone to fix a crack in the fender as well.

Howdy Sheldon, looks like Dave knows what he's doing. I would fill the crankcase with thin oil to sink and disperse heat while he's welding. If he has an infrared digital heat gun or thermometer to monitor the heat in the case near the oil seal at the crank during and between passes, it would be a very good idea because the last thing you want at this point is a burnt oil seal and have to split the cases. Mark the location and remove the pulsar pick-coil magnet on the end of the crankshaft before any welding so magnetic field from the weld process doesn't demagnetize it. When you do get the new parts for the ignition, be very careful with that crank magnet because like the rotor, if you drop it, it will demagnetize it. Its also a good idea to remove the battery and disconnect the regulator and the IC Igniter before welding to insure no rouge current or high frequency voltage finds its way to other electrical components. Dont worry about the rotor it should be fine but I would also disconnect the three yellow leads to the stator just to make sure nothing goes wrong. I like your resourceful ideas for the plastic repairs and while your talking to Dave ask him if he's familiar with "Plastic Welding". Many body shops today have one of these and they operate with much the same skills that metal welding entails. Plastic Welding Equipment & Supplies ...Im sorry to hear about the financial struggle up there and can fully relate, the work situation here in the states has been lousy since the war mongers in Washington felt the need to force democracy on middle-eastern muslim countries and domestic manufacturing has gone to Asia! Thats to say nothing of the rising fuel costs the oil barons have imposed! Good luck my friend. ~Michael~

[sheldonbourgeoi]

Howdy Sheldon, looks like Dave knows what he's doing. I would fill the crankcase with thin oil to sink and disperse heat while he's welding. If he has an infrared digital heat gun or thermometer to monitor the heat in the case near the oil seal at the crank during and between passes, it would be a very good idea because the last thing you want at this point is a burnt oil seal and have to split the cases. Mark the location and remove the pulsar pick-coil magnet on the end of the crankshaft before any welding so magnetic field from the weld process doesn't demagnetize it. When you do get the new parts for the ignition, be very careful with that crank magnet because like the rotor, if you drop it, it will demagnetize it. Its also a good idea to remove the battery and disconnect the regulator and the IC Igniter before welding to insure no rouge current or high frequency voltage finds its way to other electrical components. Dont worry about the rotor it should be fine but I would also disconnect the three yellow leads to the stator just to make sure nothing goes wrong. I like your resourceful ideas for the plastic repairs and while your talking to Dave ask him if he's familiar with "Plastic Welding". Many body shops today have one of these and they operate with much the same skills that metal welding entails. Plastic Welding Equipment & Supplies ...Im sorry to hear about the financial struggle up there and can fully relate, the work situation here in the states has been lousy since the war mongers in Washington felt the need to force democracy on middle-eastern muslim countries and domestic manufacturing has gone to Asia! Thats to say nothing of the rising fuel costs the oil barons have imposed! Good luck my friend. ~Michael~

Just went to Facebook and it dawned on me, Michael Hill....

No need to worry about the pulsing coil and the other goodies as they pretty much disintegrated during the slide. Curtis is giving me all the stuff from his 550 so I'll be good that way.

The area to be welded is quite a ways from the crank seal, about 3-4 inches. And the area being welded is pretty thin, so I don't know how much heat would transfer to the crank area. I could send you a few pictures on Facebook.

As for the crank magnet, well I ain't got one, that I know of. It's the pulsing coil and the pulsing coil rotor, which locks onto the crank with a pin so one position only. Electronic ignition.

For the plastics they do plastic welding up here, but my way is the best. You use an acorn bit and go the length of the crack, going in about 1/4 of the thickness. Fill with the ABS putty and it will melt into the fairing, becoming one with it. Let dry 24 hours "acetone to evaporate" then do the same to the front of the crack. Sand, paint and done. I've done it to the fairing before and even with a good bend it won't break. And with chemical welding no fear of heat distortion .Best of all if you break a piece out of the fairing and can't find it the putty can be used to make a new piece. There is a product out there called Quarical fairing repair which is the same stuff, but they want $60 for a small bottle.

Want to chat about it, Facebook me and I'll send you some pics of the crank area as I value your opinion being a welder.