Project Z

[jonboy]

Here is my latest project

[rockman]

Originally posted by jonboy
Here is my latest project
Love the PC man. :D

[jonboy]

Yeah, I was real happy with it here are some more pics

[jonboy]

Another

[jonboy]

Another. These are all I have so far but I'll post more as I put it back together.

[jonboy]

Here is my attempt at polishing the tank. Not as lustrius as I would have liked but, after I put some clear on it, it kind of dulled the sheen from the polish. I'm happy with it though once the rest of the parts are on it, the tank should stand out.

[beastlyone]

im likin it so far man, good luck

[Mav_KFX400]

looks good so far, how much did u pay to get it PCed?
btw nice flames on the lawn mower in the background.

[jonboy]

$50 for sand blasting
$125 for the frame
$25 for the subframe
$10 for the foot pegs
$10 for the brake and shifter lever


As for the flames on the lawnmower I was just practicing with my airbrush and whala.:D

[jonboy]

Well the motor is finally in and the A-arms are on but I modified the stock lower arms for replacable ball joints and I am still waiting for the lonestar joints to come in. Will be posting a how-to in the How-to section soon. I also am waiting on the swinger bolt. Anyway here is the latest picture of the buildup.

[jonboy]

Here is another with the Yosh pipe on it

[jonboy]

Getting closer to the finish

[jonboy]

Getting closer to the finish:D

[TeamYamaharider]

Pretty sweet man. Keep up the good work

[indyZrider]

not tooooo bad for a red frame. check this out!
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/frame001.jpg
how did u polish the oil tank? i like it alot.

[jonboy]

First I went to Autozone and got a Spraycan of Autostrip paint stripper and some fine grade sand paper. I sprayed the tank and let the stripper do its thing and hosed it off with water. I had to do it a couple of times to get all the paint off. Then I started sanding with 400 grit and worked my way up to 1000 grit. It takes quit a while but I did it in the course of three days or so. Once I got it looking pretty smooth I used a drill attachment cloth buffing wheel and some aluminum polish. The best polish that I have erver found is Busch's supershine aluminum polish. I have polished alot of stuff and this stuff works the best!:D Here is the info for the polish:
Busch Enteerprises, Inc
Statesville, NC 28677
(704)878-2067
www.buschpolishes.com
pt# 44016
Once I got the polish on it and looking the way I liked I washed it with warm soapy water and wiped it off real good, let it dry and then I used some clear(didnt want to keep repolishing it) Testors model car clear works great. I used Duplicolor clear from Autozone on this tank and wasnt happy with the quality of the clear. I hazed up the polish a bit. There you have it. good luck!;)

[jonboy]

Well I modified the A-arms with the help of a few guys over at Z400central.

If you choose to do this mod, start by measuring the center of the stock balljoint to 2" to the arm. Make a reference mark using a punch.

[jonboy]

next

[jonboy]

Then

[jonboy]

Now

[jonboy]

Last

[drzoo2]

Awsome tutorial. Is this pinned already over at z400central? When the time comes for new ball joints, I will be checking this out.

z

[jonboy]

There are more specifics in the how-to section at this forum. I didnt give specifics on some stuff and a Moderator had some really good questions. It will be at Z400central also.

[jonboy]

Here are some more of the mod

[jonboy]

and

[indyZrider]

alright you talked me into it! im gonna do this. now ill be able to get the a-arms pc'd.

hey are you still running the stock front shocks?

[jonboy]

As for right now I'll be running the stockers but I am saving to get a good set. Either a set of TCS stock rebuilds or a set from ishock. We'll have to see what kind of damage X-mas does. Getting closer to the finish now, just wait ing on a few more parts like the braided brake lines and brake pads. I also ordered a K&N power lid and a set of DG heel guard and some Outerwears shock covers. I did start it the other day while wiring up the start button. Fired right up and sounds great. I cant wait to ride this thing. I also put a dummy brake on it using the old parking brake and a yzf hot start lever. This is so I can rock out wheelies on the grab bar for long distances with out using the foot brake. I've done a similar set up on my GSXR works pretty good. In process of building a 12 O'clock bar as we speak. Here are some of the latest pics.

[jonboy]

Here are the controls with the DR.D reverse lever start button and dummy brake lever.

[Jeffksf]

Lookin good Jonboy.
Atleast you got the pics up on here.

[mx1791]

looks great so far, cant wait to see it with all the plastics on

[redrunner]

Great, glad the ball joint mod worked out for you and great info for others;)

[jonboy]

Couldnt have done it without some great help.;)

[indyZrider]

whew dude! alright one of the sizes is off. its a 1/2" drill bit then the 16mm tap. i started to drill with a 9/16 bit and i thought the sizes were close so i put the 16mm tap in the 9/16 part i drilled and it fit right in there. im waiting on my ball joints to make sure but i think its supposed to be a 1/2" drill bit. double check me on that jonboy if you would please.

[jonboy]

I used a 9/16" bit. I have a conversion chart from motion industries and it calls for a 14.5mm bit for that tap size. I couldnt find a metric bit that size at any of the local machine and equipment sales places. But in the SAE sizes the 9/16' is actually a couple of tenths smaller than the recomended bit for the tap. Your tap should be tapered in order for it to start in the hole. As it goes farther into the hole it should start to cut more. Check to see if it is the correct tap and if it is tapered if not I can send you the bit and tap that I used. I'll PM you my number so you can call me if you like.

[One_Bad_400]

what exacy is the point in that ball joint mod?!?!

[jonboy]

The ball joint mod was because, The factory ball joints are all one piece with the lower a-arm. Meaning if the ball joint goes bad you'll have to replace the intire lower a-arm. The only place to get a NEW arm is from suzuki and they are almost $200 probably more after tax and shipping for one arm. After doing this modification I can now just replace the ball joint with a $15 ball joint. I didnt want to spend $400-$600 for aftermarket a-arms because I am building on a budget and intend to sell the quad later for profit. The added bonus to doing this mod is now I can get the Lower arms powder coated also.;)

[indyZrider]

what is up with those dirty quads in the garage? lol i get my frame back on tuesday. wouldve been sooner except turkey day is getting in the way. now i need your help cuz i didnt measure before i cut the ball joints off so you gotta help me.

[jonboy]

I will get the measurement from the lower arm pivot to the center of the ball joint as soon as possible and if your # is still on the caller ID I'll call you.

[jonboy]

Did you get the drill bit and tap figured out? Oh yeah I gotta go ride sometime so why not in the rain.LOL Didnt feel like cleaning them in the rain and cold.;)

[indyZrider]

i ordered my ball joints from ricky stator yesterday and because of thanksgiving i wont get them until tuesday so ill know if what i have on the arm right now is right or i have to change it. he!! i might just buy new a-arms. dont really want to but if i messed up the stockers i will. the measurement i need is from the back side of the area where you started to drill the arm at. you know where the hole already was? from there to the middle of the new ball joint, if you could please? after this winter we are going to have to ride badlands or haspin together. my friends are going down to kentucky somewhere for a 3 day camping riding thing and im jealouse but not much i can do when the Z is in pieces-lol!

[jonboy]

Will do. Yeah we may have to hook up and go to the badland sometime.

[jonboy]

Hey Indy, The measurement that I got was 3"and 12/32".Hope this helps. So how's it turning out so far?

[indyZrider]

thanks man! it still waiting on the stinking ball joints. man this is a lousy weekend to be getting something in the mail-lol just ordered my new swinger to. woohoo! i should have pics up by wednesday or thursday. should.......

[jonboy]

Cool cant wait to see how it works out for ya.:cool:

[indyZrider]

hey i got the tap and bit today. i think your bit has had it. i got about half way through the first one and it doesnt want to drill anymore. ill probably buy a new one. i get my frame back tomorrow! yipee!

[jonboy]

That was a brand new colbalt bit, never even used. Oh well I get them at work. LOL. Are you using any type of drill and tap lube? It will definately keep the bit alive longer. When you go to use the tap it is a must to use the tapping oil. Go get a can of Tap magic to drill and tap it out. I think you can get it at any hardware store. Could you put up some pics of the frame? I love that copper color. If I decide to do my KFX I might do it that color, maybe with the orange plastics. Hmmm....:D Well good luck Bill adn keep me posted on how it turns out.

[indyZrider]

yeah i was using lube and it just didnt want to cut the metal for some reason. my buddy had another one. i got it done last night. we did use lube when we were tapping it also. ill be sending your stuff back today. thanks alot. oh and me and the powdercoater were talking before i committed to a color and he just had a new color come in and he ran a test of it for me. so i changed it but its still copper. its now a sparkle copper. it looks like a custom paint job man its sweet. its a 2 stage powder job then i had him add a clear coat. should be getting it back tonight. will def post pics but will need the sun to do it justice.

[indyZrider]

ok here are the pics of the frame. i will take some when the sun comes out to do it justice but here is a sneak peek!

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0655.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0654.jpg
what do you think jon?

[jonboy]

Man that color is fricken nice. Good choice. What color Plastics are you gonna run?

[indyZrider]

still running the stock yellow ones. i want silver but everyone seems to be switching to silver so...... plus i dont really want to get new ones until i damage the stockers. i think white would look noce but they show too much dirt and all the scratches. what color would you go with? and black is not an option.

[jonboy]

I think orange might look pretty sweet. You may want to get a piece and put it next to the frame to see how well it looks first. Put some silver and copper custom graphics, silver sides on the seat with a black gripper center, and polished aluminum stuff to bling it up. Should look pretty sweeeeeet!:D

[indyZrider]

finally............................. got my a-arms back tonight. jeese that took forever. ill get pics up tomorrow or something. i have to get the bearings pressed back in now. going to take the hubs to get done with them. stay tuned........................

[indyZrider]

alright here are some pics of a little bit of progress. dont know if i will keep the pipe yellow.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/frame008.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/frame007.jpg

i was thinking i might just take the canister off the pipe and get the s/o and the canister ceramic coated to match the head pipe.

[jonboy]

Well project Z is up and running like a champ with the DRZe kit. I still need to get a graphics and seat kit and some heel guards. I'll probably get a kit from www.goforitgraphics.com. I've been watching for heel guards on ebay but keep getting out bid. A good set of wheels and tires and she'll be finished.

[jonboy]

Here is another...

[TWISTED DINLI]

Thats awesome lookin. Ilike the color of the frame. Looks real nice.:D

[400exrider707]

That balljoint mod although inexpensive and fairly simple looks like a horrible idea... By drilling those holes on those angles (different on both sides) you are changing your castor. So now your running two different castors, each wheel is different.:rolleyes:

[jonboy]

You got me thinking on that when you posted it in the how to section before. So I checked my castor angle and, got my centerline and compared it to my stock set up on my kfx400. The left side is to the rear by about a 16th of an inch. I will not be flat tracking or mx racing this quad and if I were, I would get aftermarket arms. To me a 1/16" is not too critical of an error to cause problems for trail riding. I have been riding it for some time now and havent noticed any abnormal tire wear or does it pull to the left any. Trust me I am checking. I do how ever appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism. It will only give me more opportunity to better refine the next set that I do. If you have more information on what I should do please feel free to reply.

[smoothie]

may i ask what happened to the houser swinger?

[jonboy]

What houser swinger?

[jherbie28]

the one in the pic:ermm:

[indyZrider]

the houser is on mine not jonboy's-our Z's look alot alike but my frame is copper-orange and his is red.

hey jon i just got some +2/+1 alba a-arms i need to get powdercoated as well as a +1/+1 forward lonestar steering stem with a houser anti-vibe clamp. groovy! all thats left is the axle and the shock rebuild. ill get pics up in a day or 2.

[jonboy]

SWEEEEET!
Ive ordered the Skull pile graphics and seat cover from Verde Powersports but havent had time to put on the bike. The red in the graphics match the frame almost perfectly. How lucky is that! Still no heel guards though. Think I may just get some DG ones They aint to bad for the price. I tell ya, the DRZe kit Rocks! I plan on doing it to my KFX now. As much as I hate ITP wheels I think Im going to get a set of bajas for the Z with Kenda Knarlys. Hey we'll still need to figure out a date to meet up at Badlands. Me and some buds are planning a trip to Windrock for June and a trip to Harlan Co. KY in April. My cousin bought a 97 school bus for 3k and we are gutting it for a hauler. We pickup an old tommylift for 200 bucks and we are going to get another rear door for the bus to make double doors to get the quads in. Ive got some welding to do. So if we meet up sometime and you see an Ohio County schoolbus, its us. Ha-ha!:D

[indyZrider]

man i cant decide i want to leave her naked or put the graphics on her. i think it looks good without any stickers but a kit would look good to. ooohhhh man i want to go to harlan. ive been doing alot of checking up on that place. sounds bad! BUT... i just got a new job and im going to oklahoma city on march 26th for about 3 months so........ill have to let you know when i get back. this bums me considering i had cabin fever for going on 5 months now and i finally got her all back together and then i leave :( i would love to take the bike with me and ride little sahara while im there but i dont have any place to keep it. you gonna like the bajas i just got a set for the rear in black to match the fronts. have to get those mounted to. have you seen the pics of the bus that was converted over on the central? they put rails around the roof and had a crane up on top and hauled like 8 of them on the roof. pretty neat. i might go check out the graphic kits now, later.......

[rockman]

Hey lookin good guys. Don't get me wrong jonboy i like the red alot, but I LOVE the copper of indy's. I need to strip mine down and do a frame up. I've been meaning to ask you how you like that swinger Indy. that sucks that you can't bring your quad with you indy, I would love to live closer to LS.

[indyZrider]

this swinger rocks. a noticeable difference over stock just riding around the house. here are the new rear rims to match the fronts.
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0726.jpg

here are the new alba arms that i need to get pc'd
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0725.jpg

the new steering stem and clamp
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0727.jpg

and here she is mildy rebuilt. still have to add the new things and the axle that is on the way.
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0719.jpg

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0720.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0718.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g177/indyZrider/DCP_0722.jpg

whew! almost done.

[jonboy]

Oh yeah Rock I love that copper color too. I had intended on maybe getting black plastics but the new Z's already have them so I decided to do a graphics set that will look great. Here is the set I ordered.

[rockman]

Thats wicked. :eek2: So you are going to get black plastic with those graphics? NICE. I was thinking about doing black plastic with blue, but i dont' think i like that.

[jonboy]

Nah I just decide to keep the yellow. I didnt want it to look too much like the stock ones. I am thinking of black wheels though. I just dont know if it would look good with the red and yellow.

[rockman]

Originally posted by jonboy
Nah I just decide to keep the yellow. I didnt want it to look too much like the stock ones. I am thinking of black wheels though. I just dont know if it would look good with the red and yellow.
I think black wheels would look pretty sweet. I was thinking about getting black c-series, get my nerfs pc'd stealth black.

[indyZrider]

black rims rule man! i like the c-series rears i have but i think the matching set of bajas would look better on mine. as far as your color of black i always get my black stuff done in a matte black. its in between dull and shiny and your fingerprints dont stay on it when you touch it. ive been thinking of getting my nerfs done in matte black to match the rest of the stuff down low.

[redrunner]

Originally posted by jonboy
Nah I just decide to keep the yellow. I didnt want it to look too much like the stock ones. I am thinking of black wheels though. I just dont know if it would look good with the red and yellow.

Nice quad....uhmmm I am really liking your avatar:eek2:

[jonboy]

Yeah, I just got a slap on the back of the hand for that. I should have known better than to put that on there. Ha-ha. Though I have seen worse. I like it here so I'll keep it clean.:devil:

[rockman]

Originally posted by jonboy
Yeah, I just got a slap on the back of the hand for that. I should have known better than to put that on there. Ha-ha. Though I have seen worse. I like it here so I'll keep it clean.:devil: I knew the man would get to you sooner or later. :rolleyes: Can't help but hate "the man" *******s.

[mikeB]

Niceee.. looks like it turned out pretty good. Looks sick! nice frame color

[400exrider707]

Originally posted by jonboy
You got me thinking on that when you posted it in the how to section before. So I checked my castor angle and, got my centerline and compared it to my stock set up on my kfx400. The left side is to the rear by about a 16th of an inch. I will not be flat tracking or mx racing this quad and if I were, I would get aftermarket arms. To me a 1/16" is not too critical of an error to cause problems for trail riding. I have been riding it for some time now and havent noticed any abnormal tire wear or does it pull to the left any. Trust me I am checking. I do how ever appreciate your feedback and constructive criticism. It will only give me more opportunity to better refine the next set that I do. If you have more information on what I should do please feel free to reply.

1/16 of an inch may not seem a lot, but small changes in castor can greatly effect handling. If the distance between your balljoints is roughly 4" ( just a number I pulled out of my head) then 1/16" forward or backward is about 1 degree. 1 degree change of castor will definitely effect handling. I realize you are not using your quad for racing purposes, but still why would you want to make it handle worse? Though the average rider probably would not notice this, but I cant really say what one person may or may not feel. You would not notice abnormal wear on your tires and it wouldn't pull to one side. Castor is leans the tire forward or backward. Check out the steering and handling discussion to get a better understanding of it. I dont think this mod is even possible to do at a machine shop, just because of where the holes are located on the arms, they are not centered and this is what is throwing off the castor. This is still a much cheaper alternative to buying new arms though, but just be aware of what you are doing is all.:macho

[jonboy]

Gone but not forgotten:D

[indyZrider]

what'd ya sell it for?

[jonboy]

Well, I got it to flip in the first place. It needed some work. I still have my KFX400 to play with. Time to invest into it.

[jonboy]

.

[justin1022]

Originally posted by jonboy
.

i would of never sold that z it was to nice man

[jonboy]

Well, this is what I am putting some of that money into now.

[suzukifanatic]

I will be doing this ball joint mod, so i was just wondering what ball joint will work for this?

[jonboy]

There are several places to get this balljoint from. I started doing this mod for others here locally and got them from Ricky stator. I did get some from Lonestar once also. As long as you get the right thread and taper. You'll be fine. The taper for the Z is the same as honda spindles so this can make it a little easier. The thread is 16mm x 1.5. If you need help you can email me at jrboehman@liquidgrid.net

[suzukifanatic]

alright thanks alot! just makin sure, will that ricky stator ball joint you mentioned fit in the stock a-arms for an 04 ltz400?

[jonboy]

As long as you do the Mod correctly it will

[jonboy]

.