The head is on the way and currently in Troutdale, OR. ETA is the 27th. Judging from the pictures the incoming EBay head might be preferable with only 3k miles although the old one was probably sealing perfectly. I'm inclined to install the replacement (as it was prepped by Kawasaki and not me) and fix/sell the old one. Below are pics of the incoming head.
I'm so glad you raised that point. Pictures show a head, valves and even shims on the valves. No buckets. The piece that bolts down over the two cam gears is there. Is that what you mean by cam blocks?
I can inquire to the seller but you're saying not to install the new head if I can't also get the missing intake and exhaust blocks/caps?
The heads are sold with the blocks and there is no part number for the blocks.
I like the idea of using parts from the new head to fix the old and am leaning towards that. I had looked at the cost of valves and associated parts before ordering the head and factored that in. I'll have all the spares I need without any worry about alignment, clearances, etc. Thanks again for the input. You may have saved me a lot of additional grief.
Page 250, section 5-26 of the Kawasaki service manual, "The camshaft cap is machined with the cylinder head, so if a new cylinder head is installed, use the cap that is supplied with the new head." I am asking my EBay supplier about that. Worst case scenario is I fix the old head and possibly buy some tools to do it. One way or another I dodged a bullet thanks to you for pointing out the necessity of matchings caps to the head.
Also curious to see how this goes / went ?
It's all resolved now. Most of the blame is on me for skimming Kawasaki and Haynes documentation. There are duplicate marks on the lowest camchain gear for positioning the engine. There's 1T and 1T, 2T and 2T where the second of each mark is sideways indicating 90 degrees past BTDC for #1 or #2. The view port is tiny enough that you can be unaware of the duplication. Documentation is unable to print the sideways mark and refers to either mark as simply 1T or 2T where the number is always vertical. Bottom line is it's possible to postion the engine 90 degrees off TDC when you mount the cams. A sharp eye reader on this forum pointed that out and cams were installed properly. I'm waiting for a missing fuel line clip to arrive but otherwise am ready for the first startup. This bike was stripped to the frame and I've got a real appreciation for it's design and build quality. Every molecule of dirt or corrosion has been cleaned, bolts refinished, brakes rebuilt, wheels painted, parts lubed, adjusted and torqued, touchup applied. Last night I sanded and painted a bracket supporting the instruments which would never have happened otherwise. Right now the only task undone is repainting the footpeg support pieces to hide minor heel scratches.
Sorry to hear of the troubles TMF, but thank you for sharing and documenting here. I've done one valve adjustment in my life, on my last bike (Ninja 500R). This thread has encouraged me to be extra attentive whenever I do my next one, on the 650R or whatever bike it ends up being.
I do admit screwing this one up with an explanation. Maybe I'm the only one to make the mistake but it's good to have the warning out there. Don't fear the valve adjustment. Watch a lot of videos and review the procedure 3 or 4 times in print. Cross reference the OEM service manual with Haynes or Clymer. Overall, I'm almost glad it happened. I had the bike stripped to the frame and know every nut and bolt on it now. Most every service and adjustment has been done so I can be confident going forward. I had it out today and it's my favorite bike and that's over my '03 SV1000S, Triumph TT600, Honda ST1100, Honda Transalp and Triumph Trident! Love that light feel, easy steering, riding position, smooth motor, easy shifting, torque with some fun when you rev it out.
