TOPIC:

Has anyone ever heard of Carpenter pistons? The original
owner of my 1975 Z1B says he had it bored out to 1013( I imagine he means 1015) gated the oil pan, opened the valves up(comp valve job) and ported both intake and exhaust sides. He never did a cam. What cam would work with this setup: VM 28, 127.5 mains, Kerker exhaust W/endcap no baffle K&N pods, Dyna-S

K410 with valve springs

are you sure they arent ART pistons? (stock in a kz1000, 1015cc)
Scott

ZED wrote:

Has anyone ever heard of Carpenter pistons? The original
owner of my 1975 Z1B says he had it bored out to 1013( I imagine he means 1015) gated the oil pan, opened the valves up(comp valve job) and ported both intake and exhaust sides. He never did a cam. What cam would work with this setup: VM 28, 127.5 mains, Kerker exhaust W/endcap no baffle K&N pods, Dyna-S

I think this is probably an "old" piston kit. At one time several companies sold what they called a 1013 including RC Engineering. In reality it was a 1015. First thing I would do is pull the valve cover and check the valve lash. Then do a leak-down or compression test just to see where your at. No sense buying cams for something that's worn out. Check with APE or WEB to see what's available as a "bolt-in" unless your willing to check piston to valve, cam to head etc.

The motor has only a few thousand miles on it scince the 1015 kit. It was bought in Jersy in 1975 ridden till about the late eighty's and wrecked. The owner used the insurance money to do most of the work getting it back together. Once together it sat for years until the original owner's brother procured it. When he moved here in the early 90's he got it running but the stator failed, it sat for a few more years until I found it in a bike shop here in Florida and offered the owner 1500$ for it last year. I've done alot of cosmetic work on the bike since it is such a strong runner and worth the time. Now i want a little more performance. I hadent known about the motor work until a couple of days ago. The bike was well taken care of and runs great. It does explain alot of things such as 127.5 main jets with brown plugs to show for. Also how fast the bike is. I do need to do the valve shim's though. But im positive cams will benifit this bike. It can be viewed in the gallery, The "Atomic Orange" one.

yeah that is a really nice looking bike!

modprod wrote[/quote]I think this is probably an "old" piston kit. At one time several companies sold what they called a 1013 including RC Engineering. In reality it was a 1015. First thing I would do is pull the valve cover and check the valve lash. Then do a leak-down or compression test just to see where your at. No sense buying cams for something that's worn out. Check with APE or WEB to see what's available as a "bolt-in" unless your willing to check piston to valve, cam to head etc.[/quote]


Thanks, modpod -- Thought my pornographic memory was failing once again. In the late 70's shortly after purchasing a new KZ900LTD, I had an overbore kit installed by the dealer and remembered it being a 1013 kit (don't recall name of the aftermarket supplier) but in recent years mentioning a 1013 kit draws blank stares and funny looks. Anyway, I'm happy to learn it's really a 1015 after all. Wonder why they called it a 1013 when it was actually 1015.

As Jay says...K410 grind would work nicely... BUT..if the pistons have relieved valve pockets for high lift cams.

If, by some chance, that bore kit turns out to be OEM KZ 1000 pistons, then you will need to address that problem in one of two ways.

1. have the pistons cut for the cams...you'll loose some compression on that move.

2. Install pistons with the appropriate size valve pockets. You'll need to measure the bores to see where you stand...

3rd approach if the pistons aren't cut or you don't want to yank the head is to look into a drop in grind.

Ported 900 heads yield most gains at lifts above the ability of the stock cams.

Post edited by: larrycavan, at: 2006/11/25 22:07

After doing some reading, Carpenter Racing is in Jersy, where the bike was bought from the dealer. They use JE pistons appearently, and their website states the pistons have lift clearence for "most popular camshafts", I know the pistons arent stock 1000, 1015's, Can I use the APE K410...? I will be giving them a call on monday. Whyu the hell couldent he have installed a Wiseco kit, then there would be no debate:unsure:

All aftermarket pistons were cut to fit our 410s.

The 70 mm bore Kawasaki motor is actually 1016cc ( 1015.9cc)

Post edited by: APE Jay, at: 2006/11/26 21:06

Sweet, Im almost there. Now I need the funds and some knowhow. I purchased one of your degree wheels today. I'll get the cam sprokets and valve springs when i get the cams, Thanks for all of your recomendations!!