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Lord Gruntfuttock's 1960 Nzeta 501


Lord Gruntfuttock

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Been looking for somewhere to post my builds, not only does it help out getting advice from others, but it is a really good driver to post your plans and updates - helps progress no end...

Anyway, picked up a largely complete Nzeta recently, and have been squirreling away parts as they turn up. Sneaked it home while the wife was away...

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Pretty much all there, worst thing (apart from missing bits) is that a previous owner had started restoration by grinding off paint and leaving it...

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No idea if it IS a 1960 by the way, just a guess at this stage...

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And knocked up an engine frame to help with the mechanical side of things...

 

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And here's a tip for those with clogged up old two stroke exhausts, an easy way to burn out the crap is to hook up a hot air gun and it should turn to ash that can be tapped out. It may need a propane torch to get going, but once it takes off, you (and your neighbours) will know it is working -  thick clouds of reeking smoke pour out till it's done and you can shake out the crud (wear welding gloves)...
 
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The beauty of this method is it doesn't damage the finish as much as other methods can.

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Ha, thought of leaving the poo-brown but will prob do a two-tone early 60s colour scheme.

I'm not a purist so will mod to improve things but keep the spirit of the times. Thought of re-powering but these things have cooling issues so will keep the old motor with its fan system and just chuff along...

I've scored a lot of parts through the Czech republic, Germany and Slovakia and have picked up the odd bit here. Next stage is stripping and painting the underpinnings and checking the mechanicals. I'll post updates as things happen...

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Excellent, I have no meddling females to concern myself with, maybe the neighbours one might pipe up but I doubt it, she barely says boo to a goose. I shall document it when/if I ever get around to it.

I might deliberately put my washing out for allowing some 2-smoke goodness to permeate my clothes.

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Mint, I brought my first 501 NZeta back in the early 2000's as a lad (13)?. Used to easily have three up on the thing.

There used to be loads around, I once answered an add in the Trade and Exchange and this old guy had a basement full of wonders (some would say junk).

Bizzare handling things, especially with a half filled tank... The later 502 that I brought later was greatly improved, the auto clutch engagement is a cool feature, so you only needed the clutch when stationary.

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Rocking horse shit...

 

Woohoo - found this on the doorstep when I got home, these are pretty hard to find (decorative chrome ring around the headlight). Picked it up from Czech version of tardme for 495 Kc (approx $30NZ)...

Hardest part was translating everything - got there in the end, seller was a good bloke. Took all of 3 days to arrive, I've been impressed with the Czech and Slovakian postal services.

 

 

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No real excuse for not making progress now apart from time (and $$$). Should have a spare engine arriving this week too.

Goal is to have this going for next years Munro rally...

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Received a box of bits from beyond the wall (oop north) that may come in useful, spare engine and misc parts that I bought a while ago on tardme. Hopefully I can sell some on after I've done mine to recoup some costs...

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Had a little time in the shed so did a bit of prep work - really just cleaning off decades of gunge to see what was underneath. Alloy looks like it'll clean up ok, I just washed parts in petrol/soft brass brush, then hot soapy water...

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Bought some Tergo Strip last week too, to see how it went with stripping, I usually use wire wheel/sandpaper/elbow grease and it is a tedious, messy job. Man this stuff is the nuts, has fumes that'll knock you over, but leaving it on and scraping before it hardens seems to work. Just did the engine mount as a test piece, this needs the holes filled and re-drilled before painting...

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I should have gladwrapped the Tergo as some recommend, but I was covered in shit and didn't think 'er indoors would appreciate me raiding the kitchen cupboards and leaving muck everywhere. Only prob is I got impatient so hit it with the drill-mounted wire brush before it had done its work, and suffered a few stinging splats on the face (this shit burns). Reckon this stuff'll do the bizzo with the suspension parts though...

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Ha, KTM orange.

Nice looking job, disc brakes etc, a fair bit of engineering under that shell - bet it hauls.

Wonder how it goes for heat dissapation? There is room for radiators under the front and you could direct air where it needs to go...

Imagine being passed by that - I was looking for a flogged out shell to do something similar but the one I got was too complete - guess I need another one to mod... :-)

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  • 1 month later...

My wife and kids are still on holiday so I have a few days to myself, and even though it was REAL tempting to have a beer and porn day, I hit the shed to do a bit on the Zeta. Just stripping some undercarriage parts so I can paint them, and kid myself I am making progress. To be honest I had been putting this work off as it looked a bit hard...

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It was - a combination of grime, rust, and thick iron curtain paint made it bloody labour intensive to get back to metal. I used a combination of paint stripper, wire brushes and my asthmatic blasting cabinet (really need a bigger compressor). All methods were equally effective (i.e. not very) but I got there in the end, bought a new bag of grit which seemed to make a slight difference, the old stuff was probably pretty rounded off...

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Pretty pleased with the shiny steel, a little bit of panel beating and I should be able to chuck some paint around in the next day or so. have to make new bushes for front fork and repair a few bits and pieces, but nice to make some progress, no matter how feeble...

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