J-Zeta Blair

J-Zeta info here – https://www.nzeta.com/skutr-stuff#jzeta

Blair has a rusty old 502 body that he has been working on and is looking at putting a Jawa 350 twin engine in it as some NZeta owners did back in the 60’s.

The 350 he has now is only shells with no internals and is from a trailer load of parts, bought from Auckland nearly 2 years ago. Another whole engine, in bits, has been sourced from a contact in fielding.

The plan is to “fettle” the 350 and add disc brakes front and rear.

Sounds awesome Blair.

 

 

 

 

 

  jzeta

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Cezeta 501 Steve

Cezeta 501 Steve

Steve sent in some pics of his 1959,  Cezeta 501 – 03 that he is currently restoring.

 

 

Cezeta 501 Steve

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Nzeta 501 Douglas

Nzeta 501 Douglas

Douglas’ N-Zeta 501 (with 502 engine) restoration -the final chapter

I you have been paying attention you may remember that I “finished” my N-Zeta before Xmas. It ran, but was very hard to start – only way to get it going was to squirt some fuel into the plug hole. Discussions with the local JAWArati implicated the crankcase seals, items I had not replaced during the engine rebuild. Being a 4 stroke kind of guy I underestimated the importance of keeping the crankcase airtight. I replaced the easy seal on the generator side which improved performance, but not starting. So, in January I dropped out the engine and stripped it right down – again, including removing the bearings. The strange aluminium “labyrinth” seal between the two clutch-side mains was totally devoid of oil and had chunks of metal missing from the ridges. Happily, Alan Cleaver in Cromwell had one in stock for about $15. While I was at it I decided to replace all other seals and bearings and these were all available locally – $77 for the five bearings and about $30 for the seals. The bearings were the sealed for life type so I took out the plastic rings – I think sealed bearings are only good for wheels etc. and not the higher speeds in an engine.

Put the engine back in and bugger me it started first turn of the key! Also, using silicone instead of paper gaskets made the engine oil leak free – it had leaked before.

The other issue was that the generator did not work first time round, and the starter only worked sometimes. I replaced it with a rather scruffy looking one from a spare engine I had picked up on Trademe. Was very pleased when the ignition light went out and the starter works perfectly.

Another annoying little issue was that the carb would leak on standing if you did not turn the fuel off so I decided to buy a new original carb form Czech land – was not very expensive. About 44 euro. Strangely, it had a little hole in the choke tube which seemed to make it hard to start. Old carb had the same hole, but it had been sealed off  – looked like form new. So, I sealed the hole with some JB weld and now it starts easily on the choke.

At this stage I was ready for the dreaded re-vinning process, but first decided to try and recover the original number plate. Land Transport said no because I did not have any papers, even although I had a receipt and a picture of the bike as received with the plate attached, and the number was available. I appealed pointing out that they had let me reuse the plate on my 1949 BSA Bantam under exactly the same circumstances. She responded, “that was a mistake”- this was the same woman from the BSA exercise! I now realise that arguing with land transport is like wrestling with a pig in mud – the pig really enjoys it.

nzeta 501 - douglas

 

So I was all ready to go for the re-vinning, when I partially ruptured an Achilles tendon which meant I could not even get it off the centre stand never mind wrestle it onto a trailer. Even with two good legs I have always struggled getting it on and off the stand – no idea how the pretty little Czech girls you always see in the CEZETA ads managed it. I can see why they went with a side stand for the 502.  Anyway, while I waited for the tendon to heal I decided to try and fit a side stand while keeping the centre stand which is handy for maintenance. I do have an original 502 stand, but fitting it so it did not foul the centre stand looked like a bit of an engineering challenge. So, in the end I bought a nice chrome Harley side stand on Trademe and bolted that to the running board with two cap screws. Had to shorten it a bit, but it works well and flips up forward out of sight under the front guard.

Finally got to the WOF place three weeks ago. Was showing them how to work the lights etc. when the guy said “the stop light needs to operate with both the front and back brakes” which seemed like a major problem, but luckily an older and wiser inspector appeared and said back brake light only is fine on bikes of this age. I had also omitted to fit a reflector, but the let me off with that on the condition I fitted one. Found a nice little Lucas one on Trademe that fits perfectly inside the trailer hitch/spare wheel carrier. So that was it – finally legal and one more N-Zeta returns to the road. Total cost of revinning $339.82 including WOF and one year’s registration. Total cost of restoration? I stopped counting a while ago, but I think about $8,000.

Thanks for your help and advice over the last few years.

Douglas

Nzeta 501 - Douglas

 

 

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Nzeta 501 Exhausts

Nzeta 501 Exhausts

Paul found a complete set of exhausts here on this site and they look great.

The header pipes are bent differently between the 501 and the 502 in case you are wondering why they dont fit.

Nzeta Exhausts Nzeta 501 Exhausts

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NZeta 501 Douglas

This is the latest update from Douglas with the scooter looking very smart. I really like the white fern, a very nice touch.

Sounds good and only a few minor things to sort out.

Good job.

 

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Another NZeta back from the dead!

Not too many NZetas in Fremantle!

Still a way to go, to get it registered, but it STARTS!

 

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Nzeta 501 Elton

Nzeta 501 Elton

This NZeta 501 belonging to Elton looks in pretty good shape, It will be good to see how far he goes with it.

Nzeta 501 Elton NZeta - 07 NZeta - 05

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Nzeta 501 Scotty

Nzeta 501 Scotty

The NZeta from original condition when I first saw her in 1981 at a garage I was working at.

The owners manual that was in the seat compartment has a New Plymouth address on it and a guys name. The address was a street close to where the garage was that I was working at when I first saw the bike.

The Garage got the bike in the state you see it in in the pictures along with another NZeta in the mid 70’s. The mechanics all had been tinkering with it and it had had a side stand fitted and indicators. It never went well so was just left.

There was a fire at the garage in the 90’s and the other NZeta got destroyed.

The garage then got sold and the original owner then sold the bike to my brother in law for a dozen beer. He had great plans for it…..however nothing happened.

I then got ownership of her in about 2008 still in same condition – Blue, yellow and rust!

I gave him a dozen beers and then got a bike mechanic friend of mine to check the engine would work before we did all the body work. He and another mechanic gave the motor a bit of an update with new rings, bearings, chains etc. The carb also had to be modified. They got it running on the bench so we took that as the go ahead to do the body work.

The motor maybe needs a bit more work as is a little underpowered but does us fine.

The bike does have its original tyre pump under seat.

Fully stripped and with the help of many people she is what she is today.

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Cezeta 501 Jim

Cezeta 501 Jim

Progress with the 501 has been slow but things are starting to take shape. I’m doing a dry run to see what bits I still need to get for it before getting it painted. The donor bike still has a few parts left on it and I’m using the wiring as a guide.

20160328_160332 20160328_163501 20160328_164201 Nzeta 501 Jim 20160328_164241 20160328_170119 20160328_170907 20160328_170947 20160328_171308 20160328_171319 20160328_172228 20160328_172258 20160328_172436 20160329_155746 20160329_160207_001 cezeta 501 jim

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Nzeta 501 Douglas

Nzeta 501 Douglas

Looking very smart.

nzeta 1 Nzeta 501 Douglas nzeta 7

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Nzeta 502 Ian

Nzeta 502 Ian

Latest pictures from Ian, across the ditch with his 502.

 

IMG_0779 Nzeta 502 Ian

 

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Nzeta 501 Douglas

Nzeta 501 Douglas

Latest from Douglas as his 501 has been painted.

Nzeta painted 1 Nzeta 501 Douglas

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Nzeta 501 Douglas

Nzeta 501 Douglas

The front suspension back together with new shock and rubber.Nzeta 501 Douglas

Lots of bits and pieces media blasted and powder coated in as near original colour as I could find.

Brakes relined

New tires bought and wheels rebuilt using nice shiny stainless nuts and bolts.

Aluminum bits apart from engine media blasted – he used a fairly course grit and it is not a smooth as I would like, but guess it will not be seen.

Most of the trim obtained form Neil at Cezeta.com, some new, some re chromed and some will need re chromed. He also supplied kick start, gear change rod, gear lever and foot brake – I had the latter two but were very pitted.

Petrol tank turned from colander to sealed tank – lot of holes, but POR 15 seems to have done the trick.

Nzeta parts 1Nzeta parts 2

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Bought another air filter housing from Trade Me with a what looks like a NOS metal filter. Guy came round – name of Martin Healy – is restoring an Nzeta.

Also bought a pair of good cleaned up crankcases on Trade Me – just in case

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Nzeta 501 Douglas

Nzeta 501 Douglas

This NZeta 501 belonging to Douglas is taking shape as time and parts permit. With some rust to be removed there will be a bit of work to be done.

“Took me three days to get the piston out – lots of crc, a big hub puller and a big hammer. It only had one piston ring! I managed to bend the con rod, but was going to replace that anyway. I also bought most of an engine on trade me so will have a few spares. The battery location is a bit of a mystery. No evidence of it ever being up front or under the seat. The seat compartment is a different colour from the rest of the scooter (blue and cream rather than red) and I suspect it may be from another machine that perhaps had the batteries up front”

NZETA 501Nzeta 501 Douglas

 

 

 

 

Going to get media blasted can sometimes reveal things you would rather not see but has to be done especially if there are some structural issues that have been “covered up”.

 

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Changes to the bodywork on Douglas’s scooter so far. Looks like some serious welding and metal fabrication has been done.

 

501 nzeta501_1

 

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