Hello! I am a fello Hondamatic owner.
I have not made the change you are speaking of, and I won't (at least, not until I swap out the carbs for a CV set).
Having monitored/search the forums here - a relatively consistent message emerges: going to individual pod filters creates a new set of problems. I recall a lot of posts that tell the horror stories of the misbehaving carbs, causing the owner to eventually ditch his brand new filters back to the stock air box, which then eliminated the problems being experienced.
So, in summary, my two cents is leave it installed.
If you still choose to experiment (remove your air box and install pod filters), then I'd say that you'll have to jet up. No, oiling the filters (which is required of cotton filters by the way) won't allow you to run stock jets. I suspect that the guy that you know, may be working on even older Hondas, that were jetted rich from the factory. Your (and my) 78 were jetted comparatively leaner - meaning that when you switch to pods, you'll be too lean (except maybe if you live/ride in Denver).
Lastly, from my own personal experience, I can get the air box in/out pretty quick and easy. I've found that if you remove the bottom half and the filter separately, then remove the top half, it comes out much easier. Trying to pull out the entire box (which I did the first time) was a big pain in the backside.
