Topic: 1970 sl350 oil leak= gasket behind points cover......

[pilot2gunner]

Hello,
My bike is leaking a pretty good amount of oil on the left side above the where the head seats.
After a bit of detective work I'm thinking that is either the head cover gasket or the gasket where the points housing meets the head.
I'm not too worried about the head cover as this seems like a pretty straight forward affair.
However,the gasket behind the points housing scares me a little bit,how hard is it to change is this gasket?
It seems that it would be foolish to just pull the thing off considering that this is where you adjust the valves.
Has anyone(HondaMan) replaced this gasket before?
Any help would be great.
       
                   P2G

[bryanj]

The gasket is fairly easy. You have to remove the mechanical advance unit by undoing the bolt in the middle and remove the complete points plate assembly. You will then find four cross point screws that will need an impact driver to undo. The casing will then pull off with a small amount of wiggling, get clearance on both valves on that side of the engine before you start.

You will need a new gasket, DO NOT USE ANT GASKET GOO UNLESS YOU WANT A SIEZED CAMSHAFT, and you should also change the seal.

The gasket surfaces need to be super clean before you re-assemble and you will have to gently lever the casing upwards to get it to go in.

It is permissible to coat the gasket with clean grease to get it to stay in possition for assembly.
Parts should still be available try www.westernhillshonds.com