I'm more than slightly out of my depth, so any suggestions and or critiques (phrased gently, if you are able) would be greatly appreciated.
Background, briefly: I was looking for something small for some novice riders in my acquaintance, and found a 75 CB200T for sale on Craigslist. It wasn't running, but the kid who owned it assured me that it *had* been, only the previous summer (and there was a parking permit for the previous year on the bike), but wouldn't now start. The battery was fried (I found a dead cell in it later) and when I touched the carbs my hands came away with sticky, gross fuel. Cosmetically the bike was grand -- tiny seat tear and some rock dings in the tank, but otherwise very nice.
I diagnosed a thorough cleaning, paid the kid a pittance and we pushed the bike into the back of my truck.
I spent the next several evenings after work cleaning things up: carbs off and soaked and cleaned out, tank drained and flushed (not rusty inside at all!), oil change (the tabs on the oil pump cap were destroyed, so I couldn't get inside that, but everything else in there was in really nice shape so I ignored that for the moment), new spark plugs and a new battery. Got everything put back together and went to start it and...
Well, it cranked nice, but wasn't getting going. I leaned over to work the choke and that's when I saw oil simply OOZING from the cylinder base.
I cursed, and then I sulked for a day. Then I decided I was up to the task and I took the engine out of the frame and put it on my shop bench for a disassembly. I had a Clymer manual and, later, a PDF of the shop manual to guide me, but I've hit a snag.
I'm down to removing the cylinders, to assess if my leak is due to a failed gasket (I hope) or some more critical failure. But the damn things won't come off!
The shop manual says, simply, "Remove the 6mm cylinder hold-down bolt and take out the cylinder." The Clymer manual says much the same thing, though also adding that a "tap" from a rubber mallet may be required to loosen the cylinder first.
It's a no go. I've beat on that damn thing, had it on the floor of my garage and me on top of it straining with all my might, and it hasn't even *budged*.
My suspicion is that there isn't a traditional gasket there at all, but some sort of gasket compound/cement that has hardened. It may have finally developed a fault that allows the oil to leak, but the rest seems more the adequate to the task of keeping it on the crankcase. I think this because the engine has obviously been broken down before -- the signs were everywhere as I worked on it. Further this is not the original engine! The VIN on the engine and the bike frame don't match. (I feel a bit of a fool for not checking that before.)
So. Suggestions? I'd love to pry at it, but I know as soon as I do I'll start breaking off fins. Did I miss something, is my guess reasonable?
If I can get it off, I'm going to need a gasket, and I understand that they are no longer being manufactured by Honda. I'd like a whole set -- the head gasket has a worrisome crack in it, and it would appear that the breather cover gasket has been hand fashioned (a guess, as it is relatively raggedly cut on some corners). Any suggestions on where to get such items?
Thanks in advance -- this is my first Honda (only a Yamaha rider before this, please don't hold it against me) and while this project is a much bigger one that I had anticipated (or desired), I have great hopes!
Here is a picture of the bike before I started the engine removal -- the side covers are not on, but I do have them and they are in nice shape as well:
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Background, briefly: I was looking for something small for some novice riders in my acquaintance, and found a 75 CB200T for sale on Craigslist. It wasn't running, but the kid who owned it assured me that it *had* been, only the previous summer (and there was a parking permit for the previous year on the bike), but wouldn't now start. The battery was fried (I found a dead cell in it later) and when I touched the carbs my hands came away with sticky, gross fuel. Cosmetically the bike was grand -- tiny seat tear and some rock dings in the tank, but otherwise very nice.
I diagnosed a thorough cleaning, paid the kid a pittance and we pushed the bike into the back of my truck.
I spent the next several evenings after work cleaning things up: carbs off and soaked and cleaned out, tank drained and flushed (not rusty inside at all!), oil change (the tabs on the oil pump cap were destroyed, so I couldn't get inside that, but everything else in there was in really nice shape so I ignored that for the moment), new spark plugs and a new battery. Got everything put back together and went to start it and...
Well, it cranked nice, but wasn't getting going. I leaned over to work the choke and that's when I saw oil simply OOZING from the cylinder base.
I cursed, and then I sulked for a day. Then I decided I was up to the task and I took the engine out of the frame and put it on my shop bench for a disassembly. I had a Clymer manual and, later, a PDF of the shop manual to guide me, but I've hit a snag.
I'm down to removing the cylinders, to assess if my leak is due to a failed gasket (I hope) or some more critical failure. But the damn things won't come off!
The shop manual says, simply, "Remove the 6mm cylinder hold-down bolt and take out the cylinder." The Clymer manual says much the same thing, though also adding that a "tap" from a rubber mallet may be required to loosen the cylinder first.
It's a no go. I've beat on that damn thing, had it on the floor of my garage and me on top of it straining with all my might, and it hasn't even *budged*.
My suspicion is that there isn't a traditional gasket there at all, but some sort of gasket compound/cement that has hardened. It may have finally developed a fault that allows the oil to leak, but the rest seems more the adequate to the task of keeping it on the crankcase. I think this because the engine has obviously been broken down before -- the signs were everywhere as I worked on it. Further this is not the original engine! The VIN on the engine and the bike frame don't match. (I feel a bit of a fool for not checking that before.)
So. Suggestions? I'd love to pry at it, but I know as soon as I do I'll start breaking off fins. Did I miss something, is my guess reasonable?
If I can get it off, I'm going to need a gasket, and I understand that they are no longer being manufactured by Honda. I'd like a whole set -- the head gasket has a worrisome crack in it, and it would appear that the breather cover gasket has been hand fashioned (a guess, as it is relatively raggedly cut on some corners). Any suggestions on where to get such items?
Thanks in advance -- this is my first Honda (only a Yamaha rider before this, please don't hold it against me) and while this project is a much bigger one that I had anticipated (or desired), I have great hopes!
Here is a picture of the bike before I started the engine removal -- the side covers are not on, but I do have them and they are in nice shape as well:
