1985 Vf500F clutch push rod oil leak

Hi All. It's been a while since I've been on here. I know I have seen a thread somewhere regarding a leaky clutch push od seal. I found a few partial ones in the search but not a comprehensive thread for what I want to do. I'm rebuilding 2 85 interceptors. One is 90% done and running and the second is almost done. This bike had the motor out to have said seal replaced by the previous owner. I am ready to replace the seal but do not want to go the "split the case" route or use the shrink tubing, although I did buy some. I'd like to dremel out the opening but would appreciate it if someone could either provide instructions or links to a thread with the full instructions. My questions are: 1) How much of the lip NEEDS to be removed? 2) What is the best adhesive to hold the new seal in place. 3) I recall reading somewhere that there may be an oil supply hole or something like that , which needs to remain clear. Does anyone know where that is or have a photo to share? Any words of wisdom from some who has performed this surgery previously will be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Enough lip that the seal can be removed and re-installed without damaging. I have also seen a slot cut in the lip so the seal can be turned sideways and removed, then installed the same way, turned and pulled back into place. Full lip removal, I would use some Hondabond to secure seal.

And you can always split the cases. I did that once Thursday night before a race weekend. Cams in place, just removed tensioners to get the chain runners to clear when I pulled the bottom (after removing oil pan and pump, clutch and starter clutch assemblies and stator). Re-assembly was not fun by myself trying to get the runners back in and not get Hondabond everywhere.

 

So you split the cases and you did not have to separate the cylinder head from the block? I wasn't aware you could even do that.
Sound like a plan to me.

 

And does that mean I could check a crankshaft big end journal which has rod knock to see how bad it is without disturbing the cylinder heads? I don't want to split the cylinder head from the block if I can help it. Apologies for thread hijack.

 

Back to the push rod seal, there is a thread on VFRDiscussion in the Earlier VFRs board by a guy called Dutchy. The thread is "Vf500F2 Aka Mbd Incubation Period At Least 52 Years" It's a long thread but he had to replace his seal and there are some photos of how he did it using a Dremel.

 

Either was I. I just decided to go for it after thinking that there is nothing keeping the bottom from coming off after removing the stuff I mentioned. This was before the proliferation of info on the internet regarding other methods of replacement. I think I was just gonna try and split them enough to try and do the seal, but it pretty much came all the way. It was the last bit of tension between the runners and the cam chains that had me nervous about getting it back together. Don't get me wrong, it was a huge PITA, and took some force to get it back together. I was even able to replace the runners with low mile units, as mine were hammered from racing without a fly wheel (revs nice and quick but destroys tensionors and runners... don't recommend it).

 

Thanks for that. I have a high miles 500 84 engine with a rod knock on cylinder 4. The rest of the engine appears OK. I don't want to spend any money on it as I don't actually need it, but I like tinkering so this sounds like something I can try. I just want to see the condition of the big end journal. If it scored then the engine is just fit for parts.