1973 R75/5 Rebuild: New Oil Pan Gasket and Camshaft Seal

Both of these showed signs of leaking oil and I replaced them.  You can read about how I did this here:

When replacing the oil pan gasket, I also cleaned the oil pickup screen and checked to be sure the bolts holding the pickup are tightened to the proper torque, 72 INCH/Pounds, not FOOT/Pounds.  I used an INCH/Pound torque wrench on them and also on the oil pan bolts which were set to 70 INCH/Pounds in several stages.  These bolts are easy to strip out unless you use an INCH/Pound torque wrench.

I put in new points and a condenser when I replaced the cam shaft seal and replaced the timing plate machine screws with two Allan head cap screws, M4x0.7×10. Now its easy to adjust the timing plate points cam with the centrifugal advance weights installed with a small Allan head wrench. And, I won’t be wallowing out the slot on machine screws as happened in the past.

I used my larger adjustable seal puller to remove the camshaft seal, but it makes me nervous since the camshaft seal is small and I don’t want to score the camshaft. After I got the camshaft seal pulled, I looked for a puller for small seals. I found a very promising one, Lisle 58430 shaft seal puller. It’s available at some auto parts stores, but I ordered mine from Amazon.

Lisle_58430SealPuller

Lisle 58430 Shaft Seal Puller

I think this will work very well on future seal pulling jobs.

 

 

 

 

Here are a few pictures of the work.

Replacing Oil Pan Gasket

Engine on Side to Remove Oil Pan

Engine on Side to Remove Dirty Oil Pan

Permatex Gasket Remover Soaking In

Permatex Gasket Remover Soaking In

Checking Torque (72 INCH/pounds) on Oil Pickup Bolts

Checking Torque (72 INCH/pounds) on Oil Pickup Bolts

Clean Pan Mating Surface

Clean & Polished Pan Mating Surface

Clean Oil Pan with New Pan Gasket

Clean Oil Pan with New Pan Gasket

Replacing Camshaft Seal

Leaking Cam Shaft Seal

Leaking Cam Shaft Seal

Points Plate

Points Removed and Timing Plate Ready to Remove

Old Seal

Old Seal

Driving Cam Shaft Seal

Driving Cam Shaft Seal with 5/8 Inch Spark Plug Socket

New Points and Allen Head M4x10 Cap Screws

New Points and Allen Head M4x10 Cap Screws

4 thoughts on “1973 R75/5 Rebuild: New Oil Pan Gasket and Camshaft Seal

  1. I really enjoy your videos and you’re my go to before I attempt anything on the bike.

    I’m trying to figure out where I’m getting a leak from inside the timing cover. It’s certainly not as obvious as yours. It doesn’t look like it’s leaking from the cam shaft seal. i’m getting a small amount of oil pooling in the gully left and right of the points cavity (nothing in the cavity) and a leak at the bottom bolt of the timing cover which is ending up dripping down onto the front part of the oil pan. I don’t think it’s the cam shaft seal or the tach, could I be getting a small leak at the crank shaft seal? Thanks.

    • Hi Steve,

      I would clean up all the leaks and oil inside the timing cover. Then I would ride the bike and check to see where oil is showing up inside the timing cover. That should help pinpoint the source(s).

      If the cam shaft seal and the tachometer drive seal aren’t leaking, the only other source is the front crankshaft seal.

      I hope that helps.

      Best.
      Brook.

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