Blanking Plate Leak

My 1972's blanking plate is leaking oil and of course it is the bolt from inside the timing cover that is loose. Any suggestions on how to tighten it without removing the engine case? Too much hassle to do this during the short riding season for an oil leak. Having a bolt from the inside does not seem like very good planning from the engineers.

beefco said:

Having a bolt from the inside does not seem like very good planning from the engineers.

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The plan was to fit a starter motor, and the plate was only an apparent stop-gap to cover the hole in the case.

If the blanking plate has two outside bolts at the rear--as does one of my crankcases--it might be possible to remove the two rear bolts, swing the plate up and remove the captive bolt carefully from the inside. A locking tab on the bolt head--like those on the primary chaincase bolts--would keep the internal bolthead from rotating when you're ready to cinch things up. My timing-side case doesn't have enough metal at that bolt to anchor a stud--which no doubt explains the internal-bolt setup


Tim Kraakevik
kraakevik@voyager.net
'72 Combat, '74 RH10 850