How to remove gasket off aluminum

Dan50

Member
I bought an old '74 Honda 350 four banger motorcycle recently and I removed the oil pan just to clean it out. It looked pretty good, not much crud in there for being 40 yrs old. Of course, nothing is as easy or takes as little time as you think it will. Most of the gasket is stuck hard on the lower case.

What are some good ways to soften this gasket to take it off? I don't want to gouge or scratch up the aluminum naturally so I'm looking for a good chemical remover mostly. The metal isn't all that thick down there, about 1/4 to 3/8" thick, so a big gouge might really screw it up. What has worked well for you guys?
 
(quoted from post at 17:03:56 03/01/14)
I had a 1970 CL 350 that had a centrifugal oil cleaner.

Yeah my first bike was a '72 CB350 2 cylinder. Then I moved up to a '75 CB550. This one is kind of a mix between the two. Four cylinders and a 350. I think it is the smallest production 4 cylinder ever made. This one has an oil filter too.
 
Here on my place we have a 550-4 Honda 1976 a Honda 350 2 cylinder a Honda CB360T a pair of them and a Yamaha 750 special. Al I have ever used to clean the gaskets off was a wire brush on a drill
 
what the others said and also use a plastic razor blade. Auto stores or detail shops have them for scraping glass etc.
 
Scotch brite pads work well. There are different grits of pads referenced by different colors. Locally I found a floor buffer pad that is the same material just thicker. I have access to red green and white...all different grit. When my floor friend rips a buffer pad, i get the piece. A 2ft disk will last forever.

Once when i was working on a '75 CB550, I cut 2 4" round disks, inserted a 1/4" bolt to hold them together and chucked it up in a drill. Wow it worked great, i was impressed.

A motorcycle mechanic told me about using scotch brite pads cause they wont scar aluminum casings.
 
I use an old sharp wood chisel on these hard to remove gaskets.
If you keep the chisel sharp it takes not much effort to shave a gasket off without marring the aluminum.
 
Thanks for all the tips. I ended up using Permatex gasket remover and a metal putty knife. I applied, waited, and used the knife to get off as much as I could over the course of half an hour a day for 3 or 4 days. It was some stubborn stuff but I got it off without gouging the aluminum. I put the gasket on with the oil pan and no leaks! I was afraid to use anything sharp in fear of gouging the metal and although it took more patience than I'd normally like to use, it paid off.
 
(quoted from post at 16:05:25 03/12/14) Thanks for all the tips. I ended up using Permatex gasket remover and a metal putty knife. I applied, waited, and used the knife to get off as much as I could over the course of half an hour a day for 3 or 4 days. It was some stubborn stuff but I got it off without gouging the aluminum. I put the gasket on with the oil pan and no leaks! I was afraid to use anything sharp in fear of gouging the metal and although it took more patience than I'd normally like to use, it paid off.

Patience is a key ingredient in working on this old stuff.
 
sounds like you already got it. I just scrap it off with a razor blade scraper though. Those dang gaskets can set up almost like cement. Don't really try to soak it to soften it, but put some moisture on it and gasket material will ussually turn a fairly dark color. I just do this to see where to scrap a little better. If your careful, you won't do any gouging. Don't like to grind it off like others have stated. Thats to easy to go right through the gasket and into the aluminum. Then you will have an un-even surface when your done. My 2 cents if you have to do it again sometime.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top