I want to start by sending out a special thanks to DragBikeMike and Dave who have been invaluable resources and friends as I've stumbled my way through the diary of Woody.  This project is about to get underway because I decided to break off a piece of wooden dowel rod in the cylinder!  Yep, I'm a dumb-arse.

I've done all the easy stuff (seat, tank, exhaust, intake/carb removed).  Today the oil gets drained and tomorrow I'll get her on the stand, upper motor mount removed, decomp bracket/cable off and/or out of the way, and right front foot peg, heat shield, and brake assembly stuff out of the way.

Then I venture into uncharted waters for me - removing the cylinder head with the motor still in the frame.  (I haven't done any major engine work in 40ish+ years.)  That's where the "With Assist" comes into play!  I'm going to need HELP please - despite reading and studying as best I could here and in Clymer!

At the sage advice of those that have gone before me, I've printed out an enlarged diagram of the head cover (with help from the local copy center) and taped it to a cardboard box, reinforced, with holes punched where stuff goes.  As I pull nuts, bolts, and washers from the head cover, they will get plugged into the cardboard diagram because I'm old, have a bad memory, and I like to lose stuff if I don't stay organized, plus it was sage advice!

Since I don't want to say I pulled the cylinder head to remove a chunk of wood from the cylinder (that's already embarrassing enough here), the story will read that I did the following once this is all wrapped up.

1) piston and head cleaned
2) Installed Web-Cam 466 camshaft
3) CCT checked and (likely upgraded to a Verslavy CCT)
4) Clutch plates and fiber discs checked and cleaned/resurfaced/deglazed/replaced as needed
5) Barnett clutch springs installed
6) Install Sneeze clutch cam release

Someone is going to tell me other specs I should check out while I'm in there (fire away!).

So I'm getting this teed up!  Thanks in advance!  Here's Woody waiting for surgery (yeah, I flipped the exhaust heat shield over temporarily to hold things together until I get her on the stand).

A little history about this bike.  I bought it from a young man that thought he wanted to make it his first bike.  He rode it a while and then ran into starting problems.  His friend installed a new battery, starter, and starter solenoid.  He got it running again, but then it wouldn't start for him one day...  I suspect the battery drained down from lack of riding/charging and/or a flooding carb.  I was able to watch a video of it running about 2 months before I bought it.  The bike has good bones, tires, wheels, forks, etc. and I only paid $600.  I thought, hey, easy fixer upper... (charge the battery, clean the carb, give it some love)

What have I done so far....

All basic maintenance is/was now done:
1) oil/filter was changed (now drained),
2) air filter,
3) replaced front brake pads,
4) inflated tires,
5) flushed and sealed gas tank,
6) carb cleaned and jets tinkered,
7) new petcock valve, fuel line and inline fuel filter.
8) installed and now removed used decomp and associated parts (from Versagen, thanks) 

When I had the gas tank off for cleaning is when I decided to go ahead and check the valve clearance and (drum roll) that's where my trouble started by breaking off a piece of dowel rod in the cylinder (yeah, dumb move but I wanted a visual while watching rocker arms and timing marks).

The bike shows evidence of prior tinkering and tuning up.  Not by the kid I bought it from but some prior owner in its past.  The kid I bought it from was totally green and didn't even check the oil or air filter when he bought it.

1) It has an aftermarket exhaust - VooDoo Industries Cafe, about 17.5" depending how you measure, and it has a baffle.
2) It has a "Murray's Carb" (custom tuned Mikuni VM36 round slide).  This is the same VM36 Lancer sells, but it's jetted significantly differently by Murray while all the other carb parts match what Lancer suggests/builds.  This is a complete mystery that has me bumfuzzled because members have experienced good results with both set-ups.  How can this be?!  I'll figure this out later when it comes to carb tuning day.
3) Head cover has some old RTV showing on the valve cover side.  It doesn't look like a factory job and clean up.  Evidence the head cover and likely head have been R&R before, but for what, we will see...
4) Aftermarket "keystone style" handlebars
5) There was a tacky looking Skull bolted onto the right side cover (first thing I took off the bike).  Obviously nothing to do with performance, but prior owner attitude.
6) The entire decompression solenoid, cable, bracket, lever, nut, and spring had been removed.  Only the actuator shaft and oil seal were in place.
7) It had a beautiful valve clearance adjustment/spec when I finally went ahead and checked after my blunder with the dowel rod All were set right at .005" (.13mm) clearance (widest spec, closy valvy).  I am encouraged.
8) Drained the oil on first day that I got the bike.  3 quarts came out (what is this stink?) - about 2 quarts of black oil and 1 quart gas.  Carb flooding on top of dirty oil (not real thrilled on Day 1 with my bargain).
9) Dripping oil near the stator wire exist from the "alternator" side cover and/or from the drain hole under the starter.  Cleaned up the stator wire area of old RTV and reapplied, and installed a fatter o-ring on the starter (Thanks Och).  I think I fixed this leaky mess, but won't know until I get the oil moving around in the motor again.
10) upper motor mount has been previously R&R.  Missing a couple flat washers and lock washers.

That's about it.  Let the fun begin!

I like that you have an inspector on the job....the first photo clearly shows you are being watched.

That RTV job does not look factory to me......you can do better than that.  Neatness counts!

Put on a thin bead about the size of a pencil lead in the center of the mating surface.  At the cam plug you put the sealant in the recess on both the top and bottom of the plug - and it will not ooze out and make a mess.  I will post a few photos in a day or two and show you how I do the sealant.

This should be a felony offense!

LOL.  I knew that rtv job didn't look right.   The orange/red RTV job is definitely a felony offense!  LOL.  At least clean that mess up after the detailed work done inside!!

Yeah, that's my assistant Midge!  She likes to find things she shouldn't get into on the garage floor!  She's found at least 3 plastic tip caulk applicators recently which she promptly chews into unusable pieces.  I drop 'em and can't ever find 'em, but she'll find 'em like nothing hiding somewhere!

If the engine is on TDC exhaust stroke, the cam lobes will be facing up.  The stock cam doesn’t have much overlap, so I don’t think you would be fighting much spring pressure, but with the lobes facing up in the overlap position, you have less wiggle room for head cover removal.

See how the cam lobes face up when the engine is at TDC exhaust stroke.  You don’t want the cam in this position for head cover removal and installation.

When the crankshaft is positioned so that the piston is at TDC, the timing mark on the rotor will align with a notch cut in the alternator cover.  On the motorcycle, when the piston is at TDC, the keyway is at the 12 o’clock position, and the timing mark is at the 3 o’clock position.  Your problem is that you won’t know if it is at TDC compression or TDC exhaust.

As it turns out, the oil hole in the exhaust intake lobe is visible through the intake valve cover when the engine is at TDC on the compression stroke.  So just look in through the intake valve cover and verify that the oil hole in the exhaust intake cam lobe is visible through the intake valve cover.  If that oil hole is visible, and the timing marks are aligned properly, your engine should be at TDC on the compression stroke.

See how you can see the oil hole in the cam lobe when you look through the intake valve cover.  I know there isn’t much light, but if you look hard you can see it (yellow arrow).

Revised 12/27/23.  DBM