CB 400 F2 - rev counter drive question ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Whilst cleaning up my camshaft top cover I noticed that the screw that holds the cable in place was badly mauled - thankfully loose as no cable came with the bike - this makes me a tad suspicious.

Looking at the drive gear it has the colour of a fibre / or slightly rusted gear - there is an oil seal at the top according to the parts manual.I am wondering if it would be sensible to replace the seal plus can it be removed easily ?

I can't find anything in my manual or in 'NJ' rebuild about it though I might have missed it whilst speed reading most of the 36 pages.
I have removed the retaining clip that sits above the rev counter drive gear so far gentle pulling has not enabled me to remove the drive gear. The inner part where the retaining clip sits rotates easily enough so not sure what's stopping me from pulling out the drive gear ?

Will heat treating the casing after painting damage the gear itself if I cant remove it maybe not a good idea to bake the camshaft cover as I do not want to risk any distortion ?

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I've looked through the manual in Ash's drop box but can't find any information about removing the rev counter drive gear.
On close inspection the gear itself looks okay now I have removed the light layer rust from it.

I think I will try a small wood screw to puncture the seal so it should pull out unless others here dissuade me from this action!

[ka-ja]

It does come out with patience and a soft drift, it is the "trimmings" around it that grow into the surrounding material.
 Make sure circlip is out, soak overnight with easing oil, tap outwards from inside with a soft drift, it should come outwards with its seal and bearing.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

It does come out with patience and a soft drift, it is the "trimmings" around it that grow into the surrounding material.
 Make sure circlip is out, soak overnight with easing oil, tap outwards from inside with a soft drift, it should come outwards with its seal and bearing.

Thanks for that tip - today I soaked the drive in WD40 followed by removing any gunge from where the tacho cable fits. A couple of small screw into the seal pushed the bearing back enabling me to spray more WD40 onto the revealed section. Screws removed from the seal that still did not want to pull out!
Some precision mild taps with a small punch and out it came plus the seal and thrust washer.

There appears to be little wear on the spindle or bearing so it just needs a new seal plus some assembly grease.