Motorcycle Repair: splitting the cam case, honda c100, rubber mallets

Question
I have a 1986 honda XR250, the kick starter spindle tip was broken off when i bought it, as a result me and a good friend of mine are trying to fix it. we managed to bring it down to nothing but the two case half's, following everything the instruction manual told us. the problem is that the manual doesn't make much sense and isn't very clear. so we aren't sure if we can just split the case half's right now or if we need to take some more stuff off. also we have already tried to use a rubber mallet to split them, but the case isn't showing any signs of splitting. so i was hoping you may tell us what we are either doing wrong or if were missing something,
Thanks

Answer
If you have stripped the entire engine down to the crankcases/lower end, then they should come apart with some effort. Rubber mallets are generally not firm enough to impart the kind of blow you need to move them apart. There is an adhesive that seals the case halves and it needs to be shocked apart. I use the composite plastic mallets with some steel shot in the heads to whack stuff apart without marring the surfaces.

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=honda+xr250+engine&_sacat=&_trksid=p4506...  for some exploded parts listings.

There are two case dowels that can cause problems... steel dowels in aluminum cases, tend to rust in place making case splitting more challenging. Just keep working around the edges.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-77760.html has some ideas...

Bill Silver