Might it be practical to pressurize the crankcase thru the breather
line with a couple of psi of air & then use a soap solution to find the
extent of the leak? You are probably going to have to clean the area
with solvent anyway and then suck your mechanic's magic stuff into the
joint with a vacuum pump.

Well, supposedly this magic stuff just needs to be on a clean, dry
surface -- no need for vacuum. I degreased the engine yesterday, let
it dry overnight, and we applied the goop today. We'll see if it does
anything.

A silk thread was supposedly used on the initial assembly of the engine
but there is no way you can "slightly" split the case now & get it to
seal again with silk. Simply torqueing it won't work either.

Yeah, I figured as much. If the goop doesn't work, I'm resigned to
having a messy engine for the next 1100 hours or so... :-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"