Rotating 1977 Hondamatic crankshaft

[NoRegerts]

New to wrenching on bikes and will be asking a lot of basic questions so pls bear with me. Retired and finally have time to get to work on 77 hondamatic that’s sat for 37 yrs. Carbs off, cleaned and being rebuilt and got engine turning. Got it humming with starter and new battery but all of a sudden heard a clink like something broke off in engine case and hit the side on left. Haven’t turned it since. I want to take off the starter cover first to look at that but need to remove cam tensioner unit first. Read that one of the pistons needs to be at TDC before removing camshaft tensioner. Is this true and how do I manually rotate crankshaft on this bike? It should be in neutral with the side stand down. Is the engine turned with the big nut under the points cover or elsewhere? I tried this but didn’t turn easily so I stopped. Thanks for helping a 65 year old rookie.

 

[dirtdigger]

Chrome starter cover can come off without removing the tensioner, wont be able to see anything other then the starter itself if you have to remove the starter then the tensioner needs to come off. yes it needs to be tdc or the chain can skip if you remove the tensioner when it is in a wrong position. If you thin you heard something under the left alternator cover then I would just remove it, then you will be able to see the starter gears and the one way clutch which I would guess is your issue. You can also turn it by the bolt on the flywheel with the cover off, otherwise you can turn it with the large nut under the point cover but it is easily bent if not done carefully which then causes issues with timing and the points.

 

[NoRegerts]

Took cover off starter and alternator but saw no obvious pieces or breakage. Crankshaft does turn ok from this side just fine. Wondering if it warrants removing panel aft of alternator housing gear shifter, kickstand interlock, and kickstarter shaft (as in picture). Also wondering if I'll mess anything up to open up the cover of the torque converter to take a look. Not 100% sure of exact side I heard the ping. Learning as I go and enjoying it. Thanks