Fork parts glued together

[erdmania]

This is a real fun PO moment I'm having. I'm cleaning up the forks on my '80 GS1000G, new seals, new oil, etc. after one of the forks started leaking out of the seal. The PO appears to have sealed in the allen bolt and tapered oil lock piece with some black stuff that looks and acts like gasket sealer. I got the allen bolt out and got the inner tube removed but that oil lock piece is buried and I can't get it free. So I am wondering if I can use gasket remover sprayed down inside the fork bottom to loosen it up or if it will do any damage to the fork body. Or is there some other solvent I can use to get this free and clear all the black stuff from inside the fork body? Any thoughts?

[Big T]

Carb cleaner and a big bottle brush

Or mineral spirits

There's nothing to harm there except your fork seal