Removing the old gasket

I have the stator cover off the Z1B to stop the grommet oil leak. Unfortunately the gasket was placed on the cover back in 1975. The gasket is hard and stuck to the stator cover. Does anyone have suggestions on chemicals I could use to remove this gasket. I don't want to ruin the finish on the out side of the cover nor do I want to damage the surface the new gasket will lay on. . I was thinking of brushing a little oven cleaner on the gasket and letting it sit a bit.

There are various gasket remover products in the market. I used to like the Permatex stuff but their "low VOC" formula sucks big time. Even with the old stuff it was a dab on and wait proposition, followed by scraping...then repeat. Maybe try the CRC version?

Don't use oven cleaner, it is too acidic and can eat away at the aluminum, try softening it up with a mineral spirit or other gentler solvents and carefully scrape it out.