Next up, round 2-288xp rebuild

[XP_Slinger]

Sooooo, this jug started off pretty good. I PM’d a few guys and got some really great advise on a direction for the port work.
The plan was to cut .035” out of the squish and .050” off the base and extension. Putting the intake at 79* and the squish at .020”. These AM jugs have a lower intake than the oem ones so I couldn’t go much farther without getting the intake duration out of wack.
Base cuts I got down pretty good. today was my first attempt at a squish band cut. Went pretty well until I crashed the boring bar into the plating at the top of the cylinder... it’s pretty hard to see inside while cutting. I’m pretty sure I know how I did it and when. So that’s good. At least I learned something.... I need a better way to mount the jug for doing band cuts. I’ll try again on the other cylinder but that means we won’t be having a test run on it in stock form. Though my goals are to improve performance over the stock mahle. We'll see if that’s possible... View attachment 241723 View attachment 241724

Bummer. Your cut looks great though

 

[roadster27]

Need to buy a 4 jaw and try again. I’m sure I’ll have better luck on the next one. That’s why I’m starting on cheap cylinders.
I have some 2100’s I’d like to cut but those are not the right jug to get your feet wet on.
I’ll get there. This is just a fun hobby for me and I get to play with my tools I don’t normally get to play with.... plus if I build some good running saws while I’m at it even better!!

 

[roadster27]

I bought a nice 4-jaw off feebay for my lathe. I needed one for awhile now anyway. Now I can properly mount the next jug for a 2nd attempt at a squish band cut. Should be here in a week. In the mean time I put the saw together with the ported KS jug to see how it runs...just have a few small bits to pick up and I can run it in some wood. I’ll get the other 288 back together and put the nice factory Mahle on it leaving that cylinder un touched. Run the 2 side by side and get some comparisons. I’ll post some videos of the 2 and my findings as I go.

 

[roadster27]

Made some progress while waiting for my 4-jaw chuck to show up. Got the other case put together and the Mahle top end on it. Had a small mishap with the T-allen while doing so....The Allen was new and the ball end snaps nice and tight into the bolt head. Not sure I over tighten or it was a bad wrench, either way I want to get this out before it comes out on it’s own into the flywheel. Think I can get some nettle nose vise grips on the head and back it off to get it out.

 

[roadster27]

I did some piston weight checks while waiting for the chuck as well. I weighed from left to right the cheap HL sale top end piston, KS, Mahle, and Meteor.I was a little surprised on the out come.
Meteor- 93g
Mahle- 87g
KS- 80g
HL piston- 78g

 

[roadster27]

I did some weight reduction on the meteor as that was the piston going into the Mahle top end. You have to do A LOT! of grinding to get a piston down just a few grams!!! All in all I think it can out well. I didn’t change the window sizes at all as they where close to the oem piston. I didn’t want to slow down the charge, at least that’s my theory.... these Meteors seam to have a lot of extra material to them compared to the rest of the field. I took a lot out of the inside of the piston to make it flow better.
At least I think I did... lol we’ll see.... I got it down to just below the OEM slug.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Nice work. Pistons are often overlooked, thanks for sharing the differences you found.

 

[srcarr52]

Made some progress while waiting for my 4-jaw chuck to show up. Got the other case put together and the Mahle top end on it. Had a small mishap with the T-allen while doing so....View attachment 243123The Allen was new and the ball end snaps nice and tight into the bolt head. Not sure I over tighten or it was a bad wrench, either way I want to get this out before it comes out on it’s own into the flywheel. Think I can get some nettle nose vise grips on the head and back it off to get it out. View attachment 243124

Looks like there is enough sticking out of the allen wrench that you can get a punch on it. A few whacks back and forth and it should wiggle out.

 

[qurotro]

Just dont use ball end wrench for high torque application..

 

[roadster27]

Just dont use ball end wrench for high torque application..

Some times even when we know better we still go ahead with a dump ideas. And usually, just like in this case, you get that gut feeling and your brain says stop right before something goes wrong... but you still go ahead anyway.

 

[roadster27]

I have a standard t handle Allen now so that’s cool...... lol

 

[Kiwioilboiler]

I have a standard t handle Allen now so that’s cool...... lol

I just bought a Bondhus T yesterday, and it has a ball end. I prefer Wera Hex Plus but they dont do a T set. Reckon i should grind the ball off the Bondhus before it's too late?

 

[roadster27]

Does anyone have experience with the AM clutch covers? Both these saws can us one... I bought one off eBay not realizing that it was shipping straight from China. $27.00 with free shipping. I would not recommend that one. It took 3 weeks to get here and once arrived It doesn’t fit right at all, the brake wouldn’t work from the start. Jammed up when resetting. I finally got it to kinda work by switching out to oem parts from the broken cover. Then mounted it on the saw with a bar and bar plates. The clutch was dragging so bad would even run... Pretty sure this is just a horrible copy. Not sure how many different suppliers there are making these cover but I would like on that at least works from the start. I’m out $27.00 already. I never would have ordered it had I seen where it was shipping from.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Does anyone have experience with the AM clutch covers? Both these saws can us one... I bought one off eBay not realizing that it was shipping straight from China. $27.00 with free shipping. I would not recommend that one. It took 3 weeks to get here and once arrived It doesn’t fit right at all, the brake wouldn’t work from the start. Jammed up when resetting. I finally got it to kinda work by switching out to oem parts from the broken cover. Then mounted it on the saw with a bar and bar plates. The clutch was dragging so bad would even run... Pretty sure this is just a horrible copy. Not sure how many different suppliers there are making these cover but I would like on that at least works from the start. I’m out $27.00 already. I never would have ordered it had I seen where it was shipping from.

The AM covers sold on Baileys are pretty good. I know a few guys that have used them, no complaints.

https://www.baileysonline.com/nwp-c...saws-replaces-503-74-67-02-qh-50374-6702.html

 

[Ronie]

They have OEM ones at Pantano for $86. I bought a couple awhile back and they shipped pretty quick.

 

[roadster27]

Does anyone know if a 181 tank will work on a 288?

 

[XP_Slinger]

Does anyone know if a 181 tank will work on a 288?

If my memory serves correctly it might mount to the crank case but the throttle arm is different and won’t work. A 281 tank will work on a 288.