A/M 288 Hi-top covers

[Woodslasher]

Anyone seen the a/m hi-top covers on ebay? I'm thinking about getting one but I wanted to hear y'alls thoughts on them.

 

[jacob j.]

Are you gonna go for one of the autographed ones? Is this @Mattyo making these?

 

[Cooper264]

Those were the only ones I have seen on ebay. They look pretty cool but only time will tell if they are worth a darn. I like how he says there are no guarantees or warrantees. Sounds like my kind of guy lol

 

[justoldsaws]

There being made by Matthew Olson, quality looks good from pics

 

[jacob j.]

There being made by Matthew Olson, quality looks good from pics

I figured it was him. I've got a black one coming to check out.

 

[Mattyo]

These are just the initial samples / prototypes. Ebay only allowed me to list a few...

The material for the prototypes is listed. Pretty confident that reinforced nylon will be way stronger than the oem. Made right here in usa too.

High top elbows are coming etc. Patience folks ...patience

 

[Mattyo]

Anyone seen the a/m hi-top covers on ebay? I'm thinking about getting one but I wanted to hear y'alls thoughts on them.

Rory Bond on fb has the samples....if you want an independent opinion check with him.

 

[jacob j.]

This could be a pretty good side hustle - there's still a lot of demand for 181/281/288 stuff. I'm rebuilding two 288s now so I'll give the cover a thorough
review once it gets here.

 

[Mattyo]

on these covers, the bolt holes line up, and they fit both style filters no problem. the shape of the covers is a little wonky ... need to work the kinks out but for now, for some these protos will be fine. the decomp hole is a bit deep... so the work around is to use a 3120 decomp. These issues are already known and will get addressed in the coming runs. Obviously when the run gets formalized the prices will go up as well. I'm literally into this for my life savings, ... tossed it all in the ring lol. Hopefully it does well, if not .... back to the drawing board lol.

 

[Mattyo]

btw, I have 6? sets of powdered 288 cases now. 3 black, 1 orange, 1 blue, 1 stihl gray lol

@Glock37 - thanks!

anyone? anyone? i'll be building them with new bearings and gaskets asap

 

[srcarr52]

These are just the initial samples / prototypes. Ebay only allowed me to list a few...

The material for the prototypes is listed. Pretty confident that reinforced nylon will be way stronger than the oem. Made right here in usa too.

High top elbows are coming etc. Patience folks ...patience

Pretty sure the OEM cover is fiberglass reinforced nylon.

 

[Mattyo]

yup, it says that... but compare mine to oem... oem is far weaker and more flexy....unlikely they are 30% reinforced

ie, oem claims to be gf30 ... based on the fact that mine are definitely gf30 (i have a few that were done with just straight nylon and 0% gf) ... mine are way stronger and more stiff. i demo hitting them with a hammer on yt for anyone that wants to see. if I hit mine multiple times in the weakest spot it'll crack.. but it takes a bit!

 

[jacob j.]

From the pictures, these look pretty darn good. Of course, on the bigger saws - it's vibration that's the killer. It affects the older Huskies worse because the
top cover is one-piece and long, and the front of it gets to vibrating pretty good. If you look at the flywheel side case half of a high-hour 181/281/288, the
top cover usually wears a pretty good divot into it.

 

[Mattyo]

Its very stiff...thats for sure. The downside to lots of reinforcement is that it acts like sandpaper on the mould which shortens the life of mould. Might also affect the crankcase as well. Still....seems to me that you guys are gonna prefer them to be more fx resistant. They for sure are.

I've done a couple vids on them so you can see em there. They aren't exact to oem or eliminator. But they do fit

 

[Mattyo]

So I was just checking with my plastics guy on what to do going forward. We will probably do a limited run of things as they are.... but with some cooling jigs which will help maintain the shape while the plastic cools from being injected at 545degf. The limited run will get sold again at a discount to help pay for hopefully a final mod which will be to the decomp hole. He is going to blend the mould tighter to the cylinder for easier access to the decomp. Right now the decomp button is slightly too deep into the hole...and the work around temporarily is to use a 3120 valve with a spacer. This will be a minor change that comes with a significant price. Basically this is a crowdfunded project but in reverse lol. Hope everyone understands that the more this is supported....the cooler stuff we can do. This is not the end of this project and certainly only the tip of the iceberg as to what we can do.
I appreciate everyone's support for sure. Thanks!

 

[ManiacalMark]

I might have to get one for the future, definitely interested in the elbows.

 

[srcarr52]

So I was just checking with my plastics guy on what to do going forward. We will probably do a limited run of things as they are.... but with some cooling jigs which will help maintain the shape while the plastic cools from being injected at 545degf. The limited run will get sold again at a discount to help pay for hopefully a final mod which will be to the decomp hole. He is going to blend the mould tighter to the cylinder for easier access to the decomp. Right now the decomp button is slightly too deep into the hole...and the work around temporarily is to use a 3120 valve with a spacer. This will be a minor change that comes with a significant price. Basically this is a crowdfunded project but in reverse lol. Hope everyone understands that the more this is supported....the cooler stuff we can do. This is not the end of this project and certainly only the tip of the iceberg as to what we can do.
I appreciate everyone's support for sure. Thanks!

View attachment 292074

So the die/part is too wide and you can't get your finger on the decomp button because it's below the surface of the cover?

 

[Mattyo]

So the die/part is too wide and you can't get your finger on the decomp button because it's below the surface of the cover?

Yes. Its a total of .25" off. Or ....buried. the side of the cover was widened to accommodate more space for the air filter. The problem is that the entire side was widened. Redoing the mould in this area is quite pricey but will get done. Again...it can be used as is. Just need to either use a 3120 decomp with the saucer spacer or have small fingers hehe. Or grind it larger so you can reach it with fat fingers.

 

[srcarr52]

Yes. Its a total of .25" off. Or ....buried. the side of the cover was widened to accommodate more space for the air filter. The problem is that the entire side was widened. Redoing the mould in this area is quite pricey but will get done. Again...it can be used as is. Just need to either use a 3120 decomp with the saucer spacer or have small fingers hehe. Or grind it larger so you can reach it with fat fingers.

So the blame is with the CAD department.

 

[Mattyo]

Sorta. Hehe. Gonna be pricey to remedy but it'll happen. Every iteration will get better.