first build with what I have...

[XP_Slinger]

Thanks, man! Might be a stupid question, but do I have to worry about that with a piston like this???

You sure don’t lol! Not a stupid question at all

 

[sonoransaw]

With some guidance, I was able to plot out the saw's pre-mod timing and durations... It's a reference point anyway...

 

[Redfin]

Thanks, man! Might be a stupid question, but do I have to worry about that with a piston like this???

The ring hanging the port is what you need to be concerned with. More rounded will help keep ring tucked.

 

[sonoransaw]

The ring hanging the port is what you need to be concerned with. More rounded will help keep ring tucked.

Thanks @Redfin!

Made the plastic sleeve @Redfin and @rogue60 suggested to try wrapping my feeble brain around the way these strato ports work, and I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but hopefully my subconscious is working on it and in the middle of the night there will be a eureka moment....

So if these strato ports are bringing more air into the combustion chamber, how can they be bad? I’ve read stuff on the forums complaining about them, blaming them on the EPA. I’m not saying they’re wrong, I just don’t get it yet…

Trying to advance the timing a bit. First pic is stock. Second pic is with a little bit filed off the key. I tested it on the crank and it seems fine, but I’ll probably dig at it a little more to be sure an unfiled ridge doesn’t put weird pressure on it and cause a little event....

 

[Mastermind]

Thanks @Redfin!

Made the plastic sleeve @Redfin and @rogue60 suggested to try wrapping my feeble brain around the way these strato ports work, and I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but hopefully my subconscious is working on it and in the middle of the night there will be a eureka moment....

So if these strato ports are bringing more air into the combustion chamber, how can they be bad? I’ve read stuff on the forums complaining about them, blaming them on the EPA. I’m not saying they’re wrong, I just don’t get it yet…

Trying to advance the timing a bit. First pic is stock. Second pic is with a little bit filed off the key. I tested it on the crank and it seems fine, but I’ll probably dig at it a little more to be sure an unfiled ridge doesn’t put weird pressure on it and cause a little event....

Good to see you digging into this stuff and learning. We're lucky to have you here....helps us more than you probably realize.

 

[sonoransaw]

Good to see you digging into this stuff and learning. We're lucky to have you here....helps us more than you probably realize.

Thanks, Randy.... I'm lucky to be learning from the pros... and thanks for puttin up with me...

 

[sonoransaw]

Thinking about that clamshell and squeezing some compression out of it. The rubber bushing around the crank bearing might yield a little. Used some glass and sandpaper on both surfaces. Squish now measures .023.

 

[Agent Smith]

Thats not going to work out like you think it is unless you re-machine the bearing boss's which is a chore in itself. Instead of being round like the bearing, the boss's are now oval so when you reassemble, you're just going to have a bigger gap between the jug and crank pan.

 

[sonoransaw]

Thats not going to work out like you think it is unless you re-machine the bearing boss's which is a chore in itself. Instead of being round like the bearing, the boss's are now oval so when you reassemble, you're just going to have a bigger gap between the jug and crank pan

Ok, my thinking might not be good. The surfaces still mate. Doesn't the rubber allow some give which would bring the jug down a bit?

 

[Agent Smith]

Ok, my thinking might not be good. The surfaces still mate. Doesn't the rubber allow some give which would bring the jug down a bit?

It might but how much i don't know. Im thinking it not going to be much. Might have some sealing issues too. But have fun and see what happens. When you reassemble, lube everything up with some 1184 to help seal and see how it goes. I do know in the past others have done some welding on the top of the pistons and remachined it to bump compression.

 

[sonoransaw]

It might but how much i don't know. Im thinking it not going to be much. Might have some sealing issues too. But have fun and see what happens. When you reassemble, lube everything up with some 1184 to help seal and see how it goes. I do know in the past others have done some welding on the top of the pistons and remachined it to bump compression.

Thanks for the input.... Yeah, was just hoping to get a hundred thousandth or two. Definitely not getting radical with it. I looked at the stock fit and measured a little. It didn't seem perfect, and with the rubber I figured why not... We'll see....

Been turning over the pop up welded pistons since coming across them online. One pro said from what he's seen the pistons always warp, but I know others are doing it successfully. Down the road I sure want to try it. I'll keep reading all I can find about it, but I think if the piston is pre-heated, the warping can be prevented. My goal is to keep doing stuff until I destroy the engine, but only one or two things at a time to see what works or doesn't....

 

[XP_Slinger]

Thanks for the input.... Yeah, was just hoping to get a hundred thousandth or two. Definitely not getting radical with it. I looked at the stock fit and measured a little. It didn't seem perfect, and with the rubber I figured why not... We'll see....

Been turning over the pop up welded pistons since coming across them online. One pro said from what he's seen the pistons always warp, but I know others are doing it successfully. Down the road I sure want to try it. I'll keep reading all I can find about it, but I think if the piston is pre-heated, the warping can be prevented. My goal is to keep doing stuff until I destroy the engine, but only one or two things at a time to see what works or doesn't....

Part of this whole game is knowing the limits of the chassis you’re working with too. Have you looked into a different piston with a taller compression height? Long shot but worth a look.

 

[sonoransaw]

Part of this whole game is knowing the limits of the chassis you’re working with too. Have you looked into a different piston with a taller compression height? Long shot but worth a look.

Another angle to poke at.... I'll keep it in mind... Thanks....

 

[sonoransaw]

Getting things reassembled. The gap between the coil and flywheel is supposed to be .014, but I'm having a hard time with that. The gap isn't the same between the two parts that engage the flywheel, so I had try just getting the gap for the lower part right since it is closer to the flywheel. We'll see what happens with that...

On my earlier mufflers I didn't realize I could decrimp the two halves, but thanks to forum reading I discovered that. Some heat and an old screwdriver separated the halves.

No fancy catalytics here, but some junk anyway...

Recrimped...

I think these two slots in the front will be plenty of lungs for this without drilling and brazing in an extra tube.

Got the muffler and gaskets matched to the exhaust..... Found out you can't use a utility knife on that gasket....

 

[sonoransaw]

Got the saw put back together and fired her up....finally....

Not allowed to spend any $$ (the wife seems to think there are more important bills to pay), so my first run could have been sweeter, but not by too much... I soaked the carb diaphragm in brake fluid overnight to soften it up and cleaned the carb. I was very doubtful the carb would even work after sitting in the dry desert climate for fifteen years, but there was no choice. The bar and chain were old and worn. And my chain sharpening skills leave much to be desired....

I got it tuned and cut a few pancakes as seen in the video below. I'm not gonna lie....it felt great. For the saw's size, I thought it chewed through the wood nicely. You guys can judge better than me though...

I feel a heck of a lot of gratitude. Thanks for all the help and comments. I know in the big scheme of things, what I've done is nothing, but to me it was significant, way out of my comfort zone, and very rewarding. I hope it's just the beginning.... You guys are lucky to be in this line of work, and deserve any $$ you charge for what you do. Saw modding is everything it's cracked up to be....

First round mods included....
*mapped the port timings and durations
*widened the exhaust port 11% more than stock, about 4 mm for a total of 61% of bore
*raised the roof by a degree or two and polished the port
*chamfered all the ports lightly to eliminate the sharp edges on all of them
*advanced the timing by about a third of the flywheel key
*gutted and opened up the muffler

Is that as good as I can get this little saw? I doubt it... I'll keep messin till I really screw it up...

 

[P.M.P.]

Got the saw put back together and fired her up....finally....

Not allowed to spend any $$ (the wife seems to think there are more important bills to pay), so my first run could have been sweeter, but not by too much... I soaked the carb diaphragm in brake fluid overnight to soften it up and cleaned the carb. I was very doubtful the carb would even work after sitting in the dry desert climate for fifteen years, but there was no choice. The bar and chain were old and worn. And my chain sharpening skills leave much to be desired....

I got it tuned and cut a few pancakes as seen in the video below. I'm not gonna lie....it felt great. For the saw's size, I thought it chewed through the wood nicely. You guys can judge better than me though...

I feel a heck of a lot of gratitude. Thanks for all the help and comments. I know in the big scheme of things, what I've done is nothing, but to me it was significant, way out of my comfort zone, and very rewarding. I hope it's just the beginning.... You guys are lucky to be in this line of work, and deserve any $$ you charge for what you do. Saw modding is everything it's cracked up to be....

First round mods included....
*mapped the port timings and durations
*widened the exhaust port 11% more than stock, about 4 mm for a total of 61% of bore
*raised the roof by a degree or two and polished the port
*chamfered all the ports lightly to eliminate the sharp edges on all of them
*advanced the timing by about a third of the flywheel key
*gutted and opened up the muffler

Is that as good as I can get this little saw? Maybe.... But I'd kind of like to mess with the port timings by modding the piston skirt. If I screw it up, a piston is cheap to replace on this....

Video not loading?

That's how I do the mufflers on them plenty of opening instead of adding another.

 

[sonoransaw]

Video not loading?

That's how I do the mufflers on them plenty of opening instead of adding another.

Thanks, P.M.P.... glad to know I did something right with the muffler....

Youtube completely fritzed on me....re-uploaded video....

(Edit: for some reason every time I embed the video here on the forum, my youtube account gets suspended for severe violations and the video no longer exists....it's happened twice now....they don't like this place...probly cause of the recent threads criticizing a certain popular tuber who did some shady business dealings involving questionable chainsaw work. So I'm switching to a different video host. The message below was sent to my email twice. I had three videos on my channel: two short ones about chainsaws and a third short one about wood carving. How that constitutes a severe policy violation, I don't know! When I just uploaded the video, it was fine, but when I embedded it here, then my account was suspended. Weird...)

 

[XP_Slinger]

Got the saw put back together and fired her up....finally....

Not allowed to spend any $$ (the wife seems to think there are more important bills to pay), so my first run could have been sweeter, but not by too much... I soaked the carb diaphragm in brake fluid overnight to soften it up and cleaned the carb. I was very doubtful the carb would even work after sitting in the dry desert climate for fifteen years, but there was no choice. The bar and chain were old and worn. And my chain sharpening skills leave much to be desired....

I got it tuned and cut a few pancakes as seen in the video below. I'm not gonna lie....it felt great. For the saw's size, I thought it chewed through the wood nicely. You guys can judge better than me though...

I feel a heck of a lot of gratitude. Thanks for all the help and comments. I know in the big scheme of things, what I've done is nothing, but to me it was significant, way out of my comfort zone, and very rewarding. I hope it's just the beginning.... You guys are lucky to be in this line of work, and deserve any $$ you charge for what you do. Saw modding is everything it's cracked up to be....

First round mods included....
*mapped the port timings and durations
*widened the exhaust port 11% more than stock, about 4 mm for a total of 61% of bore
*raised the roof by a degree or two and polished the port
*chamfered all the ports lightly to eliminate the sharp edges on all of them
*advanced the timing by about a third of the flywheel key
*gutted and opened up the muffler

Is that as good as I can get this little saw? Maybe.... But I'd kind of like to mess with the port timings by modding the piston skirt. If I screw it up, a piston is cheap to replace on this....

We’ve all been there with the wife taking away our saw funds...lol!

Great job on the saw! The gratification you mentioned is why I modify my own saws also, it’s a fun journey. I really enjoyed riding along while you worked through the process. Doesn’t matter if it’s someone’s first saw modding adventure or their 100th, it’s always interesting too me and most of the other members on here. There’s literally dozens of theories and methods of approach to porting and each build brings new discussion.

I think the one thing holding your saw back is your chain. I noticed in your video the saw is constantly trying to pull forward very hard. You want the chain to self feed but yours looks to be too aggressive. This is the result of the rakers being too low. Without being there to look at it it’s hard to tell by how much but I would take 5 to 6 strokes off the cutters to counter the low rakers. If you’ve looked around, I’m sure you’ve found that chains are a science unto themselves and there’s some great knowledge on the forum. You don’t need to know how to make a race chain, but a firm grasp of the basics will let you produce a chain that will greatly improve any saws performance be it a 35cc clam or a 395xp...it’s all in the chain.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Thanks, P.M.P.... glad to know I did something right with the muffler....

Youtube completely fritzed on me....re-uploaded video....

(Edit: for some reason every time I embed the video here on the forum, my youtube account gets suspended for severe violations and the video no longer exists....it's happened twice now....they don't like this place...probly cause of the recent threads criticizing a certain popular tuber who did some shady business dealings involving questionable chainsaw work. So I'm switching to a different video host. The message below was sent to my email twice. I had three videos on my channel: two short ones about chainsaws and a third short one about wood carving. How that constitutes a severe policy violation, I don't know! When I just uploaded the video, it was fine, but when I embedded it here, then my account was suspended. Weird...)

This is bizarre. I doubt it has anything to do with the IH rhetoric. Some kind of glitch

 

[sonoransaw]

We’ve all been there with the wife taking away our saw funds...lol!

Great job on the saw! The gratification you mentioned is why I modify my own saws also, it’s a fun journey. I really enjoyed riding along while you worked through the process. Doesn’t matter if it’s someone’s first saw modding adventure or their 100th, it’s always interesting too me and most of the other members on here. There’s literally dozens of theories and methods of approach to porting and each build brings new discussion.

I think the one thing holding your saw back is your chain. I noticed in your video the saw is constantly trying to pull forward very hard. You want the chain to self feed but yours looks to be too aggressive. This is the result of the rakers being too low. Without being there to look at it it’s hard to tell by how much but I would take 5 to 6 strokes off the cutters to counter the low rakers. If you’ve looked around, I’m sure you’ve found that chains are a science unto themselves and there’s some great knowledge on the forum. You don’t need to know how to make a race chain, but a firm grasp of the basics will let you produce a chain that will greatly improve any saws performance be it a 35cc clam or a 395xp...it’s all in the chain.

Thanks, XP! You've been most helpful along the way... You're right on the chain. I know I've got a lot to learn. Heck, I've only been at this less than two months! Besides my lame sharpening skills, the chain is a mess. I've hit rocks and who knows what all with it. Some of the cutters are super short. Some are longer. It's a hot mess. To do this right I would have bought a new bar and chain, but like I said above, "my first run could have been sweeter, but not by much".... I'm super happy to have taken something from the junk pile and turned it into what it is....

On the internet thing, I appealed, but they denied my appeal. I'm too bad to the bone--clean family guy, not an internet troll, never even comment on other videos, only a few short saw videos uploaded to my channel, I'm a real threat to the world.... I've been doing some searches. It seems to be a fairly widespread problem.... Nothing to be done....