Husqvarna 444SG Restoration

[CJ Brown]

So I got his saw about a year ago and knew right away that I would want to restore it to good condition since it is a rather rare saw. Although the saw was mostly complete, some parts were badly deteriorated or worn. I likely spent almost as much time searching for parts as I did actually working on the saw. Before I get into the pictures, I would like to thank Ranno @Quzick for helping me get some very hard to find parts. He's a great guy and I have had nothing but good dealings with him.

So here is the saw as I received it. According to the tag it was manufactured in 1982. Dirty, some missing paint, deteriorated wiring, but not too bad for a 40 year old saw.

 

[CJ Brown]

Here is a few more pics of disassembly. The saw came with the wrong coil. It should have had the blue Prufrex coil but instead came with the Bosch coil from a Husqvarna 44. That will be remedied.

 

[CJ Brown]

The first task was to pressure and vacuum test the saw. Pto bearings and seals are not available for these saws, so I had no intention of splitting the cases if the saw passed both tests, which thankfully it did. The next task was to remove the cylinder and piston to check their condition. Both the cylinder and piston looked very good so all I did was replace the rings. Cylinder and piston were both KS. After that, just many hours of cleaning a bazillion parts and getting the case and tank handle ready for paint.

 

[CJ Brown]

The paint didn't turn out too bad. I let the parts sit for a few weeks after painting in the hope that the paint would be hard enough that I wouldn't scratch and chip it during reassembly. As for reassembly, I must say these saws are a pain to assemble. Not near as easy to work on as a 2 series Husky. Certain parts need to be assembled in the proper order or the saw will not go back together, and the heated handle parts aren't easy to install either. Next couple posts will just be pictures of assembly and finished saw.

 

[CJ Brown]

Here is a pic of the flywheel plus some more assembly pics. The flywheel has 2 keyway slots. One slot has a "P" stamped above it, and that is the slot to use for the Prufrex ignition. The other slot is for the Bosch ignition and older saw with points.

 

[CJ Brown]

More pics...

 

[CJ Brown]

You wouldn't believe how hard it is find the rubber dust skirt that wraps around the top of the tank. I think every one of the skirts got ripped off and tossed in the woods the first time the original owner removed the top cover.

 

[CJ Brown]

And the finished product.

 

[Quzick]

Good work Chris!!!

 

[CJ Brown]

Good work Chris!!!

Thanks Ranno and thanks for your help with those hard-to-find parts!

 

[quattro.pilot]

Awesome!! Beautiful!! Great job to restore a rare oldie but goodie