johnny5ny
Well-Known OPE Member
- Local time
- 1:24 PM
- User ID
- 1405
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2016
- Messages
- 101
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- Location
- Saratoga Springs NY
@Xp_slingers thread inspired me to make this one. My lack of recording any meaningful data (my old professors would shame) or any pics had me thinking the thread would be kind of useless, but here goes anyway.
This is a el46 562xp with gutted muffler (muffler done approx 2 tanks ago). The saw has prob 50 tanks on it total. I never once had any of the common el46 issues. Lucky? IDK...
This saw is my primary firewood getter. Mostly wears an 18" bar but sometimes a 16 for fun or up to 24 (rare).
My original game plan was to only delete the base gasket and smooth out any casting imperfections. Squish all the way around the band was .025, base gasket was .028. I bolted down the cylinder anyway sans gasket and sure enough, interference (duh)!
I was bummed but didn't want to risk an air leak down the road with a homemade gasket - especially for .005 in squish. With the cylinder back off, I got out my needle files and dremel and cleaned up the ports and transfers.
At this point, I knew I would have regretted just buttoning it up without further dicking with, so I went back to @awols 562xp improvements thread and studied for another day.
First up was the exhaust port. I started VERY slowly just squaring it up at first. That led to a bit of widening, which led to raising the ceiling a bit. Rinse and repeat, then polish (150, 220, finish at 320 grit).
I then port matched the muffler heat shield and muffler opening. I used a very small bead of permatex ultra copper as the stock exhaust gasket would have been a major restriction at this point (port its pretty wide open). When all said and done, I had a very smooth, much wider and quite a bit higher exhaust port.
On to the transfers and intake. Nothing crazy here as I admittedly don't know enough about how major changes one way or the other effect performance. For the lowers, I simply matched awols pics from his thread. After grinding, I smoothed them out (along with the transfer covers) up to 320 grit.
The intake was mostly left alone. After filing the casting flash, I sanded but only to 150 grit - Thinking a little rougher was better.
So as much as I think I probably went as far as I could reasonably go on the exhaust side, I probably left a bit on the table intake wise(?) I need to learn a bit more before I make any drastic changes here.
When I tear it down next time, I think I will try to get a pop up machined (if anyone who is capable wants to PM me???) and make further tweaks to the intake side. But for now, I'm calling it done.
So how's it run????
I know I'm quoting someone here (el moobs?) by saying, "its a BAD DUDE!!!!!!" I always thought the 562 was a pissed off saw right out of the box compared to my other saws. After the muffler mod, even more so and with a MOAR pissed off exhaust note. Now, whatever I did in there hacking away with the files, burrs, and sandpaper took it up a noticeable notch higher. Its just angry!
I ran it in some red oak with a 20" bar varying the loads for about half a tank to re-calibrate the AT. I then put an 18" bar on and bucked some oak and maple, and then cut some cookies in pine. Awesome!
So again, sorry for being thin on details/numbers/pics. I promise to record a bunch next time its apart (which I'm certain will be soon
Oh and thanks a lot - you all are a bad influence!
Jon
This is a el46 562xp with gutted muffler (muffler done approx 2 tanks ago). The saw has prob 50 tanks on it total. I never once had any of the common el46 issues. Lucky? IDK...
This saw is my primary firewood getter. Mostly wears an 18" bar but sometimes a 16 for fun or up to 24 (rare).
My original game plan was to only delete the base gasket and smooth out any casting imperfections. Squish all the way around the band was .025, base gasket was .028. I bolted down the cylinder anyway sans gasket and sure enough, interference (duh)!
I was bummed but didn't want to risk an air leak down the road with a homemade gasket - especially for .005 in squish. With the cylinder back off, I got out my needle files and dremel and cleaned up the ports and transfers.
At this point, I knew I would have regretted just buttoning it up without further dicking with, so I went back to @awols 562xp improvements thread and studied for another day.
First up was the exhaust port. I started VERY slowly just squaring it up at first. That led to a bit of widening, which led to raising the ceiling a bit. Rinse and repeat, then polish (150, 220, finish at 320 grit).
I then port matched the muffler heat shield and muffler opening. I used a very small bead of permatex ultra copper as the stock exhaust gasket would have been a major restriction at this point (port its pretty wide open). When all said and done, I had a very smooth, much wider and quite a bit higher exhaust port.
On to the transfers and intake. Nothing crazy here as I admittedly don't know enough about how major changes one way or the other effect performance. For the lowers, I simply matched awols pics from his thread. After grinding, I smoothed them out (along with the transfer covers) up to 320 grit.
The intake was mostly left alone. After filing the casting flash, I sanded but only to 150 grit - Thinking a little rougher was better.
So as much as I think I probably went as far as I could reasonably go on the exhaust side, I probably left a bit on the table intake wise(?) I need to learn a bit more before I make any drastic changes here.
When I tear it down next time, I think I will try to get a pop up machined (if anyone who is capable wants to PM me???) and make further tweaks to the intake side. But for now, I'm calling it done.
So how's it run????
I know I'm quoting someone here (el moobs?) by saying, "its a BAD DUDE!!!!!!" I always thought the 562 was a pissed off saw right out of the box compared to my other saws. After the muffler mod, even more so and with a MOAR pissed off exhaust note. Now, whatever I did in there hacking away with the files, burrs, and sandpaper took it up a noticeable notch higher. Its just angry!
I ran it in some red oak with a 20" bar varying the loads for about half a tank to re-calibrate the AT. I then put an 18" bar on and bucked some oak and maple, and then cut some cookies in pine. Awesome!
So again, sorry for being thin on details/numbers/pics. I promise to record a bunch next time its apart (which I'm certain will be soon
Oh and thanks a lot - you all are a bad influence!
Jon
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