Solo 665 to 681

[wildroamer]

Hi gang,

Well, as I am laid up for awhile, I thought I would occupy my mind by beginning the process of my Solo 665 to 681 project. Dexter Day has an excellent write up that I have followed, but I am currently running into a small snag that I thought I would ask you all about.

I have gotten as far as plastics removal, wrap removal, and have loosened the 4 allen bolts that hold the cylinder down. However, cylinder seems to be pretty well fused in place. I have given a couple half-hearted knocks to the side of the cylinder with a hammer and piece of wood thinking it might free it from gasket and base, but am hesitant to enter "angry-hammer" mode, haha, for fear of busting stuff up.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[exSW]

Take another painkiller and have at it.

 

[wildroamer]

Ha! OK! As it is, of the three cylinders I see, I am aiming for the one in the middle!

 

[wildroamer]

OK, she's loose. Now I need a nap, haha.

 

[TJ the Chainsaw Mechanic]

Aim for the one on the right. lol

 

[wildroamer]

FYI, those of you considering the 7900 spring kit for the 681.... Don't bother. Only one of them is a direct swap, the right front bottom one. Right rear is wrong size, as is the one for the wrap. As for the two on the clutch side, I see no way to remove the spring from the cap in order to get the old screw into the new spring.

 

[CR888]

When you get there you'll be happy, a Solo 681 has THE best power/weight ratio of any saw I have seen past or present. I dearly hope ALKO keeps the engineers who designed this model (& the 6400/7900 dolmars) in a job. In stock form these saws will destroy any husky/stihl of similar displacement. Sit your 665 on a bench next to a similar dolmar and if you look closely will notice many little improvement all over the saw. I got my fist one in 2009 when they came out, back then when nobody on the forums even new what they were and believed they were a copy of a Dolmar. A better master control, and HD2 style air filter and an AT style fuel delivery system would make for decent upgrades on a new model. Solo have been making saws as long as Stihl in a west german factory less than a mile from Andreas's operation. Just noticed the post above, springs are one of the things the Solo upgraded over the Dolmars.

 

[wildroamer]

Well, I've made some headway...

 

[wildroamer]

A little more progress by Hopalong....

 

[wildroamer]

Couple issues/concerns. First, I can't locate my damn torque wrench, not that it would help with this issue. I screwed the decomp in, but not real tight as I don't want to strip threads....

Second, any thoughts on removing the residue from gasket and/or whatever they used for sealant?

 

[wildroamer]

Oh, and if anyone spots that circlip that popped out at 176 mph, please let me know!

 

[Cut4fun]

Oh, and if anyone spots that circlip that popped out at 176 mph, please let me know!

Sweet..................

All of us has been there.

 

[Ktoom]

The minute the clip goes flying, u must concentrate and listen to where its tinging around in the shop lolol. Then hope that you can find it even though it landed in a crack some where or u find the clip 6 months later laying out in the open lolol.

I wish i picked up one of these sweet Solo's when they came out, but at the time I had a Dolkita 7901.

Have fun with the build!!!

 

[wildroamer]

Exactly right! Listened, looked, and somehow found the little bugger!

 

[Mastermind]

Subbing.

 

[wildroamer]

Randy is patiently waiting for me to finish this saw, start it, blow it up, and then send it to him, lol.

 

[wildroamer]

Wish I knew a trick to get that damn circlip installed....

 

[wildroamer]

got it. just had to call it some bad names...

 

[Mastermind]

I have special tools just for those horrid clips.

 

[Adirondackstihl]

I have special tools just for those horrid clips.

I gots the 12mm one thanks to Dave, just need the 10mm one now.

Oh yeah.......subbing