Chainsaw Repair

Just won a 350 on ebay, suppose to run, but already thinking about doing a 346 top end. Are the Baileys OEM kits the only ones out there besides the ebay kits? How are the ebay kits?

Thx!

I am done with ebay kits. Brought in a 346 and 359 kit. Both died in minutes. OEM or Baileys kits for me from now on.

Wow, that's quick. 

Were those kits branded in any way? There is a huge difference in quality between some of those brands. Additionally, there is often a consistancy issue within the same brand.

I've been messing with some of these parts on my own saws; to sort of get a feel for whether or not I should mess with them for customers. I use the Forester stuff, and results have been generally very good. But there was one mishap that still has me shying away from using them on Customer's saws. Their 372 piston has a very thin skirt. Got one that was, or quickly went out of round, grenaded and ruined the jug. (went just as quick as yours I bet) On my own saw, who cares? But if it was a customer's saw, I'd have to replace the whole thing for him.

This stuff is OK for us in the hobby, as we can get a dead saw running for peanuts. But at this time, I just don't think it has a place in a professional shop.

These were unbranded kits. Both kits had piston skirt failures on the intake side. For pistons now I get Tecomec, Meteor or Espian. If I get another kit I would toss the piston and use one of the previously mentioned ones.

Yeah, same exact place where mine let loose. When I was putting it in, I was thinking that it just looked awful thin.

Now I have to add that Weimedog has the exact same piston in a 365/372 that he built and he's run the snot out it. Gets back to what I was saying about inconsistant quality.

Aren't the Italian made Meteor stuff a bit better than other aftermarket options? 

I'd use the stock jug and port it. You might be surprised how well it runs opened up, have some fun doing it, and save some cash!

I will do that first as long as the stock jug is usable. The listing said it runs and is in good shape, but until I get it and check it out I'm thinking of the worst case scenario...I already have one ported 350 (pre-epa) and its a runner!