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Post by xl130 on Jan 14, 2021 13:12:19 GMT -5
Ready to start the rebuild process on this C-51. Two saws to piece together into one. New piston & rings, seals and gaskets have all finally arrived in the snail mail from many corners of the continent! It’s a bit daunting when you’re staring at a pile of parts like this!  |
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Post by lesorubcheek on Jan 14, 2021 14:27:05 GMT -5
You're gonna have fun, for sure. I remember having "C fever" several years ago. Some absolutely amazing saws and fun as can be to work on. I'll bet though this will end up turning into 2 running saws, not just one. Any leftover parts will beg to be put to use. That's one of my big problems anyway, just can't stand a parts saw.... they all deserve equal treatment and to be able to run.
Dan
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Post by xl130 on Jan 15, 2021 6:33:13 GMT -5
Well it didn’t take long to hit the first snag. I’ve encountered slight complications on the dreaded oil seals. I’ve made a couple of driver tools on previous projects but the flywheel seal 58308 for this saw is a bit difficult to properly seat. It’s driven 9/64” deep into the pocket. I assume that is to accommodate clearance for the points bracket. I believe that the bore measures 15/16 in diameter. That is the outside diameter of the seal I’m sure of that much.... I’m fresh out of metal lathes and I don’t have a proper seal driver so I had get a little creative. I used a 11/16 deep socket. Measured a line 9/64” from the bottom and ground it on a bench grinder. I think it’s going to do the trick!     |
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Post by xl130 on Jan 16, 2021 8:43:40 GMT -5
Crank shaft seals are installed. The task was difficult as expected. It’s always a job that I hate. I used Dichtomatik 0609318TC for the flywheel side. I had some left over from my XL-130 project and wanted to do some more testing with these seals. It seems to fit ok and went into the saw quite easily with my homemade tools. For the clutch side I used Garlock GAR 92 x 6113. This seal was horrendous to install. It seems to be just a hair to big to fit into the pocket. I ruined two trying to hammer drive it in with a washer and driver. No matter how I tapped it would not drive straight. I came up with what seemed to be a great alternative. I placed a washer against the seal and pressed it in with the clutch. It was either a moment of pure genius or foolish. The problem is that you really can’t see what is happening to the seal. I feel like that is a great way to apply even steady pressure. I’ll find out when I pressure/vacuum test the crankcase.... FW side tools  Large flat washer to drive flush with the case.  Then switch to the shaped socket to drive 9/64” into the pocket.  Looks ok I think...  Clutch side set up. Place the seal in by hand. Layer of grease between the seal and washer so it would slide.  Block the crank with a rubber handled screwdriver and turn the clutch in by hand nice and slow.  Placed a washer against the seal and drove it to 3/64” deep.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this seal fails the pressure/vacuum but I will find out soon enough...  |
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Post by edju1958 on Jan 16, 2021 10:22:27 GMT -5
These are great tips for my first seal replacement that I'll be doing this yr.I've put it off long enough.I think I'll start simple with an SEZ only because the seals are cheap - $5.I've also got a C5 that needs seals & they're pretty much the same saw as the C51 that you're working on now.I had a seized C5 that I practiced on pulling the seals out,that was a cake walk,Lol.
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Post by xl130 on Jan 17, 2021 10:26:02 GMT -5
I made some more progress this morning. I didn’t take pictures of every single step. I forgot to take some pictures of placing the needle bearings around the piston rod & cap. Placed a light layer of clean grease and stuck the bearings one by one. Pretty straight forward. The pistons rod assembly and cylinder install went good. No issues until I pressure tested the crankcase..... Built some rubber seals to block off the exhaust port and intake. Decided to try and just use the muffler and intake block instead of making block off plates. Drilled out an old spark plug to attach the mityvac.(stole the idea from a thread I was lurking over on AS. Not sure who it was but thanks!) I had a huge air leak during my pressure test! Stayed some soapy water around the shaft seals, no bubbles. No bubbles around the block off seals. Found the leak at the cylinder gasket. Tried snugging up the cylinder nuts but that didn’t work. I’m not sure if the gasket is bad or if the cylinder base is damaged or badly warped? I’ll have to pop it off and investigate. The good news is that the new oil seals seem to be good. I’ll do more testing once I get the base gasket straightened out. Anyone have any tips for this? Here is the set up for rod connection to the crank. Screwdriver through the intake port to hold the rod cap in place while attaching the 9/64” hex bolts.  Cheapo piston ring kit from Amazon  Gasket material from Home Depot(Thanks lesorubcheek for the information in your rebuild thread)  Cutting the block off gaskets. A bit crude but seems ok  Here is the set up.  Mityvac connected to a drilled out spark plug for pressure testing  |
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Post by onlyhomelites on Jan 17, 2021 22:18:55 GMT -5
I'd try some Gasgacinch gasket sealer...the aerosol can is easiest, but wastes a bit on overspray. I seal almost all new carburetor circuit gaskets to prevent minor leaks; I haven't ever seen a warped cylinder head on a Homelite, but I guess there's a first for everything!
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Post by xl130 on Jan 19, 2021 7:24:54 GMT -5
Getting closer to having this saw back together. I jumped the gun and sealed the cylinder with Motoseal before seeing Onlyhomelites post about the gasket sealer. (I could not locate the Gascasinch product here in Ontario but I did find what looks to be the “Permatex” equivalent yesterday and picked it up for about $10) I applied a very thin coat of the motoseal to the mating surfaces and put the gasket back in place. It may have increased the squish a very small amount unfortunately but I’ll have to live with it. After about 24 hours of curing time I retested the pressure and vacuum with good results. 8 PSI on both pressure & vacuum. I noticed a slight drop of about .5 PSI after about 10 minutes on both tests. Not sure what to make of that exactly. I sprayed the seals and gaskets with soapy water and no leaks were detected. Possibly my block off gaskets were leaking a bit. I’m happy so far and ready to move along. I sprayed all the intake gaskets with the spray sealer and cleaned/set the breaker points. The spark plug wire was complex trash and I had to replace it. Retested the seals and gaskets. I had to use an o-ring on the spark plug for a good seal.  You can see the cracked wire here. I replaced it with a 5mm copper core. Just simply cut it to 12” length and twist it into the coil.  New wire and points box cleaned and gap set.  Gasket sealer. Spray the gasket.....not the surface. Trust me!  Here is the intake gaskets and reed manifold.  Intake and rear handle assembly completed  |
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Post by xl130 on Jan 20, 2021 8:48:49 GMT -5
Almost ready to fire up. Flywheel is on and cleaned the clutch assembly and greased the needle bearing. New inner and outer fuel lines and filter installed. Put a new duckbill in the fuel cap and decided to pressure test the tank to see what kind of shape the tank gasket was in. I rebuilt the old Tillotson HL141D with an EBay kit. It was a nice kit but unfortunately the round cork gasket does not seal the cover. The original rubber seal luckily is still in good shape and did the trick. Have to get the half wrap handlebar back on and fuel it up and get cranking! Here is the clutch and .404 spur sprocket in order assembly. I thought this picture may be helpful to others. I personally can never remember the correct order when I go to reassemble!  New duckbill for the fuel cap. Needle nose pliers to grip the insert and twist to remove. These things can be stubborn to get out sometimes.  Pressure testing the fuel tank. Soapy water around the tank gasket. No leaks on the gasket but small leak at the fuel cap gasket. I can live with that!  Here is the carburetor disassembled. Needed to grind down a 5/16” socket to unscrew the needle seat. It’s a very tight fit and you need a “thin” walled socket, or sacrifice one like I did.  Looks like a chainsaw again. I use a sharpie paint marker to touch up the air filter cover lettering them mist spray it with clear coat. Champion J6C plug.  |
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Post by xl130 on Jan 20, 2021 15:42:50 GMT -5
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Post by edju1958 on Jan 20, 2021 16:04:23 GMT -5
Damn nice job! Looks like you're missing the throttle lock pin?
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Post by xl130 on Jan 20, 2021 16:12:21 GMT -5
Damn nice job! Looks like you're missing the throttle lock pin? No throttle lock on both C-51’s. I’ve heard that was common on some of these saws. It sure does make starting them “fun”. |
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Post by sparky on Jan 20, 2021 16:38:51 GMT -5
Ya got a runner! I really liked pics of the tools you made to install the crank seals.
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Post by xl130 on Jan 20, 2021 18:29:50 GMT -5
Ya got a runner! I really liked pics of the tools you made to install the crank seals. I used a few homemade tools on this build. It’s always half the challenge just figuring how to make whatever you have do the trick! |
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Post by xl130 on Jan 21, 2021 7:38:43 GMT -5
I took the recoil assembly apart awhile ago to clean it up and put a new rope in. I figured that adding a picture of the order of assembly may be helpful. Luckily the Fairbanks Morse starter was correctly assembled and all the proper parts appeared to be there so that it a lot easier to put back together. The hardest part was getting the spring to hook into the notch on the rope pulley. There was a few choice words and a timeout or two but with some determination the job got done Here is the FM starter parts. I used 48” of #5 nylon rope. I believe it was 2 turns if pre-tensions on the spring.   |
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Post by ronaldt on Jan 21, 2021 9:54:14 GMT -5
Damn nice job! Looks like you're missing the throttle lock pin? No throttle lock on both C-51’s. I’ve heard that was common on some of these saws. It sure does make starting them “fun”. I would add the throttle lock if it's drilled for it but that's just me. There's lots of C series parts saws around so shouldn't be hard to find one. I listened to the you tube video of it running. Sounds great! I love the sound of the stack exhaust |
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Post by xl130 on Mar 30, 2021 17:05:26 GMT -5
Finally did a few test cuts with this saw. I’m pretty happy with it. I’m not exactly the smoothest power saw operator so don’t expect professional cutting! Man I don’t know how the old boys without hearing protection used these things. LOUD! youtu.be/WXVQOamx6QQ |
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Post by Clasec on Mar 30, 2021 18:25:20 GMT -5
Sounds good. Made my ears ring listening to the video.
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