Wondering how far gone it really is...

[seank]

Subject is a Homelite Zip. I saved it from a landfill 6 or so years ago. I've previously rebuilt the carb and keep the chain relatively sharp for when I do use it.(which is about once a year) It runs 'alright'; I don't have anything else to gauge it against, this is the only saw I own.

This winter decided to give it a through once over. I downloaded the '61 Homelite saw service manual as a reference and I have the IPL for the Zip/600. Compression test came in a 88-90 psi, so I dug deeper into it. Ring gap measured at ~0.13", so there's one issue. However a larger issue is the chrome plating appears to be, um, missing, in a quite a few places. There does seem to be some alum. transfer above the exhaust port on the cylinder and on the exh side of the piston. Scoring in the cylinder catches the nail only above the exhaust port. 

Before I load up the parts cannon, I wanted to ask the hive mind's opinion if the cylinder and piston are or are not salvageable.With my lack of experience, I'm not able to discern exactly what I'm looking at here.  I'm not against spending a hour plus removing alum. transfer and marring, if that really is what is present. 

Thanks!

Cylinder & Rings


Cylinder Intake


Cylinder Exhaust 1


Cylinder Exhaust 2



Piston Exhaust


Piston Intake

[blythkd]

Unfortunately it all looks pretty well shot. You definitely need a cylinder and rings. You might be able to salvage the piston with some tedious hand work but if it were me and I were going to invest in a new cylinder and rings, I'd sure want a piston too.

How deep are you looking to go into this rebuild? I have never looked for overhaul parts for a Zip. I'm guessing there's probably some out there but that's just a guess.

[ronaldt]

Zips are very common so there should be a lot of good used parts out there. Just an option if new parts are hard to find. Keep us posted!