Intro Post - Dad's old saw - Husqy 365/372 - Rebuild

[Somewhat Handy]

Now the metering and pump parts.

First the HI-LO screws.
 



The new fuel filter. Used a 3/16" socket to press home. A 5/16" punch fit nicely as well.



 

 

    

Next the pump cover, screen and gasket.



 

Now I prepare the new metering lever, spindle, spring and needle. Note the wear on the original lever (left side). I think I left the original needle in the carb body when I Chem-dipped it - not going to fish it out.



 



 

 

Securing the spindle is a little tricky. Gotta fork the needle onto the lever while simultaneously setting the dimple on that same lever in the spring, while aligning the spindle into it's groove. Have the keeper screw and screwdriver in arms reach or you'll have to start over.






 

Service manual says to check the metering lever with a straight edge so it is level with the surrounding gasket surface. I bent mine back down just a hair so the straight edge depressed the lever, but just barely.



 

Install the metering gasket, diaphragm and top cover. Carb is complete.




 

 

[Allar]

Sorry for your loss.  I really like what you're doing, keep it up.

[Somewhat Handy]

Thanks, Allar.

I built a crankcase splitter yesterday afternoon. I found one pretty cheap at Huztl for $17.50, but shipping was $30.00 and I didn't feel like waiting for it. I had enough scraps laying around anyway.

Transferred some measurements from the case.


 

 

 



Rough cuts from 3/16" flat bar.


 

Beveled the pieces together for welding. All you pro fabricators, avert thine eyes - it's gonna get ugly



 

Tacked the arms together so the final grinding will book match.



 

 

The metal curls a little bit after the welding, but that's easily straightened with a sledge and anvil.



 

Double check clearance inside the crank case. Removed a little metal from the lower backside of these arms.

[Somewhat Handy]

Using the flats in the cylinder base as my outer limits for these arms.



 

Transferred the limits to some 2" square tube, beveled the arms.



 

The arms just get an initial tack so, I can fine tune the final position in the crank case.



 

 

Once I like the fit, I add a strip of reinforcing metal to reduce moving while the fillet weld below is happening. This will be ground off later.



 

Had a half inch bolt and nuts on hand. These will become pressure screw. Left a little daylight between each nut to prevent bind up.



 

Used a couple more nuts on the opposite as spacers to keep the screw arms parallel.



 

 


 

Check the fit again from both sides of the case. Looks good.



 

Welding complete. I'll probably have to chase the threads with a tap, but it should do the job.



 

[Somewhat Handy]

Finally got around to splitting the crankcase.

Pointed bolt to center in crank end. 



 

Remove last screws.



 

 

 

Mount up the splitter. Everything that touches the crankcase got a dab of oil.



 

Have a soft landing pad ready.



 

A few turns an she pops open. 



 

The two original halves.





Insert flywheel half into splitter to press out the other side of crank.



 

Discovered skinny O-ring on flywheel side.



 

New and old halves side by side.



 

If it weren't for the missing chunk, I'd say the original half was in better shape. The new one has lots of pitting from corrosion.



 

I think I may try filling some of these areas with metal putty, at least where they may impact structure or gaskets faces. What do you guys think?



 

 

 

Old bearings. These are getting replaced.



 

 

[Somewhat Handy]

Removed the old bearings and recovered some small parts off the old case half tonight. Would have popped in the new bearings but I left them at work.  


Gathered up a mallet, a couple punches and sockets to tap on things.


 

Pulled off rubbet/plastic bits while oven is heating to 390 deg F.



 

Let the case soak heat for 10 minutes and tapped out bearing with 5/8 socket.



 

Repeat on clutch side. Also scavenged wrist joint pin for chain brake and the two bar studs.



 

Also scavenged this little plug. No idea what it does, but the plug on the replacement case looked pretty corroded.



 



Wrist pin installed in new home.





Checked fitment of new and old. Pretty amazed how well they match.



 

 

Spare bar studs and case alignment dowels



 

These bearings seem pretty well cooked. Nothing smooth about these.



 

Numbers etched on side confirm I've got the right replacements.

[Somewhat Handy]

Got the bearings home. Cleaned up the case halves one more time. Scoured as much residue from the mating surfaces and cylinder base as I could with scotch brite.

Cold, the new bearings will not drop into their recesses. If they did, that would mean my cases were worn beyond repair.





Heated to 390 deg F (the cases, that is) and the new bearings drop right in, no fuss.

[Somewhat Handy]

I don't like to think that corrosion will eat up the work I've done. The corrosion seems to start in thin spots in the factory paint job and nooks that collect moist saw dust. So, I decided to repaint the crank case. I used VHT Hemi Orange engine enamel. Masked/plugged everything that didn't need paint, scuffed with 320 grit, cleaned with alcohol, sprayed the paint, let sit for a few hours, then baked at 200 deg F per the instructions on the can. I think it came out pretty close to original. You can see the busted case half below for comparison. I think the factory paint has a little more pop, maybe more red tint, but it'll be good enough for me.



 

 

[lxskllr]

Very thorough. You're doing a fantastic job on the restoration. It's looking great so far  :^)

[Somewhat Handy]

Thanks a lot! I just hope she starts up when I pull that rope in the end. :-\  I'll make a vid for the first startup. 

[HolmenTree]

X2, good job!
I wish I had the time and patience that you have when I did my work saw restorations. 
But I am taking my time on one though. ;D


  

[Somewhat Handy]

If I were making my living with this saw, there wouldn't be a thread on this process. I would have buttoned it up and got to work already. I'm also waiting on some other things to happen/materialize before I really go to work with this saw. Day jobs...

[Somewhat Handy]

X2, good job!
I wish I had the time and patience that you have when I did my work saw restorations.
But I am taking my time on one though. ;D


  

That thing looks beastly. Care to elaborate a bit?

[HolmenTree]

I built it 35 years ago, Yamaha YZ 125 motorcycle engine with a 42mm snowmobile carb.
Putting out 40hp+ at the crank .

Totally rebuilding it to right hand drive and get it down to the weight of a Husqvarna 3120XP making it still competitive today in modern times.

[Somewhat Handy]

I built it 35 years ago, Yamaha YZ 125 motorcycle engine with a 42mm snowmobile carb.
Putting out 40hp+ at the crank .

Totally rebuilding it to right hand drive and get it down to the weight of a Husqvarna 3120XP making it still competitive today in modern times.

So, your aim was to simply make a tree disappear in a cloud of sawdust?  ;D
J/K, you should post this in the diesels & such thread. I think motorcycle engines definitely qualify as alternative power....

[HolmenTree]

Motorcycle engines have powered the earliest 2 man chainsaws.
Danarm used a Villiers 250 cc motorcycle engine.
Even a 1938 Harley Davidson V twin 1200 cc on a Dolmar transmission in Sweden.
Harley / Dolmar chainsaw - Tree felling with Björn & Herje - YouTube

[Somewhat Handy]

Like a hot knife.... good grief. Thanks for the vid!

[HolmenTree]

Like a hot knife.... good grief. Thanks for the vid!

The engine was running great but what looks like old scratcher chain they were running needed some work to get it to feed right.
I'd love to see more history on that saw if I could read Swedish. 

[Somewhat Handy]

Gonna revive this thread with some reassembly photos. It's been a crazy couple years, huh? Long story short, we made it through Covid, I've made some changes at work to free up time for the real life, we finally bought some acreage with timber in southern  MO, and last week we had our first boy. 

The new place has a remote wood furnace and propane, but no electric heat, so we've been piling up logs from the previous owners' clearing work and this saw will be put to the test in short order.

I'm putting assembly lube on all the bearings, pins, and bushed components.





 

[Somewhat Handy]

Reinstalled the alignment dowels, buttered the crankcase gasket with some permatex ultimate black, then used the crank puller to marry the halves from the flywheel side.



 


 





 

[Somewhat Handy]

I kinda started tapping my own crank puller set back in 2019 and ran out of time on the project. This time around I sprung for the OEM tools. Don't make my mistake and order the pullers for later 3XX series saws(first picture)- the thread on one side of the crank is larger on the 365 SP circa 2004. The puller set in the second pic is the one you want for this particular saw.



 


 



 

[Somewhat Handy]

Next pressed in the crank seal, slipped on the bushing for the oil pump gear wheel, dropped in the oil pickup line, installed the oil pump with two screws, spun on the gear wheel, laid on the washer precedes the clutch assembly, installed the bar oiler tube and rubber bushing.




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Real1shepherd]

Just skimmed through the whole thread...agree with most things but not all of it.

What oil ratio where you using and what oil specifically? What did the spark arrestor look like?

I don't know if you finished the exhaust port, but Dremel bits would do that nicely. As far as your piston;turn the jug upside down with a spark plug in place....drop the piston in the jug. If it floats down, it's highly usable. If it drops 'clunk', I'd think about replacing it with used OE.

Kevin   

[Somewhat Handy]

@Real1shepherd, I don't know what ratio my dad was using on this saw, but I'll be starting at factory recommended ratio and moving toward 40 or 50:1 after it's broken back in. I won't mess with port work untill I have one or two backup saws ready to go, but I'm doing the gasket delete for now, possibly followed by a custom muffler and unlimited coil if needed.

[Somewhat Handy]

Have people with lots of 362/365/372 husqy experience noticed the variability in the crank seals? I already had to reorder the flywheel side seal due to a big ID difference. Now I'm noticing that the clutch side seal won't seat tight and there is just a hairs width of daylight around it in that crank bore. I checked against the original case half and it's the same deal. I won't make the mistake of ordering from Amazon again.  :(

I'm gonna order a new seal specific to my model and year from partstree.com, but I wanted to float the issue in case I'm about to get the same result, since the oem part # seems to be identical for all generations of this saw. (503 26 03-01)