Poulan 8500 restoration

[ctcown]

Well I thought I would share with you guys a very rough poulan I acquired from a member here on the site to restore and document the progress as I go through this old rag. Here are some of the before pics.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

As you can see this is a very rough saw with the whole pto side case eaten away with corrosion. However the piston and cylinder cleaned rather nicely.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

So at this point with discussion with a few members about locating a case I decided to use a case from a 4400-5400. As these cases are easier to locate and only have a few slight differences. Here the pics of the donor saw.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

After receiving the donor saw and doing a little inventory of my own I had enough parts to put this one back together as well and decided to go crankcase hunting again and located another nice case to use on the 8500. Here are some pics of the parts at various stages.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Chris J.]

I'm looking forward to seeing & reading more about your progress. Thanks for the thread!

 

[ctcown]

So I striped all the metal parts to bare metal and had to send to side covers to one of the members for repair and painted everything with urethane. Three coats prime, one coat epoxy sealer and about five coats of sweet poulan lime green.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

I thought they turned out rather nicely if I say so myself.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Acornhill]

What will the other saw be? 5200?

Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

No the other saw has the extended gas tank making it a 4400-5400 style saw and I'm undecided on weather to put the 4200-4400 piston and cylinder or the 5200 piston and cylinder I have on it.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

This one got new bearing and seals, I reused the piston and put new rings on it. Since the crankcase gaskets are NLA I took some black Indiana ink and painted the gasket surface with the sidecars and stamped a new pattern on some gasket material to make a new one. Then I coated both sides of the gasket with copper coat before reassemble.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

Also I replaced the oil pump seal and pump line for good measure

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

With the help from one of our great members I also located the needed other parts that did not come with the saw.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[echoshawn]

Nice looking build!

 

[ctcown]

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

I found some NOS mufflers with the heat shield on ebay and made the purchase they make the saw look so much better than the standard mufflers.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

I decided with the 8500 only the full wrap handle would do on this beast and I would put the flush cut on the other saw.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[echoshawn]

Nice looking west coast dawg!

 

[ctcown]

So at this point in the restoration I'm at a cross roads I have been unable to locate a cylinder cover or the small airfilter cover. I'm also going to try and make my own friction disc for the started cover out of HDPE material if I can find it thin enough. If any of you guys have a cylinder cover or know where to obtain one I would love take it off your hands and put it to good use. Really I would!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[ctcown]

I'll start the other saw as soon as the small parts get here that I need like brgs and seals and I'll share the progress as I go.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk