oologahan
ArboristSite Operative
It's been a long journey in restoring the 1965 Homelite XL-500. I bought this saw about 18 months ago from a guy in a small town in British Columbia, Canada for 50.00. This saw was only made one year and most people never even knew that Homelite's Canadian subsidiary, Terry Industries in Pointe Claire, Quebec even made this model. To say that there were very few of these Canadian made XL-500 saws made would be an understatement. The saw was solid, but I had no idea what lay underneath or inside. In the time between purchase and restoration I began to acquire parts for this XL-500 and another US made XL-500 I had bought. New cylinders and pistons for this saw are almost non existent. I found both. I also acquired all the gaskets, oil seals, and other spare parts I thought I might need, but that didn't prepare me for what lay under the flywheel. The entire ignition system had been rigged with a Nova 2 chip and there was damage to the flywheel, and coil bracket. Figuring that I might as well start fresh all ignition parts were changed and an exact replacement for the coil bracket was in my spare parts drawer. Next came the oil pump, it was no longer working, probably why the piston and cylinder were burnt up. Fortunately I had a new pump and worm gear. I also have acquired all the felt seals and gaskets for the oil and gas caps so those were also replaced. The clutch was cleaned and new thrust washers and spur sprocket was installed. Attempting to install the new chrome muffler proved to be impossible since the previous owner had retapped the cylinder and used a larger diameter muffler stud.The painting was done with Rustoleum farm and implement enamel thinned with an acetone/naphtha combination and a poly converter hardener added. The top coat was a two part crystal clear semi-gloss epoxy. This journey is coming to an end and after the carb is installed and the decals added it will join the other restored saws on the shelf. This time on a saw leaves me with a melancholy feeling as the journey with this old friend is nearly over.
