The 61 that I was converting to 278 came with a tillison hs260 with a 20mm bore. The bore is 48 mm so I think that is the 61 standard bore. The cover was right for the carb adjustment, but the standard 278 filter assembly will not fit under the cover. The profile of the cover is too high.
The 61 cylinder looks like it had some mild polishing done to it. It has open transfers. I thought it looked bigger than the 278 cylinder I have but I put a piece of paper in the 278 cylinder and marked it off and the 61 is smaller. I am going to gasket match the 278 ports and I am going to check the time on the ports. I am also going to check the squish and adjust that if necessary (I have a mill and lathe) to get it to .020 from what I have been reading. At that point I am going to put it together and see how it runs.
I have been reading some posts on how timing is done and I will find out what the timing is and see if can get some advice on whether it needs to be changed.
Thanks for the feedback.
Larry
I converter an early 61 to a 268XP couple of years ago. Biggest problem was the intake and carb attaching bolts. Something also thru a curve at me with the carb, to a point where I couldn't easily upgrade it to the larger Tillotson, but I can't remember exactly why? Might have been the access to the idle speed screw as mentioned above.
Had to use the 61 air cleaner and make room for the spark plug in the 61 top cover. For some reason couldn't bolt down a 268XP or 272XP top cover. All in all, too much effort, and woln't do that conversion again. Better off buying a 268XP or 272XP right to start with, and completely/correctly rebuilding it....IMHO.....Cliff
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