Help with rebuild & Upgrades for a Husky 359

[BING38RT]

I got a hold of another Husqvarna 359 e-tech saw with the Walboro carb on it.
I'm looking for opinions & options as what to do to increase the power or open it up.

The 2 OEM heads I have for them are shot, I did try to clean them up but too much plating damage.

I have 2 different heads( 1 Hyway & 1 Dukes ) for it neither of which seems easy to port the upper transfers and with my limited knowledge of porting I'm afraid to do anything to aggressive and yes I have a Dremel & a Timing wheel. Here's the kicker, I understand the basics of porting and how to use a degree wheel but I've never done so.

With that being said I think my best option is a base gasket delete, a pop up piston from LRB with some Caber Rings and a Wide open single port muffler and some carb retuning.

Or I could buy A Meteor Head Kit and do a base delete with their flat top piston. I'm also going to run new gas and oil lines, new filters, a new bar plate, and possibly replace the crank seals if there leaking.

What would you do if this was your saw??

 

[GusGus2020]

I'd suggest the same things you've got in the post - BGD, open muffler - but also widen the cylinder exhaust port and open that up a bit. I'd also use the dremel to better match the lower transfers to the case and narrow the divider for a smoother transition. I like Meteor over LRB, but I've also run LRB pistons in some of my saws with no issue for a couple of years now. Make sure you vent the metering side of the carb if you haven't already, too.

 

[BING38RT]

I'd suggest the same things you've got in the post - BGD, open muffler - but also widen the cylinder exhaust port and open that up a bit. I'd also use the dremel to better match the lower transfers to the case and narrow the divider for a smoother transition. I like Meteor over LRB, but I've also run LRB pistons in some of my saws with no issue for a couple of years now. Make sure you vent the metering side of the carb if you haven't already, too.

Alright so I'm on the right track then. Once I get my degree wheel set-up then I'm going to dive into that. But for now I just want a running saw. I've tried 2 different configurations, bought all new parts and she still dies right away.

I cleaned up the OEM head but it won't hold for long and the Hyway aftermarket has closed ports so it's not the best for my skill level to mess with. But with that new Hyway Head, a LRB pop up, new Caber ring and new Dukes version of a Zama C3-EL42, it should've got that it to run.

I'm almost positive it's an air leak, but I won't know until I get my leak down tester this week.