Hoffco Super 90 w/pics

[buzz sawyer]

Earlier I posted that I came into a Hoffco Super Bee with the 82006 West Bend engine - 134cc.

Spent the last two weeks tearing it down for evaluation and clean up. I didn 't find much wear but it wasnt' pretty.
I found several small depressions in the top of the piston and cyl head. Looked to me like a rod needle bearing had been dancing around in there. Then I found how it got there - through the center intake port. Made a nice V in the top piston land as well and you can see it cracked the ring. This thing still had 120psi compression.

I tore it down the rest of the way and sure enough, about 5 needles were missing. Someone had been into this at some point, removed the rod cap, dropped the needles and gave up, then put it all back together. The crank and rod looked fine. Crank bearings are smooth and tight. No sign of any other needles. I'm guessing someone got hold of it and got it running, then ran it until it sucked up the needles. More support for tearing down an newly acquired but unfamiliar saw before you try to start it.

So I thought, what's the worst that could happen if I tried to run it - damage the P&C more? I decided to clean it up, new rings, rod bearings, and seals. More pics in the next post.

Looks like I have to figure out how to post photos again too.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Next set of photos.

Bar and chain look really good, will just clean up and dress the bar rails.

Engine painted and back together. Had to work to get the rings down in the cyl as I don't have a ring compressor that fit well on the 2 1/2" dia. piston. I'll start on the tank and starter this week.

 

[Roanoker494]

Vintage big saw rep

Your pics

 

[Roanoker494]

The rest of your pics

 

[leeha]

Sweet saw, I would rep ya if i could.
Nice resto. can't wait to see it done.





Lee

 

[Mr. Bow Saw]

Your doing a nice job on restoring the saw Buzz.
Looking good so far:msp_thumbsup:.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Got it all back together tonight but too late to try starting it.

I had to remake the Hoffco decal on the front and the two triangular trim pieces on the side. The original side trims were raised.
I couldn't find that material so I just made an Excel file with cells the same size as the raised lines on the trim and printed it on silver decal paper. Then used the original as a guide and cut new ones. I'm happy with it. The muffler cover was definitely not stock. I had no idea what one should look like so I created one out of steel plate. Also couldn't find the original blue so I just used what I had. The chome was flaking badly on the handle so I removed all of it, sanded and painted with epoxy appliance paint in stainless finish. Except for the condition from exposure to the elements and the engine damage, it didn't look like this had been run a lot. The chain is almost new and the bar took just slight dressing. The sprocket teeth are barely worn. The sandcast finish was rough enough that I wasn't too worried about a super smooth paint job. Hope to start it this weekend.

 

[Jacob J.]

Very, very nice restoration on a classic big saw. Great work!

 

[CM76]

A great thread, and a very nice restoration job. Congrats on a fine looking, big bore, vintage machine.

Well done.

Chris.

 

[leeha]

You did an awsome job. Looks great.
Nice to see another rare vintage saw
back to life.




Lee

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

Beautiful work Dave! Is that 3-25 in line yet? I'm looking forward to seeing that.

 

[sachsmo]

West Bend powered Super Bee! Any true mopar man needs one.

 

[tifnbrian]

nice looking saw you got there!

 

[Bill G]

That is one fantastic job. I collect the 820 powered saws and the Hoffco is one that is still eluding me. Hat's off to you for locating one and then going the extra mile to make it SWEET. That is one gosh darn fine job

Bill

 

[buzz sawyer]

Many thanks for all the kind words. I almost didn't buy the saw but I felt bad for the guy. Actually gave him more than he wanted and I didn't know what it was at the time, just that it weighed a ton!. I guess what they say about giving is true.

Pastryguy, that 3-25 is next in line. Been studying it - looks like a whole different animal than I'm used to, but very cool design and will add nice variety to my collection.

I'll soon be posting a couple Wright saws I finally finished - A C70 geardrive and a C50 that needed total resto (see my avatar). Just got the Wright logo painted on the bars last night.

 

[gink595]

Very Nice!

 

[Warped5]

Very, very nice restoration!

Lots of skill envy in this corner ..... and big saw rep! :msp_thumbup:

 

[buzz sawyer]

Flooding?

Well, tried to start the saw today, popped after about 5 pulls, then flooded. I pulled the carb (Tilly HL) and checked it over, found the rubber seat had come out of the bottom of the brass inlet. Installed a new seat, rechecked the inlet control lever and tried again but with no fuel in the tank. A few pulls cleared out the fuel and it ran briefly. I put fuel back in the tank and tried again - same thing - flooded almost immediately. I've built a few HLs before with no problems. This carb sits so the air flow is straight down, so the inlet needle is laying sideways. That shouldn't make any difference. I have the gasket installed between the diaphragm and the body.


Any ideas?

 

[apse]

Buzz,

Exceptional work on that old beauty! Just caught your thread...We have a very real appreciation for the amount of labor required to do the top quality restoration you have done here!

VERY NICE JOB!

Brian and Tina

 

[apse]

Buzz,

A couple of things you can check:

Fuel inlet lever heigth
Needle wear both on the seat and side to side in the orifice
Plugged fuel tank vent
Restricted exhaust flow

Hope something helps with that Ol' beauty!

Brian and Tina