Husky 261 to 262XP Muffler questions

[mlavalley]

I acquired a tired Husky 261 from a friend that is in decent shape. The piston was pretty scored I was able to save the cylinder. I ordered a 262XP piston and 3 shoe clutch for it. The muffler on the 261 is very restrictive according to threads I read here and should be replaced or modified if converting the old 261 to the 262 top end. I can get an oem muffler for something like $60 but it has a note that it is a newer version with spark arrestor. Might not be a big deal? Am I better off going this route or simply opening my stock muffler up a bit which all things considered is in decent shape? Anybody have some pictures of their 261 muffler modified. i will probably clean the ports up some but it doesn't look like there is much room for improvement with these little buggers.

 

[nmurph]

here is what i did to a recent 261/262 conversion. i made this open under the front plate. i'm sorry, but i do not have a pic of what i did to the cover. what i did was to made a three-sided cut that is about 1/2" on each side. i then pried it up and bent it to for a deflector so the screen underneath is more protected. i can take some pics this evening if it helps. i also opened the existing exhaust opening as much as i could. i will probably open the front opening some more, but i wanted to see how it ran bf i did. i have a couple of stock 262's and this muffler is much more open they either of them.

i did not replace the clutch. i will run this one until it fails and then swap it out.

i used a aluminum can to lower the squish to .020-.021". it is blowing about 165psi without any run time. i may go back in and open the ports, though i don't think there is a lot of metal that can be removed. i will be running it friday!!!!!

i am also attaching a picture of both the 261 and 262 pistons so that everyone can see the differences.

 

[mlavalley]

Thanks, just what I was looking for. I'll post some pictures when I dig into it. I recently ran a stock 262 and it was a screamer.

 

[nmurph]

here is what i did with the front cover. it doesn't look substantial, but it is a big increase over the stock opening.

one thing i did not mention was that i took a drill bit to the baffle inside of the exhaust opening. i think it had three small openings and one larger for the exhaust to escape through. i opened them up so that there is very little to impeded the exhaust escaping through the stock opening. then i opened the front cover. i hope that bw drilling the cage and enlarging this opening, i see some good gains. after i run it some i may redo the front opening with a 288 deflector mod.

for those that are curious, the muffler box has a normal opening on the top, right rear. it also has a small circular opening on the front with a spark arrestor. then there is a front plate that bolts to the muffler box and to the crankcase. this cover has a very small gill slit opening. i am really anxious to get it in some wood tomorrow and compare it to a stock 262.

 

[mlavalley]

Really good stuff man, thank you very much.

Mike

 

[mlavalley]

Well finally got some parts in today and started putting the saw back together.

As you can see the original piston was pretty shot....

Cylinder cleaned up nicely with Muriatic Acid though.

I ended up using a Meteor piston for the 262 because it was less than half the price of OEM. I have always had good luck with the Meteor pistons and have heard the same from others. The casting was great on it for an aftermarket, looked nearly identical the the original Mahle...except for that flat top. I did a quick squish test on it without a gasket and it was a bit tight. the base gasket was like .025" so I ended up cutting up some cola cans. Final squish was about .019".

I opened my muffler up a little more than you did. I recently feasted my eyes on a stock 262 muffler and even this much cutting is conservative.

I went with a similar method on the muffler cover.

 

[mlavalley]

Turns out the saw had the wrong carb on it when I acquired it....was a HDA-35b. Might have worked? it's the same unit on my 254xp so I figured it might be small. I picked this NOS unit up from ebay for a decent price.

It's getting there....

For haha's I did a cold compression test before it has run....granted it has oil on the rings but wowza.

And back together. I added a 262XP sticker to my Bailey's order. Ran a tank of fuel through it today and it runs well. Warm compression was about 160lbs. I am sure it has some breaking in to do but I am happy. I left the clutch alone..for now..as I have few stock 261 spares. I opted for a new bar and a couple chains instead.

 

[mlavalley]

Once it breaks in some I may port it a bit. I took some measurements while I was in there and there really is little room for improvement. There is plenty of room on the piston skirt to open the ports up but I think I will quickly run into the bolts that hold exhaust or carb on. There might be a couple mm between t e two sides. I could also try something funky around the bolts? Honestly it's already a runner so i don't know if the gains will be that substantial. I do have a jug off a part saw that was not quite as nice as this one... I could practice on it and see if it wakes her up any.

 

[oldsaw]

There isn't much restriction in a 262 muffler. I need to revisit my 261 convert and open it up some more. Used an original 262, and dang, that baby is loud. Mine's still too tame, but way better than the original.

 

[mlavalley]

I think mine is still fairly quiet but runs ok. There again I guess I'm comparing it to my 372 with a dual port. I don't think it will ever be that loud. I would try a 262 muffler if I could find one on the cheap. I guess I could open it up some more? I have another 261 that I bought that someone else converted. Muffler isn't opened up as much as this one and the power difference thus far is noticeable. Both have really good compression.

 

[oldsaw]

I think mine is still fairly quiet but runs ok. There again I guess I'm comparing it to my 372 with a dual port. I don't think it will ever be that loud. I would try a 262 muffler if I could find one on the cheap. I guess I could open it up some more? I have another 261 that I bought that someone else converted. Muffler isn't opened up as much as this one and the power difference thus far is noticeable. Both have really good compression.

My 066 is pretty uncivilized. The flat topped piston, MM, de-limiterized 261 conversion is pretty tame. Even quieter than the ported 350. Still a great saw. The bad thing is I haven't had time to cut much, and that ported 350 is such a blast to run, I seem to pick it up first, a seat once held by the Super XL, which is just soooo "right" in soooo many ways, and starts in 3 pulls even if it's been sitting for months.

 

[J.Walker]

Here's a shot of my 262 muffler. I have been told this is a 261 muffler and deflector. The extra port under the deflector is only about a 3/4" round hole.

.

 

[nmurph]

yes, that is a 261 front plate.

 

[J.Walker]

I've been told that the deflector is Husky part # 503 07 8301.
I bought this saw off CL and the mod was allready done to the muffler.

.

 

[Jacob J.]

Yeah I wouldn't get too crazy trying to port a 262. It's sort of like the Dolmar 7900- the stock port timing is pretty good and it's real easy to make it run worse than stock with a little bit of grinding.

 

[mlavalley]

Yeah, I think if I did anything I would widen the ports. There really isn't that much room for improvement though. Probably easier to make a slight popup piston and run no gasket. I think I could lighten the piston substantially as well. They were runners out of the box...I guess we know why.

 

[thunder saw]

262

ive been wanting to do a muffler mod on my 262 and was wondering what would be the easyst thing that i could do? i have three mufflers kicking around and one of them has a deflector that i can unscrew. so getting the stock hole size enlarged should be easy. any suggestions would be really appreciated.

 

[thunder saw]

262

was wondering if it would be better to enlarge the stock muffler hole or is there more to gain by having two?

 

[OBDMoose]

Turns out the saw had the wrong carb on it when I acquired it....was a HDA-35b. Might have worked? it's the same unit on my 254xp so I figured it might be small. I picked this NOS unit up from ebay for a decent price.

It's getting there....

For haha's I did a cold compression test before it has run....granted it has oil on the rings but wowza.

And back together. I added a 262XP sticker to my Bailey's order. Ran a tank of fuel through it today and it runs well. Warm compression was about 160lbs. I am sure it has some breaking in to do but I am happy. I left the clutch alone..for now..as I have few stock 261 spares. I opted for a new bar and a couple chains instead.

Can i ask what kind of compressiontester you are using in that picture? It looks exactly like my automotive comp tester ive had for almost 15 years. I was told by someone on this site that an auto tester would not work even with the right fitting on it. Your picture confuses me. Any help is appreciated as i am sitting on a 261 waiting to apply the 262xp sticker on it.

 

[nmurph]

Because of the small displacement of a chainsaw, it is necessary to have a valve at the foot of the tester and a check valve at the gauge or you are adding additional displacement to the combustion chamber that can't be overcome.