In light of the fierce winter to hit the Mid Atlantic in 2013/14 with the snow and Ice Storms I was in need of chainsaw. For my first saw I decided to stick to my mantra of do it right the first time and never look back. I found myself at the fork in the road as to rebuilding a quality saw or purchasing a quality saw. In the end the sense of pride and the challenge of tinkering with a small engine super-ceded the quick swipe of the plastic at my local Husky Dealer. For those interested, I was eyeballing the triple nickel like a obese kid in a Dunking Donuts at the local Husky Dealer. However with all the write ups on a ported 359 and its potential I went the modding route.
To rewind.... I spent 3 months reading up and squirreling info from all the vets here on the site for a good GP Saw to handle anything light of daily heavy commercial usage. I was searching for a deal on a saw in the 60cc bracket. With a little bit of luck and some dedicated sharking on ebay I was able to score a excellent condition 359 etech with a power-box on a buy it now price late on a Friday night. After arrival and upon tear down it was evident the previous owner probably straight gassed it on their 1st week/month of ownership.
Exhaust Port Side of the Piston showing failure.
Probably could have got away with a new meteor piston & ring, along with a little elbow grease on the jug with a scotch brite pad and some kerosene. After reading srcarr52 thread on the replacement Hyway kit I thought I would give it a try. Emailed Randy Watson for his help and opinion and in less than a week had a hyway replacement kit and cabers ring on my doorstep.
While I was waiting on the hyway kit, I sent treemonkey the OE walbro carb for his rebuild. Placed an order with Baileys for the replacement intake shroud and metal clamp to replace the plastic intake band which is the known achiles heel with this model saw along with a new air cleaner.
Looking at the inners of the E Tech muffler after removal, t's a miracle that this saw could even run. From the info I garnished the 359 model really seemed to benefit from a MM. I ordered a Chinese Tube Style muffler for surgery off Ebay for $28 and it came with a fuel filter, replacement plug and few other minor parts. Upon arrival I immediately took the 3/8 drill and RTX to it.
Back side shot prior to cutting the lip and opening it up to match the expanded exhaust port on the jug along with the heat shield and gasket. Now there is no lip for the gases to hit exiting the engine. 
Next I took the 3/8 drill and a 1/2" Metal Bit to the partition wall in the center of the muffler. If you have not drilled a muffler partition wall, it's surprisingly thick stuff. Forgot to get a photo but after drilling four 1/2" holes in the partition wall I cleaned up the holes with a RTX burr and dremel grinding stones removing any potential IED's hanging by a thread to implode my saw down the road. Then I got to thinking why not just connect all four holes. With a little more help from the RTX and burrs and dremel stones I created 2 large openings the size of cylinder exhaust port on the partion wall along with the factory 1/2" hole in the lower right of the partition wall which was difficult to reach with the RTX. I left that hole alone. Needless to say getting the gases through the partition wall should not be a hindrance. As long I have a exit hole on the muffler it should flow pretty good.
I opened her up enough to fit a piece of 1" EMT I had laying around. RTX tool used with the grinding stones and cutting disc to remove the original 5/16 inside diameter exhaust tube.
Next up brazed on the EMT pipe die cut with an angle cut for looks using a O/A torch. Brazing rods were Benzomatic NS3 nickel silver flux coated rods. Working temp is around 1700 degrees. MAPP or Propane will not get it hot enough FYI. If you are trying to replicate this mod for you muffler you need to get that muffler and piping cherry red and hot to get the rod to flow. Once it flows it flows clean and binds very well. Working strength is very high. See Benzomatic's site for specs.
Finished product after hitting it with some High Temp Deck Grill Paint.
All I need now is the Carb back from Treemonkey and she will be back in the reassembly department. While waiting I took my RTX and burr grinders to the Hyway Jug by expanding horizontally the exits and intake ports. Unfortunately I lost the pictures I took on my iPhone of the port job. With the exception of the one listed below. To start I blueprinted the cylinder wall with a sharpie and plastic ruler marking how wide I would expand the ports with my RTX Burrs and Stones. FYI, Carbide Cutting Burrs cut quick and fast. They also leave a rough finish. Be careful and keep your rotary tool at a mild speed if your a first timer porter like myself. After expanding to the desired width, I cleaned up the ports with the dremel stones to a rough looking but smooth to the finger feel finish. My dremel tool kit which I purchased off Amazon included 4 multi dimensional grinding stones, and I did use all of them for smoothing out the finish left by the carbide burrs. Carbide Burr Set was also purchased off Amazon separately. If I had to guess I would say that I opened up the Hyway ports horizontally by 5/16" on each side of the port. One note I caught when comparing the Hyway Cylinder to the OE Cylinder was that the Hyway cylinder did appear to be wider. I did not have a set of calipers but from an eyeball measure it did have that appearance. Again, I opened up the horizontal ports on the Hyway kit by 1/4" on each side and put a mild taper going into the intake and exhaust ports. I did remove a good bit of material on the shoulder out to the I/E ports creating that cone shape chamber in the I/E ports. Next I opened up the heat deflector and gasket to the size of the exhaust ports also making sure it matched the muffler opening leaving no lip or snag for exhaust gases to deflect on. I did the same on the intake side with the rubber intake boot, not much grinding just created a smooth transition from the intake boot to the port.
I left the TP alone for the most part due to the fact I did not have a tool to reach the TP on the cylinder wall. With the exception of removing the square block separating the 2 ports at the base of the Jug they were left untouched. Now I know this will get mixed reviews. With my redneck engineering degree, I tested the concept with Water from a utility sink to simulate gas vapors and flow from the crankcase through to TP. By wedge shaping the middle partition on the transfer ports more water moved through the TP with less resistance than the flat angle. Next up, cleaned out the jug with my air tool, did a water flush, let it air dry, then baked the Jug in my oven like scarr52 did for a heat cycle. Just waiting on the Carb from Treemonkey. Next day carb arrived back in the mail and the saw began the reassembly process. Pretty straight forward on the reassembly. I did use Blue LocTite on the cylinder bolts, exhaust bolts, Felling Spike Bolts, and top handle bolts. I was going to replace the fuel line and fuel filter another known week point but they inspected well and I decided do this at a later date when needed or at failure. For now the parts will sit in the parts box.
Tossed on a beater bar and Stihl RS chain until the new bar and chain set arrive.
Went and did some test cuts cleaning up some fallen oak in the 10-20" range. She ripped through some oak. Muffler is so loud it could be heard across the Mason Dixon waking the dead Yanks. Buddy I was cutting with could not get over the RPM's in the cut. After test cutting I did a quick torque check on all the bolts ensuring snugness. Could not be happier with my first saw. Would like to thank Rwatson & Treemonley for their assistance in the build.
To rewind.... I spent 3 months reading up and squirreling info from all the vets here on the site for a good GP Saw to handle anything light of daily heavy commercial usage. I was searching for a deal on a saw in the 60cc bracket. With a little bit of luck and some dedicated sharking on ebay I was able to score a excellent condition 359 etech with a power-box on a buy it now price late on a Friday night. After arrival and upon tear down it was evident the previous owner probably straight gassed it on their 1st week/month of ownership.
Exhaust Port Side of the Piston showing failure. Probably could have got away with a new meteor piston & ring, along with a little elbow grease on the jug with a scotch brite pad and some kerosene. After reading srcarr52 thread on the replacement Hyway kit I thought I would give it a try. Emailed Randy Watson for his help and opinion and in less than a week had a hyway replacement kit and cabers ring on my doorstep.
While I was waiting on the hyway kit, I sent treemonkey the OE walbro carb for his rebuild. Placed an order with Baileys for the replacement intake shroud and metal clamp to replace the plastic intake band which is the known achiles heel with this model saw along with a new air cleaner.
Looking at the inners of the E Tech muffler after removal, t's a miracle that this saw could even run. From the info I garnished the 359 model really seemed to benefit from a MM. I ordered a Chinese Tube Style muffler for surgery off Ebay for $28 and it came with a fuel filter, replacement plug and few other minor parts. Upon arrival I immediately took the 3/8 drill and RTX to it.
Back side shot prior to cutting the lip and opening it up to match the expanded exhaust port on the jug along with the heat shield and gasket. Now there is no lip for the gases to hit exiting the engine. Next I took the 3/8 drill and a 1/2" Metal Bit to the partition wall in the center of the muffler. If you have not drilled a muffler partition wall, it's surprisingly thick stuff. Forgot to get a photo but after drilling four 1/2" holes in the partition wall I cleaned up the holes with a RTX burr and dremel grinding stones removing any potential IED's hanging by a thread to implode my saw down the road. Then I got to thinking why not just connect all four holes. With a little more help from the RTX and burrs and dremel stones I created 2 large openings the size of cylinder exhaust port on the partion wall along with the factory 1/2" hole in the lower right of the partition wall which was difficult to reach with the RTX. I left that hole alone. Needless to say getting the gases through the partition wall should not be a hindrance. As long I have a exit hole on the muffler it should flow pretty good.
I opened her up enough to fit a piece of 1" EMT I had laying around. RTX tool used with the grinding stones and cutting disc to remove the original 5/16 inside diameter exhaust tube.
Next up brazed on the EMT pipe die cut with an angle cut for looks using a O/A torch. Brazing rods were Benzomatic NS3 nickel silver flux coated rods. Working temp is around 1700 degrees. MAPP or Propane will not get it hot enough FYI. If you are trying to replicate this mod for you muffler you need to get that muffler and piping cherry red and hot to get the rod to flow. Once it flows it flows clean and binds very well. Working strength is very high. See Benzomatic's site for specs.
Finished product after hitting it with some High Temp Deck Grill Paint.
All I need now is the Carb back from Treemonkey and she will be back in the reassembly department. While waiting I took my RTX and burr grinders to the Hyway Jug by expanding horizontally the exits and intake ports. Unfortunately I lost the pictures I took on my iPhone of the port job. With the exception of the one listed below. To start I blueprinted the cylinder wall with a sharpie and plastic ruler marking how wide I would expand the ports with my RTX Burrs and Stones. FYI, Carbide Cutting Burrs cut quick and fast. They also leave a rough finish. Be careful and keep your rotary tool at a mild speed if your a first timer porter like myself. After expanding to the desired width, I cleaned up the ports with the dremel stones to a rough looking but smooth to the finger feel finish. My dremel tool kit which I purchased off Amazon included 4 multi dimensional grinding stones, and I did use all of them for smoothing out the finish left by the carbide burrs. Carbide Burr Set was also purchased off Amazon separately. If I had to guess I would say that I opened up the Hyway ports horizontally by 5/16" on each side of the port. One note I caught when comparing the Hyway Cylinder to the OE Cylinder was that the Hyway cylinder did appear to be wider. I did not have a set of calipers but from an eyeball measure it did have that appearance. Again, I opened up the horizontal ports on the Hyway kit by 1/4" on each side and put a mild taper going into the intake and exhaust ports. I did remove a good bit of material on the shoulder out to the I/E ports creating that cone shape chamber in the I/E ports. Next I opened up the heat deflector and gasket to the size of the exhaust ports also making sure it matched the muffler opening leaving no lip or snag for exhaust gases to deflect on. I did the same on the intake side with the rubber intake boot, not much grinding just created a smooth transition from the intake boot to the port.
I left the TP alone for the most part due to the fact I did not have a tool to reach the TP on the cylinder wall. With the exception of removing the square block separating the 2 ports at the base of the Jug they were left untouched. Now I know this will get mixed reviews. With my redneck engineering degree, I tested the concept with Water from a utility sink to simulate gas vapors and flow from the crankcase through to TP. By wedge shaping the middle partition on the transfer ports more water moved through the TP with less resistance than the flat angle. Next up, cleaned out the jug with my air tool, did a water flush, let it air dry, then baked the Jug in my oven like scarr52 did for a heat cycle. Just waiting on the Carb from Treemonkey. Next day carb arrived back in the mail and the saw began the reassembly process. Pretty straight forward on the reassembly. I did use Blue LocTite on the cylinder bolts, exhaust bolts, Felling Spike Bolts, and top handle bolts. I was going to replace the fuel line and fuel filter another known week point but they inspected well and I decided do this at a later date when needed or at failure. For now the parts will sit in the parts box.
Tossed on a beater bar and Stihl RS chain until the new bar and chain set arrive.
Went and did some test cuts cleaning up some fallen oak in the 10-20" range. She ripped through some oak. Muffler is so loud it could be heard across the Mason Dixon waking the dead Yanks. Buddy I was cutting with could not get over the RPM's in the cut. After test cutting I did a quick torque check on all the bolts ensuring snugness. Could not be happier with my first saw. Would like to thank Rwatson & Treemonley for their assistance in the build.
