MS170/180 Muffler Mod?

[JivaGo]

I have a nice MS170 that I'd like to open up a little. I ordered a $17 adjustable carb from eBay (US, didn't want to wait for China), and I'd like to open the muffler.

I can pull off the little plate on the muffler and decide how much to drill out the holes, but does anyone have any advice or pics on what I might do with the louvers on that little cover? I can hack something, but if someone has a good idea for something that's effective for performance and looks good too, that would be better. I may want to sell this saw. I did forum and other searches and couldn't find details.

It's sparkly clean externally, indistinguishable from a barely used one month old saw. Through the exhaust port and spark hole, it looks pretty close to perfect. I did a quick cleanup of the carb and other areas, plus a new NGK plug and it runs beautifully.

Only paid $30 including a Stihl case, from an unfortunate homeowner mislead about the saw by a Stihl dealer. I took his saw without commentary and didn't have the heart to ask if he got sucked into buying another saw. Of course when I bought it, I had no idea of the condition of the piston/cylinder. But I kind of figured that it would turn out to be nearly perfect, and it was.

 

[JivaGo]

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[RedFir Down]

Sounds like you got a deal on that saw!
Here is a 210 muffler, same kind of louvers your working with.
I slit both top and bottom a good 1/8" and pulled the louvers out for less restriction.
This was the first one I did so not the easiest on your eyes.

 

[rullywowr]

I did the same with a 170. Opened it up and got an eBay adjustable carb. Got some good gains from it. Wouldn't felt right doing a mm without an adjustable carb. Gave the saw to a friend and it is a runner for a lightweight 14" bar.

 

[regulate34]

My ms170 always ran rich from new. I drilled the holes out to 5/16 and bent the leuvers out a bit. I did not go with a adjustable carb. I kept opening up slightly and re-testing slowly to get it where it needed to be.