husqvarna 55 souped up

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cody bi

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what would be the best thing to do to my husqvarna 55 to make it more powerful, like performance modification wise and it still be a reliable work saw? Also where and who would be the best place to get it upgraded and about how much does it run?
 
what would be the best thing to do to my husqvarna 55 to make it more powerful, like performance modification wise and it still be a reliable work saw? Also where and who would be the best place to get it upgraded and about how much does it run?
The cheapest thing to do to get a noticeable power increase is to do a muffler mod, then retune the carb.
 
How would i got about doing that? Next question would be what could i do to make the most power like shaving the head down or porting and polishing?
I'm not very familiar with the husky 55, but the easiest way to perform a muffler mod is to take out anything that's restricting exhaust flow, such as spark arrestor and baffle. Open up the exhaust ports on the muffler with something like a Dremel tool. Some people get fancy with it and add another exhaust port into the muffler...

Shaving the head will definitely give it more power... so will a base gasket delete.

Porting/polishing will also give it more power, there are good people on this site that will prolly help you.
 
Another thing I forgot to mention is a timing advance. File on the crankshaft key or flywheel slot, then turn the FW as fast as it'll go clockwise (with a piston stop installed of course), and retighten the nut while holding the FW in the advanced position.
 
get a closed port Jonsered 490/590 piston and cylinder for it or a ~1999-2002 "55" closed port cylinder. They were on some of the 55's during that time frame. They are the same as the Jonsered 490/590. The 55's that had the closed port setup had +++++ on the clutch side of the cylinder from what I remember. it was casted into the side of the cylinder.

you can get ~ factory performance of a stock 372xp if ported correctly. seriously. only other ~50cc saw that will smoke it is a ported Dolmar 115.
 
Frawley's Saw Shop

E0838 County Road UU

De Soto WI 54624

Is selling a cylinder on ebay right now. And or call this guy. He might 978 249 9275. He is selling a piston right now.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
Will doing these high performance modifications make the saws life span less. Like will the saw still be as dependable and be able to hold up to the extra power thrown on the crank and other parts? Thanks for the info though
 
a proper port job / proper tuning / proper fuel / proper oil enhances the life and reliability of the saw. there are hundreds of day to day tree cutters around here that rely on ported saws for their livelihood.. saw does not run = no money to feed family. catastrophic failure = buy a new saw and cant feed family until you buy one.
 
No one can say how long a saw will last, it's all mechanical parts that will fail at some point. New oem saws can be unreliable. Ported saws can be reliable, it is more about how you abuse them. Keep them clean, sharp chains, good fuel mix, service them and all should cut a lot of wood. Just a thought.
 
Coming from a history of motorcycle racing, there's "souped up" and then there's "souped up". The first, you can make an engine fast and make it last awhile too. The second, your engine's lifespan is measured in minutes. 60 to 120 minutes, it'll be a beast. At those levels you're taking the materials to the absolute edge of failure.

This is Charlie McDonald, he and Mike Velasco (foreground) were mechanics for Freddy Spencer when he raced early on.

charlie.jpg


Charlie and I were pretty close and talked a lot about design and theory. He'd bring a dozen engines to Daytona, each tuned a little different for conditions. So I was lucky enough to get one of the 1100F models they released, and he and I and Kaz Yoshima made it into a monster. We weren't at the materials' limits, but we were close. Charlie figured it would last 10,000 miles and there wouldn't be much left at the end. That was a step down from Daytona where his engines only had to last 200 miles.

We raced the Isle of Man TT in 2016 on a Triumph triple, and beat John Mcguinness in the Supersport. Those were hot engines and we raffled the bikes off at the end. I'm thinking the winners were lucky, but they didn't have a lot left to work with. :)

471a0241ef1f9b7efe1cb8909294c319.jpg
 
check this out.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...x6.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGyLkVEfJA0MAM9S7AqpfYwqCVU0g

More oil in the fuel = more power.. looks pretty straight forward and a pretty fair test.

20:1 = 26.9bhp (first test)

30:1 = 23.6bhp (and ruined piston and motor was much dirtier internally than @ 20:1)

15:1 = 26.6bhp (ran after ruined piston from the 30:1 test)

15:1 = 27.3bhp (after running ruined piston for 1 hour it improved)
 
check this out.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjigPSy0L7WAhWKslQKHWESB9QQFggoMAA&url=http://www.bridgestonemotorcycle.com/documents/oilpremix6.pdf&usg=AFQjCNGyLkVEfJA0MAM9S7AqpfYwqCVU0g

More oil in the fuel = more power.. looks pretty straight forward and a pretty fair test.

20:1 = 26.9bhp (first test)

30:1 = 23.6bhp (and ruined piston and motor was much dirtier internally than @ 20:1)

15:1 = 26.6bhp (ran after ruined piston from the 30:1 test)

15:1 = 27.3bhp (after running ruined piston for 1 hour it improved)

Thats pretty good info there never knew that! Ive always made sure i have mixed my oil 40:1 using synthetic but i guess i should start using and adding more oil to my gas. I wonder if the oil technology has improved so much since then is to why all the manufactures require 50:1 mix or they are just trying just trying to screw us so our saws will tear up and we have to buy new ones haha? So doing those upgrades i should be completly fine and my saw be fine as long as its done right?
 
They like you blowing up your saw and buying new or buying parts. Oil is not expensive. Mum bearings are. Topends are, you name it. Oil is a good thing.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
Also who would be the best guy any of yall know to send my saw to that would do a really good job. I am from south carolina by the way about 15 minutes from Augusta, Georgia
 
Thats pretty good info there never knew that! Ive always made sure i have mixed my oil 40:1 using synthetic but i guess i should start using and adding more oil to my gas. I wonder if the oil technology has improved so much since then is to why all the manufactures require 50:1 mix or they are just trying just trying to screw us so our saws will tear up and we have to buy new ones haha? So doing those upgrades i should be completly fine and my saw be fine as long as its done right?
I would not suggest running any of the new saws on newly formulated oil at a 15:1, or even 20:1. I know some run at 32:1, but you better be watching what oil your using. Personally in a stock newer saw that was not ported I would not run anything more than 40:1(some may disagree).
On that 55 husky I would run a 91 or 93 and 40:1, tune it and be done as far as the oil and fuel go.
As @Nanuq said, you have to figure out how fast you want to make it, there are always trade offs. Thanks Nanuq for posting that great old school picture as well as mentioning the coolest bike race there is(Just watched about 20 IOM videos tonight lol).
Just opening up the muffler will cause the saw to be louder, is that something your willing to deal with.
Porting will make it faster, but that cost some bucks, how much are you wanting to spend.
Personally I'd sell the 55(unless there it was a gift or family members), and then buy a ported saw. Another option is to go for the 2 saw plan, if you don't already have a few(you will soon if you hang out here much :)), but what fun would having only two saws be :innocent:.

As far as switching to a closed port cylinder I think the gains will be minimal at best, last I knew you could not buy an oe replacement piston for them either. If you are going to advance the timing you should know how far you are advancing it in degrees. Do you know how to check the squish on a saw, it's a good idea when removing the base gaskets/cutting the base.
Before doing any changes you should document some test cuts so that after you make changes you have a baseline to compare the modded saw to. A saw with a muffler mod may sound faster, but how will you know if it really is.
Have fun:chainsaw:.
 
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