In over my head...Remington Pro 88 UPDATE w/ video

[Honest John]

Bought this a few weeks ago and best I could get was a mild pop. PO told me it hasn't been ran in ten years so I'm thinking it probably need some carb help. Spark is very weak, I pulled the flywheel and cleaned everything but I'm not sure how to adjust the gap.

I don't have a ton of experience with these older saws, and there's not a ton of parts for these out there so I want to tread carefully.

Any tips or words of wisdom on how to get a little more spark out of this guy ?

John

 

[Chainsaw Jim]

pull the muffler and check the piston. If it is clean and the rings are free then check compression. If that checks ok then move on to check the bearings and seals. If you have no way to check vacuum then you'll have to gamble on rebuilding the carb to find out. Any complete HL carb kit should work for it except for the gravity fed HL carb kit...it lacks the pump diaphragm.

 

[Honest John]

Rings are not stuck and piston looks good. Compression is around 130 which is pretty good for my elevation. spark is really weak.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Unclip the metal wire holding the aluminum cover down over the points box. Clean the points contacts really well, they need to be really shiny metal colored and then set them at .020. That should give you bright blue spark if the condenser and coil are still good.

 

[Honest John]

Yyyyuuuusssss ! Video to follow...

 

[Honest John]

 

[Honest John]

Far from healthy....but not that far away from cutting wood. While I had the recoil off I gave it a coat of ivory paint. I'll eventually repaint the entire thing. I believe there are even replacement decals out there somewhere.

 

[tickhound93]

Unclip the metal wire holding the aluminum cover down over the points box. Clean the points contacts really well, they need to be really shiny metal colored and then set them at .020. That should give you bright blue spark if the condenser and coil are still good.

Is .020 the best gap? i have very little experience with points in saws, but i have done thousands of points on bikes and i like .012, .020 seems to burn the contacts. can very likely be different with saws, Just asking so both the OP and i know a good starting figure with points on saws.

 

[buzz sawyer]

The little tab on the points cover is used to set the gap - see photo. Clean the points with a file. I haven't seen a dedicated point file in some years but I use a raker file. Also make sure the timing is correct. Does the bar oil check valve stop the flow OK? Mine doesn't - been looking for a replacement.

 

[Honest John]

The little tab on the points cover is used to set the gap - see photo. Clean the points with a file. I haven't seen a dedicated point file in some years but I use a raker file. Also make sure the timing is correct. Does the bar oil check valve stop the flow OK? Mine doesn't - been looking for a replacement.

Good tip on the points cover tab. I cleaned the points with some sandpaper and it seems good. Bar oil leaks everywhere from this thing, so that's probably exactly what's going on. I didn't adjust timing at all.
Carb kit is on order, so once that's done, I'm hoping for a good running saw.

Yours looks awesome BTW, did you get replacement decals ? Looks like Chainsawr has some in stock for this.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Point gap directly affects timing. Wide gap advances timing, narrow gap retards timing. Gotta be careful with sandpaper, it can leave small grooves that burn quickly and the resin binder can cause resistance. Ditto on the bar oil leaking. Will send a PM.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Is .020 the best gap? i have very little experience with points in saws, but i have done thousands of points on bikes and i like .012, .020 seems to burn the contacts. can very likely be different with saws, Just asking so both the OP and i know a good starting figure with points on saws.

A whole lot of old magnesium saws used .020 gap for the points, seemed most did during the late 50`s to late 60`s. I don`t remember the contacts being burned but plenty get dirty or heavily crudded up when left sitting around for years, condensation plays havoc with points.

 

[buzz sawyer]

A whole lot of old magnesium saws used .020 gap for the points, seemed most did during the late 50`s to late 60`s. I don`t remember the contacts being burned but plenty get dirty or heavily crudded up when left sitting around for years, condensation plays havoc with points.

Yeah, they seem to oxidize just setting. I found that often, a few strokes of a raker file is enough to clean off the oxidation and leave a shiny smooth surface. Just have to be sure to keep both contact faces flat.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Yeah, they seem to oxidize just setting. I found that often, a few strokes of a raker file is enough to clean off the oxidation and leave a shiny smooth surface. Just have to be sure to keep both contact faces flat.

I kept my points files, double sided type from back in the 60`s , just for cleaning up the contacts. Even have a couple of diamond dust coated type that can really polish up both contacts at once, makes cleaning them up real easy. I take the points out of the saw for cleanup and then reinstall and gap. I don`t like using sandpaper either as grit and adhesive may be left behind too easily, a piece of stiff denim cloth is also handy for a pull through to give them that last polishing.

 

[Honest John]

Rust removal of the original 32" roller nose bar. I used naval jelly to get it jump started, and then hand sanded. Definitely need to invest in a belt sander.

 

[Honest John]

Finally got my replacement graphics in from sugar creek supply. I think the Remington roller bar cleaned up nicely. This was my first restoration and even though it's not quite as clean as some of the others I've seen here, I'm happy with the way it turned out. I learned a ton, and can't wait to move on to the next project !

 

[xPosTech]

Good job. Of course, it would look much better sitting on a fresh stump!

Ted

 

[67L36Driver]

Good job on the restore fella.

You actually lucked out as that looks to have an ordinary Wico magneto. The earlier ones have the Bendix-Scintilla with the coil coating that falls apart.

You can tinker with the timing advance a bit by opening the gap a tiny bit. Too much and it will rip the pull rope out of your hand or not spark worth poop.

 

[mexicanyella]

Very nice work. That points enclosure with the wire bail on it looks very much like what was used on points-type Tecumseh engines!

 

[buzz sawyer]

Nice job! How was the sprocket? Have you tried cutting with it yet?

I just remembered, mine is missing the little retainer thingy to hold the air filter cover in place.