Update:
The saw lives. It took me about 2 hours to clean the cylinder. It was on the hairy edge of savable. Sorry, no pics. I used acid first, then a ball hone, then sand paper, then a ball hone, then scotch brite, then a ball hone, then more acid, then more sand paper, then I washed it.....then I started over....you get the idea.
I found this saw a bit more difficult to work on than it should have been. Dolmar used very shallow t27 heads on the screws. As a result I had to press very hard on the ratchet to keep the tool engaged with the screw. Also, they seemed to put loctite on every screw. The combination made for lots of trouble for a saw that is a year or two old. The carb box area is a pain. The cylinder needed to be loose to install the intake boot. The muffler is held on with 6 screws....6, yes 6. After market parts are not available.
The piston needed to be de-burred though it was an OEM.
The supplier I used needs to go out of business. It took 2 months from the order date to get the parts (piston, base gasket, carb kit, rim). That was the first and last time I will ever use psep dot biz. What little customer service they had was inexcusably bad.
I should be able to score some wood by Tuesday to try it out. At first blush it seems heavier than my 026. It may actually be lighter but it feels heavier in my hands. I think the balance needs to be addressed.
In the end, I think this will be a nice saw. But, given how this saw came apart, I will never buy a Dolmar (unless something changes).
