Dukes Saw Shop 346 xp 44.3 piston and cylinder kits.

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I cannot or will not speak for anyone else on here.
But anything I sale would be full disclosure. Parts, symptoms, missing pieces, whatever. And that would include that little 36" piece of double diamond braid rope used. We all make mistakes and at times need to make corrections. Sorry to drag this thread down cranman1951. Wasn't my intention by this comment. timg
 
No problem Tim, I won't sell a saw unless it is running perfect....starts, idles, revs, oils, and has a good ( or new) bar and chain. Most of the time the only Chinese parts on a saw I sell would be a carb, piston or cylinder....lately a lot of chainbrakes as I picked up a truckload of thrown away saws from an arborist friend of mine ( Husky 240's and 141's) that he bought as throwaway saws and did just that! He always pulls his chainbrakes out so I bought a pile of them for the 240's as I won't sell a saw with it disabled. I will mention the carb or p/c to a customer but plastic not so much. This project saw I'll be keeping for myself so no disclosure necessary.
 
hey Gang....I'm getting ready to convert one of my 350 Huskys to a 346 xp top end. I was looking through E-bay for OEM and found a 346xp aftermarket from Dukes for $58 free shipping. It was closed port 44.3 mm but casting looked rough in the picture....anyone have any experience with this one? Performance on par with OEM? I probably should pull the trigger on OEM, but I'm just so cheap....I mean frugal.
Picked up a big bore highway kit for my 372xp clone with pop up piston. Cylinder porting was chamfered at edges! Have great luck with this kit and a very noticeable power difference.
 
Just an update Folks on the 350/346 project saw. It felt like X-mas today when UPS dropped off the piston and cylinder and the post office brought me a carb. I pulled the cylinder out of the box, and it was a 346 closed port cylinder. ...The bottom of the cylinder had a cast finish where it mated with the bearing cup, unlike OEM which is machined. It has a good enough finish that I think Yamabond will seal it OK. I did a quick squish test with out a gasket and it was a little fat at .045. Instead of driving to my buddies to borrow the use of his Bridgeport, I just spent 15 minutes on a 3/8 steel plate with a sheet of 80 grit emory cloth and took it down the bearing cup .020 without much effort....was within a couple of thousandths everytime I checked it for uniformity. I took a tip from Benny's xp 346 build and using the gasket as a template marked and drilled a hole in the bearing cup for my impulse. ( Thanks Benny). I just buttoned up the cylinder and it was good at .024. squish. I put the intake manifold on the cylinder before installing using the stock partition, cut down with a hacksaw so I could use the 372 xp stainless clamp. I highly recommend this over using the upgraded replacement clamp that has to snap shut to grip . I bought some time ago all the parts that are needed to bolt up the carb in a kit from China really cheap....they look as good a quality as stock. The saw when given me was burnt up cylinder, missing all carb parts, exhaust parts, clutch cover and top, as well as clutch. Basically I started with the gas tank, crankcase, handle and crankshaft/connecting rod. Everything else will be Chinese/aftermarket. The flywheel had a sheared key and that and the plastic are all that I'm waiting on from the slow boat from China. The total for parts and shipping came to just about $100....the price from Farmertec was great, but the parts just dribble in and still waiting on the flywheel and plastic. I originally was going to build this saw to a 353 popup /350, but the parts were coming so slowly that I used a running 350 to do that build. The bearing cup for this came from Farmertec and was .010 thicker then stock, and some of the poor squish can be attributed to that if not all. As soon as I get it mostly together, ( I'll rob the flywheel and plastic from a running 350) and started, I'll give you another update.
 
Just buttoned up the 350/346. I had to rob some parts from a running 350 as I was impatient to hear her run. It starts right up on carb cleaner and sounds good, for a second then is fuel starved. It runs maybe 3 seconds on choke then dies. I'm thinking I may have blocked the impulse hole on the cylinder when I gooped it with Yamabond. I was leary of how much to put on as there isn't much surface to seal with the impulse hole taking up half of the sealing area, and I'm wondering if I over did it. Before I tear it down, I'm going to swap the carb to a new one just to eliminate the carb...The one on it came from a running saw so I don't think that will be the case, but a carb swap is only minutes. Fuel line and filter are new. Any way to test the impulse line with the carb off maybe by blowing???
 
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction cuinrearview.....I doubled checked the fuel line and I'm embarrassed to say I hadn't changed it. This was the 7th 350 I've worked on in 3 weeks and I got confused....I changed most of the others. I hate to admit this one though.......I left out the compression release when I slapped it together......I can't believe it fired up at all! Anyway, new fuel line and filter, compression release, fires right up and really sounds snappy. I'll take her out and try her on some wood when the temperature gets a little warmer....I still haven't put the 350 with the popup in a tree yet....I'll give you all the results.
 
Compression release on these does very little. The actual opening in the cylinder is tiny.

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@cranman1951, I doubt if you talked to anyone at Dukes about the kit. He has several import versions and is also a Husqvarna Dealer. So yes he could of supplied you an OEM kit at a reasonable price. Chris is a good dude.
Hey Tim! I don't frequent here much, just having a look through the notifications. Just a mistake on my behalf. I thought they were NLA. Fankly we've only been dealing Husky for a few months, still learning some things.
Thanks for your offer TLG....The NLA 346 cylinders may be just something recent? Anyway it will be fun and a learning experience doing a build with the aftermarket piston and cylinder.
That woulda been me you talked to that day about it. Only me and my business partner Brandon. I handle most of the FB messages and calls.
I'll have to check with Chris and see what's up. I appreciate the feedback/conversation. I hope what grizz is saying doesn't happen soon. Got a couple of those chassis's to build.
They're definitely still in stock at Husky, got a few on order now. It was just a mistake on my behalf that I thought they were NLA.
 
Did I miss your posting about how it runs and compares to your other models?
Sorry Huskytoter.....I've been waiting until the little snow on the ground is gone before I try them out on any wood. My footing is bad enough without taking any chances with slipping on the snow. I want to try out the 346/350 against the 353 with popup/350....I've also got one with a aftermarket 45mm and flattop to look at. I just sold my next to last 350 that was stock on Saturday, but the buyer seized it after two tanks. It didn't appear that he was cutting with a dull chain and forcing it, or used bad mix, so I replaced it with the last 350, ( the one I wanted to try out against the modified ones). The 346/350 and the 353/350 both have the same brand new bars and chains....18 inch Husky bar with .325 full chisel Oregon chain, so I think it will be a good test. I'm just trying to decide now how to rebuild the seized 350. I'm guessing it sucked air with the plastic clamp as I hadn't replaced it, but will take it apart today.....I've got a good original 45mm cylinder, new seals, a 372 intake clamp, a 346 exhaust brace, and just thinking what to use for a piston. I've got a stock piston, but what fun is that? Trying to decide between a popup or flat top.
 
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