got a deal today. echo Mods?

[derrek_j]

well went into thiesens today to pick up a couple of things, and over in the clearance Isle is an orange saw. pick it up and it's an echo cs-450P with a 50% off sticker on it. air filter doesn't have any dust in it, has a few shavings here and there and had a 3/4 tank of gas. almost started it there but my 4 yr old talked me out of it. Pick up the rest of my stuff and went to check out and asked the guy if I could start it, he called someone else over and said no. asked if they would take any less on it and said no. Well I thought about it and figured what the heck, have been. looking for a small saw anyways.

Get home, prime x3 choke, pops,
push choke in, pull it and is running like a top. I pulled the covers off tonight and I think it might have had 1/4 tank run through it. it looks brand new, paid $175 no bar and chain.

So I'm thinking this may be a good saw to start doing some modding on. I have next to nothing in it. Ordering a bar and chain from baileys, get some base times down and go from there. Plan on muffler mod and deleting base gasket.

I hop on arboristsite and search for mods and it came back with 3 results...
Nothing of value.

Has anyone tried porting these saws? I see its not a clamshell, which i was worried about, is it a strato saw? Are parts cheap? I have not modded anything other than muffler mods, good saw to learn on? Any problems with the saw I should look out for? If I mess up porting can i get a new jug? I might just Polish it up to. Or is it junk and dump it?

I have pics, but they aren't loading for some reason.

Your opinions are appreciated.
Thanks Derrek

 

[drf255]

A few of us modded the 490. The thread is on the "other" forum.

This site will,censor the link if I post it.

Not sure how the 450-490 relate to each other though.

The 490 wakes up well with normal mods.

This saw is sold, but my sale thread has some pics in it.

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/ported-echo-490.296860/

 

[derrek_j]

thanks drf255,
i read your guys post on the other site. seems they are somewhat similar.

it appears that there is an extension on the jug on this 450? would it be the same jug as a 400 maybe and have longer stroke to make it the 450? I thought I had read that husqvarna had done something similar to that.

oh well just trying to get some background on it, will be waiting a bit for the b&c then i can get some baselines down.

 

[banditt007]

There is a guy here "mweba" or a screen name similar, that not only has a ported one but has videos on you tube of it. He said he couldn't believe the gains he got from it. From what i've seen the ignition coil is unlimited. I've heard that echo smoothy retards the timing on them instead of hitting a hard cut. However from what i've seen it acts like a regular unlimited coil. It is kind of a 3 piece clam shell style engine design. Don't be scared it works very well. The crankcase is NOT the magnesium main housing, you can unbolt the entire engine from the saw. Very nice. The cs-400 is all plastic. Thats where the weight difference comes form and why the 400 feels much more like a toy than the cs-450. Nothing wrong with the 400 in fact when limbing sometimes i wish i had gotten that for the weight savings. To me though, the cs-450 feels like a real saw in the hands and has the feeling of greater durability with the magnesium housing. The muffler is very restrictive on the 450 and it has an offset cat. Cs-400 has a centered cat and is easy to mod. NOT SO with the cs450. A pain to mod but a notable improvement in power and throttle response once opened up. Unbolt your exhaust deflector and spark arrestor screen and look at the stirring straw the poor thing needs to breathe out of from the factory. Make sure you get it tuned 4 stroking WOT out of the cut, cleaning up to a nice 2 stroke once you start cutting. They typically come set lean enough from the factory to screw up your engine if left alone. trim the plastic tabs on the limiter caps and then its a regular small flathead screw driver to adjust. They run nice with a 16" bar and good throttle response. 20" bar for easier limbing reach noticeably slows the near instant throttle response you get from the 16". Its a traditional 2 stroke not a strato engine. Very high quality all around. Things i don't like is the STUPID gas cap. Impossible to get off without using a screw driver...totally stupid. Same with the bar oil cap but not as bad. The bar size is stupid too. IIRC the only other saw that size fits is the cs-510/520/530 but i may be mistaken on that. Adjustable oiler-nice. Air filter-sweet. outboard clutch, kind of wish it was inboard but it is what it is. Mine has been nothing short of dead nutz reliable and super easy to start. Pushes 155-160psi stock. Single piston ring. I do not have a ton of similar size saws to compare it to, but its never left me thinking i should look into a different saw for similar duties. Enjoy it and post up a bunch about it i'd like to hear how you like it. It seems the cs-400 and cs-490/500 are the popular ones in this CC range and the cs-450 is kind of a weird in between size that most just bypass and go right for a 50cc. If you port this thing please post up and see if maybe "mweba" would have used different timing numbers if he was going to do it again or something like that so we progress with mods on this thing.

PS: If anyone knows an alternative gas cap that fits this thing that you can actually get a grip on with your hands to remove please let me know! It really irks me!

 

[derrek_j]

thanks for the info.

it's funny you mention the fuel cap. My jonsered has the opposite problem, 2 trees I've dropped with it now have left my leg full of fuel because the cap comes off mid cut.

I just watched mweba you tube video on it, before and after. looks pretty decent. I ordered a 16" bar from baileys Thursday night.

I was thinking this saw would be good to experiment some porting with, but I can't seem to find any jugs, dealer only? just in case I screw it up. Anyone have a part number?

I have built many big diesels, modded some gas engines, but the little 2 strokes are still Virgin territory for me. This will be my first "spare" saw.

Does anybody have a link to mweba build thread? I can't seem to find it.
Nvm, I found it finally. Pics aren't working though

 

[rmotoman]

The 450 is the same design as the 510, 520, and 530 just smaller. They are screamers. A lot more power than the 490-500 series. I use the husky mount for bars. You may have to slightly modify the oil hole.

 

[Red97]

You could possibly drop the base gasket. To tighten up the squish. Depending on what it is stock.

These have a bottom pan, riser block and a normal jug, so the base/squish band could be cut if ya have acess to a lathe.

The piston is notched to alter transfer timing, not sure where the timing is as I have not degreed one yet.

I would set squish, mod the muffler, pull the limiter caps. See what ya think. If ya want more you could try widening the ports some.

 

[banditt007]

rmotoman, so the small mount husky bar fits these things with slight mods? How close is the oil hole? Any other weirdness using one? like needing different chain link counts than the OE bar, or needing to run the chain adjuster near max or min for it to work? I never compared the OE mount to the husky small mount. I only have the large mount D009 husky bars here.

 

[derrek_j]

You could possibly drop the base gasket. To tighten up the squish. Depending on what it is stock.

These have a bottom pan, riser block and a normal jug, so the base/squish band could be cut if ya have acess to a lathe.

The piston is notched to alter transfer timing, not sure where the timing is as I have not degreed one yet.

I would set squish, mod the muffler, pull the limiter caps. See what ya think. If ya want more you could try widening the ports some.

that's exactly what I was thinking.

what's the best way to pick up one of your deflectors @Red97