What's the Dope on 372 52mm setups??

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mixxer

Lord of Combustion
Joined
Jan 10, 2019
Messages
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Location
Tennessee USA
I've had my 372xp for quite a while and it's the only saw I have never modded....

I have 3 of the poulan 2300 top handle saws... self made custom fiber reeds (gotta love Case Reed setups for torque!!) ... Exhaust port raised 1mm .. Base gaskets eliminated... Mufflers ported to match.... These little monsters sound like a pissed off giant wasp when they are lit... Everyone gets a kick out of how nasty good theese lightweight saws really run... Friends over for bonfire cut duty are always letting out a laugh and saying " Ha!! I forget how nasty these little saws are! Funny!"

Most underrated top handle ever! Respond so very well to those simple mods...!!

1 poulan pro 330 that I bought about 10 years ago at TSC... Wasn't even looking for a saw that day... Saw a stack by the checkout line for some ridiculously cheap blowout price... Impulse buy... " Honey I know I went to TSC to get gate hinges, but they made me buy this saw"... Wish I would have bought the whole stack of them now...

330 was an immediate disappointing over baffled turd of a saw... Bogged hard on simple 10" diameter wood with it's 22" out of the box bar... Stunningly limp saw out of the box...

Cut overly restrictive bsfgling plates leading to air filter and turned the choked up muffler into a short / straight through glass pack... Much like a chode of a mx bike silencer... Swapped 22" bar for 20"... Re- tuned the carb to match...
Dr Jekyll and MR FREAKIN HYDE!!
amazing performance light middleweight saw!! Lots of stock compression too...
Now after recently looking up posts about 330s on this site after recently joining.... The 330 has even more potential than I was ever going to bother looking for.... Almost 10 flawless years under it's belt now... I'm going to go back in for more... Soon...

Recently made an inappropriately under researched purchase of a lightly used 3.3 Craftsman thinking it would be a pp330 clone I could let my Sons use to keep them from abusing the 330 and 373xp... I bought it knowing I would mod it up a bit... Now not sure how long I will want it after knowing it isn't what i thought it would be...

Now.. the 372xp was bought new and has been with me quite some time... I picked it based on power to weight ratio... And it has run so well , right out of the box as my bigger saw, that I have never thought about modding it ... Until now....
I have read in here that base gasket elimination can produce an overly tight squish band....
I have also read the wonderful modded 268/670 piston thread where it makes for a great high compression setup when properly cut for use as a pop up dome piston in a 372... But I also see that the OEM piston prices are pretty darn high... And I know from past experience in my area that asking any machinist locally about a simple circular dome cut of a piston is met with the same enthusiasm and confidence as if I asked them could they machine me a space station from billet...

Next I have noticed how inexpensive plated knock off 372 50mm stock bore cylinders are ... And plenty in big bore 52mm also

And I have also found HyWay brand piston kits in high comp pop up style .. but not in stock bore 50mm... Only in big bore 52mm....

And now the questions I hope some of you long time members here will have the straight dope on ....

How well are these plated aftermarket 52mm cylinders made??

How well does the 52mm pop up work? Quality? Longevity??

Does anyone offer machining services on the 268 style pistons??

I would like to mod a piston for use in stock 50mm bore... I don't need a new cylinder... Port the cylinder with slightly wider / taller intake port ... And a little wider and maybe a 1mm or so higher exhaust port...
Turn the muffler into a straight glasspack silencer (moose racing dirt bike silencer packing is excellent)... And re-tune it all in...

But if the 52mm stuff works well... Or can be made to work well.. I'm ok with that too...

So whats the straight dope on all that stuff?? I KNOW some of you guys KNOW.... Be a brother and share some info please...
 

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