797 Mac, is it worth this

[leeha]

I picked up this 797 a while ago out of the west coast.
So now i decided to do the dirty dead of a full restoration.
It appears to have had the block changed at sometime
and has the 66251 stamped into the block which designates
a 797. It's in rough shape and needs some parts. However The
block assembly is in excellent shape.

Lee

 

[leeha]

Here it is coming apart and all disassembled.
Parts bead blasted and cleaned. Ready for the
block to go back together. I was going to install
a new set of rings but i compaired the new set to the
old set and the old set had minimal wear if any.
The short block must not have had much time on it.
All bearings are excellent as well.

Lee

 

[leeha]

The block is going back together with the original
rings and bearings. All new seals and gaskets will
be used. Installed new points and condenser as well.
I set the points at .021 even though Mac says .020
I know from experience that they will close a tad
after the first couple minutes of run time. I also used
new rod bolts, These are the kart bolts and torqued
to 85 to 90 inch lb's.

Lee

 

[leeha]

Got a couple pieces primed and the top fuel tank
and air filter cover painted black.
I'm useing Napa's single stage urethane paint.
It lays out realy nice.

Lee

 

[hoss]

Nice Lee. Those 797's are definately worth a restoration. It's especially true for someone like you who needs a big saw really really bad.:greenchainsaw:

 

[CM76]

Nice project Lee. I love seeing these old saws coming back to life again. Your 797 looks like it was in similar shape to my SP125 when I got hold of it - the only exception (unless you had cleaned it for the photographs) was that you could actually see your saw! Mine was terrible and full of dust and dirt.

Good to hear that everything is still okay on the inside of the saw, which should mean that you will have it back on track soon. A full resto on this saw will be something to see. I am still on the hunt for one of these 797's - hope to have one in my collection one day.

Regards,

Chris

 

[leeha]

Today i got the rest of the parts primed
and painted yellow. Again Napa's single stage paint.
Had them match a couple NOS parts i have.
Looks pretty dam close to me.
I now will let it dry for a few days before assembling.
I will tackle the carb next. Not sure yet which carb
i'm going to use, ether the original flatback or a tilly.

Lee

 

[Jacob J.]

Looking good so far, Lee. The 797 is one of the strongest running saws of that era. They have the same piston and rings as the early 101 kart engines.

 

[GASoline71]

Nice Lee... my 797 is no gem in the looks department... but it is a friggin' wood eatin' monster.

Gary

 

[Oldsawnut]

Damn you do nice work

 

[leeha]

Nice Lee... my 797 is no gem in the looks department... but it is a friggin' wood eatin' monster.

Gary

So, you got you carb situation all taken care of.
Great you got it runnin now lets see a video.
They do have some powwwaaa.


Lee

 

[heimannm]

Thanks for the post Lee, great stuff there. You have to love those old McCulloch saws. I will keep looking for a 797 and 790, I have examples of the 740 and 795 already.

Please tell me more about your paint system and procedure. Looks like you are using some nice epoxy primer? Are you using a normal spray system or HVLP? What to you do to keep the overspray from getting everywhere? What do you do about cleaning your equipment when you are done?

So far I have only used the rattle can technique, certainly is it easy enough but hard to get the colors to match exactly. Rustoleum Sunburst Yellow is just a bit darker, more red than the original.

Mark

 

[leeha]

Thanks for the post Lee, great stuff there. You have to love those old McCulloch saws. I will keep looking for a 797 and 790, I have examples of the 740 and 795 already.

Please tell me more about your paint system and procedure. Looks like you are using some nice epoxy primer? Are you using a normal spray system or HVLP? What to you do to keep the overspray from getting everywhere? What do you do about cleaning your equipment when you are done?

So far I have only used the rattle can technique, certainly is it easy enough but hard to get the colors to match exactly. Rustoleum Sunburst Yellow is just a bit darker, more red than the original.

Mark

Hi Mark,
The paint is the latest single stage automotive
paint system that Napa carries. It is a 3 part mix.
8 parts paint 4 parts reducer and 1 part activator
2 hours after the paint was applied i was able to
handle it with care.
I use a regular old school pot gun with air cut way
down to about 15 psi and ajust the amount of paint
from there which isn't a lot. With air cut back you get
less waste but it still makes a little mess in the shop.
I use the body plasic covering you buy in a role to cover
thinks in the shop to protect from over spray.
I did a saw a few years ago with the rattle cans and the paint is peeling off so more rattle cans for me.
It costs more this way but it lasts and is gas oil resistant.


Lee

 

[heimannm]

Thanks Lee, I will have to look in to the paint, I have a good compressor and paint gun already.

Come to think of it, I have a little body shop a block from my house, and the guy that "works" there comes to me a few times each winter for firewood since he never seems to have any supplied in advance. In fact, he is supposed to drop off a couple of saws for me to look at, maybe I can just trade him some wood and saw work for a little bit of painting...

Mark

 

[heimannm]

Another question, some of those parts had some pretty severe corrosion and pitting, do you use some spot filler, bondo, or something else to patch them up during preparation?

O.K., one more while I'm thinking of it; what do you do about corrosion inside the fuel tank and or oil tank? I have a few that I sandblasted and then coated with POR15, but that can be pretty expensive.

Mark

 

[pioneerguy600]

Real nice looking paint job on the McCulloch and a good resto on that 797. The urethane is my favorite paint now also, get it from NAPA also but I use a HLVP gun, they use less paint because all the paint can be run through the gun.My old siphon pot guns always left some paint in the bottom of the pot that the siphon tube would not pick up. There is little overspray with the HLVP also, set air pressure around 15 lbs on the regulator and very little overspray produced. I am spoled as I can do my painting under a updraft hood or even take it into the downdraft booth where we paint vehicles.
Pioneerguy600

 

[leeha]

Another question, some of those parts had some pretty severe corrosion and pitting, do you use some spot filler, bondo, or something else to patch them up during preparation?

O.K., one more while I'm thinking of it; what do you do about corrosion inside the fuel tank and or oil tank? I have a few that I sandblasted and then coated with POR15, but that can be pretty expensive.

Mark

Mark, On parts with a bit of corrosion i do
skim with the old laquer type filler that comes
in a big tube. it dries fast. You prime first then this
filler and prime that area again and paint. Some times
you can prime a good couple coats then sand and a lot of the imperfections will come out. I also let the primer dry
for a few days before sanding.
Talk to your body shop, he should be able to hook you
up with a very similar paint. And if he has his own mixing
station then he should be able to match the color.

Hope this helps

Lee

 

[leeha]

Mark, Also on fuel and oil tanks,
Furtunatly i haven't had any bad ones.
But if i did i think i would replace it with
another good used or new one.
I haven't tried the POR15 yet. The inside
of this gas tank was very clean. The oil tank
had a lot of chain scars so i put a new one
on it.


Lee

 

[GASoline71]

So, you got you carb situation all taken care of.
Great you got it runnin now lets see a video.
They do have some powwwaaa.


Lee

Not quite yet... It has oiler issues... as in no worky...

Gary

 

[Jacob J.]

Not quite yet... It has oiler issues... as in no worky...

Gary

Did your thumb give out already?