Through a long series of events, I ended up with a beat up old 029 for $50. I decided to make it a 'loaner' saw as the thing was an underpowered, heavy POS.
The cylinder had some scores on it, so for another A$90 I bought an AM 390 kit with seals and hoses. Hmm, going from 54cc to 64cc plus a muffler mod, the bloody thing showed some potential (uh oh, I feel a project saw coming on). Then I dialled in the timing - did you know that accepted range for timing of a stock 029 was 23.5 degrees to 28.5 degrees? That woke it up even more, so I got rid of the 'emissions' carb and built my own carb for the saw. Now the thing was putting out respectable broad range power.
Then I spotted the 20" Husky NK bar sitting on the shelf with 3 chains. - Yeah, this is do-able... Got rid of that ridiculously heavy solid steel bar and put the laminated lightweight NK bar on it (added a different oil pump piston to double the oil flow). It was no longer 'heavy', it went from being nose heavy to tail heavy. With both hands supporting the weight it felt light and nimble with the NK bar on it.
The ugly POS is running a 9-pin with the rakers lowered to the softwood setting on the raker plate. The freaking thing is now my go-to saw. I really should use my modded 77cc saw on some of the bigger wood, but this thing is so light and fast cutting I'd rather use the crappy 029. - Somewhere along the line I forgot it was to be a 'loaner' saw, LOL.
