Husqvarna 359 for $25. Is it worth fixing ?

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BING38RT

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Well as you can see I picked up a Husqvarna 359 yesterday for $25. After I blew all the gunk off she looked to be in decent shape, that's is until I pulled the muffler and saw the scoring on the piston and when I looked back into the head I saw more scoring on the intake side.

She feels like she would have enough compression to fire up but eventually I'm going to have to rebuild it.

I know nothing about these saws, are they worth fixing ? Should I just bite the bullet and get a new head piston and ring now ? What would you guys do if it was you.

Also don't say buy a 372XP lol, I already have one. I mean for this specific saw. Is it worth it to fix her up proper ?

Thanks for any and all input.
 

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Well as you can see I picked up a Husqvarna 359 yesterday for $25. After I blew all the gunk off she looked to be in decent shape, that's is until I pulled the muffler and saw the scoring on the piston and when I looked back into the head I saw more scoring on the intake side.

She feels like she would have enough compression to fire up but eventually I'm going to have to rebuild it.

I know nothing about these saws, are they worth fixing ? Should I just bite the bullet and get a new head piston and ring now ? What would you guys do if it was you.

Also don't say buy a 372XP lol, I already have one. I mean for this specific saw. Is it worth it to fix her up proper ?

Thanks for any and all input.
Well worth it.
 
before you replace the parts I would give it a pressure vac test- doing a 372 xturq right now and for some reason the piston was trash but it held pressure and vac well so chalk it up to bad gas or something but at least I know the seals didn' take it out..- got a ported muffler on it so probably didn't adjust the carb to take the difference
 
Fix it, sell it- get a 2159 :laugh: .
When they were new and current- possibly the best of the sub 60cc saws available, certainly worth a refresh and you stole it for $25.
Has the green fuel cap so likely a later edition EPA choked up one, but should have the newer metal band on the manifold to cylinder junction.
Pressure and vac test if you can- they have some fun bits regarding the small impulse line people often miss checking and the 199 carbs can give "issues"- personally if it has a cat muffler, I have no issues replacing it with an aftermarket "open" one, but you can try gutting the original if you wish.

You are going to have to pull it down and see what is going on internally- that gives the chance to check over all the rest and the intake tract carefully.

I have a LOT of saws, from 35-125cc. If I had to own only one- my 2159 (Jonsered version of the 359) would be it.
 
I'd fix it, they're nice fire wood saws.
You can get a aftermarket top end dirt cheap if it needs it.
Test or replace the seals and intake clamp while you're at it, something happened to it to cause it to burn up.
 
All good advice so far!! Definitely get rid of the cat muffler and do a metal intake clamp if those things haven’t already been done. For your $25 investment you scored….. no pun intended!!
Cyl looks like it would clean up just from the pics. I would stay with OEM on the cyl if it doesn’t. I would go with a meteor piston. You’ll end up with a real good runner on the cheap!
One last tip…. when you get ready to put it all together save yourself tons of grief and install the intake boot and carb on the cyl off the saw then install as a unit! You use a lot less foul words…. Trust me!! Good luck!!
 
All good advice so far!! Definitely get rid of the cat muffler and do a metal intake clamp if those things haven’t already been done. For your $25 investment you scored….. no pun intended!!
Cyl looks like it would clean up just from the pics. I would stay with OEM on the cyl if it doesn’t. I would go with a meteor piston. You’ll end up with a real good runner on the cheap!
One last tip…. when you get ready to put it all together save yourself tons of grief and install the intake boot and carb on the cyl off the saw then install as a unit! You use a lot less foul words…. Trust me!! Good luck!!
Thats good to know on the intake boot.
 
before you replace the parts I would give it a pressure vac test- doing a 372 xturq right now and for some reason the piston was trash but it held pressure and vac well so chalk it up to bad gas or something but at least I know the seals didn' take it out..- got a ported muffler on it so probably didn't adjust the carb to take the difference
I've only ever done a compression test. Is there a way to do a vacuum test....do I need a fancy tool to do it or would it be something I'd have in my garage ?

I'm pretty new to saw building, I only have 7 clamshell's under my belt( all this winter ) and 2 pro saws so my experience.

Also fyi I bought this of a crackhead 😂 So I doubt he took care of anything. The bar has been over heated and turned blue in some spots.
 

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