1957 IEL Pioneer RA 100cc project/restoration

[Brmorgan]

Last spring, fellow AS member bigbadbob was kind enough to outright give me the diamond in the rough IN THIS THREAD, where jokes were made about sending it to the dumpster! Well, I finally got around to cleaning it up and getting it going over the holidays this winter. It was a bit of an experience. That saw has some things I've never seen the likes of before.

All the parts have been washed with Varsol and sat out overnight to dry out.

Ever seen a clutch like that one before? I didn't fiddle with it at all, so I don't know if that's just a snap-on cover overtop of a clutch of standard design, or if it's some funky proprietary clutch design or something. You'll also notice that it's missing a bit more paint than before. That's a result of the 120 PSI air nozzle that I used to hog off most of the stuff that was stuck to the saw before washing it. I only stripped it down to the parts laid out here, I didn't bother taking it right down to check all the bearings and everything.

Another unique thing about the saw. I've never seen a cylinder like that one before. It has a removable head, like a lawnmower engine, and there's a flange on the head that fits down inside the cylinder. The piston has a chamfered top edge, which comes up and fits into the flange on the head very snugly. The compression chamber is a very steep "cone" recess from there up to the spark plug, which is threaded in 90° to the cylinder. This makes me think this saw could benefit from a better plug with multiple electrodes.

This is the exhaust port. The cylinder and piston are still in excellent shape.Both ports are covered by the cylinder liner and have three holes drilled through as seen here. I've never seen something like this before either. I wonder if there would be a decent performance boost if one were to open the ports up completely?

All put back together! Time to get it going. To get it going quicker in case the carb was a bit sluggish, I squirted a bit of gas straight into the intake. That didn't take long to get it going. KEEPING it going, on the other hand, was a bit trickier.

 

[Brmorgan]

Here's part of why I can't keep it running really well. The carb is a Tillotson HL-22A, which I've never worked on before. At first I thought it identical to the carb on my 090, but it's not. This one has only a Low jet adjustment on the left-hand side of the carb body, the H jet is just plugged with unmilled aluminum. But just above-right of center in this picture, you can see a brass screw with a spring and a post through the end of it so it can be turned by hand. I'm presuming this is the H jet adjustment just by the way it seems to affect how the saw runs. I opened the throttle up and then opened that screw up a couple turns to see what happened, and the saw dropped to just a few hundred RPM, barely running. I closed it down to about 1-1/2 turns and it sounds good at WOT. I'm just having trouble getting it to both run well and start well. I haven't put the compression tester on it yet, but Bob said he tested it out at 130 PSI. Assuming compression is good, does anyone know the recommended jet screw settings for this saw?

I love the big, beefy muffler on the front of this thing!

How d'ya like the glass fuel bowl? It's neat, but I'd think it would be a major liability out in the bush. The rope wrap on the handlebar is coming apart, and I'm torn between leaving it bare as it came from the factory, or wrapping it with something else. So far I left the DIY wood starter handle for now.

I dug up an old ~24" bar that was lying beside the old Pioneer 1450 in the garage here when I bought the place. It seems to fit properly, though I might have to J-B Weld the oiler holes a bit, as they're a bit too big right now and will leak oil all over. That bar is marked Spear & Jackson 1769, if that means anything to anyone. I've never heard of that company before.

This saw really has some character, and man does she bark when you open the throttle up! I didn't think a saw could vibrate worse than my 090, but I was proven wrong. I can't wait to make a couple cuts with it. What little info I've found about this saw seems to say that it takes .4 pitch chain, not .404. I don't think that 4/1000ths of an inch will make a massive difference though, so I'm going to try some .404 on it once it's running properly.

Once I get a sandblaster and a lot more time, I want to strip it right down and get it looking like new again. The metal is almost 100% like new, except for a few chain gouges on the clutch cover and surrounding area.

 

[Jacob J.]

Good work so far. I am going to doll up a couple RA saws myself. Another member here gave me a parts saw and then I scored a complete runner locally. I think these old Pioneers are some of the best saws that ever came out of Canuckistan.

 

[Brmorgan]

From the reading I've done, they were the first saw ever to combine both a transmissionless direct clutch drive for a much faster chain speed, and a diaphragm carburetor so the saw could be used in any position. Apparently they were the top selling logging saw of their time and set quite a benchmark.

 

[Jacob J.]

From the reading I've done, they were the first saw ever to combine both a transmissionless direct clutch drive for a much faster chain speed, and a diaphragm carburetor so the saw could be used in any position. Apparently they were the top selling logging saw of their time and set quite a benchmark.

I think the RA is rockin' with its dual-port aluminum muffler and its meaty top cover. There's really no reason to not own one. The RA of its day was like the 044 is now. Every logger of that era had an RA at one time, and why wouldn't they?

 

[pioneerguy600]

The RA is one of my all time favorite chainsaws, its the fore runner of my most favorite chainsaw the Pioneer 600. I have owned and run the Pioneer saws since 1962 and have a few of them in my collection.
Looking at the cylinder head picts it appears that the threads for the sparkplug are missing. You would have to be careful if you want to open up the intake and exhaust ports as the piston rings need some material left to hold them into the piston lands, they don`t have locator pins and can turn freely in the grooves. The settings for the HL 22 is 1 and 1/4 turns out for the H and 3/4 turns out for the L . The rebuild kits for these saws are easy to come by and the carbs are really easy to rebuild. These saws came equipped to run 404 chain but Pioneer had their own chain,bars and clutches and their own numbering system also so it was confusing to some to try figuring out what to run for chain, bars and gauges. The clutch would be a three shoe centrifugal with friction lining and the cover is removable, just presses on and can be carefully pried off. The RA was the last of the sand cast magnesium saws made by IEL and Pioneer, the next models [ 600 series ] were made using the diecast method and are more streamlined and a little lighter. You can find some more info on Mike Acres site and look up our Pioneer saws thread on AS. If you have any other specific questions myself and others on here would gladly help if we can.
Pioneerguy600

 

[leeha]

Nice work you did there.
Iv'e got one of them bad boys also.
I haven't had it running but this
thread might give me a bit of inspiration.

Good ole saws


Lee

 

[blsnelling]

Neat old saw. Some of my older ones have the same exhaust port. I'm sure the hole design is to keep it from catching a ring edge.

 

[cjcocn]

Brad

Great pics! I'd rep ya but I have to spread some around first.

I'm thinking of doing the same to my area of focus, older Jonsereds. If you decide to do a complete restoration post that up as well. I finally found some good etching primer (in another Province, and for another project), but am not sure which paint to use for durability.

For now I am just concentrating on acquiring saws in that date range and learning about saws in general, and a thread like this really grabs my attention.

 

[belgian]

This one has only a Low jet adjustment on the left-hand side of the carb body, the H jet is just plugged with unmilled aluminum. But just above-right of center in this picture, you can see a brass screw with a spring and a post through the end of it so it can be turned by hand. I'm presuming this is the H jet adjustment just by the way it seems to affect how the saw runs. I opened the throttle up and then opened that screw up a couple turns to see what happened, and the saw dropped to just a few hundred RPM, barely running. I closed it down to about 1-1/2 turns and it sounds good at WOT. I'm just having trouble getting it to both run well and start well.

Congrats on a fine saw . I have the pioneer 600 and like it a lot too.

I don't know for the RA carb settings but it appears that if your saw has only one adjustment screw (brass one), then it would likely be the L screw, and the H being a fixed jet. I have seen this on several saws. (Mac super pro).

did you try to adjust it at idle ?

 

[belgian]

Nice work you did there.
Iv'e got one of them bad boys also.
I haven't had it running but this
thread might give me a bit of inspiration.

Good ole saws


Lee

Lee,

you will notice that the Danarm series 110 & 125 are having the same design (crankcase, P&C, carb, etc.) as the older Pioneers

 

[Brmorgan]

Chris - I know absolutely nothing about painting stuff like this so I'll be trolling the forums and internet in general for information once I finally get around to doing that. No promises about a timeline though. I did manage to score a pretty decent looking siphon-feed spray gun for a few bucks at a garage sale this summer. I don't think it's even been used before, there isn't a speck of paint anywhere on it.

Belgian - The carb does have the Low jet in the regular spot, just the H is blocked off. I dug up the IPL for this saw and it does show the little brass thumbscrew as being the "main adjustment", which should mean the High Speed jet adjustment. I'll get it figured out eventually, and will keep an eye out for a carb kit for it as I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. The diaphragm was still fairly flexible but was a bit stiffer than I'd like to see, so maybe it's not pumping enough fuel at low RPM for an easy cold start. The fact that it even works at all given its age and the old gas that was sitting in the tank is quite amazing anyway.

 

[leeha]

Lee,

you will notice that the Danarm series 110 & 125 are having the same design (crankcase, P&C, carb, etc.) as the older Pioneers

Good info Roland, I will keep it in mind.
I will have to put the 110 i got from you
and the RA and my Pioneer 650 together
and check them out.

Thanks Lee

 

[Jacob J.]

Belgian - The carb does have the Low jet in the regular spot, just the H is blocked off. I dug up the IPL for this saw and it does show the little brass thumbscrew as being the "main adjustment", which should mean the High Speed jet adjustment. I'll get it figured out eventually, and will keep an eye out for a carb kit for it as I'm sure it wouldn't hurt. The diaphragm was still fairly flexible but was a bit stiffer than I'd like to see, so maybe it's not pumping enough fuel at low RPM for an easy cold start. The fact that it even works at all given its age and the old gas that was sitting in the tank is quite amazing anyway.

Yeah typically when the carb is in good repair on these RAs they're very easy to start. My grandpa's would always kick over cold on the second pull and one more pull would get it running. I was 15 and I didn't necessarily want it to start.

 

[Brmorgan]

I think part of why they might be easy to start is actually the glass fuel bowl. A little bit is always sitting in there, so it's nice and close to the carb for next time.

 

[WesternSaw]

Brmorgan and his RA

Hello Brmorgan
this fellow British Columbian is glad you have that nice Pioneer.I bet those saws cut a hell of a lot of trees here on the coast.And if I am not mistaken that is the Pioneer saw that powered the Hus-ski snowmobile invented in Ontario.How about posting that saw in the Pioneer collecting thread.Do you have manuals and IPL for that saw.Seems to me I saw some parts and maybe a manual for that Pioneer on Ebay recently
Lawrence

 

[crane]

Brmorgan,

Glad to see that the saw has finally made an apperance on the forum. I too have a RA and a HC waiting to restore. Will watch this thread with great interest. Congratulations and please keep the pics and your comments coming!

 

[mcor]

Happy to see this thread started! I recently bought 2 RA's. One almost complete(missing inner shroud) with 32 " bar and chain . The other, just a parts saw . The idea is to strip them both down and take the best of each to hopefully get a good runner. Got my work cut out for me . The sludge in the tanks doesn't even smell like gas any more and neither one will turn over. The guy said the complete saw was running when he set it down some 20 years ago and bought a 288. Haven't had time to investigate but I'm sure my $40 bought me many hours in the shop at the very least . I'll be following along and am sure to have a few questions along the way.

Here's one, what do you guys do to clean out a dirty tank? Varsol, mineral spirits or did somebody somewhere say Methyl Hydrate...

 

[Jacob J.]

Happy to see this thread started! I recently bought 2 RA's. One almost complete(missing inner shroud) with 32 " bar and chain . The other, just a parts saw . The idea is to strip them both down and take the best of each to hopefully get a good runner. Got my work cut out for me . The sludge in the tanks doesn't even smell like gas any more and neither one will turn over. The guy said the complete saw was running when he set it down some 20 years ago and bought a 288. Haven't had time to investigate but I'm sure my $40 bought me many hours in the shop at the very least . I'll be following along and am sure to have a few questions along the way.

Here's one, what do you guys do to clean out a dirty tank? Varsol, mineral spirits or did somebody somewhere say Methyl Hydrate...

Acetone, in some cases...

 

[pioneerguy600]

Happy to see this thread started! I recently bought 2 RA's. One almost complete(missing inner shroud) with 32 " bar and chain . The other, just a parts saw . The idea is to strip them both down and take the best of each to hopefully get a good runner. Got my work cut out for me . The sludge in the tanks doesn't even smell like gas any more and neither one will turn over. The guy said the complete saw was running when he set it down some 20 years ago and bought a 288. Haven't had time to investigate but I'm sure my $40 bought me many hours in the shop at the very least . I'll be following along and am sure to have a few questions along the way.

Here's one, what do you guys do to clean out a dirty tank? Varsol, mineral spirits or did somebody somewhere say Methyl Hydrate...

If you know someone in your area that does high pressurewashing on a commercial basis they have or can get chemical agents that will strip that gunk out in short order. I use a product called [Hotsy ] that is a pre conditioner that we apply to very dirty/ gunked up diesel engines,tranny`s and other really messed up machinery. WE spray it on and let it set a hour or so then power wash it off and it strips gunk off really well. In old chainsaw tanks it will take a 1/4 " layers of varnished up gunk off if left to set overnight, it will also remove rust, corrosion on copper and aluminum etc.
Pioneerguy600