Building a 42cc Poulan

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So now you have answered that question that a lot people wondered about. You cannot run a chrome piston in a chrome cylinder because now we know what happens.
 
WHW we will have to give you a new user name...."Dr. Poulanstien":choler:

Given your PHD in modern Poulans, would you have any idea if an ignition module from an older 42 cc would swap into a newer strato saw? It was a perfect fit, but different parts #. It does start and idle with the swap, but has not taken throttle due to a bad intake and no intake gasket. I am cleaning up the P & C and waiting on the intake and gasket set. I am Hoping this swap from my parts box works, as it will save $35 for the owner. Anything you see in this swap? Thanks
 
WHW we will have to give you a new user name...."Dr. Poulanstien":choler:

Given your PHD in modern Poulans, would you have any idea if an ignition module from an older 42 cc would swap into a newer strato saw? It was a perfect fit, but different parts #.

Which part numbers are you working with? Newer style and older style...
 
WHW we will have to give you a new user name...."Dr. Poulanstien"

Given your PHD in modern Poulans, would you have any idea if an ignition module from an older 42 cc would swap into a newer strato saw? It was a perfect fit, but different parts #. It does start and idle with the swap, but has not taken throttle due to a bad intake and no intake gasket. I am cleaning up the P & C and waiting on the intake and gasket set. I am Hoping this swap from my parts box works, as it will save $35 for the owner. Anything you see in this swap? Thanks
LOL, perhaps "Dr. Plastic Poulanstien" - a plastic surgeon!

I'm afraid I have no experience with the newer strato engined ones, although I'd like to. I thought I had a line on one but the lady's son in law walked off with it. Anyway, I don't know what the difference in the coils is, it would not seem that strato would require anything different. If I had to guess it would be that the newer coil may be rev limited, but again that's just a guess. Even a slightly different terminal would likely cause a different part number, so it may not be a functional difference at all.
 
Speaking about ignition, I decided to do an experiment. The engine that ended up in this saw was an attempt to get more radical in modification - the ports were wider and the port timing longer, the carb larger and I advanced the ignition by 6[SUP]o[/SUP]. The engine was not in perfect shape, but not bad either. But I can't help noticing that my other similar saw with an untouched PP260 in perfect shape runs better with only a muffler mod. It's still got the steel insert in the exhaust port.

So I decided to knock the ignition timing back to stock. I had several unmodified flywheels, one of which is Phelon branded, along with a Phelon coil. I had never seen one of these before, all the ones I worked with were Walbro units. The flywheel is different, with fewer, but wider blades. So I stuck all the Phelon stuff on, and I'd have to say it runs better.

Now a couple of degrees of advance (about 3[SUP]o[/SUP]) have definitely helped a couple of my other saws, the latest being my Earthquake. Although I broke the number one rule of troubleshooting (changed more than one thing at a time), I'd pretty convinced the stock timing is better on this saw. It has more torque now, and the top end is certainly no worse. Without a dyno this is all guess work, you just have to go with how it feels, but I'd say 6[SUP]o[/SUP] is too much for this engine.

My thoughts now are not to bother with timing advance unless there is a problem with throttle response or it just won't rev - that was the Earthquake even after mods, and the spark advance fixed that. Here, the throttle response stock is fine.
 
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Woodheat, sorry if you've already addressed this question/idea ( just so many threads to keep track of around here)
wondering if you've hung a timing light on any of the saws to see what happens as it's revved?
I'm thinking that a shop vac or leaf blower could give an air blast on the jug if a person
were to want to run a saw with the recoil off (for a few mins)
to see the flywheel and some added markings.

Even a non-advancing ign should exhibit some tiny~ish shift
as the magnet speed increases with the revs.
The faster magnet passage should give a faster voltage rise vs any internal bleed off
and, who knows, could show a half degree or maybe a pinch more.

I would just set it up myself, but there are a lot of tools that I still haven't replaced
(when i had a breakin some years back)
because of not being very active in this stuff for a while (damned health issues)
and money just runs a bit tighter in recent years.

and yes, even I'm thinking of myself and saying..
"jeez the dude doesn't even have working timing light"
 
Looks to be pulling nicely.
Seems to plunge smooth, what chain are you running in this vid?

Has anyone tried a strato version of the 42cc yet?
I've ended up with a Craftsman version and the Wildthing version.
I believe both are around year 2007 models.
 
stato 42

Looks to be pulling nicely.
Seems to plunge smooth, what chain are you running in this vid?

Has anyone tried a strato version of the 42cc yet?
I've ended up with a Craftsman version and the Wildthing version.
I believe both are around year 2007 models.

I have several old style 42's and I'm just waiting for a new piston to put into my first strato 42. I'm in the process of putting a PP220 engine into a 2550t. Should have that back together in a day or two.

I sometimes find that all my time is taken up reading all the threads that I follow!! Good fun and I'm learning a bunch too

Regards,

Lee:msp_biggrin::msp_biggrin:
 
Woodheat, sorry if you've already addressed this question/idea ( just so many threads to keep track of around here)
wondering if you've hung a timing light on any of the saws to see what happens as it's revved?
I'm thinking that a shop vac or leaf blower could give an air blast on the jug if a person
were to want to run a saw with the recoil off (for a few mins)
to see the flywheel and some added markings.

Even a non-advancing ign should exhibit some tiny~ish shift
as the magnet speed increases with the revs.
The faster magnet passage should give a faster voltage rise vs any internal bleed off
and, who knows, could show a half degree or maybe a pinch more.

I would just set it up myself, but there are a lot of tools that I still haven't replaced
(when i had a breakin some years back)
because of not being very active in this stuff for a while (damned health issues)
and money just runs a bit tighter in recent years.

and yes, even I'm thinking of myself and saying..
"jeez the dude doesn't even have working timing light"
I thought about doing that, and on these saws you can see right into the flywheel with the recoil cover on and the top cover off. But the problem is I wouldn't know what to do with the absolute timing number even if I had it. I suppose if you measured enough saws and knew what advance setting (at rpm) worked best then you could use that to judge a particular saw. But this information is not commonly available, or as much discussed here on AS as is port timing. The module will do the same thing regarding advance vs. rpm, so I was just adding some relative additional advance, based on having tried to move the power peak up in rpm.

Here is a vid of it in some small Cypress you can hear the plug breaking down, it's no race saw but pull's well for such a little saw how small well here is a pic next to a 090
That sure seem to be cutting well, especially if it is only 36cc.

Pretty nice saw to use with the A/V system. I was using mine yesterday again, and it's running quite well too. One of these days I'm going to get around to popping the original smaller carb back on just to see how it compares. If the engine can't move the air to make use of the larger carb, it could be hurting performance.
 
Hi, The chain I got is a stihl chain I walked in the shop said need a chain to fit this the numbers on the box are 3613 52DL 3/8 050 EP I dont know much about little chain and dont know what the numbers mean but its not safty chain and is semi chisel..........also I measured the bore its 41mm.....cheers
42cc :msp_biggrin:
 

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