squidtamer
New Member
First post. I'm just a 55 year old home owner with some property. Not a collector or day to day user. Had both my old saws go 'missing' during a move we made when a few garage boxes vanished. Lost a vintage Poulan and a super reliable little Husqy. Very sad but we used the insurance $ to buy a tiller, and a decent used chipper.
Got a saw for free off one of the new neighbors when we moved in, finally getting around to resurrecting it. ~2010 craftsman 358.351901 Came with a factory 18" Intenz bar that just doesn't seem to hold tension worth a darn.
saw has other issues with the carb and fuel system, but I'm almost done with that. Rebuilt numerous 2 cycle carbs in my days and this Zama seems easy to work with. Blasted out the carb (looked great but diaphram was a little bit stiff) Got the motor running today, hopefully just needs some tuning to stop smoking on 1/2 choke and get it to not die on no choke. Otherwise it's carb parts kit time.
Is there a way to convert this thing back to a normal tensioning system, or even that late 90s/early 00s tension wheel thingy? I've done a good bit of searching all over the net but I cannot seem to find an equivilent 42cc saw with "normal" tensioning that has the same parts from parts sites, etc. Sears sold a 358.350990 that had that "wheel" tensioning system (Tool less chain tensioning system like a PP 545027703 cover) the year before this model I have (2009) but that's as close as I've come to figuring this out. If I understand newer poulan numbers it would have been a saw like PP4218AV or PP4218AVX maybe? Neither seems like exactly what I'm looking for.
One of the other neighbors has bet me his dead late 90s Jonesred 2077 that I cant make this thing run and work. (City boys can't fix things he says) He says it's missing a few bolts but "used to run well". heh. Probably worth the effort I would guess, but I've never even seen a Jonesred. I'm only out a case of beer if I fail, and I DO need a saw either way. Couple acres I need to clear over the next couple months. I get the impression that both neighbors tinkered with this in the past.
Thoughts? I'd love some guidance on a conversion.
Got a saw for free off one of the new neighbors when we moved in, finally getting around to resurrecting it. ~2010 craftsman 358.351901 Came with a factory 18" Intenz bar that just doesn't seem to hold tension worth a darn.
saw has other issues with the carb and fuel system, but I'm almost done with that. Rebuilt numerous 2 cycle carbs in my days and this Zama seems easy to work with. Blasted out the carb (looked great but diaphram was a little bit stiff) Got the motor running today, hopefully just needs some tuning to stop smoking on 1/2 choke and get it to not die on no choke. Otherwise it's carb parts kit time.
Is there a way to convert this thing back to a normal tensioning system, or even that late 90s/early 00s tension wheel thingy? I've done a good bit of searching all over the net but I cannot seem to find an equivilent 42cc saw with "normal" tensioning that has the same parts from parts sites, etc. Sears sold a 358.350990 that had that "wheel" tensioning system (Tool less chain tensioning system like a PP 545027703 cover) the year before this model I have (2009) but that's as close as I've come to figuring this out. If I understand newer poulan numbers it would have been a saw like PP4218AV or PP4218AVX maybe? Neither seems like exactly what I'm looking for.
One of the other neighbors has bet me his dead late 90s Jonesred 2077 that I cant make this thing run and work. (City boys can't fix things he says) He says it's missing a few bolts but "used to run well". heh. Probably worth the effort I would guess, but I've never even seen a Jonesred. I'm only out a case of beer if I fail, and I DO need a saw either way. Couple acres I need to clear over the next couple months. I get the impression that both neighbors tinkered with this in the past.
Thoughts? I'd love some guidance on a conversion.