Homelite 7-21

[sean donato]

Figured I'd start a thread on this saw. Picked it and a sears/ David bradley off a guy from work for $20.00. They were his late fathers from what I'm told. Neither has been run in years.
Few issues I'm having. I've been looking all over for parts for the homelite. Seems the normal channels are pretty dried up. Leon's saw shop was reccomended and he doesn't have anything I need. Have reached out to a few forum member to see what I can find, but really what I'd like to know is if it's possible to convert this from the current 1/2 pitch chain to .404?
What other brand/model saws with the same mount ran .404?
Any info on the proper paint colors? Paint codes ect?
Anything in particular I need to know about this specific model?
Thanks in advance.

 

[67L36Driver]

@sawnami

 

[cbfarmall]

Any of the 7xx gear drives and Wiz saws (same configuration as your 7-21), 1130, 3100, 1100 saws. They will all have the sprocket you want. What's wrong with your chain? Chain in the picture looks to have lots of life and you are not likely to wear it out in this lifetime. New 1/2" gears are on Ebay. Most of the chassis parts are shared to some extent with other models. Top ends also are shared with a few other models. If your saw has good compression, you can move on from there. Seals are available, points and condensers available. The only tricky bit is the crank main bearing. Been obsolete for a long time. I have one NOS. The ball starters can be fun but that's the cost of these old saws.

 

[sean donato]

Any of the 7xx gear drives and Wiz saws (same configuration as your 7-21), 1130, 3100, 1100 saws. They will all have the sprocket you want. What's wrong with your chain? Chain in the picture looks to have lots of life and you are not likely to wear it out in this lifetime. New 1/2" gears are on Ebay. Most of the chassis parts are shared to some extent with other models. Top ends also are shared with a few other models. If your saw has good compression, you can move on from there. Seals are available, points and condensers available. The only tricky bit is the crank main bearing. Been obsolete for a long time. I have one NOS. The ball starters can be fun but that's the cost of these old saws.

Chain is rusted fast to its self. I have sprayed it up with trans fluid and acetone see if it will break free. I have my doubts. Rather have a replacement lined up in the mean time. The engine spins over decently, didn't bother checking compression, feels good. Im pretty confident it will run once it has spark again, well and a carb kit which I'm pretty sure I should have one on hand for it.

 

[sawfun]

You will probably need to soak it, rather than spray. Those old gear drives work well with 1/2". My Mac 895 seems to prefer it over 404. Thoughy old Mac 660 & C91g Homie did fine with 404, but that's how the came from the manufacturers.

 

[sean donato]

I got the chain off the chain off the bar and managed to get it to move a bit. Got it in a tub soaking for now. Doesnt have to be great, just has to go around the bar.
Got the fan shroud off and flywheel off to get into the points and check out the damage to the high tension lead. Seems the high tension lead is potted in the coil. Plan 2. Got out the heat shrink tubing. I have a pretty decent assortment. Saved what i could of the original insulation and layered heat shrink on the rest.
Checked out the points. Eh.. they've seen better days but hey, gave them a file. Set them put it all back together. Sans fuel tank. Hooked my drill up to it. I'll be darned it gots fire! Couldn't help myself. Got out the squirt bottle of premix and gave it a shot down the carb. She actually fired up for a bit. Gave me a bit of enthusiasm for this project.
The tank is a mess and the fuel line was solid full of gunk from the tank to the carb. The in tank line is shot. And the clunk has separated from the fuel line. Should be fun fishing that out.

 

[sean donato]

Small update. I managed to locate a guy thay had a bunch of reel ends of 1/2 pitch chain, and a handful of tie straps. Cost me nearly $100.00 for every thing, but i have more then enough to make a chain.
I did manage to get the original chain mostly freed up. Got a handful of links that seem to refuse to want to move. It's soaking in evaporust. See what that does for it.
The fuel tank... it's really bad inside. Truthfully I want to take it to work and toss it in one of the parts washers, but I'm afraid that will eat the paint off the outside of the tank. Still haven't managed to get the clunk fished out either. Just a poor design for fishing something out. I'll get it out one way or another.