Homelite 7-29 rehab

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That is one hell of a nice 7-29 you have there Chris, and I look forward to hearing more about the rebuild. The big old 7-29 / 8-29 saws are ones I would love to have in my collection one day.
The bar is also a great find - it really looks great.

Your 990G looks a treat as well,

Regards,

Chris.
 
Thanks for the nice words. I already have most of the parts on hand from Hawkins--main bearings, rod bearings, rings, seals. The one thing I am lacking--crank main bearing retaining ring--I could do without. In any case, I'll start assembly this weekend. Despite all this, my carburetor diaphragms are junk. I am working with Sugar Creek to get new ones cut. Ought to be like a new saw when I'm done. And yes, that bar is very nice. And so is the near new 9/16 chain.

I think I'm go to go peel all that friction tape off the handlebar.

That 990G was a labor of love. I just added a 9-26 to the line-up bringing my total to 3 9-series gear drives and 2 direct drives.

Chris B.
 
I'm guessing the main bearings ended up not being a standard size?

That 990G looks great out in the sun, but the 7-29 dwarfs it. I remember pics of some of the old-timers who were so big they made the 7-29 look like a toy.
 
JJ,

I don't know if they are standard sizes. I was able to find original Homelite parts quickly so I never bothered checking. The flywheel needles are Torrington and the crank main has a New Departure#.

Anyway, I took a few shots of the rotary intake valve and governor for those interested. The governor is a simple flyweight and spring system that appears to either restrict or retard the intake on the rotary valve assembly.

Here's the plate that seals the rotary valve to the flywheel half of the crankcase. It is stationary and fixed by 2 little pins.
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The rotary valve sits on this plate and is pushed tight against it by 3 springs that seat in the crankshaft counterweight. Thus it rotates with the crank against the fixed plate. You can see the governor spring that keeps the valve completely open at low RPMs. The centrifugal force rotates the flyweight around the pin (with the flathead screw) to limit RPMs. Not exactly what is going on with the timing at this point. I'm not a saw modder.
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Here's the crank sitting on the assembly. Lots of crankcase volume here. Might be some performance potential with a setup like this.
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It's not a complex setup but I wouldn't want to use a cheap spring in this situation.
 
Just a little bit of luck here. I was having trouble finding the upper rod bearings. So for giggles I googled the rod assembly part# (includes rod bearing) and found that Edge and Engine had it. For $15! Snatched it right up and hopefully it'll have the new upper bearings. Lots of new parts going into this saw.

I'm really getting excited as I get closer to pulling this saw back together.

Chris B.
 
Very nice. Have I seen that picture before? That advertising statement was true over 50 years ago, but not so true today. It may still hold the title for 'heaviest one-man saw you can own.' I've seen many advertisements for the 7-29 but none for the 8-29. Hmm.

Anyway, is it up for grabs? Would be a nice addition to any Homelite collection.

Chris B.
 
here is the same sign in a freinds saw shop.

it was put up there when that saw had just came out.

it still hangs there till today but he wont let it go.

it might just fall apart anyway :D


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I remember a banner just like this one on
ebay about a year ago for a hundred bucks.
I'm still kickin my butttttt hard for not hitting
the buy it now.


Lee

There was also a "Tournament of Kings" banner featuring the 750. I don't know if you saw that one. It had a buy-it-now of $125.00. Someone started bidding on it and it ended up going for $400.
 
Sweet old Homelite hotrod. The big American saws just have a feel you can't get from anything else. Not that it is necessarily better, just different. Turbo Porsches are astounding, but the I-felt-it-before-I-heard-it thump of a fat cam in a mountain motor hits the same nerves.
 
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There was also a "Tournament of Kings" banner featuring the 750. I don't know if you saw that one. It had a buy-it-now of $125.00. Someone started bidding on it and it ended up going for $400.

I didn't see that one.
But sure wish i did.
I'd a hit the BIN in a hurry.


Lee
 
There was also a "Tournament of Kings" banner featuring the 750. I don't know if you saw that one. It had a buy-it-now of $125.00. Someone started bidding on it and it ended up going for $400.

I've been looking for one of those too. Somewhere floatin around is a cool pic of a very young Wayne Sutton with a group standing in front of one of those banners.
 
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