Homelite Zip chainsaw

[HUSKYMAN]

Hey you Homelite experts out there, just went to a yard sale and picked up a late 50's (I think) Homelite Zip. It looks very good, the paint is a nice lite blue and you can see the "zip" logos very well, all the starting instructions are legible and the serial number is B 2054997. I think it has a 16" bar, currently it has a Stihl .404 chain on it, and the guy gave me and extra chain that has 10l on the drive link and the side of the chain has what looks like an upright 7 and an upside down 7 back to back. Any idea as to horsepower, cubic inches, etc? The guy says he had it running last year and it has compression and turns over well. I got it so cheap it did not matter whether it runs or not! Also I got a nice running XL2 for $25.00. Not a bad day. Lastly please advise what fuel mix to run in this beast since i do not want to burn it up the first time it runs. I will be using Husqvarna oil and was thinking going 25:1 OR 32:1. Or should I go 16:1? This is my first resto job so I want to do it right. Thanks in advance

 

[homelite360]

i have one of them homelite zip saws. but homelite recomends that you should run 12oz of oil to 1 gal. thick as syrup. but i run mine at 16:1 and it runs jsut fine. they will run upwards to a 24" bar. if i am thinking right they are round 50cc or a bit more. not sure on the hp rating but they were snotty.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Cripes I am not a math expert but what is that, like 12:1? Homelite360 what type of chain does yours have?

 

[homelite360]

yeah it is actually it is like 10.75:1 but i have a .375 chain on mine. Check that chain again you might actually have a 7/16" pitch chain on her. if that is the case you could get away with a 404 chain but it will not be as nice. but with the 7/16" chain they haven't made that in 25-30 years. hey would you be intrested in selling that old homelite??

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Not at this time as it is my first project and I would like to see it through. My brother inlaw spotted it for me and was kicking himself for not having the cash to get it himself. I fired it up last night and it ran pretty well, I think it has a small gasket leak in the carb because I have to keep the choke on a little bit to keep it running, but I had her revved up and tested it on a pine log. How do I tell if it has 7/16 chain? that would be nice if that was the case. The muffler is nothing but a spark screen and is this baby LOUD. Is that how yours is? I had a headache in two minutes

 

[HomeDelight Man]

Hi there Huskyman, Your Zip is a good old saw. 4.7 cubic inches of cutting power. 16"-30" bar capacity running .404" pitch chain. Your saw probally has the .404" chain if it is made by Stihl, Stihl never made 7/16" chain. That # 10 chain sounds like it is 1/2" full chisel, which is worth a small fortune to the hotsaw guys, including me. Max RPM is 6000 under load. Power head weights in at 18 pounds 7 ounces. 16:1 is probally your best bet with this monster. 45 oz. gas tank for super long cut times. I love those old mufflers it is cast into the cylinder, awesome. Where hearing protection Ouch! Let us know how she runs when you get it dailed in. Good Luck, Jonathan PS mine runs .404" chain also.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Hey Jonathan I actually have two chains, one is a Stihl .404 for sure it says it right on the side. The other is not on the saw and has the 10L on the drive link. Also the upside down 7's I described could be a "z". I have it running and can cut with it but I need to get the carb dialed in and it may have a carb gasket leak as it will not run without the choke on partially. I cant remember abuot measuring pitch you have to measure two drive links and divide by two or something. The second chain is at least as big as the .404.

 

[homelite360]

to determine what pitch chain you have take the chain and lay it flat. then pick out any three rivits in a row * * * and measure from the center of the first to the center of the thrid. then you take that measurement and divide it by 2. so if you measure .750 that would be a 3/8" chain or .808 that would be a 404 and .876 would be a 7/16" chain and so on. but yes my zip is one loud bastard. it is almost as loud as my McCulloch 200. but i paid 50 for mine but it runs great and looks just as good. i went out this morning and started her for the first time in a month and she roared to life in about 6 or 7 pulls. have fun with your homelites.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

It is not 1/2", it is 7/16, which is still great. Any idea where I can get a set of gaskets to fix the carb air leak?

 

[HomeDelight Man]

Any good saw shop would probally have gaskets for that Big unit in stock. Call around, if not www.mfgsupply.com has them for like $5 bucks. Jonathan

 

[mbopp]

Manufacturers Supply lists carb gaskets, a .404 sprocket, starter springs, and a few other items on their website. Oregon lists a 21" bar and .404 chain.

I have my dad's old blue Zip, 1960-ish. It has a 20" bar and .375 chain. After talking with Homelite and Pennzoil, I run the 16:1 mix. Yes, the muffler is just a screen over the exhaust port. The saw is heavy and loud, but you can cut damn near all day on one tank of gas! I did manage to find a NOS starter cup at a dealer years ago, along with the muffler screen.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Well the gas tank holds like half a gallon! Any ideas on how to clean out the carb without removal or do i need to bite the bullet and take her off. The saw has the carb settings on the side, based on your guys experience are they pretty accurate and a good starting point?

 

[homelite360]

to clean the carb i hate to inform you that you will have to take it off. be glad that it is not a proter cable chain saw. those take 45-60 minutes just to take the carb off and you need to special bend a set of wrenches for that job. but it should not be that hard to take the carb off. but my question for you is: are all of us homelite guys converting a husky man over to the better brand??

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Well I have always been fond of homelites, my first taste of two stroke gold was on a super ez automatic. Plus Husky has not been making saws long enough to restore any antiques. With the current pathetic state of homelite my clear cut choice for everyday use is husqvarna. All of mine are great saws and I have a good dealer here.

 

[homelite360]

see there is a homelite man inside of every husky man but that is good that you will give other brands a chance besides those close minded sthil people. but my first touch of gold was a homelite 360 professional. it has a 18" on her and she didn't take no for an answer. it was my grnadfathers saw and now i have it. keep them homelites running

 

[McC]

oil mix

Back to the oil mix question, I use a good quality 2 stroke oil that is designed to mix at 50/1. I mix it 40/1 and have never had any problem running it in any of my old 2-strokes. That includes my Mall model 7 and all my other old saws and 1960's snowmobiles. The original mixing instructions were for use of straight 30 weight motor oil, so they had to use mixtures such as 16/1. The new oils are much more complex and efficient. The old engines seem to run a lot better with this new mix, and spark plugs last a long time.

 

[homelite360]

hey scott -
do you like to replace pistons with holes burnt through them?? one of the other reasons why the older saws used such a heavy mix was to keep the combustion temps lower. running them at 40:1 will shorten their life span exponentionaly.

 

[McC]

fuel mix

I've never had to replace a piston with a hole in it. The only way I know of to raise combustion temp, is to lean your fuel to air mixture. If running a higher fuel to oil mix such as 40 or 50 to 1 increases combustion temp., then why can a newer engine get by with it. The old and new pistons are made with the same material, (aluminum). I just got done running my Mall this weekend with 40/1, made about 20 cuts through 15" wood. I can still start it with my foot, snap starting by the flywheel. I've run the saw for about 5 years with this mix, just keep your carb setting right to keep the correct comb. temp.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

The difference isnt in the pistons but the cylinder walls and rings. The old saws had cast iron cylinders and rings, while the newer saws have much harder chrome and niCasil cylinders and hardened rings. You must be running a high quality oil to not have experienced any additional wear. What kind are you using?

 

[McC]

oil

I have been using 50/1 snowmobile oil in all my old 2-stroke engines 20 years, which is how long I have been collecting old snowmobiles. Most of them are from the mid sixties, and call for 20/1 oil mix. I almost always use an oil from a major snowmobile manufacturer such as ski-doo or Polaris. My thoughts on this subject were confirmed recently by an article on oil mixing in Vintage Snowmobile magazine, in an interview with Don Schultz, a retired oil and fuel expert who worked in the John Deere snowmobile program, and recently retired after 16 years at Mercury Marine. He tells that the additives used in todays 2-stroke oils allow for leaner oil mixes in fuel. He tells that 20/1 was really intended to protect engines in a worst case scenario: sloppy pre-mix with a non-detergent motor oil. Also, there may have been specific cases of a bad engine design that really needed 20/1, but those engines have most likely failed by now. Don suggests looking for the top rating today of TC-W3, which is an industry standard rating. I'll keep mixing at 40/1, It has worked for me for 20 years with no failures.