Husqvarna 444SG Restoration

[Sepia]

I got this saw about a year ago with the intention of restoring it to nice condition. I thought I would do a thread about the process and post a lot of pics with the idea that anyone in the future with one of these saw would have a good reference for wire routing and assembly. This saw was built in 1982. I completely disassembled it, cleaned everything, repainted the case and tank/handle, and replaced any worn or missing parts. BTW, finding parts for this model is no easy task, and I likely spent as much time searching for a few parts as I did actually working on the saw. And now some pics... all thumbnails - click to enlarge if you want.

 

[Sepia]

The flywheel has 2 keyway slots. One slot has a "P" above it, and that is the slot for a saw equipped with the blure Prufrex coil. The other slot is for the Bosch ignition system and for older saws with points type ignition.

 

[Sepia]

This saw came with the wrong coil. It had the Bosch system from a Husqvarna 44, rather than the Prufrex ignition it should have had originally. I did find a proper Prufrex coil to install.

 

[Sepia]

After many hours of cleaning all the small parts, plus cleaning/prepping/painting the case and tank handle, it was time for reassembly. These are not the easiest saws to assemble from scratch and I much prefer the 2 series Huskies to work on.

 

[Sepia]

More pics...

 

[Sepia]

and some more...

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

Super nice.
Wish I could find a similar clutch cover chain brake assembly for my 444SE- thats about all that is holding me back from having it in use again, but nowhere near as tidy as yours and no additional wiring.

 

[Sepia]

Super nice.
Wish I could find a similar clutch cover chain brake assembly for my 444SE- thats about all that is holding me back from having it in use again, but nowhere near as tidy as yours and no additional wiring.

I could look through my collection of parts and se what I have. I know I have clutch covers but I'm not sure about a complete cover/chainbrake assembly. I would imagine shipping to New Zealand from Kanada would be pricey though.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

I could look through my collection of parts and se what I have. I know I have clutch covers but I'm not sure about a complete cover/chainbrake assembly. I would imagine shipping to New Zealand from Kanada would be pricey though.

Indeed- it is the shipping that kills those kind offers, but thank you for the chance.
I have a complete cover and brake, but the cover is busted and 30-40% missing and the brake band is busted. I have 40-44 Practica's but they are brakeless. One day a nice one will show up here, they will be here- I just have to find one.

 

[computeruser]

Fantastic. Love that saw platform. So glad to see one cleaned up and made new(ish) again!