Yard sale 268 xp

[cranman1951]

Morning friends....yesterday a friend called that a yard sale had a 268xp Husky the next town over for $100. I booked there and got it for $60. All there with a small recoil issue. I swapped the recoil to one from a 61 just to try the saw out, and found the compression ( according to the new gauge I bought with the shrader valve near the top) is somewhat weak....115 lbs. Wouldn't fire on carb cleaner. The spark is somewhat intermittent, as It seems hard to get the plug to fire unless I really work to get it grounded on the head with a lot of scraping it good. I'll pull the muffler next to inspect the piston . If I have to replace the piston/cylinder assembly, any drawbacks to buying the 272 top end as I seem to remember that it would fit.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

You got yourself a good backbone for a project and you are not too deep in from the get go. $60 is probably fair for what you have.

Yes, sure, you can upgrade for a 272 top end- but you might make a nice 268 for the cost of a set of piston rings, or maybe a piston and rings.
I work on if it is OEM and not broke- don't cheap out replacing stuff you don't need to, often to be let down when dreamed of gains are not there in the end. OEM 268 will more often than not be better than AM 272.
If it were my yard sale find, I would be splitting cases and starting from the crank up. It has "issues" and if the compression is due to wear not misuse, the spark is faulty coil not wire chaffing- odds are the rest is getting pretty tired.

 

[Cantdog]

We all know bigger is better.....right? However even when dealing with OEM components you will be hard pressed to tell any difference between the two. They both tune to the same max rpm so cut speed will be very very close.........where you can see the difference is when you go above 24" bar length and use the entire length in the cut. A 272 will pull a 28 or even a 32 better than the 268XP....but really when you need to haul a 32" or better you should move on up to 80-90cc saw anyway.
If the 268xp cyl will clean up a new Meteor and set of Cabers will get you back in business (top end wise) for under $40.00 Of course if you do any of it I would suggest new seals and an oil o-ring so you have a good tight crankcase....cheap insurance.......

 

[awful knawful]

Love my 268xp. It's a runner

 

[cranman1951]

I haven't looked in the cylinder yet, but I'm leaning on keeping it stock unless the cylinder can't be saved...I'm guessing it can't be too bad with the compression it's showing.
Thanks for the replies!