OK you asked for more build threads

How about converting a Solo 665 to a 681? No tricks just a conversion.

 

Great idea, Mr KRL....... You are the person that introduced the Solo 665 to us members and to followup with a thread that provides more cc's would be great! Big thumbs up.....

 

Well, I am planning to do another on CR geared toward the folks there. Dolmar 6400 (new) from Nate Vansickle. Turn it into a 681 including the stroked crank, because I have 1 crank in stock and am expecting another soon. Still going to be a bit because, I am working on the shop floor and will be away next week.

It would be easier for me to just do one and post both places, let me know your thoughts.

 

Actually, a more useful thread may be tunring a Makita/Dolmar 6400 OP into a CP 665 or 681 because there are lots of different ways to accomplish it, depending on what you have and the $ you have to spend.

And I am sure I could find a Makita 6401 used on the cheap!

 

I agree Dex, Randy does great threads and builds but seldom are they geared for someone just starting out or who does not have a desire to start grinding away. So this would provide the basics of how a saw comes apart, can be modified and put back together. Just for those folks wanting to move a little ways beyond hacking a hole in their muffler. Not to mention that it may turn out to be a primer to them doing major repairs to their own saw. Everyone has to start somewhere, however if no one shows them how they are stuck.

 

Sounds like a great idea, then sell it to me.I can do top ends, but can't find 665 or 681.

 

AFAIK there really are no more in the USA, I purchased the last of them. There might be some on dealers shelves but you would have to search them out, and Solo USA is of chit help there, nice people but they don't know. The saws were still available in Europe a while back so eBay UK or the like might turn something up.

Turning a 665 into any of the others is as simple as a top-end swap. However turning the Makita/Dolmar into a Solo is a little different, because the Solo has a 1mm stroked crank and the Dolkitas do not so you cannot just swap out the C/P you also need to split the case and install the Solo crank. You can still buy the stroked crank as a spare part for $300 or so.

In another post MikefromMaine pointed out that the $859 on Amazon was not a bad deal because no porting is necessary and the stroked crank is already in the saw which really makes the thing a bargain. You can run it while your house is being built and convert to larger displacement at a later date.

 

If you're interested in a swap, look me up.

 

A great idea for a thread.

I agree that my threads are not geared to help the guy that just wants to learn how to swap parts.

Here's my bench as of a half hour ago........MS261 top ends everywhere.

 

Can I turn a 6400/6401 into a 7900 with a simple p&c swap? Are they just a little less torquey than a 665 or 681?

 

Yes and yes.

 

Yes you can, make sure you get the NEW 7900 C/P kit for a Dolmar. The kit comes with a new cylinder (decomp on the top and a new top cover to match along with the slab sided piston) and the new top cover is way more cool than the Makita, it is black and looks better IMHO than the gray. Yes the Dolmar will have a little less torque than the Solo 681 but it is still a 5CI saw!