Should I 346XPify my 350?

I have a Husky 350 I picked up cheap a couple years ago, before I knew much of anything about chainsaws. It's in good shape overall, but often seemed to struggle a bit when cutting. Now that I've got some saw wrenching experience under my belt, I finally got around to taking a closer look at it. Turns out the piston is lightly scored on the exhaust side, and compression is barely 120psi. So, what to do with it? How often can low compression be cured cheaply with a cleanup job and new rings? How much better would it be to go for an aftermarket 346xp top end instead?

 

They made 3 different 350's that I know of.
What style is yours?
Open port? or quad port with transfer covers?
Piston flat top? Or dished EPA 45mm?

 

I haven't pulled the top end yet. Any easy way to tell from the outside?

 

Paging nmurph to FHC... nmurph to FHC please

 

I think it's a flat-top piston, from looking in the plug hole.

 

Should be a # stamped on the top of the jug. a 44 or 45 IIRC... Also, if it is the quad port version, there should be upper transfer port covers screwed to each side of the jug.

 

Ah, well that's easy. It says 45L on top, and there are indeed covers screwed to each side of the jug.

 

Took a few tries to get a good pic, but here it is. It's a little worse than I remembered. The scoring is all up near the top of the piston; the lower area visible at TDC is pretty clean.

 

That ain't that bad bro... I'd follow Dex's advice.. Clean any transfer off the jug and replace the piston and ring.. Make sure it's not an EPA dished piston. When you put her back together, be mindful of any possible issues like air leaks that could have led to the lean condition in the first place.. 350's are real runners when done right..

 

I like that plan. I've never attempted cylinder cleanup before. Wasn't there a video going around here recently of a non-chemical approach?

 

A little tidbit of info...
I have done a cylinder swap between saws in "the field" that had some transfer on the "good" cylinder...
Saw still runnin today.. So just clean it up best you can, and make sure she's runnin' a little fat the first tank or 2...
Randy has done it non chem..
I've only used acid, or nothing at all..

 

Looks like the Meteor 45mm piston runs about $40 shipped, which I can certainly live with. Any thoughts on whether a Caber ring is $6 better than the standard Meteor ring?

 

HUGE fan of the 350 !!!!

 

There is a 350 for sale now that has a 346 top end on it. Not real sure how it works but I have been intrigued by it a few times and have went back and looked at the add more than once. Always wanted a 346Xp, how close does this swap make it to a 346 and would you buy one that someone has done this to?

 

That's hard to say...
I wouldn't be scared of it at all, but if there were something I didn't like, I'd just change it...
I have seen 350's in the right hands, that would give a 346 all it wanted in a race though...

 

These saws are notorious for intake boot leaks. That's is what killed my 351 which became a 346xp. The fix is a simple hose clamp, Husky and Stihl both have them.

Not sure if that is your problem, but certainly a place to inspect closely.

I believe 350 to 346xp top end requires mods as its not a 1:1 bolt in replacement. 351 was, 350 I don't think that is the case. One of the builders would know this.