The Fantastic '4'

[ted johnson]

Hi, Jeff. The 1000 - 1020 - 1050 series of Homelites seem to go great in vintage saw competition, so they/re getting harder to find. A tree had fallen on this one, so I had to find a crankcase. Hank Rotroff had a C-5 case, and kindly sent it to me. The C-5 has a shorter stroke, so I spent a lot of time relieving the case for the high strength rod bolts I found. I spent maybe 30 hours cutting, sawing, gnawing and sanding off all the chainsaw protrusions for the bar, handle, tank and oil reservoir, plus I had to hand make a cylinder shroud, modify the piston and make what Hank calls a "Johnson Ring" for the upper groove. I put a completely worn out ring in the bottom groove for less wall drag. Anyway, it was worth it-I actually think it'll run O.K. once the carb problems are solved.. Thanks to Acres Internet for all the specs. Thanks for the interest! Ted

[Jeff Campbell]

Ted,
So, how similar are the Homelite XP-1000 through XP-1120 motors to the KL-100 karting motors?

Jeff

[ted johnson]

Hi, Jeff. They're not really very similar. The KL100 had the cylinder twisted on the case like the 82 and 92, whereas the 1000 series is more like a Mac with the port transfer passages in line with the rod throw. The engine lays flat on the saw like a Mac does. They have 2 rectangular exhaust ports and a more traditional 2-screw exhaust stack. The transfer ports are about .438 square, and the passages have an actual inner closed off side like a Mac instead of the inside of the passage being the piston itself. They use a single pyramid reed, and it's a beast getting through that 1-1/2" Dia. hole to install the rod! The clutch hub screws onto the PTO of the shaft with a 1/2" L.H. thread, so you're forced to cut the saw sprocket off the drum and weld on a #35 sprocket. I do believe that the engine will run O.K. once the carb hassles are solved. If we can get that fixed, I may try to get the cylinder 9-ported and re-chromed/nickasiled. With the manifold I designed for the big Mac reed, there's plenty of intake area there. Anyhow, it was fun to build! Ted