Well boys, I'm still on a saw rebuilding/modding kick. A couple of weeks ago, my brother and I went to our local Husky dealer who has been in business for well over 30 years, a true dealership not a box store..
Anyway, he has this big shelf packed full of old dead saws and Josh and I got permission to rummage through the pile and see if there is anything of interest to take home and rebuild. All of my main saws are 300 series and I kind of wanted to get a good 200 series to play around with and something in a size I don't already have. Josh picked up a 375K cutoff saw top end (75cc) to swap onto his 372xp X-Torq for 40 bucks. So he was happy. While he was pulling the top end off that cutoff saw, I found some interesting stuff, a 2100 complete with 32" B&C, 254xp, 262xp, 266xp, 268xp, about three 359 and one 357xp... then I found what I HAD to have... A 100% complete 242xp! The 242xp is a 42cc, pro-grade, mag case constructed saw and has been out of production for quite a while now but it has a cult following and clean runners often bring north of $300 for prices. The reason for this is as stated, small 42cc displacement being an "XP" and all of the benefits that brings. This is the smallest XP Husky has made to date that is not a top handle type climbing saw. They also boast some pretty impressive numbers in stock form, most interesting being a max rated RPM of 15.5k no load (this is higher than ANY Husky made too date) adjustable oiler (also very uncommon on saws in this size class today). I have been wanting a sub-45cc, pro-grade saw for awhile now and once I discovered the little hotrod that is a Husky 242xp it has been something I've been keeping an eye out for.
Now the downside, some parts for these saws are now NLA, most importantly being OEM piston, cylinder, and PTO side crank bearing which is a special proprietary bearing that has a seal pressed into it. This makes it a challenge but one well worth taking on going by the reviews of other 242xp owners out there. Now there are SOME aftermarket solutions for piston and cylinder kits and unfortunately the best AM option is no longer producing top end P&C kits. There are a few out there on ebay right now and I plan on ordering one this week. There are a couple other options out there but the quality is very hit and miss with those kits. Now the PTO bearing in my saw seems to be in VGC so I lucked out there. The only option I have there is a crank bearing from a Stihl 020AV that has the same bearing with the exception of a snap ring groove cut into the outer race. There are a handful of these left kicking around and I plan to grab at least one for a rainy day.
So all of that said, I got the complete powerhead for $60. The piston is scored on the exhaust side indicating a lean condition and burn down. Really happy with that as my fellow saw enthusiasts say I did VERY well to get it for that price.
Here is what it looked like when I got it home.