First of all Hello everyone.

I just bought a FL350 Oddy this weekend. This is the first time I have ever seen one. I thought it was very cool, and it was reasonable so I figured I would buy it and work on it, as I am a gear-head. I performed a leak-down test and it held 10 psi for 30 minutes. I did a compression test and it came back at 50 psi. Horrible. I pulled the head and it is clean. The piston has a little bit of carbon on it. With the piston still in the cyclinder I turned the crank and it spun very easy. I then pulled the cylinder and the piston and cylinder are unmarred. I cleaned the piston (sticky film on everything). I measured the bore quickly with an inside-bore micrometer and came out to 3.157in (80.188mm If conversion is right) I am not really sure what direction to go from here.

Also the reads on the intake are a clear plastic and one side had a gap between it and the housing.

thank you in advance for any help.

Welcome to the site. First your gonna need to check the piston to bore and see if the reason for the low compression is too small of a piston or wore out rings and piston or bore. A new topend (piston,rings and bore will fix a low compression problem)

Saw you on the other board you will just need to go up to the next size piston which is 80.50 and bore the cylinder .004 bigger then the piston releave the exhaust bridge, drill cooling holes in the piston per wiescos instructions and reassemble

I wasn't sure which board would be the best to post.

When I take this to my shop and I tell them .045 piston clearance is that inches or mm?

mixing these things are going to drive me nuts.

That should be .004" (inches)

.045mm would equal just over .001"

Rand

Thank you

So I was looking at the piston while at work today and noticed there were cracks that ran from either side of the piston wrist pin up to the piston head.
Ill post a pic later
good thing I already dropped the jug off at the machine shop.

A cracked piston generally happens due to the piston to cylinder clearance is too great causing the piston to rock back and forth in the bore.

You will need to purchase a piston and then have the machine shop match the clearances to the piston you purchased.

Rand

So this is what I have come up with. Some one at one time rebuilt it. Whether it was an original 78.5mm bore or an 80mm bore I don't know. I do know that the cylinder is very shiny (well used). the piston is a STD. stamped piston. (80mm) with a "W" stamping on the bottom (my assumption it's a wiesco) I too the jug to the machine shop and they said to get get everything set correctly they would have to bore it 40 over (81 mm).

All in all the owner previous apparently never did any maintenance to the cart. So while the Engine is getting bored I can unseize the parking cable, clean the carb, unfreeze the shift lever, replace the couch foam in the airbox with a filter.

I don't get people thought of " drive it into the ground "

If you do regular maintenance on the top end you will generally be able to wear out 2 pistons per bore. After you wear out the 81.0mm bore then you can bore to 81.5 and then 82.0. Top end still has a lot of life left in it.

Rand

Sounds like you have a good handle on your buggy post up some pics.

It's all new to me but I am pretty mechanically inclined but still need help. Ill post pics tonight.

As in I have 2 questions.

the lower ball joints are bad what do I have to do to repair them?

the stud where the upper j-arm bolts to on the frame is bent causing a camber issue. anyone ever repaired/replaced them?

You'll have to do a search on the site for ball joints being replaced, there are a few posts regarding this, there is an outfit in AZ or NV if I remember

As for straightening out the J Arm sub...mine was actually bent in the middle so it was not running the bushings in line..the biggest pain was the threaded stud was bent out so it was almost impossible to torque down the J arm without causing binding

I did a beer inspired armstrong quick fix and it improved it somewhat...but I am sure it has been stressed enough it will break..on to A Arms then

Just FYI...by the time you get done with the ball joint and fixing the arm stub...you will be close enough in $ to have just swapped on TRX arms

I kinda figured that. I have been tryn to post pics but my computer is besing a butt head and not liking the SD card.
Just last night I bought a completed set of front control arms, hubs, disks, and calipers. (missing shocks) from a 400 ex. for $150.
thought I might do a conversion over the winter if it runs good. I just got the new piston today. cylinder should be bored by Friday, and reassembly begins. Do I drill the holes all the way through on the skirt?

Yes.

Rand

ok, anyone got suggestions on the best way to wash down the crankcase w/o removing the crank?

and what the best oil is to use in the crankcase and trans?


once again thank you to all

If we are talking about the inside of the crankcase.....

Fill the crankcase up with the 2 stroke gas/oil mix you will be using for riding. Rotate the crank for a few minutes and pour it out......repeat.....repeat.....repeat.

While you're doing this, pay attention to how smooth the crank rotates. If you can feel any type of grinding while rotating the crank, replace the bearings and seals.

The ballancer and transmission both take 10W-40. The crankshaft and the bearings themselves are lubricated by the 2 stroke gas/oil mixture you put in the gas tank.

Rand

OOPS! Double post! or should I say wrong topic.

Rand

Does your Ody have the straight or curved fin head?