Well, the the addiction has started. After buying my new MS290 less than two weeks ago, the bug has infected me. I have ordered a bunch of parts to revamp my 16 year old poulan, and been looking for a project 026. I wanted an 026, since that was the very first good chainsaw I have had experience with, when I was younger. I cut a ton of trees with my best friend that summer, and he is sadly, and tragically, not with us any more. I loved that 026, and it was his. I want to have a nice, working one, to remember him.
This morning, I came across a nice gentlemen selling an older 026 on c-list, and made an offer, to which he accepted. I made the drive, expecting a 14" bar (when I wanted a 16"), and to my surprise, it was a 16". It seemed to have good compression and ran fine once started (choke is inop for some reason). So, I brought it home!
First looks, I notice the air cleaner cover bolt is crooked for some reason, gonna have to look into that, and the choke does not engage with the lever, it just snaps back up. A brief look at the choke linkage, didn't reveal the issue yet. The bar nuts also seem to gouge the clutch cover to, for some reason....these older Stihl's use washers under the bar nuts?
So, I am headed out to tear it down and clean it up, and check it over. Anyone have a good way to brighten up this old yellowed Stihl white/gray plastic? It looks very oil stained and was wondering if there was a way to safely brighten it up? Any way to find out how old it is? The ANSI sticker number has a "1985" at the end, so I assume its around that age. Wow, a 28 year old saw?
Here are some before pics....
This morning, I came across a nice gentlemen selling an older 026 on c-list, and made an offer, to which he accepted. I made the drive, expecting a 14" bar (when I wanted a 16"), and to my surprise, it was a 16". It seemed to have good compression and ran fine once started (choke is inop for some reason). So, I brought it home!
First looks, I notice the air cleaner cover bolt is crooked for some reason, gonna have to look into that, and the choke does not engage with the lever, it just snaps back up. A brief look at the choke linkage, didn't reveal the issue yet. The bar nuts also seem to gouge the clutch cover to, for some reason....these older Stihl's use washers under the bar nuts?
So, I am headed out to tear it down and clean it up, and check it over. Anyone have a good way to brighten up this old yellowed Stihl white/gray plastic? It looks very oil stained and was wondering if there was a way to safely brighten it up? Any way to find out how old it is? The ANSI sticker number has a "1985" at the end, so I assume its around that age. Wow, a 28 year old saw?
Here are some before pics....