What's the biggest USA made Stihl?

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sawfun said:
Check out the Poulan 455 & 655 which are Pioneer saws. Those came with chainbrake or brake provisions. However they are an old saw from the 80's.
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Thanks for all the info, gentlemen! I went ahead and checked out both of those models and they're made by our good friends in Canada, which is good enough for me. They seem pretty few and far between on eBay, so I'll keep my eyes open for a decent one.

Sawtroll, thanks for sharing your knowledge of Stihl saws. I'm the same with Ford parts interchange info as you are with motor-saw info, so I can really appreciate you taking the time to learn it all.
 
That is a 2006 4.6 liter 3V with VCT. Put a Whipple Intercooled SC on it, runs like an old fashion big block, but gets good mileage also. Has over 117,000 on it, and has been the most reliable car I have ever owned. (Has 530 Hp).

Back in the day, I stuck a 427 Ford Engine (66 Side Oiler) in a 70 Boss 302 body. I called it the "real" Boss Mustang! The 2006 feels a lot like it. Also had a 428, 410 and several 390s.

I believe the 427 Ford Engine is the only engine that competed successfully in Drag Racing (MT Funny Car that broke the 200 MPH barrier), Stock Car Racing, and won the 24 hours of Lemans (Actually finished 1,2 & 3 in 1966). Ford built a dual overhead cam version for stock car racing, but it was banned after it won it's first race!

My little 4.6 has cross bolted mains, just like the 427s had. Took a long time for that to come back!
 
Surely, the 1966 and 1967 Le Mans GT40s had the 427 - I didn't know that before I just looked it up! The engines were much smaller in 1968 and 1969 - but they still won!
 
MustangMike said:
You are correct on the displacement Troll, I must have glanced at the 311, but the 362 has more Hp, and that was the original question. Since it is the same wt as a 311, I wonder why stihl does not put that jug on a 362??? Would be a nice displacement for the wt.

My 362 is made in USA, but they are also made in Germany. Not sure if any Stihl saws are just made in the USA.

SN starting with 1 is Made in Germany. SN starting with 2 is Made in USA.
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Those are not the only numbers and places that Stihl makes saws though. SN starting with a 3 are Made in Brazil. SN starting with a 4 are Made in China (Mainland China).

As far as putting a 311 or 391 engine on a 362? Are you kidding? Those are clamshell engines in plastic saw bodies. Homeowner boat anchors...

Hi Troll!
 
windthrown said:
Those are not the only numbers and places that Stihl makes saws though. SN starting with a 3 are Made in Brazil. SN starting with a 4 are Made in China (Mainland China).

As far as putting a 311 or 391 engine on a 362? Are you kidding? Those are clamshell engines in plastic saw bodies. Homeowner boat anchors...

Hi Troll!
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Lol, I've seen crazier things done, once I saw a guy from Enumclaw Wash make a saw out of a V8 buick aluminum block.
 
SawTroll said:
Surely, the 1966 ans 1967 Le Mans GT40s had the 427 - I didn't know that before I just looked it up! The engines were much smaller in 1968 and 1969 - but they still won!
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Things changed a lot in those years.
GT40s first year wasn't so good. It was the first year. The driver that was told to flog the Ferraris was driving for Enzo when the fords first won.
And the 917s were great after a bad start in 69. One was even licenced for the road in the US. Without a title.
 
Stihl 041S said:
Things changed a lot in those years.
GT40s first year wasn't so good. It was the first year. The driver that was told to flog the Ferraris was driving for Enzo when the fords first won.
And the 917s were great after a bad start in 69. One was even licenced for the road in the US. Without a title.
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Can Am series, 1100 hp or so in that 917 Turbo (likely not the road car).
 
As far as I know, the 310 was the only Stihl chainsaw made only in the US, maybe the 290 as well - but I'm not sure about that. The only saw from that "family" that was sold here was the 390 Farm Boss. I don't think they sold many though, despite they really dumped the price at the end....
 
Personally, I prefer the "big sixes" but my current car, and the one before it, have neat little motors that I can't say anything bad about. 4.6 liter, 2 valve made at the former tractor plant in Romeo MI. Iron block, unlike many of the Mustang and Exploder engines of the same displacement. I've heard of people finding ways to put 3 or 4 valve heads, or Tecomec blocks, in Crown Vics, but it's not a very straightforward process.

A friend has 650,000 on one and has never had occasion to take it apart. Have heard many, many similar stories. Not so much for the truck-application 4.6 and its larger brother the 5.4, seems Ford tried to outdo perfection and ended up with a boat anchor that is not quite as reliable as people had come to expect from a Ford truck engine. 4.9 big six for the win!

As far as chainsaws are concerned, don't worry Windthrown, I'm not remotely interested in any "happy homeowner" saws. Keeping my eyes open for a Poulan 455 or 655, in the meantime, I have some work to do with some of my existing saws. 036 needs a new top end and recoil rope, and I recently inherited an 009L that needs demons exorcised. When I got the 009, I found my uncle had put the bar on top of the tensioner (not in the hole) and must have cranked the bar nut down with an impact wrench or something. I found the tensioner and a good-sized chunk of magnesium in the oil tank... and the inspection went downhill from there. But I'll get it going, somehow or another.
 
Troll, the early GT-40s had 289s, but they were not "gettin it done" till Ford put the 427s in them.

Technology has come a long way to getting more power from less cubes, but "back in the day", size really mattered.

The bid advantage the 427 Ford had on the Hemi and canted valve big block Chevys of the day was durability. It had cross bolted mains and a side oiler block (all oil went to the bearings, you could not run a hydraulic cam). If the competition tried to match (or beat) the performance of the Ford, they blew up. The huge tunnel port heads had a sleeve for the push rod in the middle of the intake port.
 
MustangMike said:
Troll, the early GT-40s had 289s, but they were not "gettin it done" till Ford put the 427s in them.

Technology has come a long way to getting more power from less cubes, but "back in the day", size really mattered.

The bid advantage the 427 Ford had on the Hemi and canted valve big block Chevys of the day was durability. It had cross bolted mains and a side oiler block (all oil went to the bearings, you could not run a hydraulic cam). If the competition tried to match (or beat) the performance of the Ford, they blew up. The huge tunnel port heads had a sleeve for the push rod in the middle of the intake port.
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But the side oiler wasn't the motor Shelby wanted when he started.
GM didn't want to play ball
 
Stihl 041S said:
But the side oiler wasn't the motor Shelby wanted when he started.
GM didn't want to play ball
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You are talking about when he first brought the AC Cobra over from England, he wanted a GM small block, but ended up with a Ford small block instead (260, then 289). Had nothing to do with the 427 side oiler, which was in a limited # of AC Cobras the last two years of production. Since the AC Cobra's main attribute was light weight, and the small block Ford was lighter than the GM counterpart, it was likely a lucky accident.
 
MustangMike said:
You are talking about when he first brought the AC Cobra over from England, he wanted a GM small block, but ended up with a Ford small block instead (260, then 289). Had nothing to do with the 427 side oiler, which was in a limited # of AC Cobras the last two years of production. Since the AC Cobra's main attribute was light weight, and the small block Ford was lighter than the GM counterpart, it was likely a lucky accident.
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You got it right.
Thanks.
He was such a character.
Always on the hustle.
 
My favorite story on him is when he had to have 500 GT-350s built to race them. He didn't. So, when they came to inspect, he filled the parking lot with Mustangs, with a row or two of GT-350s up front. They never checked the cars in the back, and he was given permission to race!

While the GT-350 was a real enhanced performer, the GT-500 was mostly a joke. All except the KR models (a few made in 68) were 428 PI engines, which had 390 (not 428 CJ) heads. They could barely handle one 4 barrel carb, putting dual 4s on them was a joke, but it sold cars. A lot like Stihl putting Magnum stickers on a lot of their saws.
 
MustangMike said:
My favorite story on him is when he had to have 500 GT-350s built to race them. He didn't. So, when they came to inspect, he filled the parking lot with Mustangs, with a row or two of GT-350s up front. They never checked the cars in the back, and he was given permission to race!

While the GT-350 was a real enhanced performer, the GT-500 was mostly a joke. All except the KR models (a few made in 68) were 428 PI engines, which had 390 (not 428 CJ) heads. They could barely handle one 4 barrel carb, putting dual 4s on them was a joke, but it sold cars. A lot like Stihl putting Magnum stickers on a lot of their saws.
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He had to marry one wife when she found out the engagement ring was Cubic Zirconia.
And taking the one Cobra he had built and painting it different colors so backers would think he had more built.
And others........lol
 
Yea, the different color was also in different magazines, making it look like there were several of them.

And then when he had the heart transplant, and a friend had a kidney transplant, he said they were just like the old cars they used to build with parts from the junkyard!
 

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