026 base gaskets

[Stihlmill]

Porting is an art form, it can be anything from mild to way radical. I have done many and can dial in the engine to work best with the size and variety of wood being cut. For some its RPM and for others its torque, smaller trees and liming its speed that gets the work done, for bigger wood or hardwood a torque saw fits the bill better. As for modifications other than porting a few are opening up the muffler, dual port the muffler, bore the carb or switch to a bigger carb and intake boot, bigger diameter fuel line and pickup filter, advance the timing so the engine fires a bit sooner and sometimes I swap on a bigger cylinder and piston, the 44.7 mm is an easy swap.
I have never been a fan of using acid in a cylinder, metalworking sandpaper starting at 320 grit and working toward finer grit as most aluminum is removed until the cylinder is nearly cleaned, then finish up with brown Scotchbrite is a safe means, a bit slow for me but a safe bet for most.

Not to sound ignorant but isn't using sandpaper like running a stone hone through the cylinder? Doesn't sandpaper hurt the cylinder wall? I just took an MS290 apart tonight and that cylinder has a lot of transfer on the cylinder walls. A new cylinder would render the price to fix the saw at just about what he could have bought a new one for... I'll gladly try the sandpaper on my cylinder because it's really not that bad and I'm almost certain I could slap it back on with no work at all and it would be fine but I have a bit of an OCD thing where I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I didn't clean it up.
Mustang, I also have an 028WB and never really liked it that much. Not really sure why. It doesn't run for s#!+ now but I did let it sit for many many years. Probably needs the carb cleaned at the very least. I put a new bar and chain on and it cuts like a hot knife through warm butter even as terrible as it runs currently but my 026s always seemed to scream a lot more. Maybe the exhaust is blocked. I had the 026 I'm fixing now, another 026 and that 028 when I was a kid and obviously didn't know what I do now about them and recently the saw bug bit me in the a$$ and I'm into them pretty good so I suspect I'll get to that one after the 2 026s and the 039 are done. I've only ever gotten rid of one stihl saw I had, it was an older 032, and won't get rid of another. I have 10 now and will probably get more. The 026 pro I just got I really really like. At the moment it's between the 048 and the pro as my favorites. I want an 038 mag, maybe an ms362 and ms440 and an 064 and/or an 066 yet at least.

 

[Mustang71]

I'd really love an 038 mag. My 028 will hang right with my 290 with the 390 kit and a muffler mod. I haven't done a muffler mod yet to the 028 but I will when it gets a bit colder out. The 026 and 026 pro are the same saw the pro has an adjustable oiler. I like the 028 because I can still upgrade it to a super and get more power out of it. I'd buy an 026 if it were cheap but I don't need one. I stick to a muffler mod on all saws because it helps performance and lowers cylinder temp it's a win win situation.

I wouldn't buy a 362 because I have to many saws that size id get an 044 or 046 but I'm hoping for a decent 038 because they can be made into a mag and are a lot cheaper. I like the old school stihls. I'd take a white top husky 61 also.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Sandpaper does not hurt the cylinder wall, the cylinder lining is very hard. When others are using acid they also scuff off the softened aluminum with sandpaper, apply acid and scuff off more transfer. Repeat til ll the aluminum transfer is removed, if any little bit of transfer is left on the cylinder wall it will score the new piston quickly.

 

[Stihlmill]

I'd really love an 038 mag. My 028 will hang right with my 290 with the 390 kit and a muffler mod. I haven't done a muffler mod yet to the 028 but I will when it gets a bit colder out. The 026 and 026 pro are the same saw the pro has an adjustable oiler. I like the 028 because I can still upgrade it to a super and get more power out of it. I'd buy an 026 if it were cheap but I don't need one. I stick to a muffler mod on all saws because it helps performance and lowers cylinder temp it's a win win situation.

I wouldn't buy a 362 because I have to many saws that size id get an 044 or 046 but I'm hoping for a decent 038 because they can be made into a mag and are a lot cheaper. I like the old school stihls. I'd take a white top husky 61 also.

The guy I work with has an 038 mag red trigger west German saw and an 064 red trigger. He doesn't even care about saws like that just got lucky as hell I suppose when he picked them up. What exactly do you do to the exhausts on the saws? Is it the same procedure for every saw exhaust? I have enough saws lying around I'd definitely take a wack at trying it on one to see how it works.

 

[Stihlmill]

Sandpaper does not hurt the cylinder wall, the cylinder lining is very hard. When others are using acid they also scuff off the softened aluminum with sandpaper, apply acid and scuff off more transfer. Repeat til ll the aluminum transfer is removed, if any little bit of transfer is left on the cylinder wall it will score the new piston quickly.

So no matter how bad it is I don't need to use acid? Just sand the crap out of the areas until it disappears. On my 026 jug I can't even feel it with my finger it's that light. The 290 I took apart is pretty serious. I can certainly feel that. It had both rings melted to the piston. I wouldn't even consider using it it's that bad. Thanks

 

[drf255]

Use acid on a Q-tip.

Lightly sand, wipe with acetone and add acid wherever you think transfer may still be. Look for a fizzing reaction.

I use acid and sanding. The Q-tip allows more control of where the acid goes. You just gotta be careful. Avoid port edges and the squish band. If you see one small area fizzing with seemingly no transfer, you may have a plating pit. That's what you want to avoid because you can undermine the plating.

I also soak them in a baking soda solution to neutralize the acid when done.

The problem I've got with sanding alone is that one can polish the transfer and miss it sometimes.

 

[Mustang71]

The guy I work with has an 038 mag red trigger west German saw and an 064 red trigger. He doesn't even care about saws like that just got lucky as hell I suppose when he picked them up. What exactly do you do to the exhausts on the saws? Is it the same procedure for every saw exhaust? I have enough saws lying around I'd definitely take a wack at trying it on one to see how it works.

I open the muffler up depending on what saw some come apart easy others are a bit tougher. I remove the baffle if there is one then open up the exit side of the muffler a bit.

The craftsman that i have, I found it in the garbage, so I put it all back together rebuilt the engine and got a bit crazier with the muffler. I welded up the factory exit hole and welded a pipe in a new location. It seemed to work well.