mako piston/cylinder kit for stihl 034

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brokenbudget

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don't know if anybody here has used them or not, but after you see what i have here you may want to think twice about them. i say, stick with the kits you get from bailey's.
i picked this up from the local stihl dealer after hearing they could get them in. now, you need to realize that the cost has nothing to do with it. i wanted to try one out to form my own opinion, not save a buck. the cylinder is pretty crude (i'll be using that word alot), and so is the piston. lots of casting flash, roughness, and miss-alignment. not very pretty, but will do the job as is. it was a bolt on and go job, no cleaning up casting or ports or anything.
cylinder, exhaust:

2djc3e8.jpg

notice how square the exhaust is? maybe a ring catcher, we'll see.

intake:
20ijp1z.jpg

hmmmm, where's the ring land? maybe another ring catcher?

transfer:
xeiwb8.jpg

the white area is what i call rougher than a pitted gravel road.

squish/combustion area:
35m1e69.jpg

how crude do they want it before they pull it off the line?
the plating looks alright except it doesn't go 'all the way up'.

the piston:
1198qol.jpg

jgnuch.jpg

it has the same rings that come with the nwp kits from bailey's, nothing special there. they work.

you need to use the supplied clips. they are much bigger. the wrist pin was tossed. i used the original one as it fit a little tighter in the piston.
jgnuch.jpg



how does it run? it runs o.k., nothing stellar or mind blowing but i only have about 2 tanks of fuel through it. the compression is about 140psi, started out with 135psi. the squish is about 40thou and there isn't any room to cut the cylinder without risking freeporting.
so! keep your money and buy stock. if that isn't feesable, get a nwp kit from bailey's, they are by far the best aftermarket kits out there.
here's the saw for you perverts:
2q8zryx.jpg
 
I would not use that kit and have returned the assembly to the dealer for a refund. As mentioned the quality appears substandard.

i'll run it!:rock: if it fails, it fails. i'm not too worried about the saw. it's been apart more times than a lego house in a 7 year olds toybox. i might go back in after a bunch of tanks and clean up some of the crappier areas and check the numbers. this has basicly been a play saw for quite some time. lots of different tope ends, porting, crank work etc. it's been mostly stock parts for a while, up until the fuel line decided to fail apart:ices_rofl: of course, it was a good friend that was running it when this happened:
2njg3ux.jpg

it was a 56cc stihl p/c:jester:
like i said, i ain't too worried what happens to this saw. it can be fixed if needed. hell, maybe this topend will be a winner when it get broken in.
i doubt it, but we'll see.:)
 
How did the piston fit into the bore? any sloppy side to side rocking? I was going to buy just a piston for an efco 952.....now i think $25 more for the oem seems better as atleast i can get letter codes that depict the tolerance size so this doesnt happen. thanks for show casing this..as I have been very curious...but nobody has ran one. Keep us updated please.
 
i'll run it!:rock: if it fails, it fails. i'm not too worried about the saw. it's been apart more times than a lego house in a 7 year olds toybox. i might go back in after a bunch of tanks and clean up some of the crappier areas and check the numbers. this has basicly been a play saw for quite some time. lots of different tope ends, porting, crank work etc. it's been mostly stock parts for a while, up until the fuel line decided to fail apart:ices_rofl: of course, it was a good friend that was running it when this happened:
2njg3ux.jpg

it was a 56cc stihl p/c:jester:
like i said, i ain't too worried what happens to this saw. it can be fixed if needed. hell, maybe this topend will be a winner when it get broken in.
i doubt it, but we'll see.:)

Looking forward to the update on your new top end. As for your Friend.............:buttkick:
 
Looking forward to the update on your new top end. As for your Friend.............:buttkick:

it wasn't his fault. and i'm in no way blaming him for what happened:) the poor guy is almost deaf and doesn't have very good feeling in his hands. this saw has burned up before with absolutly no warning or funny running. you only find out when you shut it down and refuel it, then go to try and restart it. both times it was the fuel line.
kristian is a stand up person. felt extremly awful about the saw crotching while he was using it. wanted to buy the saw or pay full what it would have cost me plus my time. i told him i was keeping his mint 034 super as payment:ices_rofl: as it was over at my place getting a new fuel line as well. thats why he was borrowing my 034:)
i should have cought the bad fuel line. i ran the saw and gave it a looking over as it was sitting for a few months, but my eyes didn't see it. and it ran perfectly fine.
this saw came to me way back in the mid '90's, in a box straight gassed by a contractor. it's had around 6 or 7 topends over the years from stuff i wanted to try to it when i had an idea.:) or 2. think it's had a few cranks aswell.........
it's back up and running, not too bad but nowhere near even the 56cc topend it had. but it is only a few tanks old........we'll see.
 
so, an update of sorts.....
from adam at jakmax:

"we are sorry to hear you are not happy with the quality of our cylinders.
we appreciate you feedback and will look into your comments.
mako products are now sold in 37 countries worldwide with incredible success. this is why we are suprised by your comments, but appreciate them at the same time.
as for the price, we believe mako products are the most competitively priced products on the market but we cannot control the retail price our customers set.
thanks for your feedback and sorry our product didn't meet your satisfaction.
thanks and best regards. adam."

so, when a customer emails you with pictures of an abvious problem with quality control, you send back an ad vert as a response? with no offer of any kind of help or explanation as to why something like this passed by the qc without being pulled off the line? good job jakmax, i've had made in china kits better than this and with far greater customer service for far cheaper. like i said, thumbs down on this company.

i was going to post the email, however i have no idea how:laugh: if you want to see it, just pm me and i'll cc it to you;)
 
I have two NOS German Mahle 034 cylinders (46 mm, NOT super).

Just the jugs, no piston, I have $100 invested in each. Just want my $ back + shipping

PM me if you are interested

hey mad! thanks for the offer!:msp_thumbup: but the saw seems to be running fine. and if this topend goes south, it goes south. i've been into this saw multiple times to retrieve puzzle pieces:biggrin:
i have a nos crank, 48mm cylinder and piston (just need the rings) for one of them 'just in case' times. i just wanted to try one of the mako kits to see what they were like as other who have tried then said they were pretty good.
to be quite honest, the saw is picking up power very well. the comp has come up to around the 150psi mark, and it is also pulling very well. everything looks good inside so far from what i can see through the muffler, no funny marks that i can see. after the 10th or 15th tank i'll do a pull down of the saw and have a good looksee:msp_smile: maybe even a little bit of grinding might happen.
it'll be a good cylinder to frag up . might give me an excuse to try another topend kit out....:hmm3grin2orange:

thanks again for the offer!:rock:
 

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