Stihl 050 fired up

[rmihalek]

I managed to get this old (1971, I think) Stihl 050 fired up over the weekend. I spent a good while cleaning the deep layer of varnish out of the tank and rebuilding the carb and fuel line.

There's still one problem. On this saw, the cylinder lays down flat with the spark plug pointed right back at the rear handle. I have about 4 or 5 different plug wrenches and I can't fit any of them in there to tighten the spark plug. So, while she runs well, after 25 seconds or so, the plug is vibrating loose.

I'm thinking I could get a spare 3/4 inch socket and grind some flat surfaces on the socket then use an adjustable wrench to tighten the plug, but maybe someone knows a trick to tighten these plugs?

 

[Kenskip1]

Plug Loose

Bob, My 041 is the same style with the cylonder laying flat. I use a 3/4 inch offset or regular box end wrench. Good luck, Ken

 

[Urbicide]

Have you tried an automotive type spark plug socket? Most have a hex pattern machined on the base so you can get a wrench on it as well as a 3/8" ratchet capability.

 

[rmihalek]

Thanks Ken. I'll have to look through my collection of wrenches to see if there's an offset 3/4 inch in there somewhere.

Urbicide, I have an automotive 3/4, but it's about twice as long as the space allows. There's a small groove in the bottom part of the rear handle that a spark plug tool is supposed to fit in, but the groove is only about a 1.5 inches long. My standard plug sockets are around 2.5 or 3 inches long, so they don't fit.

There are some weird design strategies on this old saw; access to the plug being one. The other is that the exhaust port sits on top of the cylinder and the muffler is on the side, so a header was needed to connect the port to the muffler. Well, the header tube turns out to be a great place for carbon to build up and clog things up. The fuel tank is a two piece unit that forms the left side of the saw case with the recoil starter built into one of the pieces. It looks like a really expensive piece to replace and also its very susceptible to damage from rocks, etc.

Hey, it's a 90cc saw and I got it for free, so I ain't complaining (too much). I'm sure it'll be fun to run and maybe even do some porting on to see what can be got out of an old saw.

 

[cbfarmall]

I have an older spark plug wrench I've used. It's pretty short, has only the single end for 19mm hex. That's probably the type you need.

All those other things you've mentioned I've noticed. But you haven't yet brought up how this saw will shake itself apart. You'll be buzzing along on a stump and look down and see your starter on the ground, hanging from the fuel line. Check ALL the fasteners, constantly.

Once, you've figured out your 050's personality you'll love it.

Chris B.

 

[rmihalek]

Chris you're right! Even though I haven't put this saw to wood yet, I can tell from all the odd, non-metric fasteners cross-threaded into just about every hole, that this saw lost a lot of hardware over the years. During the re-build I spent a lot of time tapping out these mucked up threads to the next larger size and installing metric hardware.

One in particular was so blown out, I filled it with JB Weld and started all over. I've never used JB Weld, so it's a test case for me. The fastener got a good bite on the stuff, but I'll have to see how it holds up.

 

[NWCS]

i carry short screnches that work perfect in the 051 and similar saws, though on the 044-084 its not worth a darn, too short to get to the plug.