Stihl 056AV to 056 Magnum II, can it be converted?

[Bubba Stump]

I picked up a Stihl 056AV last weekend at a storage unit sale. I paid $300 for it thinking it would be a good hot rod project. I have never had one of these or even ran one before so I don't know what can be done to them for more power. It has a dual port muffler on it and everything seems to be there. there is one small broken piece under the handlebar hand guard but other than that it looks good. It runs but the carb won't adjust very well. I replaced the fuel line and filter and also the impulse line. I have a gasket kit on the way and a carb kit. The gasket kit has the crank seals with it. I ran it on the best carb adjustments I could get but it just did not seem like it had the power it should. I checked compression with my compression gauge and got around 132 #'s. I used a inspection camera to check the cylinder bore and the bore looks pretty good. The Spark plug threads have been Helicoiled but the plug tightens up good. Before I completely tear it down I wanted some advice on it. I was wondering if I could put a 56mm 056 Magnum II top end on it?

 

[TLG]

The magnum cylinder uses larger mounting screws and the case halves have more material in that area. Your hot rodding will be limited to a Super configuration. Thx. Tim

 

[gary courtney]

I have owned both and I couldn't tell the difference in wood.

 

[Chris Ross]

Do you have any plan on modifying or Woods Porting the chainsaw?

 

[Bubba Stump]

The magnum cylinder uses larger mounting screws and the case halves have more material in that area. Your hot rodding will be limited to a Super configuration. Thx. Tim

I thought there would be case differences. I guess I will have to stay with the 52mm piston and cylinder. I am kind of disappointed that there are no aftermarket piston/cylinder kits for the 056AV(52mm) and 056AV SUPER(54mm). All I can find are the 056 MAGNUM II kits(56mm). I did find aftermarket pistons though. I think I will do a hone and maybe try and replace the Helicoil with a TimeSert insert that way I can red threadlocker it in place and not have to worry about any leaking or loosening.

 

[Bubba Stump]

I have owned both and I couldn't tell the difference in wood.

I want to build it to handle a 42" bar with .404 pitch, .063 gauge full chisel chain. Don't really care about getting high RPM out of it, just lots of torque to pull that bar and chain setup.

 

[Bubba Stump]

Do you have any plan on modifying or Woods Porting the chainsaw?

I don't have any experience with extensive porting so I will probably polish ports and match the exhaust port with the muffler. The muffler is already a dual port so I won't have to modify that. I might do a cylinder base gasket delete and maybe play with timing by filing the flywheel key a bit. What else can be done to these for optimal torque and power gains?

 

[Bubba Stump]

I might toy around with a velocity stack and better air filter setup. There really is not any room there though with the cover.

 

[Bubba Stump]

After I messed with the High and Low jets and found the best spot for power it really disappointed me. I have a Pioneer P51 and it runs way better than this 056 and it is also 52mm piston and cylinder I believe. I am hoping that it is low in power because of the seals and worn rings.

 

[Brushwacker]

After I messed with the High and Low jets and found the best spot for power it really disappointed me. I have a Pioneer P51 and it runs way better than this 056 and it is also 52mm piston and cylinder I believe. I am hoping that it is low in power because of the seals and worn rings.

I think your right, 132lbs of compression is a bit low. Had a super myself a spell, was a strong saw.

 

[Bubba Stump]

I think your right, 132lbs of compression is a bit low. Had a super myself a spell, was a strong saw.

Do you know what the factory compression was supposed to be for these saws. I had a Husqvarna dealer tell me that 150-160 psi was optimal. I might do a cylinder base gasket delete just to get as much compression as possible. I really have not had any time to mess with the saw yet, work is booming right now until bad weather hits.

 

[Brushwacker]

Do you know what the factory compression was supposed to be for these saws. I had a Husqvarna dealer tell me that 150-160 psi was optimal. I might do a cylinder base gasket delete just to get as much compression as possible. I really have not had any time to mess with the saw yet, work is booming right now until bad weather hits.

Don,t know what it is supposed to be, but 150 to 180 i expect would be ideal, give or take 10 i would think would be ok.

 

[Jacob J.]

After I messed with the High and Low jets and found the best spot for power it really disappointed me. I have a Pioneer P51 and it runs way better than this 056 and it is also 52mm piston and cylinder I believe. I am hoping that it is low in power because of the seals and worn rings.

The 54mm Super top end should be a bolt-on application for your crankcase and those run really well. With the dual-port muffler, it's very difficult to tell much of a difference between the Super and Magnum, until you get into around 50" wood.

 

[Yotaismygame]

$300 was a lot unless it was pretty mint. Do some searching, people have put a magnum cyl on the regular and super cases and have documented it.



Went pretty mild on the super

 

[Yotaismygame]

I’ll sell you a whole super chainsaw non runner but complete. I have a ton of parts and probably two supers and a regular. Maybe more. At some point I need to go through it all and sell them. I don’t have any desire to work on that series of saw anymore unless someone sent me one to port.

 

[DZOUTCAST]

so ive been reading you can just slot the holes of the 056 cylinders to allow for the screws to line up with the smaller bolt pattern on the 056av and super case, also i just read about a timing mod the dealers were doing back in the day before the magnum2 came out they would send out a high flow airfilter and cover and then instructions to advace the timing, the post reads -

"At the end of 056 Super production and before 056 Mag2 production ,Stihl was sending us dealers kits to convert Supers into "056 Magnums". The kit consisted of a high flow air filter and carb cover,a 056 Magnum badge,and instructions to alter(advance) the Super's ignition timing. The timing advance really made the saws run a lot stronger,even to the point they started blowing the wrist pin bearings apart for the first time on odd occasions,to which Stihl started making the bronze-coated bearings you see today,which cured the problem.
To perform the mod remove the flywheel,then loosen the stator plate screws. Now rotate the stator plate clockwise,until the washers under the stator screws just line up with the end of the stator slots, then tighten them down. It's just that easy and the saws run much harder,and had no failures."\

im not sure the accuracy as i havnt found more info, but with the 4 saws i just acquired i am going to look into this on the one that is the most torn down at the moment, if it looks easily doable i will be attempting it on a nice running saw in the bunch

 

[hotshot]

so ive been reading you can just slot the holes of the 056 cylinders to allow for the screws to line up with the smaller bolt pattern on the 056av and super case, also i just read about a timing mod the dealers were doing back in the day before the magnum2 came out they would send out a high flow airfilter and cover and then instructions to advace the timing, the post reads -

"At the end of 056 Super production and before 056 Mag2 production ,Stihl was sending us dealers kits to convert Supers into "056 Magnums". The kit consisted of a high flow air filter and carb cover,a 056 Magnum badge,and instructions to alter(advance) the Super's ignition timing. The timing advance really made the saws run a lot stronger,even to the point they started blowing the wrist pin bearings apart for the first time on odd occasions,to which Stihl started making the bronze-coated bearings you see today,which cured the problem.
To perform the mod remove the flywheel,then loosen the stator plate screws. Now rotate the stator plate clockwise,until the washers under the stator screws just line up with the end of the stator slots, then tighten them down. It's just that easy and the saws run much harder,and had no failures."\

im not sure the accuracy as i havnt found more info, but with the 4 saws i just acquired i am going to look into this on the one that is the most torn down at the moment, if it looks easily doable i will be attempting it on a nice running saw in the bunch

Yup, that dealers kit’s just a wives tale, as cases are different for a magnum & the guy could never produce a Stihl kit part number. There was no “high flow” filters, just a mesh screen & optional flocked.

I’d do what Jacob said and put on a fresh 54mm top end, a dual port muffler, and an 8 pin sprocket with 3/8” pitch chain. Add one extra drive link to the factory specified chain for your bar length.

You can advance the timing like you stated, but suggest to first convert the starter to a dual pawl set up & always wear a glove on your right hand...because it will kick back like a mule! You can also lathe cut the cylinder base to set squish at 0.025” for maximum compression.

Your orthopedic surgeon will see you soon for wrist or shoulder surgery if you’re older than 50, lol!

 

[DZOUTCAST]

Yup, that dealers kit’s just a wives tale, as cases are different for a magnum & the guy could never produce a Stihl kit part number. There was no “high flow” filters, just a mesh screen & optional flocked.

I’d do what Jacob said and put on a fresh 54mm top end, a dual port muffler, and an 8 pin sprocket with 3/8” pitch chain. Add one extra drive link to the factory specified chain for your bar length.

You can advance the timing like you stated, but suggest to first convert the starter to a dual pawl set up & always wear a glove on your right hand...because it will kick back like a mule! You can also lathe cut the cylinder base to set squish at 0.025” for maximum compression.

Your orthopedic surgeon will see you soon for wrist or shoulder surgery if you’re older than 50, lol!

View attachment 913130

could i base gasket delete without any issues? i got away with this on my 034av and its a screamer now, polished intake and exhaust a little as well, thinking i could do the same for the 056super, i believe all the saws i have are supers so already have the 54mm cylinders and the dual port mufflers for sure, only have two complete mufflers in the bunch, both are dual port

 

[hotshot]

Not recommended doing it blindly like that, you need to squish test with soft solder & dial calipers first.

 

[DZOUTCAST]

Not recommended doing it blindly like that, you need to squish test with soft solder & dial calipers first.

is it just a performance issues? if the piston contacts the top of the cylinder i can see that being an issue, but otherwise im just looking at timing port timing issues correct? possibly engine failure and wear from bad timing ? the idea with squish to to get the maximum performance from the mod? otherwise you go past and backwards on performance