Lakeside53
Stihl Wrenching
I recently got my hands on an 038 Magnum 2. Looked like it had been cutting railroad ties, got covered in creosote grit and then died (ignition wire was chaffed though and was shorting on the ground wire). It then stayed in the garage window for 10 years... Mud Wasp nests, spiders, hay seeds; you name it, it had it.
Strip it completely down, Soak in diluted Purple cleaner and scrub away. Recoil cover had almost no paint left on it, and the orange plastic, well, was just a tad faded...
I see this "fade to white" a lot with saws outside of the North West, but not so much here. Usually I just hit it with Armorol or paste wax and call it good enough, but these had gone too far. I was going to just get another top shroud and air cleaner cover, so I tried an "experiment"
I mounted a cotton buffing wheel on my grinder, used a grinding stick compound suitable for plastic, and went for it.
It worked. You need a "light touch" or you'll gall the plastic (melt the surface) but with a little practice, I was happy with the results. On some deeper scratches I used a more aggressive grinding compound first. A couple places were touched up with 600 grit wet-dry emery paper before buffing. The final passes used a stick that was more of a "lustre restorer" or hard wax.
As I was unsure how the buffer hard wax finish would last on a saw, I cleaned the entire surface wax off with Colman lantern fluid (faded-look comes back) and hit it with Armorol. Not sure if this last step was was required.
The finish isn't perfect, and not like the high gloss factory finish, but it's way better than it was, and better than most saws with a year or two of use!
The pics:
Buffing Wheel
Plastic after cleaning
A quick pass
The Saw...
What else did I do?
- Rebuild the carb. Bing carbs are the best ever made for saws..
- Replaced ignition and grounding wires.
- Repainted recoil cover
- New badges; can't get the original "Magnum-2" any more, so "038" was good enough.
- Safety labels - they are free from any Stihl dealer..
- all the usual detail work including thread inserts, correct screws, oil pump, clutch springs, muffler screens.. pressure/vac test test... and a bunch of hours..
- New piston/rings/pin. The saw had 145lb, but the piston was a bit sloppy in the skirts. I could have re-ringed it, but heck, I can afford $35 for a Tecomec piston and rings. Tecomec (Italian) is the only aftermarket piston I'll use (I'll let the rest of the market figure out what is good and bad for a few years). Tecomec has been making them for 15 years, but for a handful of older saws.
Strip it completely down, Soak in diluted Purple cleaner and scrub away. Recoil cover had almost no paint left on it, and the orange plastic, well, was just a tad faded...
I see this "fade to white" a lot with saws outside of the North West, but not so much here. Usually I just hit it with Armorol or paste wax and call it good enough, but these had gone too far. I was going to just get another top shroud and air cleaner cover, so I tried an "experiment"
I mounted a cotton buffing wheel on my grinder, used a grinding stick compound suitable for plastic, and went for it.
It worked. You need a "light touch" or you'll gall the plastic (melt the surface) but with a little practice, I was happy with the results. On some deeper scratches I used a more aggressive grinding compound first. A couple places were touched up with 600 grit wet-dry emery paper before buffing. The final passes used a stick that was more of a "lustre restorer" or hard wax.
As I was unsure how the buffer hard wax finish would last on a saw, I cleaned the entire surface wax off with Colman lantern fluid (faded-look comes back) and hit it with Armorol. Not sure if this last step was was required.
The finish isn't perfect, and not like the high gloss factory finish, but it's way better than it was, and better than most saws with a year or two of use!
The pics:
Buffing Wheel
Plastic after cleaning
A quick pass
The Saw...
What else did I do?
- Rebuild the carb. Bing carbs are the best ever made for saws..
- Replaced ignition and grounding wires.
- Repainted recoil cover
- New badges; can't get the original "Magnum-2" any more, so "038" was good enough.
- Safety labels - they are free from any Stihl dealer..
- all the usual detail work including thread inserts, correct screws, oil pump, clutch springs, muffler screens.. pressure/vac test test... and a bunch of hours..
- New piston/rings/pin. The saw had 145lb, but the piston was a bit sloppy in the skirts. I could have re-ringed it, but heck, I can afford $35 for a Tecomec piston and rings. Tecomec (Italian) is the only aftermarket piston I'll use (I'll let the rest of the market figure out what is good and bad for a few years). Tecomec has been making them for 15 years, but for a handful of older saws.
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