STIHL 015 Custom Builds

[Stihl Pimp]

Hello, this is my 1st post, it's great to finally be a member on this grand site. Here are a couple of old 1973 015L saws that I built last year. I made custom bumper spikes for these saws, made custom K&N air filters, ported the cylinder and advanced the timing on the "Lil Monster" saw, I modded the muffler on both and made some brushed stainless covers for them. A guy made me an offer that I couldn't refuse on both saws so I had to let them go. Now I'm working on an 015AV and I have another white 015L that I'll be building next. These saws are so fun and so well built that I'll always make sure I have one handy. I store all my saws and other equipment indoors so they are always kept clean and have no gas leaks or smell. The 015 was actually 1st built in 1973, the same year Andreas Stihl, the founder of Stihl in Germany died so the 015 is very special to Stihl and to me. Anyhow, here are some pics.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Only trouble I have had with mine is with the carburetor. It seems similar to the ones they installed on little McCullochs years ago. I can't seem to tune it right, but it seems like I could remove it without tearing the entire saw apart. Any suggestions?

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Only trouble I have had with mine is with the carburetor. It seems similar to the ones they installed on little McCullochs years ago. I can't seem to tune it right, but it seems like I could remove it without tearing the entire saw apart. Any suggestions?

The Walbro HDC carbs on the 015 are a pain to get running and tuned correctly. I've had to play with the needle lever on most of mine to get them to run right. If your saw is a top handle 015 there are only 4 screws on the pull start side that you remove along with the choke lever and spark plug and the entire housing slides off towards the pull start side. From there there are only the 2 carb screws holding the carb on. They do sell rebuild kits on ebay for this saw but some parts like the needle lever are nearly impossible to find.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The Walbro HDC carbs on the 015 are a pain to get running and tuned correctly. I've had to play with the needle lever on most of mine to get them to run right. If your saw is a top handle 015 there are only 4 screws on the pull start side that you remove along with the choke lever and spark plug and the entire housing slides off towards the pull start side. From there there are only the 2 carb screws holding the carb on. They do sell rebuild kits on ebay for this saw but some parts like the needle lever are nearly impossible to find.

Mine is the top handle version. One of my friends has one and his runs much better than mine does. Both have the same compression, so it must be the carb is out of whack somewhere. I'll take another shot at it using your take down procedure. Could be just a clog up of crud inside it. That's easier than what McCulloch did to take down a MiniMac. Thank you and Happy New Year!

 

[Dean-O]

Nice work!

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Mine is the top handle version. One of my friends has one and his runs much better than mine does. Both have the same compression, so it must be the carb is out of whack somewhere. I'll take another shot at it using your take down procedure. Could be just a clog up of crud inside it. That's easier than what McCulloch did to take down a MiniMac. Thank you and Happy New Year!

Yessir. I'd grab a $12 stihl 015 carb kit off of ebay which includes a new fuel line as well, remove the carb, remove the 4 screws to take off the square cover and the 2 screws under the cover. Remove the plate, all gaskets and diaphrams. then flip the carb over and remove those 2 screws on the other side and remove the 2 soft parts from that side. Then spray the carb down real good with carb cleaner making sure you spray all holes well, reassemble with new parts from the rebuild kit and it should run good. If it doesn't and you're certain you cleaned it out good you may have to adjust the needle lever. You want to use extra care when repairing these old stihl 015 HDC walbro carbs because they are very scarce and if you can find one it's usually a used one and they want close to $100 for it. Good Luck and Happy New Year.

 

[pioneerguy600]

One word of caution on the HDC, don`t use carb cleaner on the check valve its made from regular diaphragm material and I have seem far too many with destroyed check valves.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

One word of caution on the HDC, don`t use carb cleaner on the check valve its made from regular diaphragm material and I have seem far too many with destroyed check valves.

I was not aware of that, thanks for the heads up. Is the check valve easy to remove and replace?

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Nice work!

Thanks.

 

[pioneerguy600]

I was not aware of that, thanks for the heads up. Is the check valve easy to remove and replace?

Not so much for just everyone. I do them all the time but a lot of caution is needed. Its very easy to damage the carb, the check valve brass body, screen and lockring. There are some good video`s about how to do this but even the check valve kits are becoming scarce and expensive if one can be found. I am a rebuilder type so I figured out how to rebuild them.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Not so much for just everyone. I do them all the time but a lot of caution is needed. Its very easy to damage the carb, the check valve brass body, screen and lockring. There are some good video`s about how to do this but even the check valve kits are becoming scarce and expensive if one can be found. I am a rebuilder type so I figured out how to rebuild them.

Understood, I appreciate your response.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Stihl Pimp's directions to remove the carb worked after I removed the spark plug. I ran into something else after I removed the carb. Get this. My carb is one of the originals. It it possible that it has no strainer, even though that is shown on the IPL and the Service Manual? I cannot find it anywhere, even though the SM says to clean it occasionally. The IPL shows it as part #14 in the Pic below. Looks like the pump diaphragm (part #15) also must be removed to get to it, but that means a carb rebuild kit has to be bought. Could it be that my carb is missing the pump diaphragm (part #15) unless its almost glued to the gasket (part #16) above it. Hard to believe it ran at all without that. Down to metal, I still cannot find the strainer (part #14).


I also encountered something else. The fuel line leading from the tank to the carb is cracked and almost broken in half. That has to be replaced. Not sure what else I will run into but I remain optimistic.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Stihl Pimp's directions to remove the carb worked after I removed the spark plug. I ran into something else after I removed the carb. Get this. My carb is one of the originals. It it possible that it has no strainer, even though that is shown on the IPL and the Service Manual? I cannot find it anywhere, even though the SM says to clean it occasionally. The IPL shows it as part #14 in the Pic below. Looks like the pump diaphragm (part #15) also must be removed to get to it, but that means a carb rebuild kit has to be bought. Could it be that my carb is missing the pump diaphragm (part #15) unless its almost glued to the gasket (part #16) above it. Hard to believe it ran at all without that. Down to metal, I still cannot find the strainer (part #14).
View attachment 879483

I also encountered something else. The fuel line leading from the tank to the carb is cracked and almost broken in half. That has to be replaced. Not sure what else I will run into but I remain optimistic.

Diaphragm#15 has those small flaps that work like valves, they open and close with impulse signals, it also contains the fuel pump portion, your carb could not operate without it. Not all the carbs had the screen, #14 in them, many I have rebuild did not.

 

[Wood Doctor]

PioneerGuy said, "Not all the carbs had the screen, #14 in them, many I have rebuilt did not."
------------------------
Neither does mine, likely an early release. Good to know. Could be that part #15 is plastered against part #16. I'm tempted to simply replace the fuel hose and re-assemble. I think the cracked hose may be all that I need to replace. That break released fuel intake pressure and allowed air in and fuel to leak. Carb could not adjust for that.

BTW, that's a rather strange carb flange that fits between the jug and the carb. There is a hole in that flange for an impulse, but that hole seems to be blind and doesn't extend through to the carb. I'm sure you noticed that also. Seems goofy to me.

 

[pioneerguy600]

The gasket between the carb and flange has a channel cut in it that does connect to a passage in the carb that leads to the pump side of the carb internals.

 

[sean donato]

Hmm this is interesting, I picked one of these little things up off the side of the road for free a few months ago. If they run as good as you claim, I may have to give it a once over and put it to use.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Here's the white 015 that I just built. It's a real 1973 saw from Stihl West Germany, not the Virginia Beach Stihl plant model. As you see in the pics this saw started out pretty filthy and it had several problems. 2 hours later and now it looks like this, I believe I'll call this saw Casper. I still have to work out a few more kinks and cosmetic problems and took some time to get it going but this saw is running perfectly now and it's quite powerful as-is so I'll pass on porting this saw (for now). After hours of tinkering this old baby finally coughed since who knows how long and alot of dusty smoke flew out of the muffler port. Pulled a few more times and off she went, I could smell that classic Stihl 015 exhaust smell; which I love. Smells like the 70s LOL.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Just took this old girl out for a spin and she's definitely a winner. I race sharpened the chain so it shaves the wood like a razor, pretty impressive for a 1/4" chain.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Stihl Pimp's directions to remove the carb worked after I removed the spark plug. I ran into something else after I removed the carb. Get this. My carb is one of the originals. It it possible that it has no strainer, even though that is shown on the IPL and the Service Manual? I cannot find it anywhere, even though the SM says to clean it occasionally. The IPL shows it as part #14 in the Pic below. Looks like the pump diaphragm (part #15) also must be removed to get to it, but that means a carb rebuild kit has to be bought. Could it be that my carb is missing the pump diaphragm (part #15) unless its almost glued to the gasket (part #16) above it. Hard to believe it ran at all without that. Down to metal, I still cannot find the strainer (part #14).
View attachment 879483

I also encountered something else. The fuel line leading from the tank to the carb is cracked and almost broken in half. That has to be replaced. Not sure what else I will run into but I remain optimistic.

In a few minutes I'm going to tear down one of my 015 carbs that I have to rebuild so I'll post a pic of the debris screen in the carb. As many of these as I've rebuilt I can't remember where the screen is on this carb.

 

[Stihl Pimp]

Stihl Pimp's directions to remove the carb worked after I removed the spark plug. I ran into something else after I removed the carb. Get this. My carb is one of the originals. It it possible that it has no strainer, even though that is shown on the IPL and the Service Manual? I cannot find it anywhere, even though the SM says to clean it occasionally. The IPL shows it as part #14 in the Pic below. Looks like the pump diaphragm (part #15) also must be removed to get to it, but that means a carb rebuild kit has to be bought. Could it be that my carb is missing the pump diaphragm (part #15) unless its almost glued to the gasket (part #16) above it. Hard to believe it ran at all without that. Down to metal, I still cannot find the strainer (part #14).
View attachment 879483

I also encountered something else. The fuel line leading from the tank to the carb is cracked and almost broken in half. That has to be replaced. Not sure what else I will run into but I remain optimistic.

Here is the screen on my 015 carb. It's underneath the cover with the single screw in it.