It's been a hot minute since I've been able to spend much time on chainsaws. Had some health issues last year that I'm finally getting out from under. And now have some time to start working on saws again. But I figured I would start this one about the latest project saw that I acquired last week. And absolute basketcase Stihl 046. Kind of funny back story. This saw popped up on Marketplace in the area I grew up in. My dad had looked at the ad as well. Turns out the seller was the son of a highschool classmate of mine. Anyway, it had been ridden hard and put away wet for a number of years and developed a low compression problem. They took it to a local saw guy (a real good wrench I've had work on my own equipment before). His take was it was too far gone, and I understand why. If you are a guy trying to make a living doing repairs, a full rebuild on something in this shape is a risk that you really can't afford. For someone like me who's too dumb to care about the time...it's perfect.
I didn't get a lot of before pictures, but here is a bit of sampling of what we're dealing with.
It's actually not that bad in the area aroudn the flywheel. You can see my 066 in the background.
The plastics are missing. It's caked in baked on oil and sawdust. All kinds of missing parts. But my goal is to build a runner. Not a wall hanger. So cosmetics don't worry me. I cracked the cylinder first to get an idea of what we're looking at. And the amazing thing was the crank, bearings, and cylinder didn't look half bad. The piston on the other hand...
That is hosed. The rings are stuck and the scoring is awful. Thankfully the stock cylinder was able to be saved. I had to do a little polishing on the transfers that corresponded to the piston damage. But it only took a few minutes of hand work to take the rough spots out and bevel off the transfer ports smooth. When it was cleaned up the cylinder looked pretty good to me. But I'm still going to stick a hone down it before final assembly.
I'm operating under the assumption that the rings and pistons were the main culprit behind the compression being low. But after the experiance I had chasing air leaks on the Husky 262XP rebuild (that thread will be updated again soon) I'm not taking any chances. So I'm replacing the oil seals right off the go. But first a lot of cleaning had to happen. Which of course I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of.
At least the carb was relatively clean.
So after a lot of digging at nooks and crannies with a dental pick and a flat head screwdriver we're mostly clean. Again this is going to be a user saw. So I'm not going over the top on the cleaning or painting.
I've ordered up parts, and most have already arrived. I'm mixing and matching between OEM, aftermarket, and genuine "Chinesium" reproductions (limited to just the covers for the most part). I ordered Meteor 52mm Cylinder with Caber rings. A muffler and gaskets from Highway. Stihl replacement hoses, carb boot, clutch, and anti-vibe isolators. And replacement plastic covers from Farmertec. I have to check the coil and oil pump yet, but if they are shot I'm likely going to go with OEM for both. More parts are coming next week (a handful of things I missed). In the mean time I'm going to pull the carb for rebuilding and get the flywheel and clutch off. So far it's been a nice project to work on outside after work in the warm spring weather we've been having. I'll post some more photos as I get further along.
I didn't get a lot of before pictures, but here is a bit of sampling of what we're dealing with.
It's actually not that bad in the area aroudn the flywheel. You can see my 066 in the background.
The plastics are missing. It's caked in baked on oil and sawdust. All kinds of missing parts. But my goal is to build a runner. Not a wall hanger. So cosmetics don't worry me. I cracked the cylinder first to get an idea of what we're looking at. And the amazing thing was the crank, bearings, and cylinder didn't look half bad. The piston on the other hand...
That is hosed. The rings are stuck and the scoring is awful. Thankfully the stock cylinder was able to be saved. I had to do a little polishing on the transfers that corresponded to the piston damage. But it only took a few minutes of hand work to take the rough spots out and bevel off the transfer ports smooth. When it was cleaned up the cylinder looked pretty good to me. But I'm still going to stick a hone down it before final assembly.
I'm operating under the assumption that the rings and pistons were the main culprit behind the compression being low. But after the experiance I had chasing air leaks on the Husky 262XP rebuild (that thread will be updated again soon) I'm not taking any chances. So I'm replacing the oil seals right off the go. But first a lot of cleaning had to happen. Which of course I didn't get a whole lot of pictures of.
At least the carb was relatively clean.
So after a lot of digging at nooks and crannies with a dental pick and a flat head screwdriver we're mostly clean. Again this is going to be a user saw. So I'm not going over the top on the cleaning or painting.
I've ordered up parts, and most have already arrived. I'm mixing and matching between OEM, aftermarket, and genuine "Chinesium" reproductions (limited to just the covers for the most part). I ordered Meteor 52mm Cylinder with Caber rings. A muffler and gaskets from Highway. Stihl replacement hoses, carb boot, clutch, and anti-vibe isolators. And replacement plastic covers from Farmertec. I have to check the coil and oil pump yet, but if they are shot I'm likely going to go with OEM for both. More parts are coming next week (a handful of things I missed). In the mean time I'm going to pull the carb for rebuilding and get the flywheel and clutch off. So far it's been a nice project to work on outside after work in the warm spring weather we've been having. I'll post some more photos as I get further along.
). But running a camera and a saw at the same time isn't the easiest lol.
...was priceless.
, but I've built several electrics guitars over the years. So my buddy asked about building a electric guitar body from the tree. It's his first house, and he plans to be there for a bit. The intention is to give it to his kid. You tell me you have a project for your kid...99% of the time; I'm in. Even if it turns into a comedy of errors 
). I've got a truck project followed by a bandsaw mill project on the dance card this spring. So an aftermarket jug fit the bill for the cash I had available. 
. I'd like to think I had them right, but it'd be a lie to say I remember for sure. But before rebuilding the saw again, while researching the damaged I came across and referenced a page on "the other site" specifically about the MS460 (not a lot of difference with the 046), and made absolutely sure they were oriented vertically before putting the jug on.
