How is an 038 Mag

One of my favorite saws. We ran them in the last part of the 80's on the Hotshots. Bigger than a 361, good torque, nice bucking saw runs a 28" fine. If thats in good shape it is worth throwing some money into and have a strong runner for the ground.
 
I have fond memories of my 038's, bought my first 61cc 038AV in 1980, the Super 67cc a few yrs later then the Magnum 72cc after that. When the 064 came out in 1986 I retired the 038 Magnum. They were basically both the same weight.... one 72cc, one 85cc. Then in the fall of '88 the 044 was born.
The 038 Magnum was a good solid torqy saw, the standard 038 and Super were a little more compact with good power, especially the Super and SuperII [the bridge to the Magnum]
 
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  • #4
Thanks.

what about an 038 Super?

The mag is 15 miles from me.

Just saw an 038 super on CL but its considerably farther.
 
An older guy fairly regularly leaves his 038 Mag with me for some reason or another. He doesn't much maintain his saws. Sometimes I might have it for months, and will use it on jobs freely. I like the model a lot. if you don't mind the weight, the power is very good and like the other saws in that series, is very reliable. I am always a bit sad when he picks it up if he has a larger tree to cut, and know that it will come back filthy. Definitely an oldie but goody. I have also had a regular 038 until it burned up. i really like the mag, the way it works and the way it looks.
 
The difference between a mag and an av is noticable .I've only seen maybe two supers in my life and never ran one so I can't comment .

As far as cranking more soup if you wanted to they respond very well .My av will run with a stock mag and the mag will hold it's own with a stock 660 .Now a good old old school 066 it won't before they "improved " them .
 
The 038 is one of the easiest Stihls to work on so easy to maintain. If you do buy one stock up on OEM parts for it while their still available from Stihl, that way when your old and grey you can keep that classic saw running.doing what you like doing best.
 
I have a 038 mag. Mint. It's my only collector saw. I bought it from Bryan on a treehouse auction. I run it only a couple times a year and only in fir. It looks almost new. No scratches barely at all. It's jammy.
 
Actually my hot runner came from B also .It was really a low hour saw somebody rough housed and was given to B .Every anti vib was broken the boot torn and the intake side of the piston scuffed from dust ingestion .It's a miracle it didn't get fried .

At first all I did was buff the piston ,new set of rings plus the anti vibes and ran it stock about 6 months before I got to tweeking it .It ran just dandy before I fiddled with it ,scuffed piston or not .They don't have to be perfect to run good .

I've said many a time the 038 Mag is my favorite of all the Stihls .
 
Before I forget now the other 038 Mag I own .This thing spent over twenty hard years in service to a tree service company .I baby sat that thing for about 10 years before it was retired and given to me .The first encounter it literally grenaded a piston .I mean blew it apart like a bomb went off .Never as much as put a scratch on the cylinder .JJ sent me an NOS piston ,one new crankshaft bearing and in about two weeks it was back on the job . Ran without a hitch every day for another 5 years .Then it was incidental things and even after I got it every so often it was borrowed as a back up saw and never as once layed down on the job .Now these are tough well made saws .

It will get the "treatment " one of these days when I find the time .;)
 
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  • #13
How is the exhaust on a 038 Mag? Does it smell dirty? I had an 026, given to a friend. It sure smelled dirtier than my 361. Otherwise, I'm running a 460 and 660, as a frame of reference.
 
I never much considered the exhaust smelling dirty, but my whole shop sometimes smells from exhaust....cough..... If it does, burn Castrol oil in the mix.
 
Al Smith said:
Actually my hot runner came from B also .It was really a low hour saw somebody rough housed and was given to B .Every anti vib was broken the boot torn and the intake side of the piston scuffed from dust ingestion .It's a miracle it didn't get fried .

At first all I did was buff the piston ,new set of rings plus the anti vibes and ran it stock about 6 months before I got to tweeking it .It ran just dandy before I fiddled with it ,scuffed piston or not .They don't have to be perfect to run good .

I've said many a time the 038 Mag is my favorite of all the Stihls .
Click to expand...

Can you go into specific details on the tweaks ............... poer timing, ignition timing, etc ??
 
I won't go too much in step by step but it took 4 tries before I got it where I wanted it .

It ended up with a domed piston ,96 after exhaust port opening and around 25-27 degree blow down .The ignition timing was not changed .Exhaust port taken out to around 60 percent width of the bore , straight across .Muffler completely gutted .No baffles diverters or screens .It was already dual port ,assembled in Brazil .

Intake was widened but not lowered .What percentage I forgot .Piston besides being domed was cleaned up of any flash left from diecasting and polished on the outside down to the first ring groove .That probabley was a waste of time .

Cylinder base was shaved from 46 thou piston face to head deck down to aprox 23-24 thou.

Transfer lowers were widen a tad .Tops were polished and slightly altered by maybe 1/4" inch tapered to increase velocity and directed towards the intake side.Even at the top with the existing transfers they started out maybe 1/4" below the top of the transfers and kind of sawtoothed towards a tapered apex .The idea in my pea mind was to improve the sweep on the intake side without needing to do finger ports .I figured if I got them close to right the inrush would bounce off the taper of the domed piston and swirl backwards and upwards .It must have worked .

The thing will free rev to around 14,500 .Over the blocks it really isn't a cookie cutter but it shines with a long bar and a big log .That's what I was shooting for .A higher torque working saw with a little more speed .
 
Thanks Al !!
I plan on using eithor a Meteor piston, or the stock Stihl one. I'd like my squish near 20 thousands, and am looking in the 155ish neighborhood for intake and exhaust duration. I am curious about your blowdown, as I was planning on a shorter one, however - yours runs real nice with a long bar, so your torque is what I want most. RPM's unloaded dont mean so much to me, but keeping RPM's with a 32" bar and RS chain is what I am after.
I totally understand about directing the transfers to the intake side, I did a pretty decent job on my 330 EVL and I see the swirl pattern on the top of its piston.
I try to go by the witness marks in the cylinder and keep about 1/8 of an inch away from the ring ends for widening, but I just might try to do the math like you did, on this one. I also have a spare top end (stock) on the side, NIB, so playing with this one will be fun.

I plan on polishing the piston windows, but not going into them at all ...................... seen too many pistons fail from widened windows, and this saw is one of my steady workers, so reliability is paramount !!

Did you happen to take any pictures of the port shapes, maybe post them if you did ? I am a little confused when you say "Even at the top with the existing transfers they started out maybe 1/4" below the top of the transfers and kind of sawtoothed towards a tapered apex" ....... I looked at my NOS cylinder NIB and am not seeing any sawtooth ?? Did you gring in the steps ? Sorry I am just not following you there ...

Thanks for your help !!!!
Its so much easier getting someones perspective that already has a successfull platform for the 038 Mag !!!
 
I've had good luck with 20 tho on squish, even slightly under is still long term running strong with no apparent problems. I didn't plan it that way though, a little carried away on the lathe. With piston windows I think you have to really know when enough is enough. I like lightening them as well, removing what isn't needed under the crown. Again, so far have never blown anything. Running four modded saws, the only failure so far is what i deemed occurred when a circlip either broke or popped out. What a disaster! By the way, if you (Moparmyway), are into that series of saws, a modded 036 p and c stuck on an 034 base, makes a for a hell of a saw. Relatively light with a 36 " bar, I love it for the torque and power. The larger p and c goes on very easily, though some people say they had to do minor modification to the cover or something. I can't quite recall. I don't think i needed to. I highly recommend that project for a very fun saw. Noisy bugger too.
 
thanks woodworkingboy !
I am going to stay with the 038 Mag for now ................... but I will be looking into your hybrid 034 with 036 P&C.

Are you running 404 with the 36" B&C ?

I just about have enough cabbage for an older Atlas 10" used lathe .................... then I will be going into the 038 Mag. I wont be doing a popup on it, just the stock piston (or Meteor) squish clean up and base trim to give me the .020 I am shooting for.

Sounds like you are running the hybrid 034 with 036 P&C ................ got any pictures or details of port timing ? Maybe a video of it in use ?
 
woodworkingboy said:
I never much considered the exhaust smelling dirty, but my whole shop sometimes smells from exhaust....cough..... If it does, burn Castrol oil in the mix.
Click to expand...

Is this so one can really smell a "dirty" saw, or will it actually start smelling like fresh strawberries ?? :lol:
 
The 038 is a great saw, but superseded by the 044/440 etc. The anti-vibes etc are poor in comparison to more recent saws & I would look for a newer model if it was going to be run commercially
 
Moparmyway, I run .375 on the 034/036. A 7 pin sprocket, but it would be interesting to try an 8. I'd like to put up a vid. I think I have some notes on the timing, have to check.

I agree with Pete, those older saws are great, but vibration is a concern. Hands are giving me trouble.
 
I have a super smoothe 044 (32" / RS) that I ported as well, and my 038 Mag has new AV rubbers - installed the beginning of this summer. I tried an 8 pin sprocket with my 25" RS on the 038, the 7 pin was slightly better. Once ported, I'd imagine the 8 pin will stay on it.

I run .375 also, .050 -- ------------- but I havent gone past 32"
 
I like the skip chain on the longer bars, breeze to sharpen. Works well on the Pines, what I mostly encounter these days. I also have an 028 in that series, the dump special because that is where it's destiny abruptly changed. I took out the cylinder gasket and did the muffler, that is all. I use it for backup because those saws will always start relatively quickly after sitting, almost uncanny the way they do. Heavy though, more so than the larger displacement 034/036. Picking it up is kind of like dead lifting. I like the shape of the saw, though, the rounded cover is sleek and the whole saw is nicely proportioned.
 
The 034-036 is a nice size and has lot of potenial for 60 cc .Fact in my garage I have in fact an 034 super which is essentually an 036 by displacement .With as much as I have on my plate I just haven't had time to pursue it any farther --but I certainly will in time .

As far as that modfication to the upper transfers on the 038 mag I'll have to see what I have but I don't think I have a picture .It's nothing earth shaking just a standard mod that'd been done for years .

On that thing mods done to increase the sweep or purge come in many forms .It could be finger ports ,boost ports via an outside channal or even secondaries ran though holes in the piston .They all work to some extent if they are done right .It's more up to who does them ,personal preference type of thing .

It starts out as an idea,an educated guess most times .Theory or not you will never really know until you try it .
 
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