Can anyone tell me what the numbers on this Stromberg 81 reference? The top section has a raised 67 just above the 81 logo and the middle section has .035. a star symbol and RC. Thank you.
67 is Ford part prefix for 1936 V8. That top could have been replaced as Ford was already using the 97 by 1936. Probably more important is the plain wrap 81 rather than the 52/81 seen less often. Service replacements vs production is perhaps more fun. Good Luck: Fred A
the carb was released first in the USA during 1936 as a service replacement carb for city delivery Fords running only at low speeds. The numbers involved are published in the 1936 service bulletins, and might well have been different than numbers used after the 60 HP was released in the USA. The 60 was manufactured in USA but sold only in England and Europe in 1935 and 1936...and the early ones were pretty weird. Ford took the carb as a low speed econo carb for delivery trucks, which were often not getting into venturi feed with fist the 40 and 48 carbs and then the 97 (Numbered 67!) 60 PN's began with 52...5 for 1935 intro, 2 for the engine series. The 67 on the top marks its source as an original equipment 97 but aside from the number it is same as what an 81 would have gotten. This is vague, so go look in the '36 bulletins for full details and numbers. The look in same year bulletins for first use of the 97...which was about the same! Both came into the supply chain because the models 40 and 48 were considered gas hogs at low speed. For general use, the 97 solved that and proved to have no disadvantage at high speed.
54- 6,602 to 54- 358,334 Those are the first 60 numbers in the USA chart. The missing span is European. The jump from 52 to 54...maybe that marks the transition from the first oddball engines to the basic design we know?? Those early engines had...really!...4 main bearings, two exhaust exits on each side, and a very different ordering of the ports to tie it all together. And an electric fuel pump...which shows up to create utter confusion in the Motor's Manual spec sheets! LONG before I knew that those engines existed, I found a bare block from one in a junkyard in France. It blew my mind...everything about it told me that it had to be a Ford and a V8 60...but all that stuff was wrong! It must have been 20 or 30 years later that I first got some actual information. I don't know the numbers, but these earlies weren't in production long and are extremely rare. I recently bought some French 81 carbs from an expatriate Hamber. The "81" is expressed in metric!
And imagine my shock when I stumbled into the block from one of those when I was 18. I already knew my flatheads and had worked on a 60...that block was simultaneously SO Ford and SO wrong! An extra detail on that: It seems to have a model 68 distributor, used on a minority of American '36 Fords. New Bruce, Did you ever get that metric "97" restored? It is now sitting in a tray in complete kit form. It has all the parts from an American 97 that had a broken body casting, clean and ready to assemble, and the metric body you found...and I finally got the power valve out of there without any violence, I think still usable and now in the spare parts area. The trick was a gigantic Bell Telephone screwdriver with an absolutely perfect blade size. I think the bulge on the left of bowl is the onliest major appearance difference on the furrin carb, and so its look should be pretty much correct for its ethnic origin. I am rereading the bulletins on the 97 67-9510 carb and the 81 into the Ford system during 1936. Both arrived the same way! the 40 and 48 model Strombergs were a bit large and behaved badly in low-speed delivery use. That is just my inference from what I read. The 97 was offered up via dealer sales as a low speed carb, numbered as 67-9510, which is a commercial part number. I don't think it is well documented, but it apparently was found to be a happy all-around carb and became standard during the 1936 model year. The 81 was brought up in a slightly later 1936 bulletin, and was numbered as SE67-9510. The SE there is totally weird in Ford language and grammar, and my flying guess is that it meant something like Special Equipment for '36 commercials, as something that appeared right off the wall. S alone was used alone in some later odd parts that had no conventional use, like Denver heads and off road wheels. Also...note the origins of the names we use for carbs: The 40 and 48, the model designations taken from 40 9510 and 48 9510 carbs, would have made sense to a Ford parts man. The 81 and 97, however, had nothing to do with the nomenclature of the carbs--they were simply size notes outside of the system, probably made large for parts counter convenience since Ford now had several different V8 carbs in play.
Bruce got me on that 67, as the number I was reaching for was 68. Wish Bruce had a shot at the 52/81 as my dad was into 60s for midget racing and the components piled up behind the shed. He taught without document that the 52/81 was found on earlier factory while the Big 81 he found to be on replacements over the counter. They didn't use the 81 on the Olympic Refining and Kansas Grosso cars. My own choice was the Holley 92 off the last V8-60s. For all they're worth, welcoming other opinions. Thanks: Fred A.
part prefix came from first design intention or design...67 came from use on light commercials, even though the 97 was shortly after used on everything for a few years.
Well today I learned there was a 15 stud, two exhaust port engine! A pretty good Friday gentlemen, Thanks!
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