Large Logo Stromberg 97’s – Advice, Recommendations etc., Buy new or have re-built?

I am lucky in that I have a trio of vintage Large Logo Stromberg 97’s which I plan to re-install on my Edelbrock 573 manifold. They will need to be rebuilt and I’m not sure which direction to go. The engine is a stock 292 Y-Block and I’m looking for a good streetable and cruising setup in my 63 F100 Long Uni.

I’m trying to decide if I should re-built the one’s I have or if I should buy a set of the new 97’s from Stromberg (BTW the Speedway 97 knock-offs are not even a consideration).

I have done some on-line research and the potential vendors/re-builders I have identified are: The Stromberg Company, The Hot Rod Company, 97 Heaven, Mr. Stromberg, and Vintage Speed.

The new 97’s cost $449 ($475 with the choke attachment for the center carb). A new rebuilt one (no core required) ranges from $355 to $405, and a rebuild of my cores will run between $195 and $235. (Note: I estimate my cores are worth $125-150 each.)

It’s not like money isn’t an object, but I’m willing to spend the extra if I can be reasonably assured that I will have a better operating carburetor system. But I don’t want to spend almost $1,500 on a setup if I can spend ½ that and get the same results.

Any thoughts from you guys on which direction you would recommend and have any of you had any experience with any of these vendors/rebuilders to make a recommendation.

Or is there someone else out there that offers a better service?

Thanks in advance.

 

Why not rebuild some yourself?? I've done a few, they are simple and parts are easy to get. The car in my avatar pic has 2 small logo 97's, they run fine and don't leak.

 

Not sure I trust myself to do that. As I understand it, getting the old gunk and crud out of the various nooks and crannies is most difficult. Guess it would be worth the $25 bucks or so for a kit and give it a shot.

 

It's a lot simpler than you think, plus you get to learn how those carbs work and you can jet them anyway you want. The trick is sanding the mating surfaces with sandpaper on a plane of glass to make sure they are 100% straight, that's how you avoid leaks.

 

Look up Uncle Max on the HAMB, he's the best there is.

 

Do it!
the trickiest thing is undoing siezed fasteners, and getting the emulsion tubes out. My advice here would be good quality screwdrivers with unworn tips, easy to round things off if you arent careful.
You do need to get a stromberg jet wrench, I got mine from Uncle Max on here, they are a necessity. Even if you have to replace the throttle shaft and some external parts (choke linkage and such) you will still come out miles ahead of a new carb cost..and its satisfying work.
Good luck!

 

To show how easy it is, we used to sell them rebuilt for $3 and they cost us 75cents for the rebuilding. A can of carbuerator clean and a rebuild kit and you are in business. Hell,I don't think they even rebuilt them, just dunked them and cleaned them out! But then that 75 cents was an hour's wages for the worker.
Of course that was 65years ago, so I guess you will pay more!

Traderjack
Traderjack

 

You could probably buy new ones, and sell your old ones on ebay. If you do the math, total cost of new ones minus the money you'll get from selling your old ones might actually be less than getting someone to rebuild them, in which case you'd have a set of new carbs for less then or very comparable cost to a set of rebuilt old ones. If that's the case, seems like a no-brainer.

 

Do yourself a favor and buy new ones, you,ll be glad you did

 

Call Uncle Max, he's THE man for rebuilding.

 

Shameless plug .... But check the classified

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578502&highlight=61cad

 

A good rebuilt Stromberg 97 will perform great and not leak..
Duane.