First off, I got to say, Ryan your site kicks ass, I don't know where else my stupid questions could get answered. Anyways, I am running a tripower with 3 97's and have no clue how to tune them or anything. Never even pulled one apart. Wlill tomorrow though. I just hooked em up and they worked so I didn't touch em. But if there is somewhere I can start to tune em, Please help me out.thanks
While your waiting for someone who knows what the hell hes talking about on these carbs, someone like 286Merc, you can entertain yourself reading this stuff. I don't know if it's good or not, I do Q-jets. http://www.btc-bci.com/~billben/fuel.htm
There was a 97 rebuild article in OLD SKOOL HOT RODZ. The name is way super ultra gay in a disgustingly trendy and ironic sort of way, but the tech article looked pretty informative based on my quick glance.
97's are not hard to rebuild if you get your hands on a good, complete rebuild kit. They are relatively simple. My suggestion would be that, since you have three of them, just take one apart for the rebuild at first. This way if you get confused you can refer back to one of the other carbs for help. If you have any mechanical ability, which obviously you do or you wouldn't be here, you should be able to tackle the rebuild with minimal issues. DrJ has a good point...get yourself a jet wrench so you can completely disassemble and clean everything correctly. Because you are running multiple carbs I would suggest investing in a synchronizing tool also. There was a thread posted about a week or so ago about this; run a search and you will most likely find all you need to know.
Going through 97 is relatively easy if you have the correct tools. Like was stated earlier get a jet wrench, but don't for get an emission tube puller. I fought with the 97's on my T for quite a while to get them to idle right. I had tanked the carbs several times to try to get them clean and they looked great inside but you can not clean the crap out that is stuck around them in the carb body without removing them. They are #9534 in the illustration.
most of the previous posts on the tech and in that magazine are based on the 94's...similar,but not quite the same...i bet lancaster or 286 merc could explain it real well
I'm running 3x97's on my 8BA, and I just completed a rebuild of all three about 5-6 weeks ago. This was my first 97 rebuild, so feel free to send me an email if you want info from a newbie's POV.
On the tubes, you just thread a small tap into the bottom of the tube and pull or if really stuck add a threaded rod and a nut and washer to make a simple puller. From memory, possibly defective, a number 4 tap is loose but usually works, a number 6 is real tight but works, and I've never hunted down a number five. Make sure little holes in tubes are round--overtightening jets crushes them. Carefully clean associated air bleeds. Most of the threaded objects you'll be dealing with have very wide slots for their size. Take the time to grind a proper fitting screwdriver because by the time you realize something is stuck your normal screwdriver has destroyed the slot. Remember the power valve has a plunger in the middle and you must notch your screwdriver if you don't have the right tool. A cheap set of gunsmith screwdrivers is a good investment here, by the way. Tools: Jet wrench is mandatory. I use ancient Snap on and Plomb, but have heard many modern ones are too weak. Threaded rod. Fitted/notched drivers. If you wamt to be a Stromberg wizard, make a copy of the trick wrench socket that allows easy removal of jet plugs with carbs on engine. Float setting is tricky--you MUST set fuel level, not float level, which is just a ballpark figure as these things will not give consistent results and must be adjusted to their actual (low pressure) pump. Start all fiddling with stock jets and such. A previous rant on floats: Hmm. Can't find it. Will try to post setting later.
An earlier post on fuel level: The preliminary setting should be as stated, down around 1/4-5/16". Note the PRELIMINARY--Stromberg and the Ford rebuild info on this both call for setting by GAS level, not float level. Unlike the later carbs, the Stromberg's float valve setup was considered too weak and flaky to produce a consistent fuel level result from a particular float level. Ford set them after rebuild on a fixture under stock fuel pump pressure, which would be easy to do if you have electic pump. If you have good fire and health insurance, you could try the old timer's way of running the engine with tops off the carbs, or build a clear tubing device to screw into the lower jet port so you can read level in the tubing. This will read a bit high due to capillary action in the tube. The tubes sold for Model A Zenith fit those threads, or just drill and solder an extra plug for a tube nipple. You can also just measure after stopping engine, but who knows... Oh, yeah, numbers... FUEL level should be 15/32"-1/2" from edge of float bowl, measured away from the edge. Ford used a simple go-nogo gauge which you could easily make: One prong each for the two numbers, one should just touch fuel surface, other should be dry with the baseline of gauge bridging the bowl. Neither Stromberg nor Ford even gave a preliminary float setting--I guess they assumed normal stack up of dimensions with genuine parts would allow carb to function well enough to move on to fuel setting. The kits give a float setting because they have to give the poor customer something he can comprehend, I guess. Remember, the carb is now 65 years old and has been hammered on by generations of mechanics, hot rodders, and idiots, probably is made of mixed parts from several rebuildings, and likely has at least some damaged parts and some off spec repro parts. You may have to tinker the level a bit to make your particular carb happy. Fuel level is absolutely critical to all other carb functions, and will require low fuel pressure or else the pump will overpower the float and fuel level will go high, putting all metering functions out of control.
The Jalopy Journal
