new Stombergs...good or bad???

Read the new Stromberg 97 carb info on there web site. http://www.stromberg-97.com/. Looks beautiful, the write up sounds great. The real question is, did they get it right? Anyone have some first hand experience with these? Is the list price of $449 worth it, or is it better to buy/rebuild good cores? Let's here it. Thanks, Loppy out.

 

subscribing

 

I have purchased four new 97's for a friends car that is running a 292 y-block with a 4-71 blower, originally the blower had two early wcfb carbs on it and it looked ok but we made the change to 4 97's. with minimal tuning the new 97's ran great, there are no flat spots and the power increase over the two fours was very noticable, the only problem we had which I believe has been fixed is the floats are made of some type of plastic and had leaking problems, I replaced all 4 floats with original brass floats and solved the problem, I have had a couple small leaks here and there but nothing major, I like the overall product but with the new retail price if you are unable to get a good deal you may want to compare pricing original 97's with a proffesional rebuild or if you can do it yourself there's a big bonus as well. Stromberg was to replace all floats to there dealers BUT I never recieved mine from the dealer i bought them from so I have 4 97's with no floats right now that I will have to go out and buy some used ones. Basically comes down to price and if you want to stick to using stock parts for your build, the new ones have a slightly different appearance where they made a couple castings thicker then originals for sealing purposes.

 

I don't know,if I paid big money for new carbs,and they had leaks,needed new floats,I would pissed off.

 

werd

 

I was mostly pissed that the dealer I bought them from didn't take care of me on the floats he told me he was going to replace, basically he just won't get any more references or purchase from me, if you are interested in buying them contact Aaron at www.savagespeedgarage.com I have dealt and talked to Aaron and he's a straight shooter and also a Alliance vendor.

 

Most of us have been there before,something new or rebuilt that has some issues and you get no help from the seller or manufacturer.So ya just fix the problems .
Good that you had the parts to take care of it and it worked out fine.

 

So the new ones have / had hollow plastic floats?

Are the new ones Zinc like the old ones? I read the site, if it's there I missed it. Not that big of a deal, just curious.

Anyone know if they plan on repoping 81's or did I miss something?

 

They had hollow plastic floats, I'm not sure what they did to fix the problem.

 

Thanks.

Must be too expensive to tool up and make a nitrophyl float, or some other solid as evidently no one is mass producing the brass floats anymore.

 

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Stromberg had a couple minor issues early on, but I believe they've got them sorted out.

The bigger problem, from what I'm told, is finding some - seems most everyone is back-ordered right now.

 

This has been mentioned on here before once or twice. Do a search and see what comes up.
I said it then and I'll say it again, the only word to describe the new Stromberg 97 carb is QUALITY.

 

I personally opinion on it is... if I were only going to run a couple, I would definitely consider it. BUT... I decided against it since I'll need SIX! Too much money! $450 X 6 = I'M BROKE! Maybe if they go down in price some day I'll consider it again, but in the mean time, I'm rebuilding 6 Holleys instead. I will have $450 in probably all 6 of them when I'm done. But this isn't about Holleys it's about Bergs...

What are core prices for Strombergs now? Can you even get one for $100 or is it up in the $200 range now?? Might still be cheaper to put time and energy and do a good rebuild on an original 97 core, if you can find them.

 

There is some infighting going on between the two partners. As most can imagine, this was a huge ( and expensive ) undertaking. I sent them some NOS stuff when they were just getting started to help out and they really have, for the most part, done a great job.The biggest problem has been the floats and they are now making brass replacements just like the originals.I have set up a couple of cars using the new 97's and have found they are great if used in a single application but tend to get over rich when used in a multiple setup. When setting up 2 originals on a Edelbrock Super, I noticed quite a difference, mostly in the mid and high range and the new carbs pulled 10-12 less horsepower according to the dyno.Now, this is just from my experience. I hope they get it down perfect and work out their differences as this is way too cool to get shelved.I'm suffering from Carb rebuilding overload anyway,mainly due to the fact that I am trying to save cores that I would have shit canned a few years ago which translates into more labor and you know who pays for that.That's my two cents of blab.I wish them all the best.Hopefuly they can work through their differences and save a deal that needs to be saved.

 

I’ve sold a lot of the new 97s and parts. I’ve had nothing but great comments and never had any returned. (I would take any back in a spilt second if someone wasn’t happy). It’s true they had float problems and they are working on solving that. Building a new 97 is a major project and these guys are dedicated gearheads building quality parts and carbs.

As to not making any more, here’s the answer direct from Genuine Stromberg:

“True we have had production difficulties, (we’re a small company with limited resources) but we’re still soldiering on. Like I said to you earlier, we’ll have carbs leaving later this month – and with all-NEW BRASS floats!”

 

Was there a price difference with the new brass floats?

 

No price increase I'm aware of - of course prices could change at any moment. (Thanks to US dollar value - you may have noticed the new Rolls & Pleats costs more too).

 

I had a Nitrophyl float quoted recently at work for a project I'm working on. The the float is a 1.5" cylinder, 1" thick with a hole in the center. The tooling quoted was $12,000 with the piece part price at $1 with an annual usage of 10K pieces.

 

OUCH. That's alot for a small business to absorb (but then I have no idea how large the company really is that's making the new Strombergs).

 

I've never taken a Stromberg apart, but once you get an original core, what does a full-on proffesional rebuild cost?

I mean, rebushing the throttle shafts, etc.? Not just throwing a gasket kit in it?

Might just be cheaper to go with new ones, if you have hard time finding cores (or if you find cores that the person selling wants an arm and a leg for).

Nick

 

I see good, complete cores from $70-$130 (I buy 'em if under $100)....the Genuine Stromberg kits are @ $40 and are very complete. Get more cores than you need, as ya may find a problem or two with 'em or mismatched PV's & jets.....and will need the extra parts.

Super easy to rebuild a 97 yourself....

Uncle Max here on the Hamb is a GREAT source for 97 parts too.....

 

TRJ did a nice, thorough article about the repro 97s about two or three years ago. Those folks know their stuff and they wrote nothing but good things about the new 97.

Deluxe

 

Sells a bitchin jet wrench too.

 

OK..The new ones are well built, and look great..My issue is the price..$450.00 plus shipping if you can't get them locally..I have talked to many purist and they want original 97s, 81s or 48s..A core is going to cost about $150.00 and thats not guaranteed to be rebuildable..Like someone said, you need to buy extra to make a complete one..I won't pay the $45.00 for the new kits, I fund that Charlie Price's kits are just as good and less expensive and come with new

 

part two..jets, the good plug gaskets(neoprene)..Compare the difference in the kits..OH.. and Charlies are only $34.00 for his master kit..
So, way all the options..You can get a rebuilt large logo 97 for about $325.00. 81s are more of course..Lots of good builders out there,(one would be me)..
Weight all the options..
Duane.

 

I can vouch for Duane....... (and he also builds damn good progressive linkages)

 

Aaron's a good guy to deal with, and the carb's are great. Not much more needs to be said.

 

I have been told the early carbs reproduced the late Elmira replacement carbs with the third circuit, but this has been removed from later versions of the new Stromberg.

Also have seen some similar results as you report on multiples, but the dyno pulls I witnessed were not strock new strombergs, they'd been modified, so I can't say categorically that the carbs or the mods caused the problems. I can say back-to-back dyno pulls with those carbs on single manifolds performed great - it was only the multiples. During the same session, 3 "old" rebuilt strombergs were popped on the same mule & ran well.

Like I said, have heard they removed the third circuit from current production - hopefully that will fix it (if it is indeed a problem).

 

The old bat-wing base 97s with the dump tubes in the ventures ran the best of all 97s..No sure what happened to the new ones..
Duane..