Chrome 97 crown for 111 Digger

We’re going to let the pictures speak for themselves here, as once you’ve seen this set-up, there’s not much else to add. Before our trip to the Lone Star Roundup earlier in the year we emailed a lot with Steve Wertheimer who, along with a bunch of cool cars, cool bikes, cool house, cool garage, cool music clubs – you get the picture – also happens to head up the Roundup. Steve mentioned his new digger and the miserable old 94s he had on that awesome Norm Jones-built Desoto Firedome Hemi and to cut a long story short, fedex delivered six new chrome 97 carbs, plus a new chrome Stromberg 6×2 direct linkage, just before the event. Steve had top local polisher Wade ‘Buffy’ Monson (512 903-1996) polish the whole damn intake manifold and we installed the carburetors when we got out there.

Keith Tardel (at Rex Rods), who built the car around one of his Chassis Research inspired frames, revised the linkage to drive the new 97s, and ‘El Jefe’ pretty much debuted the car at the HAMB drags – where most of these pics were taken.

We’ve been hammering on about our chrome 97s and our cool 6×2 linkages now for most of the year. So I guess this is where it all comes together – a full chrome 6×2 system with all new chrome Stromberg linkage. On one of the coolest nostalgia diggers around. Does it get any better? Not from where I’m sitting…We’re honored.

Thanks to all our photographers, Buzz M Jones, Nick Savo, Jason Veale, Blake Burwell, Trent Sherrill and Rick P here at Stromberg HQ.

Phil Spruit’s Edelbrock 5412 equipped Ford/Dodge

If you click on the Community link at the Stromberg website, you’ll find a box that says, “Show us your ride! Send us your pictures. Let’s see your 97s in action!”  And that’s exactly what Phil Spruit did. His email said, “Hello, I thought you might get a kick out of my Ford 5.0 with the new Edelbrock 5412 intake, three of your ‘new’ carbs and a 9253PRO progressive linkage……very impressed with the quality and workmanship of your product. I’ll be putting 6 of them on my Moonshine Baby – a 1960 vintage 7-Litre hydroplane with a Ford 427 that competed between 1961-1976 and was well known for always running 6 x 97 carbs.….more later. Phil Spruit. So, true to our word, here’s a few pictures of Phil’s ride.

In his own words, ‘the body appears to have originally been a marriage of a 1926-27 Ford Model T (front section, up to the end of the seat) and a 1924-25 Dodge Coupe. During restoration, I extensively remodified the the body. The body was channeled, sectioned, cowl filled & windshield – altered & chopped. The body sits on top of a 1947 Ford frame. The three new Genuine Stromberg 97 carbs feed gas through an Edelbrock intake manifold into Ford GT-40 aluminum heads, fired by MSD, by the Ford 302 cu. in. (5 litre), 320 hp roller cam motor, turning a 2800 stall converter into a Ford C-4 transmission. The drivetrain is all Ford too – most of the front suspension and the narrowed 9″ housing with 3.89 gears. If you’d like to see more of the car, as the rebuild progressed, click here:  http://www.technicalfinishing.com/26modelt/1926modeltbuild.html

Phil has owned the car since 1993, and while he’s pretty much changed most of it since, you won’t be surprised to hear that we love the recent induction update best.  Nice work Phil!  Now, about that hydroplane 6×2…