Multiple Stromberg 97s on a Hemi!

Stromberg 97 4x2

Four 97s on a Hemi!

Multiple 97s on your hot rod motor? Sounds good, doesn’t it? Check out this great Stromberg feature on the HOT ROD website! Written by Barry Kluczyk, we follow Bill Jagenow, at Detroit-area Brothers Custom Automotive, as he installs and tunes four new Genuine 97s on a DeSoto 291 Hemi under the hood of a 1940 Ford.

Jetting 

As Bill says, “It’s very easy to overdo it with a multi-carb setup. The 291 Hemi is not a large-displacement engine for four carburetors, so we’re backing off the fuel supply a little. We’ll start with the ‘41s’ and see how it goes after the engine is running again. We’ll check the plugs and make adjustments as necessary, but experience suggests they’ll be the right jets.” Just one thing. Bill recommends fuel pressure at 3.5psi. We prefer 2.5psi.

According to HOT ROD, “With the air horns back in place, the soldier-like formation of the quartet of Stromberg 97s looks strong. Because there are so many connections on a multi-carb setup, it’s important to check for fuel leaks and the tightness of carb mounts after the first few drives, but with the synced carbs all performing strongly, the driving experience of the Hemified 1940 has never been more fun or responsive.

Big thanks to Barry and Bill, of course. If you want to speak to Bill about Stromberg for your own hot rod, you can contact Brothers Custom on (248) 760-0700 or email at billjagsix@yahoo.com

Click here to read the whole feature.

Stromberg 4×2 Cadillac motor

Wondering about a Stromberg 4×2 set-up? There’s a great feature on the HOT ROD magazine website (written by Rob Fortier) about the build of Mike Blackburn’s cool ’32 Sedan with its Stromberg equipped 390 inch Cadillac motor. As Rob says, “The 390 used to power the sedan was freshened up by Billy (Roach) Cockrell, and does so with a quartet of Stromberg 97s on an Edelbrock CD-694 intake, Sanderson tube headers feeding a stainless exhaust through Porter mufflers of the same material, and a Phoenix Transmissions 700-R4 mated with a Wilcap adapter.” Thanks to Stromberg dealer Austin Speed Shop for representing!  Click here to check out the whole feature. We saw the Sedan at Lone Star Round Up 2017 and it’s a killer car.

Special 4×2 for Jalopy Journal

Jalopy 4x2 1Wow, big mention yesterday on the Jalopy Journal. We built the carbs and a double tricky linkage for the Y-block mounted 4×2 blower plate for their Project 38 nostalgia drag racer. And it all turned out real nice.

Our buddy and Stromberg reseller Aaron Von Minden supplied one of his 6-deuce tops for 6-71 blowers and the car’s builder, Keith Tardel, cut and shut it (awesomely, I might add) into a very cool and unique 4-carb blower plate.

So why so tricky? Man, these carbs sat so close to each other that the accelerator pump rods were touching the carb in front! There is no space to get any linkage in between the carbs so we made some cool stainless steel throttle shaft extensions to get the right-side carburetors to meet the left hand linkage, but the fat ends literally hit the jet plugs on the left-side carbs. We solved that with a further lathe visit to skinny them up, then our ace fabricator Rick P made up some little support brackets with oilite bushes to keep the extension ends from waving back at us in the breeze.

Next? Well, race cars need a rod end linkage so we made each carb link individually adjustable – four swivels linked together on a straight rod like a convict work party just wouldn’t cut it.  We didn’t want weird-looking short links either. Rick came up with this crazy plan involving two levers on the front carb. Good on the intake and good on the eye too. But even then we had to shave some iron off the left-hand bases to ensure unhindered WOT on all four carbs (..too close together!). Remember that crazy Navarro 4-carb deal we posted recently? That was for a blower plate too. Same issues…no space. Anyway, problem solved. You can read all about it on the Jalopy Journal..

And….Looks like we might make some more of those throttle shaft extensions, by the way, as they came out real nice. They cover the steel throttle shaft bush, which helps the looks, and using stainless instead of brass helps reduce the torsional twist you get on all long throttle shafts. Stay tuned…

 

Stromberg Chrome Linkages

Good news for all our chrome Stromberg 97 customers. The full TwoStep linkage range is now available with chromed die-cast levers and polished stainless steel. Designed specifically for use with multiple Stromberg 97 carburetors, the TwoStep range of direct and progressive kits covers all of the commonly available 2×2 and 3×2 intake manifolds – principally for flathead Ford, small block Chevy and Ford, plus various other vintage OHV V8 engines. Chrome linkages for 4×2 and 6×2 applications are also available to order.

The new chrome range perfectly complements our popular chrome Stromberg 97 carburetor (9510A-CHR), and chrome fuel delivery parts. With our show chrome models now accounting for a significant percentage of carburetor sales, customers were naturally asking about matching linkages. So we’re particularly pleased that we can offer real show quality chrome and polished stainless pieces….and at very competitive prices.

Designed and manufactured exclusively by us here at Stromberg Carburetor, the TwoStep linkage range combines clean, traditional looks with maximum leverage and huge versatility. All kits come pre-assembled and install in just two simple steps, without the need for extended throttle shafts. Here are just a few of the features and benefits:

Direct linkages available with swivels or rod ends – opposite threaded for easy adjustment.

Versatile progressive linkages allow you to choose when the secondary carburetors open.

Every kit includes two Stromberg ‘Snapback’TM throttle return springs. Wrapped around the linkage end of the throttle shaft, these chemically blacked, stainless steel torsion springs snap the carburetors shut, yet virtually disappear from view.

Every Stromberg TwoStep linkage kit comes with full instructions, and further help with selection, installation and tuning is available at the Stromberg Tech Center at www.stromberg-97.com.

You’ll find all of our linkages, regular and chrome, on the Stromberg website. Click the link to check them out.

Choosing the right Stromberg 4×2 linkage

Hot rod 4×2 intakes come in many forms, but most put the carbs in line behind each other or staggered in a 2-plus-2 arrangement. Some are widely spaced to get the carburetors right over the intake ports, with a big plenum chamber, like the famous Horne/Cragar early Cadillac intake (shown below), but some have a very close, overlapped stagger like the Weiand WC4D manifold which is more of a dual-plane design. Stromberg offers a choice of 4×2 direct (non-progressive) linkages – both inline and 2+2 kits, with a ready-to-fit kit for the Offenhauser Pacesetter 5024 intake and a ‘Trim-to-Fit’ kit for everything else.

4×2 in line. Pretty much all the early Flathead Ford intakes, plus a few early ohv intakes, put all four carbs in a line, like a typical 3×2, but with one more 97 squeezed on the end. The main brands you see around are Sharp and Weiand. Building a 4×2 direct linkage so all the carburetors work at the same time is simple. Just order up 4 of our 9091K kits (Superlink lever arm and swivel) and link them together with a straight length of 3/16th rod. You might want to order some of our 9054K Snapback torsion type carburetor return springs, too, but that’s pretty much it.

Building a 4×2 progressive linkage is quite another thing. We have built some to special order, though, and here’s a picture to show how. Email us at sales@stromberg-97.com if you need one. Just one issue. As with most progressive systems, you can’t use banjo fuel fittings as they interfere with the long center levers.

4×2 staggered systems. If your intake manifold spaces the carburetors far enough apart across the intake to get separate linkage rods to each bank of carburetors, you need a quality, sturdy linkage that won’t flex when you stick your foot in it, and won’t swamp your beautiful 97s with huge ugly pillow-block brackets either. The Stromberg 4×2 kits, designed and manufactured exclusively by us, fulfil all those criteria with a whole new level of quality, efficiency and looks. 4×2 staggered systems need a direct (non-progressive) linkage, otherwise some intake ports (and therefore cylinders) are going to starve at low revs. Stromberg offers one type of 4×2 direct linkage, in two sizes.

Our 9271-D Linkage Kit is ready made to fit the Offenhauser Pacesetter 5024 – Chevy intake, which spaces the carburetors 8-5/8 inch in front of each other and 6-1/2 inch apart across the intake with 3/4 inch offset (ie, the one bank is 3/4 inch in front of the other). This linkage is ready to go. It comes almost completely assembled with the Back-bar levers pinned to the shaft, and even though it bolts straight on, it still comes with full instructions, of course.

If you have any other intake of this type, choose our 9270-D 4×2 Trim-to-Fit Direct Linkage Kit. It will work with intakes that space the carburetors up to 9-1/2 inch in front of each other, and the same dimension across the intake, with up to 1 inch of offset between the two banks of carbs. Believe us, that’s going to cover pretty much every production engine around. How difficult is the trimming? You’ll be drilling one hole and maybe shortening one bracket and adjusting the lengths of the rods. Everything is explained in the Installation Guide included. Download a copy right here in our Tech Center if you’d like to see it first.

The Weiand WC4D manifold. We mentioned the Weiand WC4D manifold, above, which sets the Stromberg 97 carburetors in a sort of in-line, overlapped stagger. It places the carburetors so close together, in fact, that our 4×2 kits do not work with this intake. You need long throttle shaft extensions, which can flex and twist in operation. However, we have seen cool linkages with extra beefy shaft extensions specially built for this intake built by Stromberg dealer Baxter Ford in Lawrence, Kansas. Click on the pics below to see more. So if you need one, you’ll find Baxter Ford’s details on our Dealer Network page.

Your link to the pedal. Stromberg recommends a mechanical pedal link for all multi-carb systems. Ideally, your 4×2 Back-bar can be connected to the pedal via one of the long levers that work the two banks of carburetors (they have three adjustment/connecting holes at the top). However, if these do not line up with your pedal link, you can add a third long lever to the Back-bar shaft with Stromberg kit 9096K (Long linkage arm/swivel) positioned to align with your throttle pedal ‘pull’ point. Complete with swivel, clamping screw and 3/32” roll pin, the 9096K lever can also be drilled and pinned to the Back-bar to ensure positive location.

You can download this Tech article at the Stromberg Tech Center (click the link). As with all our Tech articles, we welcome customer feedback and other input. Email us ( tech@stromberg-97.com ) with your thoughts and if it adds to the debate, we can add it in.