Stromberg Videos now on Vimeo

When we were at the Lone Star Round Up in Texas, earlier this year, we talked at length with Piero De Luca about various video productions to bring our products to life a little more. Many of you guys will know Piero as the guy behind the Mad Fabricators CD series so we knew he was the man for the job. And boy, we have been proved so right, we’ve named him “Vice President of Moving Media”. Really. Check out this beauty – the first of many, we hope….

You can view this and all future Stromberg video productions on the Vimeo website. If you already have a Vimeo account, check it out. And please Follow us!

VHRA at Pendine Sands

Just got some super-exciting word from Neil Fretwell at the Vintage Hot Rod Association. On the 7th September 2013, the VHRA will be hosting the very first Amateur Hot Rod Races on Pendine Sands, a 7-mile length of beach at Carmarthen Bay on the south coast of Wales, UK. Pendine was the home of land speed racing back in the 1920’s, so you’ll be following legends like Sir Malcolm Campbell and John Parry-Thomas.

Pendine logo

Campbell broke the land speed record for the first time at Pendine Sands – in 1924 at 146.16mph in a 350HP V12 Sunbeam, now on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu. He broke three more between 1924 and 1935 at Pendine, including the famous 4 February 1927 outing, covering the Flying Kilometre (in an average of two runs) at 174.883 mph and the Flying Mile at 174.224 mph, in the Napier-Campbell Blue Bird. Our American friends will know, of course, that Campbell was also the first man into the 300mph Club at Bonneville on 3 September 1935, averaging 301.337 mph in two passes. Wonder if he ever got a red cap?

John Godfrey Parry-Thomas’s car, which he bought from Count Zborowski’s estate and christened ‘Babs’, was fitted with a 27,059 cc Liberty aero engine, Benz gearbox and chain drive.  In 1926, he twice broke the mile & km WLSR then went on to break another 8 speed records in October. Though sadly, in March 1927, in a further record attempt, the car skidded and rolled. Parry-Thomas didn’t survive and the car was buried on the beach where it stayed until 1969 when it was dug up and restored by another Welshman, Owen Wyn-Owen.

And the coolest part? The VHRA has invited the current owner to run Babs as part of the event, along with a number of vintage dry lakes race cars. Racing is open to VHRA members and their VHRA eligible cars only, so check out the link and mark your diaries! You can read more about the event, accommodation and racing classes at the VHRA website:  http://www.vhra.co.uk/VHRA/Pendine_Sands.html

HOT ROD magazine 97 Manifold Smackdown!

Most days are pretty good here at Stromberg, but some are off the freakin’ scale. And today is one. We got the new HOT ROD Magazine 65th Anniversary issue today, and it’s crammed with new 97s. There are three on Dan Webb’s beautiful So-Cal Streamliner recreation (which we featured here a short time ago – click this link). And five pages-full in the ‘Ford Flathead V8 Intake Manifold Smackdown’.

We quote, “Several companies offer Stromberg lookalikes, but H&H says the best, most reliable and least troublesome are the real Strombergs made by the re-formed company, now from England.”

If you haven’t got the magazine already, we urge you to do quickly as it won’t available after 11th December 2012, and it’s packed with great features by the HRM team. We’ve scanned the relevant pages and added them here for when the mag’s no longer on the stands. Who were the winners? Navarro, pretty much, though the Edelbrock Slingshot 2×2 acquitted itself very well, too. The winners are summarised on page 104 – the last page below. Huge thanks, of course, to Marlan Davis at HRM. Dan Webb and of course, Mike Herman at Stromberg dealer H&H Flatheads for helping organise the awesome feature and helping us get involved.

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.

The new Stromberg 28 inch SuperSign !

Looking for a cool, max impact wall sign ? You got it …Our new Stromberg Carburetor Authorized Sales & Service SuperSign weighs in at a giant 28 inches diameter and no less than 8lb shipping weight. There’s no way you’re going to miss this baby in your workshop, garage or porch.

All our signs are proudly made in the USA, of course, using heavy gauge American steel. That cool patinated vintage style artwork is printed in period colors with a smart dye-sublimation process, so the image is baked into the powder coating for a durable and long lasting finish. And with two riveted fixing holes (top and bottom), it’s easy to fix, too.

To give you an idea of the scale, our picture shows both 28inch and 14inch versions. Both are available to order at our Clothing & Collectibles store on the Stromberg website – www.stromberg-97.com .