I am restoring a Stromberg 48 for a man and would like opinions on the correct finish for the cast iron base. He has an original 35 ford and wants it to be right.
There’s an expert car book writer on the barn that says bases in this era were painted. I’ve seen plenty of the flathead Holley bases that were more of an iron phosphate finish. The book also states die cast bodies were “raw”. Not quite, they were chromated. Raw die cast would corrode quicker. I find it hard to believe Stromberg and Holley masked off gasket surfaces and plugged all holes to squirt paint on bases. Phosphating is more of a conversion than coating. No masking, taping, no plugging of holes.
Stromberg's standard for cast iron in 1934 was to sand-blast, Parkerize, and finish with black lacquer. This standard changed on 12 April 1946 (a very cold, snowy Good Friday in Moberly, Missouri, so I have been told many times ) to sand-blast, and Bonderize. Cast iron following this date, unless for special applications, were not painted. Die-cast bodies were finished using "New Jersey zinc di-chromate" (Stromberg specification code "T"). Jon
The Stromberg 48 is not correct for a 1935 Ford. The so-called 48, actually Stromberg type EE-1 number A-17581 was unique to 1934. In 1935 Ford changed to the first of many different so-called 97's, the Stromberg type EE-1 number A-17691. The finishes for both are listed in the post above this one. Jon
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