I picked up an odd Bendix Stombergberg WW carburetor with side draft (front-rear) air intake. I think it went to a Buick or Studebaker perhaps in the 50's but have found little on them. The base lines up with a Speedway conversion plate for a 85hp Ford flathead, 4 bolt to 3 bolt. I wanted a carb with a vacuum choke which this seems to have. Any advise on this? Is this a rare carburetor?
Studebaker. They made 2 sizes that I know of. I got rebuild kits from one of the Studebaker supply houses. One word of caution... the screw that is the accelerator pump lever's pivot point has left hand threads. I striped the threads in the top on the first one.
It is a Studebaker - '53/'55 - the choke is a bi-metal spring and requires a heat tube to the exhaust. original heat source was the manifold cross over that heated the base of the carburetor.Nice little unit, but remember it ran on 232 and 259 inch engines - thus the two sizes.
Oh yes, and the vacuum canb you see is the choke pull down to take some of the choke off as the engine started to avoid flooding. Does not work well without it if I remember right!
Thanks all for info. I'll also check out: www.thecarburetorshop.com If anyone else has used one of these on a Ford flathead I would like to hear results or if I would be better off with original carb, etc. & poke a hole in firewall for manual choke.
the stromberg "Wet Wonder"... good carb... I had three of 'em on my '60 buick. middle one still had the pedal starter.
It should work just fine when you get it set up right. I'm running 2 Ford carbs on my Studebaker 259 if that helps. You didn't say what you are putting it on. The linkage on the drivers side can complicate some Ford installations. It seems to me that this is a lot of work just to get an automatic choke. But I was never a fan of these type chokes. I actually like the old hand chokes. I've always been able to find a wiring grommet or other factory hole that the choke cable can be fished through without cutting an additional hole. I guess what I'm trying to say is the end result may not be worth the hassle involved. A carb is designed to add the correct amount of fuel to the airstream and it has no idea what engine it is sitting on.
The Stromberg WW, and its larger cousin the WWC, are excellent carburetors for hot rod application; although slightly inferior in overall fuel economy to the metering rod design of Carter. The Stromberg WW is compact, is built in several different internal venturi sizes (read different CFM), has replaceable main jets, a power system, replaceable IDLE jets, and a conventional accelerator pump that, if made like the original leather, is impervious to todays fuels. Parts (kits, jets, idle tubes, floats, etc.) are readily available. Both the Stromberg WW and WWC share one common design flaw with the Carter BBS, BBD, the Rochester Q-Jet, and virtually all Holleys - an aluminum throttle body. When aluminum oxidizes (if it were iron, it would be rust), it forms.................aluminum oxide, an excellent abrasive. Thus the throttle body "sandpapers" both itself and the throttle shaft until both are worn to create vacuum leaks. Most of the new aftermarket throttle bodies are also constructed from aluminum. The issue is fairly easy for a good machine shop to correct by installing brass or bronze bushings. Once bushings have been installed (and they are generally needed), the WW and WWC are excellent carbs. For those wishing to use the carbs; design clearance on the throttle body to shaft was 0.004~0.006. Wear to a total clearance of 0.009 (0.003 wear) is still acceptable. 0.010 or greater should be bushed. Jon.
Since the carb was for an O.E. application, CFM was not published by Stromberg. An approximation may be acquired by measuring the internal venturi size for the carburetor in question, and comparing it the the chart for Rochester smaller base 2-G carburetors published in Doug Roe's book "Rochester Carburetors". Remember that 2 barrel carbs were rated on a different scale than 4-barrel carbs. Jon.
I'm no pro but you will need a "jet wrench". The same wrench used for the Stromberg 97 and available at lots of flathead supply stores. Before After
Tommy, You might be correct. Stock carb with hand choke may be easier. Going on 1935 stock 85hp Ford flathead engine in a custom car (new firewall). ================= You didn't say what you are putting it on. The linkage on the drivers side can complicate some Ford installations.
This is my carb! I just bought an unmolested 1958 Silver Hawk for 2k. Where can I get the carb kit so I can start driving my Stude?
I've agreed to buy a Stromberg with a fluid operated governor from a gentleman, my application needs the governor, I was curious what other applications had the oil line operated governor? It visually looks to be a ww or wwc but he says he cannot find any numbers and I don't know much about them. It's going on a 478 industrial engine that only turns 3800rpm.
The only applications of which immediately come to mind are GMC. The identification number will be STAMPED (NOT RAISED) on the top casting in the vacinity of being above the fuel inlet. Stromberg identification numbers are in the format mmm-nnnl where: mmm is a 1, 2, or 3 digit number specifying the manufacturer (GMC is 23) nnn is a 1, 2, or 3 digit number representing the number of different carbs then sold to the above. l is a 1 digit letter that may or may not be present representing the engineering status. Example23-176A 23 means GMC 176 means the 176th type carb Stromberg sold to GMC A means one engineering change Example 10-40B 10 means Packard 40 means the 40th type carb Stromberg sold to Packard B means two engineering changes Example 205-9 205 means Cadillac 9 means the 9th type carburetor Stromberg sold to Cadillac the absense of a letter means no engineering changes This link to the GMC section of our website should give you the actual application assuming you find the number and it is a GMC: http://www.thecarburetorshop.com/TruckkitsG.htm#TkitGMC Jon.
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