Stromberg 97 vs. Holley 94 carburetors

In this video, we go into some brief detail about two carburetors most commonly found in old traditional hot rods.. the Stromberg 97 and the Holley 94!

Comment below and share your experiences with your hot rod carburetor of choice!

[slowshop]

Very well explained sir! I'm going to run a new genuine Stromberg 97 in our 4-banger. That should be enough cfm. 👌

[MatthewBerginGarage]

I am a sucker for punishment so I'm running a Holley 1901 off of a 52 Lincoln 239 . 😲 I love that Holley still uses the same jets and many other parts on their 4150 and 4160 series carbs. It does make jetting easier though the old style power valves are getting harder to find. I also have a Holley 4000 to use after I rebuild my 8BA. 🤷‍♂

[rosewood]

Thanks very much for your review. I have twin DAA36 running a 3.4 litre hemi. I have a better understanding of the power valve and the need to synchronise them and power throttle valve use and tune them for their use in relatively heavy car. Your absolutely correct about the parts issue too. Cheers

[hankbernstein]

When I was building my Lakes Modified Roadster I had to get 5 old Holley '94's from 3 states, NY, NJ and Pa. to make 3 good ones since I didn't want Strombergs due to their cost and what I believed (and still do) their inferiority to the Holleys in many ways. I bough parts needed from local suppliers, Vintage Speed and Speedway Motors and blocked the power valves and Idle circuits in the end carbs and worked different jet combinations in all 3 carbs and played with numerous power valves for the center carb. I used EELCO linkage set up progressively to run the center carb to about 40-50% throttle before the end ones kicked in. All in all to get the best combo and driveability, I spent around 100 hrs. of tuning to get it right. By the way, my setup is on a totally fabricated Ram Induction - Tunnel Ram style manifold mounted to my ALFA S.O.H.C. V6 engine. You may have seen the car in the September 2014 issue of HotRod Magazine, at local Northeast Cars and Coffee Shows, Cruise Nights, Dead Man's Curve in Mahwah (I'll be there again over Labor Day weekend )The Greenwich Concours last October or even on Bring A Trailer. Happy Hot Rodding!

[happyharryp]

Had 6 strombergs on a small block Chevy and in a long turn, floats would drop (right hand turn) and when turn back to straight bowl would be over filled and pour out top vent and down the side of the car. Had to lower float level to correct. I would never do it again.

[arthurwicks]

Great video, thanks. I’m currently building a nailhead with 6 97s, wish me luck!

[ninja]

How far is the accelerator pump travel in the holley? I'm rebuilding mine now and it moves about a half inch, maybe a little more, before it bottoms out. Does that sound right?

[ronjacobs]

Thanks for the information. Do you happen to know if the CFM is the same on the 97 & the 94? By the way I enjoy your 'dog' highlights in your videos.

[Shadowfdath]

Holley didnt just have a relationship through distributors with Ford, they were the very first company ford went to when he started his company in 1903...and was later the primary carb for the Model T! Ford found out about them as he needed a better carb and was told by the dodge brothers(Ford share holders) about Oldsmobiles better Holler Iron Pot carb used in Holleys own car(they started out making cars first)....then in 1907 Ford commissioned them to refine the design and that became the primary carb for the Model T, and started the "Holley Carburetor Co" we know today.

[MPerly]

I got an original 8 BA carb at a garage sale and I don’t know how much it’s worth. Decent condition and could be cleaned up real well. Any ideas?

[fastmail]

I'm considering having a Banger built for my '29 Phaeton. I would like to use two carbs. What do you recommend; the Stromberg 81?