V8-60 Carburetors, 92s...By: "FRED A"

[V8COOPMAN]

Ol' "Fred A" has some info that he asked me to post about his take on carburetors supplied with the V8-60 Horsepower Engines.
__________________________________________________ ___________

From Fred:


There has been some discussion of the factory finish of Chandler Groves type 92s. The front two carburetors are Holleys and appear to be in original condition. Third in that line is a Ford made 92, Notice the silver coloration compared to the Holleys. There is one Holley in the rear but the surface pitting suggests that the silver is from zinc chromate replate which which is common to new factory Ford parts. Until the environmentalists took over, such replating was more common and covered in the Service Bulletins. Chromate may be quite common as it continues to be noticed where zinc was assumed. My non-scientific samplings are smaller for the Stromberg 81 and will be offered later. Hopefully COOPMAN will help get this posted. Good Luck: Fred A

[Fred A]

The 13/16 marking on the left side is not present in any of these Model 92 samples. It is so on the earlier Stromberg 81s beneath the linkages. Other Stromberg models: 40; 48; and 97 have this feature depending on size. We do know that the 97, in some form rolled on for decades. Could any of this be a clue as to when the carburetors were original or service replacement? Could any or all of my small collection be original or service replacements beyond the era the V8-60 cars (1937 to 1940 in the USA), thereby sporting a later color or finish? Good Luck: Fred A

[Kube]

Hi ya Fred,
As you surely realize, all of these old carbs have no doubt been "toyed" with time and again with little or no consideration of proper parts and / or finishes being used during the "reconstruction" phase.
I have had numerous factory reconditioned carbs, in the Ford boxes, that were built with non-assembly line pieces and the finishes, well, not even close to authentic.
The best way to tell what rolled off of the assembly line is to reference the engineering releases.
To figure out when that "gold" plating was introduced may require looking at the releases each and every year until you find that specification. Not prior to 1949 - that's a certainty.

[Fred A]

I have not been blessed with Ford boxed rebuilds, but I am familiar with carbs bearing the colorful rebuild decals that I have always felt were a positive for a level of authenticity which you bring into doubt. Most of my V8-60 parts were inherited as they were removed to make race engines before 1957 when so many cars were what we call now, low mileage. The rot and decay we now must deal with had not yet happened. Best we could do was to get the right part where service replacement was not any kind of a negative. First order of accomplishment for my current '40 is to do no harm. That means no cutting or drilling that cannot be beyond a nuts-and-bolts refit of the many incorrect parts. Driving out of the yard is the short-term goal. I think the authenticity thing is a sliding scale of correct. We keep trying: Fred A

[Lawson Cox]

I had a little difficulty, at the outset, in determining which carburetors Fred A was referring to. My confusion cleared up somewhat when he stated "the third in that row is a Ford made 92." because there is only one row that has three carburetors, and one of the carburetors in that row appears to have a silver tint.

I couldn't help but notice that the carburetor that is closest to the foreground, in that row of three, appears to have a gold top section and a silver mid section. This would strongly suggest to me that it was, shall we call it, a "mid year" service replacement. (This anomaly was fresh in my mind as just last night, I noticed a NOS Holley carburetor on eBay, strings and tags still attached, that was a mixed bag of different colored parts.)

I am still somewhat flummoxed over whether or not the carburetor on my display engine should have the gold tint. I have a gut feeling after comments by Kube and Dave that the gold tint is incorrect. I'm making inquiries about the cost of having the coloration stripped off. I don't have the capability to do that myself and I certainly don't have deep pockets. (Oh how I wish I had been born rich instead of so good lookin'.)

[ford38v8]

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Fred, the ongoing search for originality benefits from dialog such as this, and is apreciated by all. I direct your attention to your photo kindly posted by Coop, and your caption about the originality of the first two. Please note the mismatch of color between the air horns and the carb bodies of those two carbs. This is a good demonstration of what happens (happened) during the rebuild process. Carbs disassembled and cleaned in batches, then reassembled, as Kube posted, with no regard for which parts were original to which other parts. The Ford rebuild tag only signifies a functional carb, not a carb as original equipment to any specific Ford.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by ford38v8

Fred, the ongoing search for originality benefits from dialog such as this, and is apreciated by all. I direct your attention to your photo kindly posted by Coop, and your caption about the originality of the first two. Please note the mismatch of color between the air horns and the carb bodies of those two carbs. This is a good demonstration of what happens (happened) during the rebuild process. Carbs disassembled and cleaned in batches, then reassembled, as Kube posted, with no regard for which parts were original to which other parts. The Ford rebuild tag only signifies a functional carb, not a carb as original equipment to any specific Ford.

You're spot on Alan.

I am guilty of rebuilding carbs for client "driver" cars with mismatched pieces. They wanted their cars to run well with zero concern of whether the air horn matched the body.
I'm willing to bet that many a Ford reconditioned carburetor (1940) had an incorrect top installed during the process.

[uncle max]

It seems to me, the less people know about these old mixers, the more stubbornly they know it. Myself included, sometimes.

[Lawson Cox]

Originally Posted by uncle max

It seems to me, the less people know about these old mixers, the more stubbornly they know it. Myself included, sometimes.

I'm gonna steal that analogy from you Uncle Max. Great one. Lawson

[Planojc]

Lawson, I have a feeling that no matter what color you go with, someone will say it's wrong.

[Tim Ayers]

Originally Posted by uncle max

It seems to me, the less people know about these old mixers, the more stubbornly they know it. Myself included, sometimes.

Hahaha. So true

[Lawson Cox]

Originally Posted by Planojc

Lawson, I have a feeling that no matter what color you go with, someone will say it's wrong.

Exactamundo, Planojc. That is why I want to make sure I can document everything about this project. Lawson