Speedway Super 97 Carbs

drolston said:
Update on Speedway Super 97's. Made a big investment in three chrome Super 97's; one primary, two secondary without chokes or idle circuits. One initial quality gripe that one of the secondaries had the top with a rib, the other two carbs did not. Annoying but not a show stopper. Gripe #2, one float was set too high, one two low, one was right on. That is basic quality issue.

After one year and maybe 20 hours on the road, one float sank and poured gas all over the top of the engine when I was trying to start in my garage. Lucky I did not burn the house down. They use "nitrile" (plastic?) floats, bonded to the metal pivot and adjustment tab. The sent me three new floats very quickly. If you bend the adjustment tab by holding the float, you can break the seal between float and metal piece, and down she goes. The instructions are clear on that point, but it is a dangerous design flaw. Should be idiot proof!

Other than that, they run great and look awesome. I say buy them with caution. Adjust the floats very carefully per instructions.
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Said it before, say it again: 9 out of 10 Chinese hotrodders can't be wrong.
 
drolston said:
Update on Speedway Super 97's. Made a big investment in three chrome Super 97's; one primary, two secondary without chokes or idle circuits. One initial quality gripe that one of the secondaries had the top with a rib, the other two carbs did not. Annoying but not a show stopper. Gripe #2, one float was set too high, one two low, one was right on. That is basic quality issue.

After one year and maybe 20 hours on the road, one float sank and poured gas all over the top of the engine when I was trying to start in my garage. Lucky I did not burn the house down. They use "nitrile" (plastic?) floats, bonded to the metal pivot and adjustment tab. The sent me three new floats very quickly. If you bend the adjustment tab by holding the float, you can break the seal between float and metal piece, and down she goes. The instructions are clear on that point, but it is a dangerous design flaw. Should be idiot proof!

Other than that, they run great and look awesome. I say buy them with caution. Adjust the floats very carefully per instructions.
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I gotta ask,
Why would "make a big investment" on the speedway carbs with all the issues folks have had with them??? Uncle Max rebuilds are constantly being refered to as amazing, the English Stromberg 97 is also amazing. This info is all over this forum, what made you go with the speedway ones?
Martin.
 
uncle max said:
Said it before, say it again: 9 out of 10 Chinese hotrodders can't be wrong.
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Max, I was thinking about that statement last night when I read this old post brought back to the top. I almost posted what you said, but I thought.....nah....our Uncle will see this and post it himself :).

I still have the tear down reports in my files that were done comparing the then new Speedway 9 Super 7 to the English made Stromberg 97. As I recall it was at least a two page report on the many things that were not good at all about the 9 Super 7's.
 
I have had dual set of SS 97s for two years with no problems. Had to change jets to fit my rebuilt engine--too rich out of the box.
 
I to have had the SS97 on mine for about 3-4 yrs and no problem except rejet which you have to do sometime with anybodys carb
 
If you want the best....don't settle for less
 

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Go with Uncle Max- I send him an absolute POS 48 core and he returned to me a pristine looking and functioning carburettor. Price was really reasonable. He also will stand by his work -Try getting the importer to fix your Chinese Carburettor.- They'll replace with another real quick ( because they've taken so many short cuts in production that they owe them next to nothing to produce ) but it's a crap shoot if the replacement will work any better. Karl
 
I understand the English carb people have produced a larger version of their 97??? Any reports on that?
 
scicala said:
JM 35 Sedan, for the people that don't know the difference, which ones are these ?

Sal
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The first four pictures in my previous post, that have black bases, are the English made Stromberg 97's. The last picture with the gray colored aluminum base and funky looking hardware is the Speedway Chinese made copy of the 97 which they call the 9 super 7, and not an "SS 97 or super 97" as some have posted previously. Also, when you click on these pictures to enlarge them, and look in the lower left hand corner of each picture, they are correctly labeled as to what they are.
 
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When I looked at this thread this morning only two pictures came up? Looked again and there's four? No idea why it only loaded two, but have had this a couple of times when looking at this stuff on my phone.
You can clearly see the difference twix speedway 9 super 7 and the English ones.

Ron, they do a biggie 97, haven't had the pleasure yet though.
Martin.
 
Several posters asked why I made the big investment in the 9Super7 instead of Max. Answer: because I did not do my homework to find out there was something better out there. And I am easily distracted by shiny objects, like chrome carbs.

Additional quality issues have cropped up. Besides the sinking float fire hazard, I had one main jet emulsion tube blocked in the primary carb. It cleared with a bit of poking around with a wire, and it ran fine.

Just got the engine back from overhaul. The machine shop guys showed me that the accelerator pump was not working on the primary carb. I replaced the hardened accelerator pump plungers in all three. The secondaries are now pumping fine, but the primary is hard blocked. Takes extra force to get the plunger down because and the fuel just squirts up past the plunger. Maybe a stuck power/check valve.

So, yes, the quality of the 9 super 7 is marginal.
 
I have 2 of the new 97's from England and in my opinion it's a no brainer, get the English for a little more money and support Uncle Max. He is a standup guy and he and the folks in England will be there for you. The quality of the English carbs is superb and you won't believe the quality of the castings.
Regards, Don
 
Charlie Schwendler, (Charlie NY), does an great job of rebuilding the '97. I have had 2 done by Charlie and the run super.
 
The quality of Clive's new 97's is exceptional - really great product with a ton of money invested to make them actually better than the originals (all the stainless parts).

But, there is absolutely nothing wrong with correctly rebuilt originals with high quality parts put into them - adjusted/tuned as any carb should be. I rebuild my own - as I have for the last 40 years.

Lastly, I love the quality and availability of all the various reproduction/replacement parts that Clive and the 'Stromberg 97' company makes. These high quality carb kits and parts have actually made the rebuilding of my original 81's, 48's and 97's - much easier.

You can't go wrong with folks like Clive, Uncle Max and Charlie - they do us ALL a great service.

Here are the 48's on my 32 - I have ceramic coatings on the bodies and the bases . . . so they will not gasoline stain, nor will the 'paint' come off the bases. The coatings are an involved and expensive process - though I like how well it lasts and takes abuse. Notice how all the original linkages are coated with a black ceramic coating - prevents rust and other ugliness from creeping in:

2015-07-22 21.02.18 copy.jpg

2015-07-22 21.02.45 copy.jpg
 
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