Summertime Blues for my cheap eBay Stromberg

Gerald Morris

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Greetings Moparians! Well, I now am getting my karmic due for boasting of my cheap eBay buy last Fall. The cheap Stromberg served right admirably until temperatures went over 90 F just the last week. Now, any time the engine is warmed up, once shut down, restarting is problematic and I suspect w all the un-burned gasoline wasted, dangerous.

A COLD start goes FINE! She bumps right over nice, and I'm off. Acceleration is good (all things considered) and that first run goes well. But a WARM restart requires much feathering the gas pedal from closed to WOT until the motor "catches" and runs. Acceleration is very poor under this circumstance. ONLY after the engine cools below 130 F will a normal start be possible then.

I've checked the clearance of the bowl vent valve and twiddled it a bit to alleviate the symptoms some, using a 1/16" drill bit for my gauge. I've bent the pump rod slightly to achieve the specified clearance the first time, then after looking at the FSM, bent the little arm raised by the pump rod in curb idle position. I thought a couple weeks ago, during our first warm spell, that I had solved the problem, but today it came back in a big way, and no amount of bowl vent valve twiddling had much effect.

My thought is to rebuild a carb w the Hygrade kit I purchased last summer for this sort of exigency. I have 2 cores in addition to whats under the hood. The original carb would be my best candidate for a rebuild. I probably will pay a local old carburetor guru his C-note to do the job well, as I depend on Mathilda daily.

I'm curious as to what causes the effects I'm suffering from. If any of you More Exalted Moparians than my humble self have an idea, I would be grateful. The FSM symptom table isn't too helpful.

Note: I use a manual choke, which serves me very well in cold weather. The old heat well rod is tied well away from anything and the vac pulloff is completely disconnected. The carb gets all the air it needs down the horn, through the venturi and onward. I think maybe there is some little piston sticking, or the float. Am I deluded or besotted w all the fumes from the day?
 
To me, from my experiences with the WWC, the bowl vent adjustment is more of a formality than anything that'll make a huge difference in idling and hot soak re-starts. When new, the hot restart never was as instantaneous as for a similar Ford 2300 or Rochester 2G carb. Following the 1/3 throttle during cranking recommendation of the owner's manual always seemed to work best for us, back then.

IF you perceive it's a percolation issue, then you might lower the float a little bit, so what fuel's in there will have to travel farther to get out.

NOW, DO make sure that the air horn seals to the float bowl at the rear divider that is the rear float bowl wall and the throttle bore venture area. IF the air horn has warped upward, due to too much torque on the air cleaner wing nut for too long of a time, it'll pull the casting upward. When that happens, it lets the vacuum feed to keep the power valve retracted upward is gone. It's also a direct route for gas to get into the throttle bores, too. PM me and I'll tell you how I got around that on my '66 Newport 383, before I upgraded to a '70 MY Holley 2210.

I believe you've already been through the fan clutch/fan stuff, earlier? Only other thing left to do is to find a basic electric pusher and put it in front of the radiator to keep air circulation under the hood after the engine is turned off.

One other thing . . . there might be some hard deposits inside of the idle tubes in the venture cluster. If there are, no amount of liquid soak will remove them, so a twist drill is needed to clean them out. Make sure the air bleeds at the top of the cluster are similarly open and clean. When the air bleeds get gunked-up, with a smaller effective opening, that circuit will be richer.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67
 
When I found my 67 Newport the po had done a few things that I could not initially understand and I could not get a answer from him since he had long passed away,but he had cut a piece of aluminum siding and fashioned a heat shield for the wwc that attaches with the carb mounting nuts,when I rebuilt the carb I replaced this shield with a better looking one made of aluminum flashing "Just because" I figured it must have been there for a reason and I have never had a hot start issue in north Carolina heat knock wood, and granted its not your kind of heat.
 
To me, from my experiences with the WWC, the bowl vent adjustment is more of a formality than anything that'll make a huge difference in idling and hot soak re-starts.
CBODY67
Hmm, mostly so, but I've had some half decent performance after fine twiddling. I KNOW you're right here though. I try not to mistake correlation for causation.

NOW, DO make sure that the air horn seals to the float bowl at the rear divider that is the rear float bowl wall and the throttle bore venture area. IF the air horn has warped upward, due to too much torque on the air cleaner wing nut for too long of a time, it'll pull the casting upward. When that happens, it lets the vacuum feed to keep the power valve retracted upward is gone. It's also a direct route for gas to get into the throttle bores, too. PM me and I'll tell you how I got around that on my '66 Newport 383, before I upgraded to a '70 MY Holley 2210.
CBODY67

THIS is the MOST LIKELY SUSPECT! Thank you for confirming my own thoughts. I noticed after putting a little 10" round Eddybrock breather on that after things warm up under the hood it clearly becomes very tightly bound to the all-thread shaft. Some bimetallic difference in expansion results in the breather being loose when cold, and almost too tight for the thumb nut when warm!

I have a 2210 off that 400. It too will need a rebuild, though if I get desperate, I'll try it.

I believe you've already been through the fan clutch/fan stuff, earlier? Only other thing left to do is to find a basic electric pusher and put it in front of the radiator to keep air circulation under the hood after the engine is turned off.
CBODY67

Yes. I have a powerful sino-fan pusher up front ad can set the relay to direct power so I can toggle it on at will. I may even put the thermo switch in so it will only push until underhood temp falls back below 180F or get another such switch for even lower. I park in the shade too. All workarounds. I think I might just pop another carb on given the labor time involved in sundry workarounds, though I AM open to suggestions for the week, having RENT to pay!

One other thing . . . .

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

As always, your thoughts have been welcome, and useful. I will PM you soon.

Respectfully and gratefully,

Gerald Morris

P.S. Your PM box is full. I wish Admin would streamline procedure for us clearing it. Oh well.
 
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When I found my 67 Newport the po had done a few
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I have never had a hot start issue in north Carolina heat knock wood, and granted its not your kind of heat.

Trying something like this occurred to me. If it gets involved, I'll just go for another carb. The heat here can be like yours, and is during the monsoons.
 
Yes it could Be a simple five minute experiment made from a drink can just to see if it helps,your out no money and very little time
 
Yes it could Be a simple five minute experiment made from a drink can just to see if it helps,your out no money and very little time

Yep! I'll put a spray bottle in Mathilda today also. I have plenty sheet aluminum here. I also loosened the breather nut to just keeping it on more by gravity than anything, but it will keep it properly lined up over the carb. As always, when starting COLD, she snaps right up, peppy and eager to run, so whatever ails her, ails her only when that carb warms up.
 
Seems to Bea common prob. I spoke to a fella with a 67/town&country had same issue as you if I remember correctly he had fuel percolating.
 
FYI All: It was the AIR FILTER! Damn thing clogged up but totally in the 3 months I ran w it. Went back to the Edelbrock "black triangle" and Tilly is scooting around fine! NOW to find a better filter medium than urethane foam....
 
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