Stromberg

A few guys have emailed us asking about Stromberg 97 hand throttle parts and how to install them. We don’t supply the hand throttle parts on new Genuine Stromberg 97s simply because most of our carbs go onto hot rods and the hand throttle is not required. Some guys use the parts off their own 97 when they update to a new model, of course, but if you don’t have the parts try Max Musgrove at 97 Express, who recons a lot of 97s and often has spare hand throttle kits. Email him at madmax1946@comcast.net . If you do have parts, here’s how to fit them.

The Stromberg hand throttle parts came on the 97, 48, 40, 81 and LZ models. There’s the main lever with the ball on the end, a small collar, a spring and a cotter pin. Note that at the bottom end of the main lever, on the outside edge, half of the circle is missing (you can just see it in the pic). This mates with the tab on the inside edge of the small collar piece. The tab is smaller than the ‘half of the circle’ that is missing on the lever for a reason.

To install it, you push the lever onto the throttle shaft (obviously the other end to the pedal throttle). Make sure that the ball is pointing outwards. It should slide right over the throttle shaft bush. If you have a brand new 97, we paint that bush. So you may need to scratch the paint off first. Make sure the lever spins freely on the bush. Then push the spring over the end of the throttle shaft. It goes inside the lever a little at the bottom.

Now push the small round collar onto the end of the throttle shaft (compressing the spring) so that the tab on that collar fits into the gap (the ‘half a circle’) in the bottom end of the lever. Align the holes in the end of the throttle shaft and the collar and insert the pin. Make sure you get the holes in the correct alignment. You want the lever pointing to about 10pm when you put the pin in vertically. You will notice that when you pull on the pedal lever, the hand lever does not move because the collar tab rotates in the ‘half a circle’ gap in the lever (mentioned above). Without this, the hand throttle knob would move in and out of the dashboard as you drive. It may need a little adjustment to ensure that the hand throttle knob does not move in normal driving.

One more thing. Max reminded us that it’s a good idea to support the end of the throttle shaft with a block of wood when driving the new pin, to prevent tweaking it. That’s his jig below. And if you do use the hand throttle, push it back in to dashboard (the off position) before using the pedal. It’s not like a modern cruise control where the pedals (throttle or brake) automatically overide the hand throttle!

Finally, as with all our Tech articles, we welcome customer questions, feedback and other input. Email us with your thoughts and if it adds to the debate, we can add it in. Thanks! …..tech@stromberg97.com