A couple fellows came over and picked throughout the inventory today. They both didn't expect the quantity of parts I have. "We didn't bring enough money" they both said ! "We'll be coming back..."
Anyways, they both made a pile and one had found a Stromberg OF, that looks like new. I told him the carb wasn't going for what he had to spend. And I didn't know I had it and maybe will try it.

My car is running very good now, after changing the oil, my wife and I went for a little ride and she even noticed it was running good. Maybe my imagination, but I swear it seems smoother since I changed the oil.
I don't want to do anything to upset the apple cart. lol
Do you think I would benefit and notice much difference from swapping the NH for the OF ?
It has an 8:1 head, a Thomas distributor, aluminum pistons and V8 valves, otherwise mainly stock.
I would like to try it, but not if I won't see a big difference.

Hi Dave,

I have an OF that was gone over by Stan that I plan to put on my ‘23 runabout later this fall or early winter. I’m currently running with a straight through NH. Email me and I’ll let you know my results. Mosterman@eastman.org

Dave: I don't know what a "big" difference is to you but it's sure worth trying the OF. Smoother transition through all speed ranges, likely more power, way better fuel mileage, no more trying to find the "sweet spot" with the mixture control and all around better running motor with fewer fouled spark plugs and/or washed down cylinder walls. I'm betting that if you try it, you will be selling the NH. Stan Howe posted a similar comment on this site several years ago and I took heed and tried an OF, and found that he was right on the money. They are a complete carburetor with three circuits rather than a puddle of gas with a wick. As with most original Strombergs, they may have a tendency to leak fuel due to the steel needle but Stan (or I ) have viton tipped needle valves that will eliminate this problem. As well, most OFs come very close to the frame rail (some even rub on it) so some fitting/grinding might be necessary to create clearance here. Good luck : Bruce

Dave, I ran an OF on the fordor for a bit , sure liked the power it had and getting there, down fall was it had a sinus drip and i did not want to spend 400. to get it fixed so back to the straight thru.

There is a reason they sold 750,000 of them in 4 years.
I've rebuilt over 1200 of them.
Good carb.

Oops. I've rebuilt over 1200 Strombergs, not all were of's. Probably half we're. I dunno. 12 hours in the shop today. Just came in.

I've been running an OF for years and can't fault it. Stan sent me a viton needle valve to cure the drip.

Sounds like a good upgrade, from the reviews.
Mark, I probably won't be able to contain my excitement and may have to try it sooner than later.
Hopefully it's as good inside as it looks outside. I have rebuilt many a carburetor and am not intimidated to open it up, if need be.
From other things I read, can the needle valve be changed on the car ? It appears that the bowl top can be.

I'll rephrase "big difference" to noticeable difference, Bruce...

There was a noticeable difference when I switched from the standard NH to the straight through NH. Looking forward to installing the OF.

Here's some pics, again I hope it's as good inside...

Stan makes a replacement needle and seat that works perfectly and will cure any "weeping" problems in this area permanently.. I have a machinist that modifies the stock needle by adding a viton tip and I use the stock seat. You can change the needle/seat with the carb on the car, but would have to be very precise in duplicating the existing fuel level setting (assuming it was correct initially). The correct fuel level is 1" below the top of the fuel bowl and this is a static setting, not with the car running. I install a sight plug so that the bottom of the threads are exactly 1" below the top surface making adjustment on the bench easy and exact. Let us know how it works. Bruce

I have been running a OF for two years, the only problem I had was how close it was to the frame, easy fix a little grinding. I would not have anything else. Love it and its performanace.

They run good and pull hills very well.

How rebuildable are OFs? I passed on buying a pretty nasty looking engine for cheap a couple years ago but I realized after I had lost the guy's number that it had what was most likely a OF mounted to it (I have a pretty photographic memory sometimes when it comes to mechanical detail).

Are they the kind of carb that can just about always be brought back or is there a point of no return as they wear?

One of the big advantages of the OF is that they are all bronze except the steel actuator parts on the outside. Unlike many carbs of that era, they have no pot metal or aluminum parts. I reproduced all the steel parts several years ago. Most of the internal parts such as the idle jet that gets broken about 90% of the time by people trying to remove it and snapping it off are easily made on a small lathe. Many parts from other Strombergs interchange such as the idle needle, the float cover and float.

I make the grub screws for the passage plugs by the 100's. I spent two hours yesterday making about 50, ran out of time.

I've gone through at least 100 passage plugs in the last two weeks.

The biggest problem with them is getting them to stop leaking. So much of the old brass has corrosion where the gaskets fit that it is almost impossible to get them to stop leaking unless you re-machine the mating surfaces. I have a dedicated tool for every mating surface and make most of the plugs new because they have damage to the mating surface.

They are great carbs. I used to buy them for $25-50 depending on condition. Not I get people wanting $300 for a rusted up one with missing parts.

The reason I make the viton tipped needle instead of the old style steel needle is that unless you redo the seat surface where the needle sets it is almost impossible to get the steel needles to seal again the modern dry fuel. The old oily fuel was much easier to seal.

They do have a little tendency to drip a few drops of fuel at shut down. There is no seal on the bottom of the throttle shaft.

In answer to the question, I've had a couple that were about beyond the point of no return. One must have been buried in the mud and manure in the bottom of the barn for years, was full of mud and crap and all corroded. Took some time to get it apart but I eventually did. Heat and ultrasonic do wonders.

Another was sent to me by a guy who obviously could not get it apart. Wanted me to take it apart and let him know what the cost would be to rebuild it. Spent half a day getting it apart, drilling out rusted screws, etc. ALL those steel parts cost extra and they were rusted down to nothing when I got it. I told him before he sent it that would all be extra.

I sent him an email telling him what it would cost. He said his wife would never let him spend that kind of money so just send it back.

He put it on the classifieds because now it was all apart, all nicely bead blasted and ready for restoration.

Just part of the business.

Good stuff, Stan. Thanks, I'll be getting in touch if she's a leaker.
I was thinking about the frame issue and rather than cutting the frame, I'm gonna have my machinist buddy Mike make a small spacer, about 5/16" thick tapering down to 1/4" to kick it away a little.
The spring on the choke lever doesn't seem to do anything the way it's installed. Is it supposed to open the choke ?

Great idea Dave, but you might have a tight fit to the heat tube if you run one. Why not make the wedge 3/16" tapering down to 1/32", get a bit better angle and still use the original bolts. You will be happy with the OF. Bruce

When I put an OF on our roadster, I bent the frame up just a tad in front of and behind the carb. When I sold the car without the OF , I just bent it back down. Easy Peasy ! Another reason I love the RF , they fit without any issues.

I put my Stromberg on tonight...
After I realized the float is supposed to slide on the needle valve, I got it to not leak gas.
I have to adjust everything and dial it in. Seems pretty responsive, but falls flat after one throttle snap. I think the float is too low now. Idle is great.
Is there a gasket on the float cover ? None on mine...yet.

I saw info somewhere on the adjustment, but can't seem to find it again.
BTW, it fit with no mods and has 1/4" clearance to the frame.

I had one that was just rubbing the frame, ground about 1/8" off the frame in that spot and was fine. Unless you know the ground spot is there you wouldn't even really see it, the hood sills hide it.

Well I guess I got the float level close...
Still dies off idle, I think the main discharge jet is plugged up.
Tomorrow I will pull it out and clean it. The high speed adjustment does nothing but make it worse if you run it in.

Yes, the main discharge jet was full of crap. Took the carb back off, cleaned it out, reassembled, removed the broken idle stop screw and adjusted the linkage to where the throttle closes all the way. It was idling was too high and now, smooth as can be at about 300 rpm.
Still have some fine tuning to do, but it's a major improvement so far, much more responsive !!
It's only 48 degrees today and the intake was frosty, I will probably put a hot air inlet on it later, I believe I still have a couple.
Pics coming soon...

The reason the idle was too high was the lever was not on the shaft right. I adjusted that and found a screw that's just long enough to work. Put a spring on the choke lever and have both choke rods working good. Overall, I think it was worth the effort. And looks pretty bling too ! HaHa

I've been running one of Stan's OF's for 3 or 4 years and I find it is one of the best improvements that I have made to my car. Mike

Dave, as I told you, IMHO it’s one of the best things you can do for a T. I know you are a pro mechanic , but If you can clean and rebuild a lawn mower carb, you can rebuild an OF. Having run both, I still prefer an RF but tough to find without issues.

Thanks Tim, I pulled the jet out and it looked like some corrosion from sitting around, I just blew it out good and I saw the light ! It pulled the grade around the corner from me in high axle, with significantly less throttle and loss of speed. Actually held 40, not bad for the initial road test !!
There's a couple drips after shut down, but I left the gas on all night and no puddles.
I'll play with it when it's a little warmer. I want to put an air filter on it, also.

You already had a sweet sounding car, this will just make it better. Have fun.

What is that RED Hose on Mike's picture?

I like how he has his filter routed. I have mine attached directly to carb and I have to remove the carb to replace the filter. Ugh.

Same filter

I think that's the flutalizer tube...

I did some fiddling after another drive, got the hesitation out and took the wife for a putt. She could tell a difference too !
So far so good !

Gene, that is the cowl tank overflow. It really isn't an overflow, it is a drain for fuel spilled onto the top of the tank under the flapper door, but outside of the filler hole.

Ford used a metal tube. I replaced mine with some thin wall conduit which I bent to the proper shape and worked to fit into the hole in the bottom of the fuel strainer. It is held in place with a set screw and a "J" shape bolt through the firewall. After only about 8 years I noticed that I had lost the dang set-screw... AND the pipe. I've been watching the road for the last 6 or 7 years to see if I can find those "lost" parts !

I used to have a spare magneto magnet dangling from my differential pumpkin specifically to capture and save loose parts like this to save the effort and cost of replacement.

IMHO,TH

Sent you a PM, Stan