A new 97 base (throttle body) with specially designed brass fitting to provide ported vacuum advance for your distributor – complete with new throttle shaft, bushes and plates, new kicker and choke lever, idle mixture screws and springs and gaskets. Available only from Stromberg Carburetor, it’s the perfect swap-in for your current 97, adding that all-important distributor vacuum port.

Please note, ‘ported vacuum’ is taken from just above the throttle plate and therefore provides no additional advance at idle or higher revs – only at light load/part throttle conditions (cruising). Please check your distributor specification. Simple ported vacuum will not work on distributors designed and tuned to work with manifold vacuum. And not with the 1949-53 Ford flathead Loadamatic distributor, which has no static mechanical advance and needs a special, compatible carburetor.

In our part throttle/light load dyno tests, we set the RPM at 1800 and locked the throttle position with the vacuum advance disconnected. Connecting it raised the RPM to 2000 and the torque by 3 to 4ft-lbs. The exhaust sound changed considerably, making it obvious that the engine appreciated the extra timing, and throttle response was noticeably better.

Note: Always time the engine with the vacuum temporarily disconnected (with the carburetor end clamped). A compatible distributor will only need vacuum from one carburetor

Remember, like any carburetor part, the new Stromberg 97 base needs proper installation and tuning for optimum performance. Help is available at the Stromberg online Tech Center.