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FE Tri-power anybody?

4K views 26 replies 11 participants last post by  Spartikus 
#1 ·
#4 ·
I think they ran pretty nice on the FE Fords, not to mention the 440/340 MoPars, 389 Pontiacs and 427 Chevys.

Unmatched eye-candy too, IMO

I think maintenance complexity and cost is the reason many folks prefer a single 4V...
 
#5 ·
Granted they are not easy to setup and maintain - but they will outflow a 4v and are very suited to any mods on the upper end. It's the next step towards carb porn....just under a Weber/Hilborn injection system IMO! It's nice to have stuff that still stays under the hood.
 
#6 ·
I had the low-rise oval-port 400hp/427 tripower setup ('67 Vette only used low-rise, 68-up used high-rise) on the BBC in my Camaro. Ran great! The end carbs were vacuum-operated. I bought all of the factory reproduction fuel line and linkage from a 'Vette supplier. I already had the correct carbs (List 3659/3660) and the triangular shaped factory 'Vette aircleaner. Great 'Oooooo' appeal at the local cruise-ins!

I ended up selling the complete tripower setup for $550 when I turned the car into a drag-only car. Of course that was 25 years ago...
 
#7 ·
Yep, 25 years ago, I wonder Why you DON'T see them used much anymore? Well it ain't because of time to set up, look at all the stuff real hot rodders go through to make their car fast, it AIN'T with a tri-power set up. Most tri-power set ups today are for the 50's- 70's look, IMO. I would be shocked to learn that a class winner at a NHRA national event, WON with such.

Dale in Indy
 
#8 ·
Love it on my 68 j-code -- especially the sound of all 6 bbls at WOT.
 
#11 ·
Love it on my 68 j-code -- especially the sound of all 6 bbls at WOT.

your not making it any easier to look the other way Jody! LOL dang I'd like to hear that....
 
#9 ·
Mine Camaro with the tri-power ran 11.31 @ 119.5 with a hydraulic cammed 11:1 396 with junk truck heads. Not too shabby. Ran almost the same ETs as with a 850 Holley (jetted waaaaay down). Only threw the single 4-barrel on it for ease of tuning at the track.
 
#10 ·
My 6 pack Road Runner is easy to maintain and with 1350cfm performs very well.
 
#12 ·
Yep, the Chevy was the same way - 350cfm for the center (primary) and the two 500cfm vacuum secondary outboard. Being vacuum-operated, they'll only open as far as necessary (what the engine wants) so they're never really open all the way... I don't know why they didn't just make them all 350cfms...
 
#16 ·
My setup is progressive as well, center carb alone until 1/3 throttle when it gets joined by the front carb, followed by the aft carb at 2/3 throttle. From there on it's all three singing till I'm out'a gas. Now that the roof is gone, I can really hear them.
 
#17 ·
Tri power, no thanks. I don't want to look at it, don't want a ride and definately don't want to even hear about how to tune it.

The boss 29 car sounds incredible. I'd love to just watch it put down 15 feet of rubber shifting into fourth gear.
 
#20 ·
The boss 29 car sounds incredible. I'd love to just watch it put down 15 feet of rubber shifting into fourth gear.
Unfortunately, he no longer has those slicks, and he won't race the car any more because the 11-1/2" clutch is starting to slip at those power levels. Just where, oh where do you even find those clutches any more? BTW, this same guy won't race his '73 Q-code Mach 1 on slicks any more - he's twisted two (small-input) toploader input shafts already!

OTOH, right now my 393W Crown Vic breaks the 235/60/15 M/T drag radials loose (SQUWARTCH!) on the 1-2 shift at 5500rpm and you can even hear a slight bark when I shift 2-3... That's at a 400hp level (to the ground) in a 4000-pound car that runs 13.06... I'm sure that I'll lose some of that shift firmness when I switch from the current 2400 to a 3200 stall converter in the AOD...
 
#19 ·
I'm still waiting for someone to give me the scoop on a NHRA winner at a national event running a tri-power set up.... Yep, maybe years ago, but not in today's world, IMO.

Sure they were good in their times, but I never see any push to sell them NOW. That's got to say something.

Dale in Indy
 
#23 ·
Lots of things have changed - but I bet the primary reason is that it wasn't a high production item to start with so I don't think that's any true measuring stick.... How many 6 packs have you seen vs 4v's? 1300 CFM is a hell of a lot of flow. Hpw much of it actually get used is another story. Hell carbs will be like rotary dial phones soon enough anyway.
 
#24 ·
Gotta love it!

When I was young dad had the 6 pack AAR Cuda - lots of good memories. I'd love to be able to afford one now! <sigh>
 
#25 ·
Lots of reasons you don't see Tri-powers around today but from my experience it's all about risk vs reward.. Your carb is a critical piece of equipment that has to be fine tuned to the engine, jetted and tweaked depending on a lot of evironmental conditions. On a track, having a set of heavy primaries that would give way to some very throaty secondaries would allow your engine to open wide up and breath like it was meant to. Problem is all that tuning and fiddle farting around with linkages, vaccum lines... you basically had 3 sets of everythign to worry about.

Even a dual quad setup is easier to manage that a 6 pack. IMO, although they look cool as hell, sound different than any other carb I've ever heard when you drop the hammer and let them breathe wide open, they are simple not as effective at delivering consistant results. Even a dual quad setup is less hassle and more consistent.
Just my 2 bits
 
#26 ·
I have ownd a 67 GT500 428 2 Holley 4Bbls and a 426 Hemi Challenger 2 AFB 4Bbls and my 440 6 Six Pack R.Runner 3 Holly 2Bbls and I can tell you the 6 pack is easy to tune compared to the 2X4 set up. That said I would not hesitate to run either setup
Lots of reasons you don't see Tri-powers around today but from my experience it's all about risk vs reward.. Your carb is a critical piece of equipment that has to be fine tuned to the engine, jetted and tweaked depending on a lot of evironmental conditions. On a track, having a set of heavy primaries that would give way to some very throaty secondaries would allow your engine to open wide up and breath like it was meant to. Problem is all that tuning and fiddle farting around with linkages, vaccum lines... you basically had 3 sets of everythign to worry about.

Even a dual quad setup is easier to manage that a 6 pack. IMO, although they look cool as hell, sound different than any other carb I've ever heard when you drop the hammer and let them breathe wide open, they are simple not as effective at delivering consistant results. Even a dual quad setup is less hassle and more consistent.
Just my 2 bits
 
#27 ·
Actually don I was speaking out my arse on that one as I havent actually worked on a dual quad setup. I heard they were easy. I just remember the painful process of tuning the 3x2 setup on the 428. It truely sounded like nothing else when it opened up to full throttle though. Was definitely an attention getter.
 
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