PY Online Forums - Bringing the Pontiac Hobby Together

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-   -   Barry Grant tripower (https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=828751)

2+2=421 04-12-2019 10:26 AM

Barry Grant tripower
 
Has anyone actually used one of these? Guy has a new one in box for sale, not sure how they work but they look very cool.

rohrt 04-12-2019 12:59 PM

Was that the one that tested in a car mag several years back and had a bunch of metal shavings in it?

If you can get it for a good price just remember to clean it out.

Dick Boneske 04-12-2019 07:25 PM

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If you're going from a Pontiac Tripower setup to Holley carbs, why not go right to fuel injection? Once you eliminate the sexy look of an original Tripower setup, you might as well go for injection.

There are Pontiacs running 10 second quarter miles with Rochester Carbs. The same engine may run a few tenths faster with three Holley carbs or a good injection setup, but that's all the improvement you'll see.

Tom Vaught 04-13-2019 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2+2=421 (Post 6012504)
Has anyone actually used one of these? Guy has a new one in box for sale, not sure how they work but they look very cool.

A story on the Barry Grant Tri-Power System. I think I am the only guy who ever ran the BG system on a Pontiac.

Quite a few years ago a PY member bought a New Barry Grant intake system for a Pontiac.
He posted up on the PY Board that he was having trouble getting some bolts to go into the mounting holes so that the intake could be used.

He posted up pics of the intake and a PY member "BGTECH" worked with him to get a different intake even after the member butchered up the 1st run intake from Barry Grant.

(It took three tries before they got one that I could use but BGTech did his job.)

All that being said, Robert Williams (RIP ROBERT) bought one of the intakes (no carbs) and I built him 3 carbs that flowed 1100 cfm vs the Barry Grant SB Chebby carbs that flowed 250 cfm each. I do not think that Robert ever actually ran his BG Intake on an engine.

If you do a search on BGTECH you can read all of the threads about the intake.

Tom V.

mike w 04-14-2019 09:23 PM

Barry Grant Six Shooter
 
Be cautious and do more research before you make this purchase. I bought three of these units for re-sale when they first came out. I sold all three, but all the customers had issues. Barry Grant was of no help back then.

Wait to get feedback from someone who actually ran on of these on a street driven car.

Tom Vaught 04-15-2019 09:43 AM

Agree on the above. Like I said, I know where two on the BG intakes are, you sold 3 more of the units, Mike.

The BG carbs (they used on the intakes) were not ideal by any means.
My intake had true Holley carbs on it and ran fine (after the Intake was ported by Dave Wilcox in Virginia).
I had over $500 tied up in the Porting job.

The first BG Intake I bought at the Norwalk swap meet. It was laying on the ground. (Wonder Why, LOL)
I paid $600 for the intake. As Mike W knows they were going for a lot more than that from BG.
BGTECH did a great job getting me a BG intake finally (3rd try) that could be ported by Dave Wilcox.
I personally would save a lot of money and use a 1966 stock cast iron intake or a PY aluminum Tri-Power intake (1st run)
with the DASHMAN Holley to Rochester adaptors if I did it again.

Tom V.

Mr6x 09-25-2019 08:59 PM

The biggest disappointment with these aftermarket Holley 3x2 intakes (including the defunct Barry Grant Pontiac) is the carb spacing will not allow the Corvette air cleaner to fit. Same with the small block Chevrolet 3x2. It would have gave the engine bay a whole new look!

Tom Vaught 09-26-2019 11:43 AM

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Personally the O'Brian Truckers "Ribbed" Air Cleaners when used with Pontiac "Ribbed" Valve Covers looks a lot nicer vs the shiny chrome Chebby Part.

And the air cleaners fit just fine on the Barry Grant Intake.

Tom V.

Click on pic to make larger

DaleW66GTO 11-26-2019 10:12 PM

BG Tripower on a 462 cid in my 66 GTO
 
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I purchased a BG tripower setup for my 66 GTO a couple years ago and I love it. I had a 400 cid with the original tripower on it for years. But a few years ago I replaced the 400 with a built 462 and I wanted to keep a tripower setup on my car but I would of had to do some modifying of the original Rochester carbs to have it idle and run right. Instead I was lucky to find the BG triple D induction tripower setup which came with Demon 2 bbl carbs. They are originally 50 cfm bigger than the Rochester's, and they have a lot more adjust-ability than the Rochester's. I've used the BG tripower for 2 summers so far and the only problem I've had with them is 2 of the carbs had small leaks around the site glass. All I had to do was replace the o-ring behind the glass and I did that while they where still on the car. By the way I love the site glass in them, another benefit. I look forward to this summer when I'm going to replace the jets and squirters to see what I can get out of them. I will attach a few pics of the BG tripower after I rebuilt it. One pic shows it with the one piece oval air filter that came with it. I shined it up and used it for the first summer, but it just didn't look like a Pontiac tripower. So after searching for 3 separate air filters and finding nothing that fits the D shaped tops of the Demon carbs, I just machined my own base plates and used my old original filters. The final pic shows the tripower in my GTO with the separate filters.

Gary H 12-07-2019 09:33 AM

DaleW66GTO, great information, and it looks outstanding.

Tom Vaught 12-08-2019 08:41 PM

Looking forward to your posts on the rebuild/changes the intake system.

Tom V.

Mike Davis 12-08-2019 09:00 PM

I wish these had taken off and there were a few out there...... would like to have a set up to mess around with on a street build I am doing.

Tom Vaught 12-09-2019 12:56 PM

I am aware of only 4 Pontiac systems out there, Mike.

1) The guy with the butchered up BG manifold (never knew his name)

2) Robert Williams system, purchased by another PY member thru a 3rd party sale in 2019.

3) DaleW66GTO's system

4) My system

Tom V.

Mike Davis 12-09-2019 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Vaught (Post 6089238)
I am aware of only 4 Pontiac systems out there, Mike.

1) The guy with the butchered up BG manifold (never knew his name)

2) Robert Williams system, purchased by another PY member thru a 3rd party sale in 2019.

3) DaleW66GTO's system

4) My system

Tom V.

I was at BG back when these first came out picking up a carb for a Top Sportsman car, Travis Abernathy worked there and was pretty knowledgeable. I looked at them and thought it was a cool idea and I would pick one up at a later date. I am not sure how many were actually produced but I remember seeing about 15 of them in various stages.
I was told that a lot of the left over stuff (intakes) was sent to scrap when they closed down.

Tom Vaught 12-10-2019 04:59 PM

I would bet that less than 50 were ever cast up by Barry Grant.

We had a bunch of special casting done over the years (at my old job) and typically the run was 50 pieces or less. Maybe 30 pieces at times. I would bet that The PY Guys and their FIRST RUN "Tri-Power Intake Casting Guy" sold more 1966 Tri-power intakes than BG ever did. The later Intakes are all over the place on quality.

Tom V.

DaleW66GTO 12-10-2019 07:37 PM

1 Attachment(s)
Hey guys I don't know how much it helps in determining how many were made and/or sold but here is a pic of the s/n and other #s that were on the underside of the BG intake. It says mine is S/n 202.

DaleW66GTO 12-10-2019 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Davis (Post 6089111)
I wish these had taken off and there were a few out there...... would like to have a set up to mess around with on a street build I am doing.

Mike I was lucky to find one on Ebay. I had read about them the same time I was building my 462 and really wanted one. So I set it up so if any came up for sale on Ebay, it would notify me by email. Sure enough one came up for sale about a year later and I was able to buy it.

Tom Vaught 12-10-2019 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleW66GTO (Post 6089668)
Hey guys I don't know how much it helps in determining how many were made and/or sold but here is a pic of the s/n and other #s that were on the underside of the BG intake. It says mine is S/n 202.

I actually have owned three of the Barry Grant Tri-Power (Holley/Demon carb bolt pattern) intake manifolds.
The first two runs had casting issues and by the third casting run they had the issues worked out.

The very first BG Prototype 6 shooter intake was run on a Butler engine in the late 2005 model year.
I firmly believe BGTECH was Barry Grant.

If you do a search on BGTECH in the search engine on the PY Board you will find a lot of discussion on the intakes.

BGTECH told me they made 3 runs of the intake:
I believe the first run intakes were engraved with a 100 starting number.
The 3rd intake in the run would be 103.

The second run would start with 200 and the third run with 300.
My 3rd run intake is engraved 340 or the 40 intake in that run.
My 3rd run intake was later ported by Dave Wilcox.

DaleW66GTO, your intake would have been the 2nd intake of the second run.

There is lots of conversation between BGTECH (Barry Grant) and the PY members. One PY member actually calls him Barry in his thread.

So I do not believe they ever made over 200 2nd run intakes or over 300 third run intakes as you are proposing.

I was told the number was less than 100 total for all 3 runs with the 3rd run being the largest.

Like I have posted do a search on "BGTECH" and enjoy.

Tom V.

Mike Davis 12-10-2019 11:59 PM

Tom, is yours on a car running now?

Tom Vaught 12-11-2019 09:48 AM

No, Mike, the engine has the PY 1st Run aluminum 1966 manifold with the custom Dashman carb adaptors, and 3 of the Holley Race 2-bbl carbs on that intake. O'Brian Truckers "Ribbed" Air Cleaners and K&N Filters.
Ribbed Air Cleaners match the Ribbed Mickey Thompson Valve Covers.

Mechanical Secondary carbs. #4782 (center) and two #4783 End carbs. I have the linkage worked out for the carbs for the BG Intake but not the fuel lines.

Tom V.

I have several sets of those #4782 and #4783 Mechanical Secondary carbs.
Some used ones that I might be willing to sell.


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