[Brad_bb]

My 64 GTO tri power is now ready to go on the engine for break in. I prepped and detailed the parts and Ron Panzer did the final assembly and fitments.

There are still a couple cosmetic items that need to be corrected, but I'll do that after the break in on the test stand.

[chrisp]

Looking good .

[Brad_bb]

Thanks chrisp. A few more details finished and now have their "hats" on. Now ready for installation for break in. After break in, Carbs will be pulled and engine completely painted (I'll scuff this intake before paint.). Right now the color on the intake is too dark, and too glossy, but I'll fix that. A number of components are supposed to be painted as well that are not yet.

[olde-goat]

I just completed an engine break in on my 65 tripower convertible just recently. As I have not had any experience breaking in a newly rebuilt engine I got the help of a fellow who has done numerous Pontiac engine break ins. He recommended the following prior to the break in. We fabricated 2 metal block off plates and installed these in place of the end carbs. I used a 'known' center carb that we were absolutely sure worked and had no issues. Reason we did this is that as you know there is a lot of money invested in the new engine and we did not want anything to go wrong with the carburetor side of the equation that could jeopardize the cam break in. Even tough these carbs are fairly simple things can and still do go wrong at the worst time. After we did the break in I reinstalled the permanent center carb and made the adjustments to the idle air mixture screws, made sure choke was functioning well and got the engine to idle properly. With the end carbs on and if you have vacuum line going to the booster from the front end carb this adjustment is nearly impossible with out a proper flex screw driver. Then reinstalled the end carbs. I still had to tweak the carbs but was safer to do this on a running engine that was broken in properly. Just my two cents....

[Brad_bb]

I'm not doing the break in, Butler Performance is. They are assembling the engine and I'm taking the tri power system to them. I did do the break in of my 55 Chevy 265 V8 with a 2bbl. No problem there....and my 55 Ford Tractor engine...If the carb is working decently so you can get the rpms to 1000 or 2000(I forget now what RPM I used for break in). If the carb is ok and you bench set the idle screws, and your needle and seat don't stick open or closed, in other words the needle and seat function properly and don't flood the carb or starve it...they she will fire and you can do some quick adjustments by ear at first, then use a vacuum gage and tach to adjust.

[Brad_bb]

I dropped the Tri-Power off at the engine builder on Monday. The first comment was "jewelry". The bad news is that my truck's trans failed and I had to stay in TN for 3 days instead of 1. Thankfully there was Serra Chevy dealer close by my motel in Goodlettsville, Tn. The service guy, Greg McNeil and the mechanic were awesome working on my old truck. They installed a remanned trans and a pair of exhaust manifolds cause the bolts for the head pipe were so rusted that they could not be removed or even torched out.