Holley carbs?
 

Hey guys,looking at possibly putting a tripower on my build. Just pricing things out right now.i do not care about using year correct parts just whatever is gonna work best engine will be a 66 389 stroker (hopefully).

Anyways I was curious if I could use the holley carbs they make for tripower chevy intakes? Or if for some reason they won't work. Also if not those what are the best performance.carbs to use.

Thanks guys!

I think you will need adapters to use them.IMO if your going to run a tripower get a 66 alu repop and contact Dick B on this site to setup the carbs,fuel lines and air cleaners and be done with it.Tom

Naturally I really like the Holley Carbs and already have a set of 3 Holley #4412 carbs with the air cleaner air horns modified. The MOPAR carbs are all Vacuum secondary stuff and they DO look cool (when using three carb adaptors from DASHMAN) you can bolt up the Holley carbs to the 1966 Pontiac manifold (Cast Iron or Aluminum).

https://www.dashman.net/product.php?id=245

Then you have to either make a custom 3 carb (Ford) Tri-Power air cleaner work to keep the engine clean
or buy the special Individual Ribbed air cleaners from O'Brian Truckers.

https://www.obrientruckers.com/air-c...tri-power.html

In both cases, we are talking some CASH for the parts.

IT CAN BE DONE (I HAVE DONE IT) but my vote here is have Dick B do you a set of carbs like Tom S suggests.

Tom V.

Ok I will try and find Dick B and shoot him a message. I'm still in the planning stage currently. So is there a reason to stay away from the holley carbs or is it just cost. It's looking like with the holley carbs, alum intake, adapters, etc I'm about $2000. How much cheaper is it to go the other way?

JMHO!I would not run them if free as I hate the look on our Pontiac’s!Just me.Tom

Lol, well ok then. Anyone have a picture?

Tom will for sure

PM Bill Bowman

He built a setup for himself and would know the pros & cons best.

I have been running a Holley Carb set-up on a Pontiac engine since 1977 (with full mechanical secondary (List # 4782 and #4783) carbs. Below is a picture of the carbs.

Since you know so much about Bill Bowmans's set-up when did he put his system together?
Also the Barry Grant 6 pack system you sold to RA462 (from Robert Williams estate) came from me.

Maybe Mr Bowman will respond with info on what he used for carbs on his set-up and some pictures.
Robert William's carbs were identical to the Picture below too. Always like to see pictures of others Holley set-ups.

Tom V.

I still say, Put Rochester Carbs on the Pontiac Engine if you can get the carbs redone by a Pro Tri-Power Restorer.

So should I not even bother to piece together a set myself? There is a good deal on a 66 tripower setup used but not sure it's worth the hassle of rebuilding and then trying to dial them in.

Talk to Dick B and he can give you good advice on the cost of a complete Tri-Power system using his Rochester Carbs.

Tom V.

"trying to dial them in". There is nothing really in Dialing them in. You block off the front and rear carb on the manifold. install your center carb (after rebuilding it) . The carbs are not that difficult to rebuild, but if you are hesitant to do it yourself Dick B or Mike Wasson ("The Tripower Team") offer those services for you. They sell the kits with all the CORRECT parts.
Run the car with just the center carb. adjust your idle. If the car is running good, install the front and rear carb. As long as you do not have vacuum leaks in those carbs. you should be good to go. Mike has some real good videos to help you through this.

Dave

I have aluminum 3/8" thick fabricated End Carb "Block Off" plates that I use for initial Center Carb work.
You CAN just drill 4 holes in a piece of fiber board for each end carb location and install a sheet of gasket material that has the 4 holes "Exacto Knife" cut into the material.

Snug the plates down (carbs off the engine) and you can do the testing.

If the carbs are installed on the end positions. Make the block off gaskets out of thicker material and use the end carbs to hold the gasket material in place. This works if you do not want to remove the fuel lines to the carbs.

Tom V.

Be aware when looking to buy a tripower setup. Although they may look right, asking price for all 3 correct #'s on the throttle bodies, float bowl # and air horn # will be very pricey.
However ,if you do not care about correct #'s, You can get a complete setup that looks the part for a decent price . also the carbs are very easy to rebuild. Good idea to talk to Dick Boneske or Mike Wasson

Dave

I didn’t think my tri-power was so famous !! LOL
Pictures to come.

Pics