[highrisk]

Has anyone tried the new complete tri-power set ups offered by AMES? If you have, how is the quality and were there any problems?

I had ordered the one from PY for my 66 but was not happy that the manifold made all three carbs sit at the same height where the original the center is higher. This makes a big visual difference and makes the ram air pan useless since the center carb sits too low. I never got a chance to see how it ran because we had a house fire and the car was destroyed before it could be started.

So now I am rebuilding a 65 and am interested in putting one on it. The car has a 69 428 in it that I am currently rebuilding. So if anyone has any first hand knowledge, I would appreciate the advice.

I sent Mike an email at Pontiac Power for his advice on a complete unit but have not heard back from him. I would rather have one built by him, but so far no luck getting him to write me back.

Thanks for the help,
Dale

[facn8me]

I would imagine the ames and PY intakes are the same. I have the PY Kit. Ames could not sell me one. Did not have carbs available. I'm happy with the PY kit. Of course I roll a lemans and have no desire to have a gto hood or the ram air pan. If you talk to mike only him and another guy sell good stuff. May be true but mine works (after me rebuilding center carb due to missed gunk in the accelarator pump circut.)

[b-man]

Try Dick Boneske, he's a member here on PY and a Tri-Power expert.

Pictured below: My 1964 Tri-Power auto-trans center carb along with two 1966 outer carbs, mocked up on one of Dick's 1965 intakes to check and adjust linkage operation. Dick Boneske provided me with these beautifully restored carbs, he sold me the center carb and restored my 2 outer carbs. Dick reproduces the fuel lines and choke tubes himself and can provide just about any Tri-Power part you may need.

[1971WARBIRD]

dumb question, but.

could you run a spacer under the carb to get the right height? since a spacer helps some 4bbl combos to work better, would it help a 3 2bbl by having the middle carb that does all the main work spaced out?

never worked on a tripower, so i have no clue.

[highrisk]

I will give him a shout, thanks. I would rather buy one from someone that knows what they are doing rather than buy a mass produced one where I have no idea who rebuilt the carbs.
dale

Originally Posted by b-man

Try Dick Boneske, he's a member here on PY and a Tri-Power expert.

Pictured below: My 1964 Tri-Power auto-trans center carb along with two 1966 outer carbs, mocked up on one of Dick's 1965 intakes to check and adjust linkage operation. Dick Boneske provided me with these beautifully restored carbs, he sold me the center carb and restored my 2 outer carbs. Dick reproduces the fuel lines and choke tubes himself and can provide just about any Tri-Power part you may need.

[wheelspin]

Originally Posted by 1971WARBIRD

dumb question, but.

could you run a spacer under the carb to get the right height? since a spacer helps some 4bbl combos to work better, would it help a 3 2bbl by having the middle carb that does all the main work spaced out?

never worked on a tripower, so i have no clue.

I ran 1/2" thick phenolic resin spacers under the carbs on my 66 trips mostly in an attempt to isolate them from heat. No apparent or measurable advantages in heat insulation or power increase that I could determine. This was on my 66 GTO and the carb air cleaners ended up very close to the hood.

Beautiful trips, Bart .

[chrisp]

Major port problems on the 66 repo. manifold as well as other issues , check your gasket to port alignment . If you need a 65 original manifold i have one for sale .

[Doug]

It appears that all vendors that sell these aluminum setups use the same exact intake which they describe as looking identical to the originals. If so, then the elevation of the top of the center carb mounting pad area should be the same as an original. However, some of these "kits" use original style carbs and some use non-original carbs. I think that maybe the non-original carb setup accounts for all the carb tops being at the same elevation (flat across). I assume that the original carb type kits have the top of the center carb higher than the ends.

It is my impression that the original production run (200 units?) of the aluminum manifold did not have any problems and the original producer sold out and someone else took over production and these "later" units were the ones that had port alignment and other problems. As of today, is anyone still producing the manifold and if so, have they corrected the problems?

Is it correct that the original units didn't have the casting date but newer ones do?

I'm interested in the history/evolvement of the aluminum unit and would appreciate any insights about it.

[highrisk]

Doug,
If you look at the picture of the complete unit in the PY catalog you will see the straight across look with the center carburetor being the same height as the end carbs. In the AMES catalog the center carb sits higher than the ends, like the originals did. That is why I am curious if anyone has actually tried the AMES setup.

Chrisp,
The reason I am looking for a 66 for my 65 is because of the bigger engine (69 428 bored 30 over). The research I have done leads me to believe that the bigger engines do better with the 66 setup versus the 65 setup. Of course I could be completely off base with this. Thanks for the offer for the 65 intake. I would really like to find a complete unit and save the hassle and frustration of trying to piece a unit together.

Thanks for all of the information and advise,

Dale

[facn8me]

Originally Posted by Doug

It appears that all vendors that sell these aluminum setups use the same exact intake which they describe as looking identical to the originals. If so, then the elevation of the top of the center carb mounting pad area should be the same as an original. However, some of these "kits" use original style carbs and some use non-original carbs. I think that maybe the non-original carb setup accounts for all the carb tops being at the same elevation (flat across). I assume that the original carb type kits have the top of the center carb higher than the ends.

It is my impression that the original production run (200 units?) of the aluminum manifold did not have any problems and the original producer sold out and someone else took over production and these "later" units were the ones that had port alignment and other problems. As of today, is anyone still producing the manifold and if so, have they corrected the problems?

Is it correct that the original units didn't have the casting date but newer ones do?

I'm interested in the history/evolvement of the aluminum unit and would appreciate any insights about it.

My alluminum intake from PY has a part number. Ports line up just fine with gaskets and heads. The engine I'm using it on is a 66 389 what it was technically designed for so I don't know if later model heads are that much different

[Doug]

Originally Posted by facn8me

My alluminum intake from PY has a part number. Ports line up just fine with gaskets and heads. The engine I'm using it on is a 66 389 what it was technically designed for so I don't know if later model heads are that much different

I was referring to the L45 "date code" which I understand was added to the newer units as a "universal date code" whereas the early units didn't have any date code on them. Is the L45 number what you are referring to as a "part number" or are you referring to the 9782898 number as the part number? I haven't seen pictures of the early units so I don't know if the early units had the 9782898 numbers on them.

From the PARTSPLACE ads, it says that they are "producing" these units. I assume they are the only "manufacturer" and they supply them to AMES, PY, etc. (I was surprised to see that PARTSPLACE apparently is reproducing cast iron units too. I wonder if they also have the universal L45 date codes?)

Since you had no fitment problems from your PY unit, it may be that any new one that someone got from PY would be of the same quality as yours, however, I believe in their ads (maybe it was Partsplace or Ames ads?) they caution that some work may be needed to match the ports, etc.

I suppose it would be easier to call PY or the others and discuss these issues but I would rather get feedback from actual users.

[facn8me]

Mine didn't come with any caution but with instructions (technically) that port matching is recomended. Of course I imagine ANY aftermarket intake benefiting from port matching and does not scare me in anyway because a lil excess alluminum needed to dissapear. Honestly mine matched up to the gaskets (heads and intake) fairly well.

As for the Date code I'll have to look as I did mean part number and not date code. Just remember "original" is just not that important to me. Although it's possible a lemans convert "ended up with" a 389 tri power in reality I'd have no way to prove it and would never claim it did anyway. Just a cool set-up that produces good numbers all with the simplicity of a rochester 2 barrel.

I am really amazed at the number of intakes (per PY and ames "many") sold there is very little real would information on them. I took it as good news goes nowhere but bad results go EVERYWHERE. Mine starts and fast idles good. Idles well warm and (after fixing the "new carb") responsive. I still have a little playing to do with the opening of the front and rear carbs but I've only got 20 miles on the set-up so far.


I was told by a "expert" I had bought junk and was gonna have nothing but problems. To send it back as fast as possible. Of course there is no data anywhere to back that up. It's possible PY deleted the post's but I got kinda irritated (over a different matter) and made an ass of myself but they didn't delete that thread so why would they delete carb problems. Of all the things I was told would be wrong and a problem where not . IE... front and rear carbs won't seal and be a constant vacuum leak, fuel lines and fitting would hit on front and center carbs. Of course as said in my review I had to clean some dried gunk out of the accelerator pump circut and raise the float level. I also had to heli coil the rear cab aircleaner stud mount as it looked like they started to repair it and forgot.

[Doug]

I assume the PY unit you have is the one that uses non-original type carbs and you are not particularly interested in "originality but are interested in functionality. Since you are not dealing with a "real GTO" car, I agree with your choice wholeheartedly. I am sure your setup will perform as well as an original type setup.

I can see where an "expert" would be critical of your setup because a lot of these experts advertise for sale "restored" original setups at prices many hundreds of dollars more than you paid for your setup. (And, no doubt, these restored units use many new components that are the same exact pieces used on your setup.)

I have enough original carbs to put together a 66 setup and I will probably buy an aluminum intake at some time for that purpose. My interest is to learn as much as I can about the problems each may have. (I already have a couple of original type 66 setups.)

[facn8me]

Well if I can help any let me know. I have no problem looking like an idiot on the net....

[facn8me]

has L45 above part number