Tri-Power "Poll"
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Tri-Power "Poll"
Allright fellas & felleretes I have a question that requires various inputs from numerous FE nuts like me. What would you realistically pay for a complete tri-power setup for a FE motor. Now, what I mean by complete is that one would get the manifold with the bottom exhaust baffle, oil filler & cap, fuel log, heater tranfer tube, & rear pcv plate. The carbs would not be the original ford 3x2 holleys, but rather a set of holley list#7448 rated @ 350 cfm a piece and ready to run. Carburator linkage would also be included. A tri-power air cleaner assembly with the mounting hardware would be part of the package as well. Basically this setup is designed so that the customer would just bolt it on, tune and go. It is by no means a numbers matching induction system for a concours restoration, but rather a performance upgrade that would really wake up a built up FE. Whadda guys think...
Postmaster
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 4,584
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From: Chesapeake, Va.
That sounds like a nice set up. My personal choice would likely be to have the same as original carbs but the difference is not that great as you would almost always be on the center or primary carb. If you buy it just be certain that it is for the passenger car application and not the T-Birds as the intake has all three carbs on the same plane for the T-Birds and they are stepped from front to rear on the passenger car intakes.
FE "Freakin Expensive"
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 6,461
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From: Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Well over the years I have seen that set-up with and without all oem stuff go from $800 to $1500....But maybe it just me ? But having 3 dueces has the cool factor...But if you have enough compression enough Cam and the heads will support it..I'am a firm believer in the more hole in the intake for barrels of carb the better..So My vote is for a 2 four set-up... It can be done fairly cheaply or it can cost big bucks depending on intake and selected carbs.. and tuning one carb can be bad..2 carbs can make your hair fall out if your not hip on carbs..and 3 dueces..I never tried..But might be ok with a good vacuum gauge...JMHO
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 42,561
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From: Long Island USA
I had pulled my hair out for months trying to get the darn thing to run right. I needed to take it in for an inspection which involved an idle sniffer test. First run it didn't pass, second, third, etc.
So, the guy was slow that day, set the inspection machine to "test", and left me to tune it myself to get the lowest possible HC and CO.
Darn it, but that thing ran GREAT after I was done. Idled smooth, off-idle was perfect, and all I really needed to do was fool with the accelerator pump nozzles after that.
Any thing with more than two barrels is almost impossible to get just right without knowing at least what the CO output is.
Needsmorecoffee.
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 3,624
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From: CT
Is the aircleaner, fuel log and linkage OEM? If so that adds to the value. There's a few repops of each 1 being US made and the others overseas. The 3x2 aircleaners have a few more sources from bad to worse quality wise. That would deduct from the value slightly if they are repops. From a safety standpoint the overseas fuel logs are prone to pinhole leaks around the welds. The US made stuff is mucho better. On the aircleaner lids the OEM Ford lids have the ribs down the front and back lip of the top lid. Repops have the ribs just going to the edge of the top. Russ is correct on current prices. Some nicer examples can run a bit more for 100% correct in perfect condition. I sold my 3x2 (all original OEM) 4 years ago for $1350. I would have got a bit more but the aircleaner lid and intake were polished which takes away some value. But looked really nice.
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As far as the manifold is concerned, this one would be for a passenger car and not the T-bird. The fuel log happens to be oem while the linkage and air cleaner assembly are from the Tony Branda catalog. Yeah, avoid the air cleaners that you see for around $75.00 on ebay as they are very cheap and you still have to drill out the hole for the air cleaner studs. Yeah, I agree about the tuning aspect of any muli-carb setup, however with my experience with tuning the tri-power setup, the benifits are tremendious. If I recall correctly, the original setup had a 330cfm in the center and two 350cfm outboards compared to my three 350cfm carb setup. I don't think that would really change the price of China with an additional 20cfm.
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