Probably the BEST thing to do with it ..........is let me use it a few seasons (just to make sure its gonna work right.)
My hood never fit very well anyway...might as well just take it off.  Definate eye candy.  
Prolly worth a small fortune if you do sell it.  Easily double your money.
6sally6

Jeff, You don’t run a tri-power set up cause it makes sense, you use it cause you want to or the wow factor when the hood is open. It could take a while to tune them for good drive ability. Or it may never respond like the 4 barrel. How good of a carb tuner are you??

TKOPerformance wrote:

Let me put it this way:  Little GTO you're really lookin' fine.  Three deuces and a four speed and a 389. 

Key word: Lookin'

Tri power setups are not worth it, and a properly set up 4 barrel is going to outperform them everywhere except max effort racing.  My neighbor was a very influential Pontiac mechanic and racer from the late '50s through the '70s.  He knows their tri power setups inside and out.  He has them stacked like cord wood in his barn.  When guys would go to him asking for more power, for the ones who would listen, he'd yank that tri power setup off and put an aluminum intake and single 4 barrel carb on the engine.  It was not a lack of understanding or knowledge, the guy's one of the best mechanics I've ever known.  It was that peak power numbers were the same without dealing with progressive linkage, etc.  The car was no longer finicky and just went like stink, instead of wait for it, wait for it, yeah, there's the power!

So, if you want to pin the WOW factor when you open the hood, by all means.  It'll give you fits trying to tune and keep in tune.  My take away?  Sell it and buy an 8 stack EFI setup if you want WOW.  It'll look amazing AND run right all the time.  6sally6 probably has a 13,000 RPM small block he could use that tri power setup on...

 Please ask the friend with the barn full of them for a price on a set up for my 331, I should be able to get a deal if he has that many of them.
 I need the bling!
 

You guys don't get that guy with all the Poncho tri-powers.  He has a garage full of them because he is a hoarder.  He likes owning them and knowing all about them.  Good luck trying to buy one!

I wanted to put a Ford 3x2 setup on my 56 F100, but the engine sits so far back, the air cleaner interferes with the firewall.  I considered rebuilding a custom firewall, but then said it is just not worth it.  So, Al McGee's old Edelbrock carb and an aluminum four barrel intake now reside there.

Now, if I had a Mustang with a stock 289 and a 3x2 setup laying around, I would surely install it, along with the requisite Shelby hood scoop.  But, I would massage it so ONLY the center carb is functional.  Cut two block-off plates from some Diet Pepsi cans to make the end carbs just along for the ride, but with no gas in them.  A ball bearing stuck into the two extra fuel lines will block them off.  Then you have a perfectly functional two barrel carb for economy and two extra ones for the bling. 

MS wrote:

You guys don't get that guy with all the Poncho tri-powers.  He has a garage full of them because he is a hoarder.  He likes owning them and knowing all about them.  Good luck trying to buy one!

I wanted to put a Ford 3x2 setup on my 56 F100, but the engine sits so far back, the air cleaner interferes with the firewall.  I considered rebuilding a custom firewall, but then said it is just not worth it.  So, Al McGee's old Edelbrock carb and an aluminum four barrel intake now reside there.

Now, if I had a Mustang with a stock 289 and a 3x2 setup laying around, I would surely install it, along with the requisite Shelby hood scoop.  But, I would massage it so ONLY the center carb is functional.  Cut two block-off plates from some Diet Pepsi cans to make the end carbs just along for the ride, but with no gas in them.  A ball bearing stuck into the two extra fuel lines will block them off.  Then you have a perfectly functional two barrel carb for economy and two extra ones for the bling. 

Maybe hook up TWO carbs so when you "pin-it" you still get the obligatory 'BAA-WWAAAAA' from the carbs!
6s6
 

6sally6 wrote:

MS wrote:

You guys don't get that guy with all the Poncho tri-powers.  He has a garage full of them because he is a hoarder.  He likes owning them and knowing all about them.  Good luck trying to buy one!

I wanted to put a Ford 3x2 setup on my 56 F100, but the engine sits so far back, the air cleaner interferes with the firewall.  I considered rebuilding a custom firewall, but then said it is just not worth it.  So, Al McGee's old Edelbrock carb and an aluminum four barrel intake now reside there.

Now, if I had a Mustang with a stock 289 and a 3x2 setup laying around, I would surely install it, along with the requisite Shelby hood scoop.  But, I would massage it so ONLY the center carb is functional.  Cut two block-off plates from some Diet Pepsi cans to make the end carbs just along for the ride, but with no gas in them.  A ball bearing stuck into the two extra fuel lines will block them off.  Then you have a perfectly functional two barrel carb for economy and two extra ones for the bling. 

Maybe hook up TWO carbs so when you "pin-it" you still get the obligatory 'BAA-WWAAAAA' from the carbs!
6s6
 

OH YEAH Mike. when the tri power barn hoarder gets me mine I will set it up for BAA-wWAAAAA.
 

Alright, so... despite what I wanted to be true (3x2 superior in all aspects, power, economy, racing) I guess its only good for racing and looks. I had seen this really cool article where all the basic intake setups were tested on a built 302 (2bb, 4bb, 3x2, 2x4, efi) but its apparently gone.

In other news, last weekend I started the mustang for the first time in a few months, it was rough. I started it last night, fired right up, idled perfectly smooth :-)  So maybe... maybe...  I don't want to mess with a good setup vs a finicky bling setup just yet. I got lucky that I only tinkered with the screws on the holley years ago and it runs nice, probably won't get that lucky with 3 holleys!

TKOPerformance wrote:

Uh, definitely not.  Having made the mistake of wrecking a good thing looking to make it better my advice is if it runs great now leave it alone. 

TKO, your advice sounds like mine...  do as I SAY, not as I do !!!
 

It's funny these 3x2 discussions came up. I've been scrolling past this in my daily CL searches for a while now

https://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/pts/d/arlington-ford-tri-power-3-deuce-intake/6951069444.html

Last edited by Raymond_B (8/29/2019 10:45 AM)

Raymond_B wrote:

It's funny these 3x2 discussions came up. I've been scrolling past this in my daily CL searches for a while now

https://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/pts/d/arlington-ford-tri-power-3-deuce-intake/6951069444.html

 
That is about two miles from my house. Lots of gearheads in the area. Gotta agree with Al, too pricy, but that cast 3 x 2 air cleaner might be a collectable.

Edit: Maybe not so high. Speedway is selling a new 3 x 2 intake for a 289 for $365.  Add in the cost of a rare(?) cast intake, maybe not so outrageous. Also, since it’s on Craigslist there is probably some “bargaining room” built into the asking price.

Edit2: Finishing the induction system would require three 2100’s with the special half moon top casting. Good luck finding them. But the good new is that Fitech makes a 3 x 2 fuel injection setup that fits that manifold. Send $2150 to Fitech and you are in business.

Last edited by Hornman (8/29/2019 7:18 PM)

Hornman wrote:

Raymond_B wrote:

It's funny these 3x2 discussions came up. I've been scrolling past this in my daily CL searches for a while now

https://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/pts/d/arlington-ford-tri-power-3-deuce-intake/6951069444.html

 
That is about two miles from my house. Lots of gearheads in the area. Gotta agree with Al, too pricy, but that cast 3 x 2 air cleaner might be a collectable.

Edit: Maybe not so high. Speedway is selling a new 3 x 2 intake for a 289 for $365. Add in the cost of a rare(?) cast intake, maybe not so outrageous. Also, since it’s on Craigslist there is probably some “bargaining room” built into the asking price.

Yeah CL standard operating procedure seems to be ask 3x what you want to chase off the goobers. It would be kind of neat to convert that in to a center TBI and use fakes for the outer edges (stolen from MS's idea) or go all out and use 3 TBIs or even plumb in injectors and then use the TBIs for just butterflys.

Al Newman wrote:

Hate to be a contrarian, here, but the Pony Carbs 3x2 set using the old Autolite carbs is not only eye candy to the max, the performance is quite noticeably better than any 4V setup I have ever run. No hesitation, hits really hard, starts easily, gets really great mileage (24-28 mpg w/5spd thru 3.25 rear gears), been on the car for 20 years. If you can locate one of the Pony setups, you will not be disappointed. Now, the Holley setups I have messed with are another story. I personally would not slow down if I saw a Holley setup lying in the road. Just my personal observation.
Best,
Al

I'm thinking you had some bad 4V setups.  I had a Holley on the car and hated it.  I had an Autolite on the car and it was better behaved, but tuning was nigh impossible.  My 500 Edelbrock is awesome on all fronts.  Its not going to pin the WOW factor for sure, but in terms of driveability, power, and ease of tuning I've never had anything better.  It starts from cold with three pumps of the accelerator every time, idles cold without any intervention on my part, and once warmed up a restart only requires turning the key.  It starts easier than anything I have with EFI (no need for a full engine revolution to verify sensor data; it lights right off).  Power wise there is zero hesitation, and with the current setup it just rips (for a 289 with some bolt ons anyway).  Mileage?  Well, I don't drive for mileage, but on long trips I've gotten close to 20 on the highway at 75-80mph with a 3.55 rear gear and T5. 

All that said, the important part of what you note is that its been on the car for 20 years and runs great.  I go back to: leave well enough alone!