# 1966 Tri Power Carb (eBay)



## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

Hi everyone, I’m in the market for a Tri Power carb setup for my 1966 GTO. Checking to see what your thoughts are on the below setup. The price at $2500 is more than I want to pay; however, I’m noticing a complete setup is not cheat. Any advice is greatly appreciated









66 PONTIAC 3 DUECES TRI POWER ORIGINAL INTAKE AND CARBURETORS GM Part #9782898 | eBay


Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 66 PONTIAC 3 DUECES TRI POWER ORIGINAL INTAKE AND CARBURETORS GM Part #9782898 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!



www.ebay.com






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## Roger that (Feb 6, 2010)

$2500 is about right for concours condition, ready to bolt on. This one is not! These end carbs are not even from the GTO era. Air filters, bases, and lids are not correct. Fuel lines are not 1966 geometry.


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## BLK69JUDGE (Jun 10, 2010)

that thing is jacked ...


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## 67ventwindow (Mar 3, 2020)

There are to many red flags on the fuel lines, linkage and air cleaners. I would leery of what lies inside. If you are looking at that price I would look at The Parts Place Offering on ebay. Not saying its a correct setup but whats out there are ebay is pretty picked over. I just picked up a tripower setup the was in perfect 1980s hot rod condition. Taken off years ago and not touched. I gave them a low ball offer and they accepted it. Now if FedEx can avoid destroying it in shipping I will have something to work with.


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## michaelfind (Dec 14, 2018)

I was thinking that for that kind of money, maybe you should see what they have available at Mikes Tri Power. Depends on what is in their inventory, but if they have what you want, you can be certain of good quality, good function, and even some customer service with setup.









Pontiac Tripower


Pontiac Tripower



pontiactripower.com


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## GtoFM (Mar 23, 2018)

FWIW, I ck to see what else the seller has on Ebay before deciding, but that's just me.
X2 on Pontiac Tripower. Mike and John have helped a lot with my 2 rebuilds. If they can't help, there are other experts to contact. Dick Boneske on the PY forum seems very knowledgeable and will tune the carbs to your engine spec.


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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

That’s what I was afraid of. Thanks for the feed back. One last question. How’s the price at $2000 sound for this set up. I only have pictures but do know it’s a numbers matching 66 set up. Should I wait and keep searching? Thanks again










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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

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## michaelfind (Dec 14, 2018)

I would advise you to be very careful.

My personal experience is that a few years ago I bought a tri power set up for $75!
The guy gave me a box that contained an intake manifold and four two barrel carburetors. No linkage or air filters.
The carbs turned out to be from some 1970s & 80s trucks and other cars, but the intake is a real 66 Pontiac Tripower intake. So I left the deal being happy that I got a true tripower intake for $75, but if I had spent a few thousand, I'd be very disappointed.


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## 67ventwindow (Mar 3, 2020)

I would have to hear the story. This looks like it was reconditioned then sat gathering dust. Could they not get it working? Idealy I would get it from whom ever rebuilt it or get it looking well used and go through it myself.


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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

I think I’m going to pass on both those options and leaning towards the below from the parts place. Its selling for $2595 ($2845 with shipping). Has anyone purchased one of these setups from the parts place? 









The Parts Place


1966 Pontiac GTO/LeMans/Tempest TRI-POWER SET UP (COMES ASSEMBLED WITH CAST IRON INTAKE MANIFOLD, CORRECT FACTORY AIR FILTER WITH PAPER ELEMENTS, STUDS, WING NUTS, CARBURETORS, FUEL LINES & BLOCKS, THROTTLE CABLE BRACKET, CHOKE, PROGRESSIVE LINKAGE & WATERNECK)




www.thepartsplaceinc.com






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## GTOTIGR (May 3, 2020)

Hi Piratebates,

My suggestion would be to contact John / Mike - Pontiac Tripower . If they don’t have what you want they are a wealth of knowledge regarding Pontiac Tripower systems and their related accuracy for your application. You can be assured that what you receive from them will function properly and/ or they will assist you with dialing it in.

Be careful with The Parts Place - you get what you get from them; buyer beware...


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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

Thanks GTOTIGR

I checked GTO TriPowers website and they appear to be sold out. I’ll give them a call and see if they have any idea on when they will be restocked again


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## Roger that (Feb 6, 2010)

Looking at the Parts Place link you provided the end carbs appear to be prior to the GTO era, the center carb looks more from an automatic transmission carb. For that kind of price you should get original and correct parts. I personally don’t think it’s a very good deal.


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## Autie1969GTO (Mar 5, 2019)

The Parts Place = "Caveat Emptor"


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## 66CHEEVO (Jan 24, 2021)

I’m working on getting an estimate from PontiacTriPower

I received a response from John how advised the Tri Power setups are built to order based on customer needs. Average cost for the 66 tripower would be $2,500 plus air cleaners and shipping. Also need power brake, throttle cable bracket, fuel filter, filter bracket, intake manifold gaskets. Once all said and done in sure it’s going to fetch a pretty penny. More than I want to spend but sounds like they know what their doing. Here are some pics of what John sent me.

Anyone have any dealings, experience or thoughts about pontiactripower?










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## MidnightAuto (May 28, 2018)

Mike and john are great. They are exactly who you should be talking with. eBay is Krap. Partsplace krap.


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## GtoFM (Mar 23, 2018)

That Parts Place setup is all pretty and shiny but you still don't know what you're getting. Could be older Pontiac or even Chevy carbs. Stick with someone who knows Pontiac like Mike and John. They have done right by me and their price sounds about right. Go through the online catalog and add it up. Then throw in cleaning, professional plating of all parts and labor to assemble. This hobby ain't cheap. 
If you want another estimate, go over to the PY forum and look up Dick Bonske. new site


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## 67ventwindow (Mar 3, 2020)

Piratebates said:


> I’m working on getting an estimate from PontiacTriPower
> 
> I received a response from John how advised the Tri Power setups are built to order based on customer needs. Average cost for the 66 tripower would be $2,500 plus air cleaners and shipping. Also need power brake, throttle cable bracket, fuel filter, filter bracket, intake manifold gaskets. Once all said and done in sure it’s going to fetch a pretty penny. More than I want to spend but sounds like they know what their doing. Here are some pics of what John sent me.
> 
> Anyone have any dealings, experience or thoughts about pontiactripower?


 That is where I am getting my parts. They have a DVD that I want to check out. That is a great price I expected it would be higher just because the work they put in to them.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

*Piratebates* "Once all said and done i'm sure it’s going to fetch a pretty penny. More than I want to spend"

*PJ: *You will get used to that as Pontiac's are not inexpensive to build/own. As the old saying goes, "if you gotta ask, you can't afford it."

The only way you will save the most money is to put together your own tripower and not worry about original looks. Go to swap meets, purchase 2 Bbl carbs, then buy the correct tri-power bases and go from there. If you can't do a lot of your own work on these cars, make sure you have deep pockets to pay others and hope they know what they are doing.


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## Machinest-guy (Jul 19, 2019)

Good morning, I just went through this decision and purchase process. In my experience of a half century doing cars for clients, getting the best parts possible is the easiest path to success. In this case, because I'm now semi retired and doing this conversion for myself, I shopped around the club venues and publications until I found a complete and documented (judged unit with history) assembly removed from a restored show car. It was removed because it was incorrect per PHS build sheet data hence created a points deduction for the car owner when judged at a national level. He sold the car a few years ago and is now selling off his restoration parts inventory. I eventually gave $3000 (asking price) plus half of shipping costs of about $300 more.Talking to the owner several times was a delight. He had all the right answers, all the right stories, all the right photos. Other potential sellers - hummmm not so much. He had a crate built for the unit so it could stored or shiped completely assembled with assurances it was exactly "as removed from a well running car". Later on he gave me the correct fuel filter and bracket and also the upper hose. I bought an NOS breather cap from him too so I could see how it was made. Totally a great experience with this club member.

Then our deal went sideways. We'd selected UPS as our shipping agent. They approved the shipping crate and packing and the seller took documentation photos on the loading dock. We followed their handling of our crate across the USA with UPS software tracking it to the depot near my home when it suddenly went missing for 3 days. Then the crate showed up on my doorstep severely damaged. The crate looked like it had fallen off the back of a truck or from some very high place. It was blown open, broken, and the Tri Power unit ripped off its shattered internal bracing. All three air cleaners and carbs had various levels of damage. UPS had shrink wrapped the whole mess loosely and dumped it off here not waiting for a receiving inspection or signature.

That started a several months long process to process a damage claim which UPS eventually admitted fault to after submission of "before and after" photos to several layers of inspectors. UPS doesn't do their own damage investigation or claim settlement. The have third party subcontractors who don't communicate well with the claimant or among themselves. There are at least four levels of bureaucracy to deal with scattered across the USA, and for claim negotiation, Peru. Inspectors, adjusters, claim processors, and finally settlement negotiators have non compatible electronic data processing or semi functional FAX machines. We had bought $3000 of insurance and after months of filing paperwork, long distance phone calls, email letters, and follow up I was offered about $2000 and UPS would keep the Tri Power unit. We eventually settled for $2700 while on a phone call to a manager in Peru who shouted his offers across a boiler room phone center to be relayed to me by a clerk. And I would keep the Tri Power - he said they didn't care about it at all after using it as a ploy to devalue his settlement offer. His job was to minimize cash losses for the third party insurance company (Crawford Company Insurance) who buys UPS damage claims for dimes on the dollar. I will seldom use UPS as a shipping company going forward because of this experience, after decades of shipping smaller items with them.

This shipping accident precipitated disassembling the unit completely so I could strip and clean the intake manifold inside and out, then repaint it. And I also checked every part inside and out for impact damage / calibration. I wanted to restore my Tri Power to the show winning condition I bought it in, which took a couple of weeks work, done a few hours at a time, every day after fresh parts arrived. 

The seller was a real great fellow who helped me process this claim 100% with letters and phone calls to back up my letters and phone calls. And he connected me with various men, among them, Mike, John, and others mentioned in this thread who sold me the bits and pieces I needed to repair these carburetors. Thank you one and all.

Along that path I discovered a stripped internal threaded screw hole. And the jetting was not correct for a Pontiac - it was for a late 50's small block Chevy. I don't know how a '65 Pontiac could have run jetted that lean. But; be that as it may be, parts are mostly available to tune these if you look around and are in no hurry to produce a running vehicle. Fixing the thread was not too difficult in my milling machine but would have been impossible otherwise. The only semi negative vendor was some guy in Montana who runs a hot rod shop selling Tri power stuff. He semi stung me on what he advertised was a Pontiac NOS center carb replacement (if you put a correct float and throttle arm on it). Turns out they are Marine carbs having an extra hole in the base you'd have to plug, a vent hole drilled in the top under the choke plate, and the throttle arm isn't anywhere close enough the right shape an Ames reproduction linkage arm will fit. They have been wet so corrosion damage is starting to be a visual issue. The venturi cluster he provided was also not capable of fitting onto the carb body. All sales were final so I'm out a few hundred dollars, but he did sell me other bits and gaskets which were fine and price competitive.

Getting this unit jetted properly has been a challenge larger than expected for a "good running unit". Mikes / John's ? recommended jet sizing is very conservative when running pump fuel available in CA. My engine wants a bit more fuel in the idle circuit than even a venturi cluster drilled to .055 up from .030 can provide. I feel .055 is the maximum diameter this cluster pick up tube can be drilled to. Main jets in the center carb are now #73's (all new from Mike) up from #65's. And it wanted more fuel volume than the mixture screw could provide so I drilled the base out to .080 up from less than .065. All drilling was made in .004 steps from OEM sizing and results recorded in my tuning notebook as I test ran the engine between set ups. With 67 HO heads, an Isky 901270 or 901280 camshaft, likely a bit more than 10 to 1 compression, and headers, this Tri Power won't idle well below 1000 RPM. My old Holley 780 did. When ilde speed is set above 1000 RPM manifold vacuum is 18 inches. Below 1000 RPM manifold vacuum will fall off from 16 inches after several seconds to 8 inches opening the power valve which makes the mixture way too rich. Trimming the power valve actuation rod is helping eliminate that issue. The end carbs have been vacuum sealed for closure at idle with some magic epoxy paint from PontiacTriPower.com. Fuel pressure is run at 6 lbs measured at the center carb inlet fitting. This is contrary to many opinions saying 3 lbs is the maximum pressure these float valve needles and seats can stand. I don't see any evidence these float bowls are overfilling at 6 lbs pressure.

When I drilled the main body idle screw hole to .080 from .076 under hood temperature dropped significantly. The screw setting remained at +4 turns out. The dash board water temperature gauge dropped at least 10 degrees from above 190ish to below 180 during several overly longish shop-bay idle adjustment screwing sessions. Then I milled the idle mixture screw heads .200 shorter after which I re-cut their slot to improve access for my tuning tool right angle screwdriver. It had been hitting the power brake brass fitting when attempting adjustment of the LH











side screw, preventing easy screwing around. 

I'm going to replace my headers with factory style iron headers in the next couple of months. I'll put O2 bungs in the head-pipes so I can set jetting of the outer carbs under load and rework the center carb a bit more from readings taken by my Innovate LM2 A/F ratio meter vs my old school methodology of using a tach, vacuum gauge, and Chemtool spray for enrichment testing.

So my final take away opinion ? Tri Powers are fun. Buy the best parts you can. Get lucky with shipping. Talk to vendors club member use and be prepared to spend somewhere close to 50% additional money and days of quality time doing carb jetting to figure out a set up matching your new Tri Power unit to the engine you have. I've recorded having each these carbs apart 5-6 times for repairs, and the center carb 11 times for set up changes. I'm sneaking up on proper mixture control by keeping a tuning notebook of each change. I think another 3 go-rounds, this time with my A/F ratio gauge, will get me close enough to smile even bigger.










Best of luck to you in getting a nice unit. Ladd


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## 67ventwindow (Mar 3, 2020)

Machinest-guy said:


> Then our deal went sideways. We'd selected UPS as our shipping agent. They approved the shipping crate and packing and the seller took documentation photos on the loading dock. We followed their handling of our crate across the USA with UPS software tracking it to the depot near my home when it suddenly went missing for 3 days. Then the crate showed up on my doorstep severely damaged. The crate looked like it had fallen off the back of a truck or from some very high place. It was blown open, broken, and the Tri Power unit ripped off its shattered internal bracing. All three air cleaners and carbs had various levels of damage. UPS had shrink wrapped the whole mess loosely and dumped it off here not waiting for a receiving inspection or signature.


 I can give you a hint what happened.. Shipment courier from the airport. The courier arrives with the van. He opens it up the door and the $16,000 robotic DVD creator its inverted on top of a pile of other sad customers packages wood crate firmly attached to the unit touching the vans roof. The damage report was in to the company before the van made it back to the highway. Had UPS deliver 16 3000 sheet pinters stacked two high in the back of the semi driver released the straps fork lift entered the trailer and the top two printers chased him out of the trailer..Most crates are not made for that abuse.


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## Scott06 (May 6, 2020)

GTOTIGR said:


> Hi Piratebates,
> 
> My suggestion would be to contact John / Mike - Pontiac Tripower . If they don’t have what you want they are a wealth of knowledge regarding Pontiac Tripower systems and their related accuracy for your application. You can be assured that what you receive from them will function properly and/ or they will assist you with dialing it in.
> 
> Be careful with The Parts Place - you get what you get from them; buyer beware...


Would second this comment on pontiac tripower. They were very helpful with my 65 tripower.

for what it worth i paid $1100 for a complete relatively original tripower set up, spent about $1000 on parts etc to complete restore the set up. Looks and works well, sounds great at wot


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## Droach6498 (Nov 1, 2020)

You'll need a valley pan too


GtoFM said:


> That Parts Place setup is all pretty and shiny but you still don't know what you're getting. Could be older Pontiac or even Chevy carbs. Stick with someone who knows Pontiac like Mike and John. They have done right by me and their price sounds about right. Go through the online catalog and add it up. Then throw in cleaning, professional plating of all parts and labor to assemble. This hobby ain't cheap.
> If you want another estimate, go over to the PY forum and look up Dick Bonske. new site


Whos Mike & John. Just curious


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## DesiDinero (Aug 20, 2021)

Piratebates said:


> Hi everyone, I’m in the market for a Tri Power carb setup for my 1966 GTO. Checking to see what your thoughts are on the below setup. The price at $2500 is more than I want to pay; however, I’m noticing a complete setup is not cheat. Any advice is greatly appreciated
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Are you looking for mechanical or vacuum setup?


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## Rockinindian (Aug 5, 2021)

Piratebates said:


> Hi everyone, I’m in the market for a Tri Power carb setup for my 1966 GTO. Checking to see what your thoughts are on the below setup. The price at $2500 is more than I want to pay; however, I’m noticing a complete setup is not cheat. Any advice is greatly appreciated
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I ran tri-power for street racing and it had way more quicker low end response than the edebrock high rise with 650cfm .


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## Rockinindian (Aug 5, 2021)

Piratebates said:


> Hi everyone, I’m in the market for a Tri Power carb setup for my 1966 GTO. Checking to see what your thoughts are on the below setup. The price at $2500 is more than I want to pay; however, I’m noticing a complete setup is not cheat. Any advice is greatly appreciated
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Fyi:$2500 is cheap "if" every piece linkage ECT is there. Pop the top off the carbs to inspect the bowels to see if there are barnacles growing


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## Gtowally (Jan 19, 2019)

This is another vote for John/Mike Pontiac tri power. These guys are great to deal with. They may not be able to help you as they don’t have a truck load of these, and if they do have one you will pay dearly for it but you will get what you pay for. I myself wouldn’t even consider an aftermarket setup


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