# Max hp can be made from 65 tripower



## Chris Holabaugh (Jan 18, 2009)

What is the maximum horse power that can be make by using a 1965 tripower?


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Chris Holabaugh said:


> What is the maximum horse power that can be make by using a 1965 tripower?


Chris, kinda a wide open question there without more info as to what you are doing or want. How deep is your budget? Stroker motor, aluminum heads, Turbo, Twin turbo, Nitrous, Supercharged? You can certainly get maximum HP from a Pontiac just as any engine once you start investing high dollars to get it there.:thumbsup: Can get you some real horsepower for around $80,000 -twin turbos blowing through a 1965 tripower would work for me.:wink2:


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Well, since about 1000 HP can be supported by a Q-jet, and tripower set-ups are good for about a 10% increase over that, I'll throw in 1100HP.....but the jetting/metering needs to be correct.


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## Chris Holabaugh (Jan 18, 2009)

The engine now makes around 550hp .with 800 cfm carb on top of 462ci. with 9.5 to 1 compression ratio. Heads are 6x that have been ported. Engine has solid roller street cam. Trying to reduce hp so it's some what nicer to drive on the street. The cam is the biggest problem not making it street friendly. I have been told that the normal 65 three two setup can only support 500hp and if you want more you have to go to another type of intake system, which I have to make 550hp.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

To be honest, not sure if the '65 tripower would be a good way to go to tame the engine down. I think you might find more trouble doing that. The '65 tripower has the smaller center carb while the '66 has them all the same size. I would think you might have to fatten up the jets to get it to get it to run properly on the '65 and this may actually kill gas mileage. Now Butler Performance has a PDF file on the Barry Grant tripower using 3 Holley carbs like the Mopar Six-Pack used. The article goes into depth on HP and performance. Search for "Six Shooter - Butler Performance" on the web and it should pull up. Not sure if it is available anymore or if it is a custom build. It would probably work well on your engine, but it won't tame it down.

BOTTOM LINE - Going to a different induction system isn't really going to tame down your engine. Its all about the cam that makes it "drivable" or not. You may have to bite the bullet and simply swap cams and get one with less lift/duration, but will match the rest of your engine build. My suggestion. Probably be more cost effective as well.


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

What Pontiac Jim said. If de-tuning your combo for better street manners is the goal, a cam change will yield the best results. Certainly not a change to tripower. That said, while the '65 tripower has a smaller center carb, it actually has larger venturis than the '66 unit, and is said to flow better. It's also not prone to cracking like the '66 manifold is, due to choke pre-heater design. With all of that said, the 389 in my '65 seems to run harder with a '66 tripower installed vs the current, original '65 unit the car was born with. Could be the difference in the jetting, though.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

Just occurred to me to add this. What rocker arm ratio are you using? If you have 1.65, you might try dropping down to the 1.5 rocker arms to knock some of the lift down. A .550" lift with 1.65 rockers would drop down to .500" with 1.5 rockers. I don't know what you set your valve lash at, but you would deduct that from the total lift also. Other factors like duration and lobe separation angle have to be considered with the cam you presently have as this cannot be changed. Talk with your engine builder to see if this might help any. Just make sure all your geometry on the rocker arm-to-valve contact is correct.


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