More on multiple carb setups.....

A lot of people don't know it-but American car makers shied away from multi-carb setups not because they didn't perform, but because ( A ) they were cutting down on engine options that weren't super-profitable and ( B ) ever-tightening emission controls made them very hard to tune. Even Import sports car builders used multi-carb setups for years. Ferarris used 4 Webers on their V8 models until 1977. Lamborghinis and the V12 Ferarris used SIX Weber carbs-one for every two cylinders. And no one will ever say that a Lamborghini Miuria or early Countach or a Ferarri Daytona didn't haul ass! Jaguar XKE's both the six and 12 cylinder models used multiple carbs. Porsche used dual Webers on many 911s until 1975. Datsun 240Z and 260Z models came from the factory with two SU carbs-but the hot set-up for Z-car racers and hot rodders was ( and still is ) either two Weber 32/36 DGEV's, or three 40 or 45 DCOE's. In 1975 when emissions killed everyone both foreign and domestic The Europeans went for Bosch Fuel Injection. The Americans screwed around with carburators for about another 10 years-remember "Carburator Dwell" and "Transmission Controlled Spark" and "Lean Burn" systems-all of which made cars run like shit and get crappy gas mileage. Back to the subject at hand. All of the big three used tri-power or dual quad setups in the '60's. In the early '60's you could get either a single 4-barrel, 3 -2bbls, or 2 4bbls on a 389 or 421 Pontiac. Ford offered a 3 2bbl setup on 406 Galaxies. Their a little rare today but you could use this induction setup on a 390 or a 428 if you wanted to. Chrysler had dual quad setups on the 383, 413 and 426 Max wedge engines as well as the 392 and 426 Hemis. And of course the "Six Pak" setups for the 340 and 440 engines later on. Chevrolet offered 2 4 bbls on the 283 as far back as 1957, and on the legendary "409" Impalas, as well as the new 396 in '65 Corvettes. They also offered a 3 2bbl option on 427 Corvettes from 1966-69. Oldsmobile had a tri-power setup on the old 394 V8 in the late '50s- The famous "J-2" package-unfortunately these won't work on '65 and later engines. ( The deck height is different ) They did have a tri-power option on the '66 442-to compete with the wildly popular Tri-power GTOs, but it was a one-year only option and their quite rare. If you have one or can buy one of these manifolds at a reasonable price, it will fit a '65 and later 400,425 or 455 Olds engine. The aftermarket offers dual-quad and tri-power setups for small and big block Chevys, small-block Fords, 429-460s, and Pontiacs. Their are even 4 Weber setups for small and big-block Chevys and small-block Fords. I had the pleasure of working on a "Truck Pull" racing truck a few years ago. This guy had a 13.5:1 compression 454 Chevy running 4 Webers and alcohol! Using my infrared emission analyzer and carb syncronizer-we helped him jet it for our altitude. ( He was from L.A.-sea level, and we were at 4,500 feet where the event was taking place ). He stomped on all comers-even beating a Dodge truck that had a 426 Hemi with a blower on it! No one would believe that this truck was not supercharged and didn't have nitrous. The 2nd place finisher put up $1,500 for a teardown, and was double pissed when it was within the rules!! ( He lost the $1,500 ) . What I'm saying is if you want a multi-carb setup on your car go ahead and buy one. It will run just as fast or faster than any single 4 bbl setup. Magazine tech editors espouse the single 4 bbl as "God" because the average idiot doesn't know to drive or tune the multi-carb systems properly. Here's what happens-people forget that these were HI-PERFORMANCE systems. They build a killer motor for their musclecar project-of course having to have every last ounce of performance-they trash the factory vacuum linkage and choke on thier tri-power system and replace it with mechanical linkage. If their running dual quads-they couldn't possibly run two 500 cfm AFB's or Edelbrocks with a progressive linkage and an electric choke on the rear carb, no they need two 750s with mechanical linkage, or two 600 cfm Double-Pumper Holleys!! And then- because their afraid of blowing it up, and putting too many miles on their $40,000 piece of garage jewelry- they drive it like my grandmother on prozac, if they drive it at all anywhere except on and off the trailer. They never-like the GTO song says-"Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out."  Then, as soon as it fouls a spark plug, they start screwing around with the carburators. Pretty soon it won't even start, much less run properly. The owner gets disgusted and puts on a factory or aftermarket 4 bbl carb and intake with an electric choke, that will stand up much better to this " Little Old Lady" less than 5 mile trips at less than 3,000 rpm style of cautious driving. Now, being an "expert" he joins the ranks of naysayers that poo-poo multi-carbs and say you can't have decent performance with anything but a single 4 bbl. If your going to drive like a little old lady-then go a range or two hotter on the plugs. If you decide to enter it in the Pure Stock drags or take a 200 mile trip it's not that hard to change the plugs to the regular, recommended heat range. If you want multi carbs, do it. Just tune them properly, and run it hard every once in a while-to say at least 4,500-5,000 rpm. Mastermind