I have become the owner of a car with 348/tri-power. it wasn't driven a lot ,so gas sat in it. Probably for months at a time.Trying to drive it home, you would give it a little gas, it would stumble and die. Once i got it on highway, it ran fine.Pulled off at exit, give it gas, same thing stumble and die .I got it Thursday , so i haven't even tried to look at it yet. I'm thinking probably something rubber in center carb had dried up/broke. I guess it also could be fuel pump?? I know its hard to diagnose with me not even working on it yet, but any ideas? Where to start? My first tri-power car. Give me your ideas, please.
I'd take them off, clean them and rebuild kits in them. Or you could constantly mess with them. I don't generally recommend this but for someone in your position (someone not doing it for a living or very often) the cheap ultrasonic at Harbor Freight works pretty well for carbs. Fill it with Simple Green.
post pics of motor with air cleaner off - since you do not seem to know the full history of this motor start with basics like new fuel and filter, plugs, compression test, etc
First thing I would do is dump the crappy fuel that was in it and put fresh fuel in. Then change the fuel filter and make sure all the lines are still good. Then throw a complete tune up on it. See how it runs. Then if needed I would rebuild the carbs. You would be amazed what a set of plugs, wires, and points will do for a car.
What year 348 car? Auto? 2dr or 4dr? The high horse 2dr Impala had a solid lift cam. 4dr tried power usually didn't. After sitting thaose carbs need a rebuild and to sync them
I'll add this; most of today's gas contains 10-15% alcohol, that is hard on rubber parts, especially those that are't designed to tolerate the alcohol. Old parts, that are subjected to new gas that has alcohol in it, can quickly cause issues. You'll probably have to rebuild all the carburetors, replace the fuel pump and all the rubber fuel lines, then clean out the fuel tank and metal lines. Got your work cut out for you. I'm guessing the car in question is the 59 El Camino listed in your profile? Not a lot of those around. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.
Thats what i'm thinking, and probably 1st thing i do. There are quite a few you tube post on setting up tri power. Must admit i was a little surprised at how many.
I'd say cleaning the tank, flushing the lines and rebuilding the carbs with kits that work with today's gas would the wise thing to do along with a fresh tune up. I've got one rig out here that I need to start and move around the yard that most likely has bad gas in it as it hasn't run in over a year and I don't want to screw things up. Hopefully the tank was almost empty when it was wrecked (with me in it) and not almost full.
One thing i noticed is that the tri power did not have a glass bowl filter on it before the carbs. It may not supposed to have one. For some reason i thought it did, or was supposed to have one. Like i said first time with tri power
Like they said, fresh gas and look for a robust squirt in the center carb. Late squirt, weak squirt or No squirt and there's your first problem.......
B.A. I had an original 58 Impala 348, 280 HP with factory Tri power and don't remember a glass fuel filter. Is your original with vacuum operated end carbs? Gary
I do believe that the OE set up on 3x2's had that GM glass fuel filter up front near the water outlet. I think you can find it in the Show Cars 348/409 catalog.
Really don't know yet. Just got it Thursday, brought it home put the car cover on it.Car Cover? first for me LOL
I'LL PULL THIS BACK UP.Still playing tri-power. really want to run it and not do the "easy thing and replace it....yet. My main problem was rusty gas tank(replaced) and no in-line filters. Trying to get choke set to run right. I have been told that i should put a manual choke on a tri-power. It is an automatic.What do most of you guys use with tri-power. I just really don't want this thing to beat me. I'm gonna run the T.P. And yeah i know i'm slow. On the up side i did find gas station with no alcohol really close to my house.
I don't know why you'd have to use a manual choke. My '61 Pontiac came from the factory with an automatic choke on the center carburetor, Chevy must have done the same thing. It normally runs on just the center carburetor unless you're at full throttle (assuming the outer two are operated with vacuum), so in normal use it should be just like any car with a single two barrel.
No reason an auto choke wont work. My Ford 6V has auto choke and it works great. An auto choke set up and working properly is less hassle than a manual choke.
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