Pontiac 389 Tri Power V-8
What makes it a Classic: The Pontiac 389 Tri Power V-8
Often it's difficult to determine if an old car is truly a classic. However, if you're looking at automobiles from the [Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors], it's a little easier. If you pop the hood on a late 50s or 60s Pontiac of any model and a Tri Power 389 V-8 is staring back at you, you've just found yourself a classic.
Join me as we talk about one of Pontiac's [greatest engines of all time]. We'll also shed some light on why the tri power version is so desirable from a classic muscle car collector’s point of view.
Publicity for the 389 Tri Power
Anytime an engine and carburetor setup finds its way into a song you have a power train combination …show more content…
The Pontiac design team nicknamed the high compression version the Tempest model V-8. With this same engine fitted with three 2 barrel carburetors, known as Tri Power, it produced an advertised 360 HP. Car owners started calling the Tempest motors the Trophy V8's, because they could fill your shelf with trophies. Pontiac then bored the engine out for 1967 and it became the 400. The factory used the 400 CID motor up until 1979, [in the Pontiac Trans Am].
The Tri Power Optioned 389
Having three 2 barrel carburetors providing the air fuel mixture has some advantages over a standard single four barrel. The three separate carburetors acted like one. A complex linkage system connected to the throttle cable allowing the driver to deploy power as needed. The center carburetor handles the air fuel mixture under idle and light to medium throttle.
The outboard carburetors act like secondaries to dump fuel in heavy throttle situations. Comparing this to the four barrel carburetor, with only one pair of secondary’s, the tri power set up provides two sets of secondaries. The factory had to configure specially designed intake manifolds to pull this off. For this reason, when you stumble across an original Pontiac Tri Power engine, you will find the [original cast iron intake
What makes it a Classic: The Pontiac 389 Tri Power V-8
Often it's difficult to determine if an old car is truly a classic. However, if you're looking at automobiles from the [Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors], it's a little easier. If you pop the hood on a late 50s or 60s Pontiac of any model and a Tri Power 389 V-8 is staring back at you, you've just found yourself a classic.
Join me as we talk about one of Pontiac's [greatest engines of all time]. We'll also shed some light on why the tri power version is so desirable from a classic muscle car collector’s point of view.
Publicity for the 389 Tri Power
Anytime an engine and carburetor setup finds its way into a song you have a power train combination …show more content…
The Pontiac design team nicknamed the high compression version the Tempest model V-8. With this same engine fitted with three 2 barrel carburetors, known as Tri Power, it produced an advertised 360 HP. Car owners started calling the Tempest motors the Trophy V8's, because they could fill your shelf with trophies. Pontiac then bored the engine out for 1967 and it became the 400. The factory used the 400 CID motor up until 1979, [in the Pontiac Trans Am].
The Tri Power Optioned 389
Having three 2 barrel carburetors providing the air fuel mixture has some advantages over a standard single four barrel. The three separate carburetors acted like one. A complex linkage system connected to the throttle cable allowing the driver to deploy power as needed. The center carburetor handles the air fuel mixture under idle and light to medium throttle.
The outboard carburetors act like secondaries to dump fuel in heavy throttle situations. Comparing this to the four barrel carburetor, with only one pair of secondary’s, the tri power set up provides two sets of secondaries. The factory had to configure specially designed intake manifolds to pull this off. For this reason, when you stumble across an original Pontiac Tri Power engine, you will find the [original cast iron intake