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I had the opportunity to pick up a complete, running L88 motor. Sounds wicked. Can't wait to get it in my car to terrorize the neighborhood kids and dogs....I mean, impress the neighborhood males over the age of 21.
I was wondering if anyone had experience with using a 435 intake and carbs on an L88. I have a setup with 3 restored carbs that have never had gas in them.
Would the jetting from the 435 be adequate for the L88? Or do I put in a wideband O2 sensor and fiddle with it. Or do I jump into the 21st century and put on a proper EFI setup?
The Tri-Power setup is a darn good setup and can be made to flow some serious air but to do that you will have to murder a rare $1500-1700 manifold.......but if you have it...flaunt it.
The factory L-88 manifold is hard to beat even now with mods but the L-88 really deserves a single plane like a Dart or World unit......
I believe that 435 horse jetting would be very close........and yes use an Innovate air/fuel meter to dial it in........remember these are slaves on the end and do nothing but meter fuel......
Biggest thing about the setup is to MAKE SURE the end carbs are shut all the way during normal operation......loose throttle plates on the ends are a real problem.......
I personally have never touched an L-88 but have been around many engines that had the same heads and that, the old school cam and intake are all that made it unique and some parts were used on other engines.......I also owned a Tri-Power and can tell you they are a hoot......but drive it often or you will be disassembling them......
Maybe that was more info than you wanted but it is early and I have had too much coffee.......
The Tri-Power setup is a darn good setup and can be made to flow some serious air but to do that you will have to murder a rare $1500-1700 manifold.......but if you have it...flaunt it.
The factory L-88 manifold is hard to beat even now with mods but the L-88 really deserves a single plane like a Dart or World unit......
I believe that 435 horse jetting would be very close........and yes use an Innovate air/fuel meter to dial it in........remember these are slaves on the end and do nothing but meter fuel......
Biggest thing about the setup is to MAKE SURE the end carbs are shut all the way during normal operation......loose throttle plates on the ends are a real problem.......
I personally have never touched an L-88 but have been around many engines that had the same heads and that, the old school cam and intake are all that made it unique and some parts were used on other engines.......I also owned a Tri-Power and can tell you they are a hoot......but drive it often or you will be disassembling them......
Maybe that was more info than you wanted but it is early and I have had too much coffee.......
Jebby
Hey Jebby
We're in the same boat. I'm on my third cup this morning.
I've owned a few other 435 cars before, a 427/400, plus a 70 454. Let's not forget a 64 convertible with a 502/502. I called that one the "Death Wish", since it had drum brakes.
Thanks for your input. I think I'll just grab 'em and jump, put the tripower on the motor and see what gives. Since at my advanced age I'll NEVER use the motor to its full potential, the tripower is mainly for ooh's and ahh's when going to the car shows, where all the youngins have turbocharged Subarus, and the muscle car guys debate which wax is best to use.
I had the opportunity to pick up a complete, running L88 motor. Sounds wicked. Can't wait to get it in my car to terrorize the neighborhood kids and dogs....I mean, impress the neighborhood males over the age of 21.
I was wondering if anyone had experience with using a 435 intake and carbs on an L88. I have a setup with 3 restored carbs that have never had gas in them.
Since they only made 200 or so L-88 motors, and it came with a 850CFM carb, I would doubt anyone has tried that.
I would buy it and sell it. The power band on that motor starts at 3000, and is not super street friendly.You might make enough $$ to buy whatever you want new and install that instead, perhaps something more compatable with that tri power set up.
Just food for thought. No charge.
An L-88 isn't a terrible street motor if tuned well. If it's still got 12.0 compression it will need good fuel..but a Snow Performance water/meth kit can help a lot.
I've got a buddy with an over the counter L-88 from the 70's. He swapped heads to some iron open chambers to knock a little compression out of it and the cam was changed to one actually larger than original.
It starts instantly and drives great with a 4 speed and 4.10's on 93 octane.
The factory dual plane works well on it.....I wouldn't be scared of the tri-power at all.
Do you know if anything has been changed in the motor from stock?
An L-88 isn't a terrible street motor if tuned well. If it's still got 12.0 compression it will need good fuel..but a Snow Performance water/meth kit can help a lot.
I've got a buddy with an over the counter L-88 from the 70's. He swapped heads to some iron open chambers to knock a little compression out of it and the cam was changed to one actually larger than original.
It starts instantly and drives great with a 4 speed and 4.10's on 93 octane.
The factory dual plane works well on it.....I wouldn't be scared of the tri-power at all.
Do you know if anything has been changed in the motor from stock?
JIM
Just the cam. now .580/.600, which I think may have been the ZL1 cam.
It does start up easily, idles remarkably well, but it obviously has a lot of cam. Rumpita-rumpita....
Although a real L-88 is very rare building an exact copy is relatively easy. A lot of people who build a BB Chevy end up with an L-88 no mater what they put in it. But at this point who cares, after all its not like Your out to prove Your car came with this beast from the factory. So what I would do is to figure out just what You have. What is the casting Date and Part Number of the Block ? Does it have the Aluminum Snowflake Heads ? If so under the Valve Covers there should be a Date Code and might be a Part Number. If they are the later 074 open chamber Heads there will not be a Part Number, as it is under the Intake Ports. By removing the Oil Pan You can see if it has the early 3/8" Rods or late 7/16". The bottom of the Pistons may give away clues with a brand name and part numbers. You should also be able to see if its a 2 bolt or 4 bolt main, forged Crank. Probably get a glimpse of the Cam, flat Tappet or Roller. So back to Your original question about the Tri Power set up working they came on the L-89 cars and a L-89 is basically a L-88 with a different Cam.
[QUOTE]and a L-89 is basically a L-88 with a different Cam.[/QUOTE
Not sure if it's that easy. The compression is different . The L89 is a L71 with the exeption of alu heads. Otherwise identical to the L71.
The 435 Tripower will probably well work on the L88. It is build for the L71/L89 and both are high reving engines. The 2ndaries of the tripower start working rather late, around 4000 + under load, hence like perfect for the L88. Only issue is the intake that is build pretty flat. Using a 67 L71 intake might increase airflow a bit, even that the power rating of the 67 L71 is same as C3 L71.
Removing the oil pan will show a lot, as mentioned. Also if the block is bored by measuring the inside diameter .
And yes, if it would be an original L88 engine, I would probably sell it and build something similar or better.
and a L-89 is basically a L-88 with a different Cam.[/QUOTE
Not sure if it's that easy. The compression is different . The L89 is a L71 with the exeption of alu heads. Otherwise identical to the L71.
The 435 Tripower will probably well work on the L88. It is build for the L71/L89 and both are high reving engines. The 2ndaries of the tripower start working rather late, around 4000 + under load, hence like perfect for the L88. Only issue is the intake that is build pretty flat. Using a 67 L71 intake might increase airflow a bit, even that the power rating of the 67 L71 is same as C3 L71.
Removing the oil pan will show a lot, as mentioned. Also if the block is bored by measuring the inside diameter .
And yes, if it would be an original L88 engine, I would probably sell it and build something similar or better.
Rgds Günther
Hallo Gunther
Thanks very much. In fact, I do have a 67 L71 setup that I had planned on using. In response to your measurement question the motor is .060 over, so it is a 439 inch motor. I have no plans to sell it. I just bought it.
Those of us who build these cars do so for a variety of reasons. Some do it to make a buck. Not me. I do it for nostalgic reasons. I've owned 11 others since I was 18 years old (almost 50 years ago). My current car may be my last. Who knows? So I am making it the way I want it, powered the way I want to. Big flares, big motor, big noise. Might bring me (mentally) back to 1969.
To those who criticize what I do, oh well. I'm happy.
Was going to post last night but my iPad killed my draft. LOL.
I ran a Tripower setup with a 68/69 manifold on my 496 BBC. Couple of Tripower L-88 thoughts.
1) Agree with Gunther on using the '67 manifold. Better flow.
2) If you can find them, try to get a set of Holley 4782 (primary) and 4783 (secondary) carbs. They are the mechanical secondary setup that Mopar used to sell via Direct Connection for the Six Pack. All three carbs use jets (no metering plates) and all three have accelerator pumps and idle mixture screws. Biggest difference is the use of sidehung float bowls. I ran a set on my 496 for a year after using the stock setup and what a kick in the pants when the secondaries (progressive linkage) kicked in. I had to use 1/2" phenolic spacers to fit them on the '68 manifold (not an issue with the '67) and swap the choke components from the Corvette carbs.
3) If you have space, K&N can custom make a taller filter for better flow.
Two biggest issues that I had with the my TriPower setup were (1) rich idle with my 496 and wife complaining of smell and (2) engine want to die when I hit the brakes hard (fuel was sloshing forward in the bowls and my light flywheel was letting the engine die).
My ultimate solution was a custom 3x2 EFI manifold from F&B throttle bodies with 3 2 barrel throttle bodies and port injection. Also using a taller K&N. Manifold is based on Edelbrock Dual Quad but with L-88 hood, could use a Air Gap Dual Quad. The EFI is probably down on raw power but marks the car much more driveable.
Is that true ? How can I approach them to do this ?
Rgds Günther
They have the directions to contact them on their website. Since they already make a stock height Tripower filter, I just asked them to make one with the same dimensions but 3/4" taller. I could probably have gone 1" taller than stock but I am using the stock '75 hood. Cost was very reasonable and took about 4 weeks to get the filter.
Edit: Found my paperwork. I request that K&N make me an E-1970 filter (which is the stock Tripower replacement) but make it 2.5" tall vice the stock 1.75". Cost was $93.79 per for quantity up to 9 and would have been under $75.04 for 10 or more. That compares well to $66 online for the stock E-1970. But I only bought one. That was back in 2014.
Gunther, PM'ed you the contact info for the person I talked to at K&N.
Last edited by SteveG75; Dec 29, 2016 at 06:55 PM.
Quite a wile back I needed a replacement Filter for my Banks set up. Banks hadn't stocked that Filter for a long time and told me to just get one from K&N. I called K&N and gave them the dimensions and they looked it up and said that they couldn't sell me the Filter because a Vendor used the same size. I asked what Vendor so I could just buy it from them and sure enough it was Banks. So I just added an inch to the dimension to make it a size no Vendor had ordered and there fore I could get it.
Tri Power on L88?
