I am purchasing a 1969 tripower L-71 convertible, and I have been longing for a orange one for a few years, well finally it came, and of course a few person jump at the car, I am in Maine and the car is in Indiana, and as a Navy Doc, I do not have the ability to go see it, so the guy see dozens of photos and answer more question then I can imagine and then after all the questions are answered
In the questions I asked how the car starts from a dead cold, and he said right up, one crank
Then I forgot I asked that question and asked again then he said it starts up one crank, after you pump the gas pedal 25 times, from a dead cold
Then it raised questions with fuel pump, carbs, etc
all he said were perfect, he drive the car with confidence and he said it is perfect
well then pumping thing was bothering me
so I did more research, asked about spark plugs, rebuilt carb etc
then I was looking at the photos again, just looking and then I saw something
I looked at the fuel line(stainless steel) on the drivers side comes up to one brass block and a fuel line goes to the first carb, then the second block, and I DO NOT SEE A FUEL LINE TO THE PRIMARY CENTER CARB, the the fuel line continues
the guy is away till tonight
how could that be anyone help me, big investment do not want to make a mistake LONG DISTANCES

 

:iagree: No amount of pictures and questions will substitute for a personal inspection by you or your rep! don't know about the tripower setup.... I guess i should, I have looked at enough... but I don't. Sounds like a great car. :)

 

do peope make modifications

 

where in IN. is it ????

 

s. beech grove

 

sorry i thought i my be close enough :nonod:

 

need somebidy to give me info on tripower fuel lines, why would the center one be missing to carb

 

The fact that you have to pump the gas so many times to get the car to start leads me to believe that the choke is not adjusted properly. Pumping the accelerator is squirting gas into the intake supplying a the rich mixture needed to start the engine which is compensating for a (possibly) malfunctioning choke. I would not consider this a big issue because it is a quick fix.

As the others said, there's no substitute for looking at the car in person. Perhaps you could wire him a deposit to hold the car until you get to see it personally or can have someone knowledgeable look at it for you. Sounds like the car you want, don't let a minor issue stand in the way of your dream.
I don't think Monaco Orange L-71 'verts are so common that you can be overly picky, but I understand your caution.

One other thing, perhaps you can have the owner send you more detailed pictures of the tri-power. I cannot believe that the car will even run without a fuel line running to the center carb. That is the MAIN carb. It is the only one that functions at idle. I'm not a tripower expert but I believe it is the only carb that is equipped with an idle circuit. The outboard carbs are secondary and are meant to function only when the engine is near maximum output and requires the additional airflow. I have seen some tri-powers that have been modified to add a mechanical throttle linkage. The vacuum pods are generally missing in that case. IMO the mechanical linkage is not a good idea for the street.


[Modified by LemansBlue68, 11:33 AM 5/28/2004]

 

how about the fuel line issue

 

The engine will not idle without fuel to the centre carb.
If it definitely has no fuel line to the centre it may have a modification to take Chrysler fuel bowl which has the fuel inlet on the other side. Put a depsit on it with a disclaimer that it the purchase is subject to inspection. Then find a Forum member or mechanic to inspect.
Best of luck!

 

You can ask him if they are the correct carbs, the 69's came with Holley R3659 for the front and rear. The center was a Holley R4055 for the 4-sp and Holley R4056 for automatic. I am sure this is an expensive car and hard to find. The carbs are not hard to rebuild and the entire set-up can be restored for $600 or so from reputable restorers. Don't let the car of choice get away because of this. Its not a real expensive fix compared to some other expenses you could encounter.

 

Could you send the photos of the carb/fuel line set up? G.

 

[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG]

 

funny, i just learned that today. Was talking to a guy with a 70 Challenger with 340 "6 pack". He told me the 6 pack was the same 3X2 carbs used on the vette tripower except the fuel inlets were on the other side! :)