Tri-Power Intake Manifold ID needed

[bulletbird852]

I thought I would come to the experts on FE engines. I hope someone can tell me what kind of heads this Tri-Power will work with.  I have not found it in any books or pictures on the internet.  It does have a Ford stamp on it but no take code so it is probably an aftermarket peace.  I put some dimensions on the picture to show the overall port height.  Any comment on it will be appreciated.

[frnkeore]

WOW, what a find!!

A real odd ball though. The ports are to big for a LR & MR but, I think it would fit a HR.

The casting is extremely rough for a production manifold and the pads are flat like a T-Bird and no casting date near the water outlet.

My guess would be, that it might be a XE project. Maybe to try to make a HR streetable?

[jayb]

That is certainly not a high riser manifold, the runners and valve cover rails are wrong for that.  I'm sure it is designed for a low riser or 428CJ cylinder head.  What surprises me from the pictures is the FoMoCo emblem in the casting.  I can't imagine Ford would have made such an intake, but who knows.  Certainly it is nearly identical to an Offenhauser Dual Port 4V intake when it comes to the port configuration.

[AlanCasida]

I seem to recall some discussion on an intake like that on the old FE forum a long time ago but I have forgotten any of the details. I don't know if you get on facebook but there is a group dedicated to Ford XE and SK type stuff that would probably be able to shed some light on your intake.
Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3136902959657581

[428kidd]

Like Alan said it is a pre production intake manifold. The idea didnt work well and was scrapped. It is low riser , not high riser or the like. Neat intake , and very cool, but probably more so off the car or engine so you could talk about it.

[gt350hr]

   I am not a part of that facebook group but many consider me to be an Ford experimental part expert because of my 50 years of dedication to finding the stuff.
   Yes that is a Ford experimental part. It precedes the Offenhauser "Dual Port" by several years. Ford engineers did the design to explore better fuel economy until more power was needed. What they didn't realize initially was the tremendous increase is surface area and attendant "drag" that came along with it that seriously hurt overall air flow. While the tiny ports for the center carb did help fuel economy "some" , the "wide open" power was way off. IMHO , the manifold was likely tested by Ak Miller who was friends with Ollie Morris of Offenhauser  and the non patented concept was copied by them at a later date. Offenhauser did work with Ford over the years. It is important to remember not EVERY "experiment" works. This manifold is one of those. It WILL run and function.
     Randy

[GerryP]

If you go to the other FE forum and use the search box and type in "dualport", the very first post it culls in one where a fellow is trying to sell this type intake for $3,000.  Discussion of the intake follows.  I won't spoil your read.

[gt350hr]

  On that forum I am 161854 ( user name) and said much of the same as I did above. In this case "rare" doesn't equal "good".
     Randy

[GerryP]

  On that forum I am 161854 ( user name) and said much of the same as I did above. In this case "rare" doesn't equal "good".
     Randy

I know that, Randy.  I reference it simply for the discussion.  Nothing has changed.  Rare and experimental are not synonyms for good.  Sometimes, but not always.

[gt350hr]

   All good . I only say that because I have been bit by the "exotic" part that didn't work before. More than once actually. The truth is EVERY engine part had an XE part number or SK ( which was normally for race parts) before it became an accepted production part and got a real part number like we are used to. Fan belts to fly wheels and everything in between.

[frnkeore]

I measured my EDC & C4-G ports today and as much as I tried, I couldn't get a reading beyond 2.30, for the height of the port, I wonder where they were planing to put the rest of that 2.46 port?

[428kidd]

I will also add that rare also doesn't always equal super valuable. Is it worth more than a standard 3x2 intake I say yes. Is it worth 3k I say no. Like I said to begin with it's worth more off a engine to talk about and say that's cool. It didn't work great or it would have been used. Kool piece none the less

[frnkeore]

What head was this manifold built for? Did Ford have plans to bring out another port shape, just for this manifold?

The bolt bosses show that it was bolted on "something" what would it have been?

[gt350hr]

   Unfortunately Frank without access to the Ford Engineering blueprints these "studies" are impossible to get information on. We don't even have an experimental number to search for. I'm am fairly certain any engineer involved with it has passed on. I was extremely lucky to get what little I have. It's a real eye opener.
   Randy

[Joe-JDC]

I agree with Randy that not every part made is going to be better than what was a production part.  I have been sent many heads and intakes over the last 50 years for porting, flowing, and repairing to make them work the best possible.  I actually cut out the bottom of the early High Riser single 4V intake that had the airflow turning nearly 120* back on itself on two ports.  Welded in a straight wall and picked up the flow tremendously.  I recently had the dubious pleasure of working on a couple of new FE intakes, and they needed quite a lot of work to get the flow balanced out fairly close.  The HR 8V needs a redesign on the lower ports, especially.  I still haven't heard if they will go into production.  The bread box style EFI intake for the 5.0 crowd was a disaster on torque but worked well with a blower.  The plastic copy of that same intake had two dead ports for airflow.  Nothing you could do would help since it was a plastic intake.  Don't even talk about the dual ports, S2P2, etc.   Joe-JDC