Jack made a couple of different versions of the tri manifold. For the 235/261, the first versions were actually steel fabricated. I have only seen photos. I have never seen one in person as they are very very rare. I am going to have to dig up my old Clifford catalogs and look for this unit as I do not remember seeing a cast aluminum version for the 235/261. Keep in mind that at one time there was still an NHRA class for the 235 and 261 so anyone running that class was trying to extract every ounce of power they could. Clifford sold some really large camshafts for these motors. I owned one that I had purchased new in the late 80s from Jack when he was still alive and running the business, right up until I had it reground last year after I realized it was way too big. Never even used it. Realized as an older guy that the head simply could not support the cam. But it was strictly a race motor approach, and probably because customers were asking for this stuff, he made it. As a young man, I was in the bigger must certainly be better mode so I might have been right in that wheelhouse had I had the money to get the cam and the tripower manifold, lol.
On the other hand, Clifford did make a ram IR type cast aluminum intake for the 230/250/292 motors. I own one but have not built a motor to use it on yet. I have to double check but my memory is that the manifold was drilled for the large base Rochester 2 bbl. But I also remember talking with a guy who was running one and said the Rochester 2bbls on that manifold were too small and that most ran Holley 500s. Keep in mind that the 2bbl cfm is determined using a different mercury factor then the 4bbls 1.5 vs. 3.0 so if you are comparing a 4bbl cfm with the 2bbl cfm, you have to do a little math.
If you want to compare the CFM rating of a 2 BBL to that of a 4 BBL multiply the 2 BBL rating by 0.707. So a 500 cfm 2bbl flows 353.5 which is not really that much on an IR manifold.
The only Clifford Aluminum Ram Tri power I ever saw that ran three Rochester 2bbs was on a race pickup truck. But he had a plenum box made to bolt to the Clifford IR to create a plenum. That intake set up ended up on Jim Tinsmith's "Mild Bunch" altered. I have a photo of the manifold on the truck so when I get home I will post it.
Man-a-Fre also made a tripower intake for a late model chevy. Originally for a Pontiac but fit the chevy. Had tiny cast sort of plenum that proved too small and so lots had issues getting them to run correctly on a race motor
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EySvHVl93QkDos Palmos also made a terrific tripower intake with big ports that connected the runners with each other with rubber hoses. Very rare but that intake ran really good with three holleys. Rarely seen.
Here is a home made intake with three 500 holleys on a 292. Not a ram intake, similar in design to the Dos Palmos with the large tubes connecting the runners, but well done just the same.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uw9GcsuLp0
