The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop How many carburetors??

I've heard it said that if you want to go with a multi-carb setup on your engine, then the number of carbs should be based on the number of cylinders to get the best performance. For example, a 6 cylinder should have either 3 or 6 carbs.

Has anyone else heard this? If this is true, then why?? I know that there are hundreds if not thousands of dual-carb setups on Chevy 6's out there. Would the addition of a third carb make that much more difference on a 6?

Inquiring minds want to know.
Thanks

I've never heard that, at least until now. My suspicion is that it is an old wives tale from the days when understanding airflow through the manifold was not a science but more smoke and mirrors. In that scenario one carb for each set of intake ports probably made sense to some. Todays intakes work a lot better and one 390 CFM 4bbl works really well. 3 & 6 carbs have linkage and firewall clearance problems on a lot of cars & trucks and that is a real good reason to avoid them but the WOW factor is lost too.

One man/one vote, and one engine/one carb! Some things are just too good to tinker with! If you want the geewhiz factor, get a 3-carb manifold, and put blind gaskets under the outboard carbs. Then you can have the reliability of a single and the looks of a triple setup. The time, effort amd MONEY you'll spend making a multi-carb setup work, some of the time, can be spent doing more enjoyable things!
Jerry

On a practical level, I have to agree with Hotrod Lincoln on this one. My truck has a 283 (2-bbl Rochester, ram horn manifolds, etc), and everything you read about these engines basically boils down to "for street use, put on a 500-600cfm 4-bbl carb, headers if you want, and away you go." So on that basis, I should go find the manifold/carbs/cylinder heads from the 283 "power pack" and call it a day.

On the romantic / inspiration side, though: Every time I open the hood, I see the Rochester 2G sitting there on the motor but, in my head, I see three Stromberg 97s. I have spent too much time looking at tri-power setups on hoodless hot rods to really want anything else, in the long run--even for a driver/hauler truck that will never see a race track. And I think this way even after hearing horror stories from a friend of mine with a Corvair about syncing his carbs. I figure it's only a matter of time!