Pontiac Manifree 4 Two Bbl Manifold?

[racingharps]

Is There Anyone Who Know Of Or Has Heard Of A Manifree Pontiac Manifold? It Holds (4) 2 Barrels With Them In A Square. I Am Thinking Of Buying This And Wonder If There Is A Need Or An Interest In This Manifold?? What Do You Guys Think? What Would It Be Worth? And What Did They Put It On? Thanks For The Help

[PeteRR]

What Pontiac motor is it for? Here's a page that shows a ton of manifolds, and I don't see a quad 2-barrel.
http://www.teufert.net/pontiac/intake.htm

I did a google search and "manifree" didn't come up with any results.

[MagicRat]

There was a similar manifold for Fords, in the late '60's, I think it was called the Cross Boss but I am not sure.
The idea of using lots of smaller carbs is a hold out from the '50's when the biggest carb you could get was a Stromberg 97, which was tiny and you needed about a half dozen to make a strong engine go.

Those set ups were made obsolete by the good 4bbl carbs of the '60's and later.
The mutiple carbs look impressive at the shows, but a well set up 4bbl will go faster, and be easier to tune.
Even some factory set ups, like the GTO's went faster on one 4 bbl than the triple two barrels. But the 4 bbl just did not have the same advertising image.

[Ken_of_York]

I used to have 3 x 2 barrels on my Firebird. I traded the set-up for a 59 Thunderbird of all things, buts that's another story. Anyhow, the only adjustment was on the center carb. It had the only idle mixture screws. Many people used normal 2 barrels on a tri-power intake. This created the problem with all 3 having mixture screws and needing adjusted. The carbs I had were nothing but 2 gas pumps. The center carb was used 99% of the time and the other 2 did nothing at all. When you floored it they cracked open. I never understood what needed adjusted, as there was nothing to adjust other than the linkage which determined when they opened up. This was mechanical linkage to attach the center to the other 2. The center carb had normal enrichment screws which you adjusted like a normal 2-barrel carb. You had to get a few RPM's going before you ripped them open, but it felt more powerful than most 4 barrels. It actually felt like someone had rammed my car in the back. The sound was great. And it was instant because it was mechanical instead of vacuum. I know that stuff is all primitive by today's standards, but I tell you it was a real blast. I am now running a 4-barrel because I could not say no to that damn Thunderbird. At first I tried a vacuum Holley 750. The secondaries never opened as far as I could tell. I recently bought an Eldebrock mechanical 750, but I have not tried it out yet. (meaning G-tech to see what it got) The one thing about a tri-power is that there is no doubt whatsoever when it is engaged. It slammed you back hard. I hope my new carb has a little of that.
Ken

[PeteRR]

Ken,

Now you know why the 440 6-Pak cars are as fast or faster than the equivalent hemi-equipped car in the '60s.