Ever thought it would be cool...
Ever thought it would be cool to have Six-Pack induction combined with the reliability of electronic fuel injection? Now you can!
When most of our Mopars were built, a carburetor adorned the intake manifold, handling the mixing of fuel and air and keeping the proper ratio of each under most driving conditions. If your car was an economy model, it came with a one- or two-barrel carburetor; if it was a performance model, it came equipped with a four-barrel, or maybe even multiple carburetors if equipped with a Hemi, special 340 Six-Pack, or 440 Six-Pack engine. Though it has long been debated as to the actual performance gains multiple carburetors can provide, it's generally accepted that multiple carburetors offer slightly more power in a street-driven application, but at the expense of drivability and reliability. Fuel injection was offered by some manufacturers during the musclecar era, but the fuel-injection systems of the time were crude, prone to vapor lock, and even more untrustworthy than most carburetors.
The car for this project is...
The car for this project is actually owned by F&B's owner, Bruce Bridges. His grandmother bought this '72 Barracuda new. An aversion to flying led her to clock over 300,000 miles on it before she stopped driving it.
Though multiple carburetor induction of the '60s and early '70s was admittedly somewhat unreliable, the engineers at Chrysler figured out a way to make it better. By using three relatively simple two-barrel carburetors, they could tune the engine for daily driving using the center carb, then actuate the two outboard carbs when maximum power was needed for the best of both worlds. The Chrysler Six-Pack setup was actually very drivable, offered relatively good economy if you kept your foot off the floor, and great power once all six barrels were opened up. Basic Holley two-barrel carbs were used for simplicity, and the outer carbs were vacuum-actuated units that didn't even have metering blocks for jet changes. While this system improved overall reliability and worked well on a stock engine, if you wanted to modify your engine, having no jets to change in the outer carbs made it difficult to tune the engine once modifications were made. For this reason, many Six-Pack setups were removed once a car was modified and replaced by a single four-barrel.
The original 318 was rebuilt...
The original 318 was rebuilt several years ago and was treated to a performance valve job, hypereutectic pistons, and a mild cam. At 9:1 compression, this is a good solid street engine that should work well with electronic fuel injection.
Regardless of how multiple carburetors actually perform, the appeal of opening the hood at a cruise night and showing off dual four-barrels, or a trio of two-barrels, is enough to negate the drivability and reliability issues of these systems for some enthusiasts.
We admit that an open hood with multiple carbs adorning the engine does turn heads, but can that same look be achieved without sacrificing reliability? Thanks to Bruce Bridges and the team at F&B Performance Engineered Products (F&B), the answer will soon be yes. F&B is-and always has been-a Mopar company. Starting out by modifying and porting 5.2 and 5.9 Magnum throttle bodies for extra performance, F&B has grown their business and now manufactures their own billet throttle bodies for Chrysler applications. F&B throttle bodies are designed to maximize airflow and inlet velocity, while at the same time requiring minimum effort to install. Since their designs have much larger inlet areas than factory throttle bodies, tapered flow paths for maximum ram effect, and are compatible with factory air intake systems, they are a great choice for adding fuel injection to your classic Mopar. Since much of their initial work involved the Mopar 52mm two-barrel throttle bodies, and since a Six-Pack setup works well with carburetors and looks cool, Bruce decided to look into the feasibility of Six-Pack electronic fuel injection.