You betcha, John . . . and I'm sure he'll include a winning lottery ticket to cover handling!!!
It's that yellow paint! Lol... seriously, I noticed that you have the outboard secondary carbs linked together as dump carbs. That, imho, is likely a large part of the issue. I ran a Pontiac tri power for years, and those carbs are setup very similar. The difference is that the outboard carbs are setup to open on sequence, not at the same time. It makes a big difference. The rpm must come up before opening all butterflies or the engine will fall flat because it loses all vacuum. Rpm had a very good point on the timing as well. Try unhooking one of the secondary carbs linkage as a quick test. If it improves, your on the right track. Also, How are they jetted? Too much fuel is just that. Read your plugs. Enjoy! That old tri power was about the most reliable multi carb unit I've personally ran after getting it setup right.
Take notes of where the timing, etc is set, then you can compare each time you make a change and know where to go back to. Only make one change at a time, i.e. 2 degree at a time. small increments, then test,and see what effect is has. Seriously, unhook one outboard carb and see if that makes a difference. I would do that before changing any settings. You won't hurt or change anything by doing it, just unhook the linkage. Also, it's not just the amount of timing, it's when it comes in. It's tricky, too tricky to simply explain because there are many variables... trial and error are usually part of the deal.
Usually when timing a modified engine, I put as much advance in it as I can get before preignition. I advance untill it knocks or backfires through the carb, then back it down a couple degrees at a time to find its happy spot. Without a vacuum advance, that's hard to do because the engine will be hard to start, especially when it's warm. There are work arounds, Smokey Yunick used to lock the distributor and install a separate toggle switch to power the coil so he could get the engine to turn over before he would ignite the plugs. MSD sells several timing computers that provide timing control including simulated vacuum advance, limiters, various timing maps, etc. I had to employ one on my stroker to finally resolve the preignition issue that I had. I'm not suggesting that you do this, just giving some examples, food for thought. If the engine starts, runs, and responds well untill you open the dump carbs, that is a big clue. Look at the spark plugs. If they are grey and even, (while running on the primary carb) your close on the general tune. When you are cruising on one carb and then open both secondary carbs, think of the mixture change and vacuum change that occurs at that moment. That's a big gulp! There are progressive linkages that have a slotted link and allows the tuner to stagger or stage the amount that the secondary carbs open, in sequence, so that the transition from one carb to the others is smooth and you don't get that bog at wot. I set my pontiacs up so the secondary carbs opened in order, at about 1/2-3/4 open on the primary, number two started to open, then at about half open the third one began. If you are racing and have the rpm way up, this isn't as much of an issue, but the street requires more finness. Most street carbs, four barrels, have vacuum assisted or limited secondaries for this very reason. Just some more food for thought. Keep us posted on your progress!
