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Tunnel rams are cooool

44K views 122 replies 15 participants last post by  BuzzLOL 
#1 ·
So, here's what I have done....flipped, flopped, supercharged or not..383 or not....yada yada yada....
Summit rebuild kit, flat top hypers, 60 over, already ordered.
Then this, Weiand tunnel ram, 2 600 holleys
This I now have.
Then.......
Block is getting zero decked.
Turns out my 1150$ ik200's are actually 1400$ when I called to order....so decided on the Dart shp 200's. They will get some porting and clean up.
Cam will be Lunati solid, 247/256, 525/540, 106lsa, 100icl, pn#30120521
Converter is still the 3000 stall (yes I know a 3500+ would be better.
Gears will be 486
Long tube headers, 3" exhaust, undecided on mufflers.
Compression should be 10.5, quench is 0.041
Bottom end is ordered already, intake and carbs I have, converter I have.
So that's it....opinions?...no fights, gladly listen....yes Gary, even you lol....truce.
Will be running no hood, checkerboard painted firewall, gold moroso valve covers, Mr gasket velocity stacks....even bright yellow accel wires! Ghetto 70's retro with 80's cheesy pro street.....I love it.
 
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#39 ·
Was at a shop on my lunch break today, and customer car in for paint, 69 Beaumont, 355, Weiand tunnel ram, 2 600vs holleys, comp 294s, patriot heads. TH400, 3000 stall and 411's.....best time last summer on 28" slicks was 11:67, he says its very drivable and it sees alot of street time, thinks tunnel rams get a bad rap lol........trying to get pics from my phone to my tablet....its very cool...
 
#41 ·
I must take a step back and admit something:

My head is usually in the "race" world. In the "street" world, pretty much anything goes.
People can do whatever they want to with a "street rod".

I really shouldn't give race advice to street people.
You do what you want, and be happy.
Like you said, it doesn't matter what I think. And you are right.

Having said that, if you decide to race it.... and you get whipped all the time... then come see me.
I might have some advice for ya.
( And so would 100 other people who hang out on this forum. )

Funny story that happened today:
This guy who works at one of our local machine shops calls me on the phone today. He is looking for some tires. A year ago, he was working on a project mid-80's tubbed Camaro. He finally got it running. I didn't have any tires for him, but I did have a set of rear-end gears. So he comes over in the Camaro project car to pick up the gear set. And guess what.
Yup... he was running a tunnel ram.
Talk about a crazy combination: 468 bbc, hydraulic cam, factory oval-port heads, 9:1 compression, tunnel ram with a pair of Edelbrock 600cfm carbs, headers, TH350 tranny with a 5,000 stall converter, 9" rear with ladders - 2.90:1 highway gears - and a pair of giant sprint car Hoosiers on some old-school Centerline solids.
I asked him, "you got a tranny temp gauge on this thing?"
He said no, but he had a big tranny cooler up front. ( good thing! )
So he takes me for a ride.
Funny thing is, he is getting away with this for a couple of reasons:
1. The car is fairly light.
2. That 5k stall converter allows the engine to rev up high enough to get that highway-geared rear-end rolling, and that tunnel-ram breathing.
3. The BBC makes enough torque to pull those gears.

I didn't say anything, but I was thinking about all kinds of advice for this guy.
He was in a hurry so I didn't get a picture of it, but next time I will.
I'll post a pic or two.
 
#43 ·
Lol.....OK, some of my junk gets missmatched, and due to budget or asthetics its always a compromise....oh lord pls dont call it a "street rod" lol....I make fun of my dad and uncle for being lawn chair riding street rod guys....but your right, its not a race car by any stretch of the imagination, it may see the track 4 or 5 times a year. Its really an 80's cheeseball pro street build, that was complete with teal paint and pink stripes....its going to be a beater hotrod for me that is about as brutal as I can afford. I had said elswhere, if i can get this big pig into a mid, or god help me low 12, i would be exstatic. And if I could run a BBC with an 871 I would, believe me....but I do have a thing for tunnel rams and with no hood I'm absolutely stoked about this build....so yes....I may have been a tad defensive lol....for that I apologize.
 
#42 ·
This is what Weiand has to say about their tunnel ram intakes:

"For maximum performance in normally aspirated competition applications, Weiand Hi-Ram Tunnel Ram intake manifolds are the manifold of choice. They're designed primarily for drag racing, truck/tractor pulls, and performance marine applications where high rpm is required but bottom-end torque isn't. With their patented D-shaped port runners and large plenum chamber, they provide optimum thrust of the air/fuel mixture to the intake ports. They mount either single or dual square-mount carbs and, depending on the application, have power bands that run from 2,500 rpm to as high as 9,000 rpm. Separate tops and runners are available for some manifolds."

:D
 
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#60 ·
We checked that at the shop today, well one of my guys did.....does 1.561 make sense? I had called summit to confirm before ordering that they werntn "rebuilder" slugs at 1.540 and was assured they wernt. I suspect I'm just off a tad andc they are actually 1.560..!!
 
#52 ·
So your street/strip car moonlights as a NASCAR on the weekends?

rofl . Ive owned 3 BB pick ups,all 454s.road racing is exactly the same as nascar,lol...
the most fun with a car like mine is knocking over pylons in gymkahana parking lot races. They do frown on the straight away burn outs,but crowds like it.
 
#55 ·
Bygddy,from May long week end until sept Long weekend every Thursday we have a cruise in from 6 ish to 8:30 ish at the A&W at 228th and lougheed hiway. The cars then migrate to Timmys about 4 miles to the west.
The september weekend last year we probably had 1,000 cars.The cops shut down 4 square blocks for us,cars parked all over the street/live band etc.
race cars/old cars/bike/trucks/old 5 tonne flat decks/imports/super cars,all are welcome.
couple oddities for example,lotus elan with a V-6,,,914 with a V-8,mazda 1200 coupe v-8
 
#57 ·
See, that's cool.....very cool....its too bad your so far away, our best Fridays are head to luskville dragway for open cruise night, sign your waiver, pay 20$ and run anything, as many times as you want, no tech, no grief, run your buddies all night, that ends around 1030, then its head to timmies and drink your coffee and talk about what was or wasn't fast ...this usually goes on till about 1am....then we head home, trying to avoid the emmisions cops....and avoid getting caught playing light to light hero with your buddies....then home and car gets tucked in safe and sound....wow....I really miss summer lol.
And did you say a 914 with an 8? Must Google...never seen that before!
 
#58 ·
bygddy: F-bird has been a positive advocate for the TR's...
I don't post alot however seeing its on TR's share my setup. Years back helping out with friends cars/drag with carb tuning I decided to 'freshing" up a "street/strip" combo. A 30 over 427bbc with Edel roval port heads, comp extreme energy solid cam, with 10.75 comp. Then I wanted to do a dyno test comparison between edel rpm air gap and the dart single plane both where done with a BG mighty demon 850dp (The dyno guy was surprised at how well the single plane intake had done). And once I had a pair of holley 650dp's done we then ran the weiand pro-ram (eye candy is what the dyno guy called it :D ). Now this is from memory... the air gap 525hp@6400, Dart actually "peaked" at 6300rpm with 540hp. Now with the TR setup he ended up running flowmaster mufflers for the noise and admitted it would take some power away, It made 540hp@6400rpm, what we noticed was that the TR and the air gap were within couple of HP/TQ from start of pull 3500rpm to about 5000rpm then the TR pulled away and equaled the single plane but still carried thru where the single plane was going down (Now the dyno guy is a believer). There is a little more time setting up a TR however taking the time to tune any combo is key vs bolting on and going.
 
#63 ·
Its funny that your story is something I have heard a few times in the last couple days...the guy i got my tr from said the same, he had dyno'd a couple small cube motors, with
Single planes and big solid cams, and the tunnel ram actually had slightly higher trq#'s or equal from 2500 up, and several times actually equaled a good dual plane until 5500 where the TR walked away.....the lad with the beaumont (Canadian chevelle;)) I was speaking to today said he went from 12:00's to 11:70's right off the trailer with no other changes but a swap from a vctr Jr and a 750dp to the weiand and 2 600vs 's. So I'm hopefully for sure...
 
#64 ·
I'm starting to worry about my setup now, and maybe I better change it soon! My tunnel rammed SBC 327 turns in the 7's in 1/8th mile, and still gets 16 mpg cruising on the freeway with 3.73 gears, and 275-60-15 M&H drag radials.
But it sounds like something has to be wrong, so I better start looking for a hi rise with a single 4 barrel so I can perform better and get better mileage. ;)
 
#65 ·
I was walking in Edmonton and saw coming towards me a first gen Camaro tunnel rammed.
He slowed almost to a standstill opposite me, looked over grinning and planted his foot.
The thing took off like a scalded cat.:evil:

That setup would never pass inspection here in Spain, I get grief with my 4" cowl.
 
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#68 ·
I am actually suprised ppl think tunnel rams are old. Single plane sheet metal was what they started with back in the day for race motors. Then built tunnel rams and got more low end and high rpm tq. Make perfect since its a nice taper into the port and increases the tuned intake length as long as 12 inches or above. It also increase the volume and allow for a larger gump of air. Also solve the 4-7 issue commonly associated with single plane intakes.

A ram will always make more tq than a single plane. And usally the same hp if designed right.
Rams are a huge open plenum area with straight-shot long runners.
You can tune the velocity with plenum walls, and the diameter of the runners. But they still serve a single purpose: high RPM horsepower.

Rams do NOT make more torque.

You always see Tunnel Ram specs making power between 3,000-9,000.
( Usually its more like 4,000 and UP )

Single-plane race intakes are slightly lower at the bottom of their power curve.
Another thing is "swirl". Single-plane intakes swirl better than rams.
Keeps the fuel mixture atomized better.
Rams puddle at low velocity. ( Low velocity = below 3,000 )

If you want more plenum volume... run a 4500 dominator and intake.
DART makes great intakes for BBC.

You can run a 632 BBC with pro heads at 7,000 RPM's with a SINGLE dominator and a single-plane intake.
:D

My favorite intake for street motors is the Edelbrock Performer RPM AirGap.
That intake is the best of both worlds.
Torque, throttle response, and higher RPM flow. It does it all.

Like I keep saying, a tunnel ram on a street motor is for LOOKS.
If you like the look, go for it!
 
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#78 ·
Mantis what did loham do to you. I love it when hot chicks become drugged out drunken sluts it increases my odds. LOL

We should probably stick to what you dont know about engines and leave out what you dont know about women that will take a lot more effort to correct.
EPIC FAIL.

You guys are so proud of what you think you know... you can't even entertain the idea of something contradictory to your own misguided beliefs.

Alot of people live in a filter-bubble. No exceptions here either.

Guys, believe what you want. Little kids believe in Santa Claus.
We believe certain things because we WANT to believe it.
It's delusional, but so many people do it. It lets ya sleep at night.

Believe what you want. Sleep good tonight! Be happy!
I'm just some loony bird who keeps saying "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!"

Hahahahahaha.
:drunk:
 
#81 · (Edited)
.. If anybody ever tells me they want the dual quad tunnel ram look on the street, I always tell them GO FOR IT with the Summit/Weiand/Holley setup!

.. Hot Rod started to put up their SBC 350" 7 manifold comparison article online, but for some reason stopped at one page, instead of putting up a page for each intake/carb.(s) setup test like in the magazine... fortunately, I also have the magazine...

.. The Weiand Tunnel Ram that Summit sells in a kit with carb.s & linkage at a reasonable price is a STREET tunnel ram and perfectly streetable, including low RPM torque and good MPG (with sensible cam and gearing). Hot Rod tested it with the bottom level twin Holley 450's and said it ran perfectly right out of the box. Including, to their surprise, no unusual bogging despite mechanical secondaries, and NO DP, NO VS..!!! Summit had it a well tuned kit. It also outperformed EVERY other street and semi-race manifold at every RPM with MORE TORQUE and more HP. The only one to make slightly more top end power was the more race-oriented Eddy Tunnel Ram with much bigger carb.s (750 Dominators?), and they felt if the Weiand had been ordered with the 600 carb. option, it prolly would have beat the Eddy TR as well... but with slightly poorer low and mid-RPM performance, unless the VS's on the 600's would have helped there......

.. The Weiand TR with dual 450's would be OVERKILL, if anything, for your engine, HR was getting around 500HP from it on their 350", even bigger carb.'s would be more overkill... as in crappy running... oh, sure, it could be adjusted to sound like it was running good with dual 750's, but strap it to a dyno and it would have a sick torque curve... and waste gas doing it... I've seen numerous engines sound fantastically powerful subjectively, but put them on the strip or dyno and they fall flat compared to a well-matched combo... hell, some of them, just put a tach on them and you're disappointed..! Sure, 632 Mantis is giving you some incorrect info on street TR's, but he does make a few good points on not going overboard with mismatching things...

.. The article intro:

Carburetor Shootout - Carburetor Test & Review - Tech - Hot Rod Magazine

.. The impressive SBC 350/Weiand TunnelRam (engine for pictures only, not the one they tested on):

 
#94 ·
..
Hot Rod started to put up their SBC 350" 7 manifold comparison article online, but for some reason stopped at one page, instead of putting up a page for each intake/carb.(s) setup test like in the magazine... fortunately, I also have the magazine...

.. The Weiand Tunnel Ram that Summit sells in a kit with carb.s & linkage at a reasonable price is a STREET tunnel ram and perfectly streetable, including low RPM torque and good MPG (with sensible cam and gearing). Hot Rod tested it with the bottom level twin Holley 450's and said it ran perfectly right out of the box. Including, to their surprise, no unusual bogging despite mechanical secondaries, and NO DP, NO VS..!!! Summit had it a well tuned kit. It also outperformed EVERY other street and semi-race manifold at every RPM with MORE TORQUE and more HP. The only one to make slightly more top end power was the more race-oriented Eddy Tunnel Ram with much bigger carb.s (750 Dominators?), and they felt if the Weiand had been ordered with the 600 carb. option, it prolly would have beat the Eddy TR as well... but with slightly poorer low and mid-RPM performance, unless the VS's on the 600's would have helped there......
QUOTE]

Yea that was Hot Rod January 2002.. If you look futher in the article it was the Edelbrock Street tunnel ram (pn# 7110) with a pair of 650dp Race Demon TR carbs that made 503hp @ 6100rpm, and 452tq @ 5600. The Demon TR series were meant for tunnel rams hence the "TR". There is also a quote from Barry Grant in article stating "tall tunnel ram with small runners can be a streetable high torque setup"
 
#83 · (Edited)
.. Those old Willys were made right here at Willys/Overland plant... still a lot of them around here... as are Jeep Wranglers made here and until last August, the Jeep Liberty (sometimes still called a 'Cherokee' in foreign countries that don't like the word 'Liberty') and, up until a year or so ago, the Dodge Nitro version of it...

.. Here's a slick, handy online calculator for RPM vs tire size vs rear ratio vs tranny gears vs MPH (click 'clear right' button before doing anything). Gives a great spreadsheet of info:

http://www.F-Body.org/gears

.. One of my current projects is a SBC 405", MoTown 220 cc alum. heads, Summit #1105 224/234 hyd. flat cam... it's on its 3rd or 4th set of heads and intakes and hasn't even run yet... LOL! . Another is Ford 351"M/400 block 2bbl. getting 400 crank, KB domed pistons, 214/224 cam, and 4bbl. carb. for an F150..
 
#87 ·
Picking up cam today, bought a comp 294s with lifters, $125 bucks still in the box!
248/248
525/525
Should work well I hope, may go 1.6 for more lift....
Need heads and hardware and I should be ready to get this show on the road!
After some good advice and some follow up reaserch its going to be the summit house brand 200cc /64cc
Or a set of pro-filer's.
So.....in summary,
360ci
10.5 comp
.041 quench
Comp 294s solid lifter can
200cc/64cc alum heads
Weiand tunnel ram
2 600 VS holley's
Msd ready to run dist/blaster 2 coil
Long tube 1 5/8 headers
3" exhaust, likely to dynomax race bullets.
TH350, shift kit, 3000 stall
Ford 9" 488 gears
Looking for 12:50's and a fun weekend beater...
Wish this snow would go away lol
 
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#89 ·
Oh yah, they are a Chinese casting, and the initial generation of them were problematic. There is a tooooooooon of info online about them....marketed as an Australian head initially, and poor quality control etc, so unfortunately they now have a pretty bad rep. That being said, the guys that I know that are using the newer genaration castings are having great success with them. It all depends on how you get them, if your getting directly from procomp I might be leary of their machining and their hardware, but alot of them now are being bought by places like the Skip white eBay store, and having their own local US machine shops go over them and install good parts. This also makes it much easier to return or warranty if the need arises. The bottom line is, bang for the buck, there's not much better and they have come along way from where they started.
 
#98 ·
244 cam is not that big. he will run enough gear to never need worry about that. I think that 350 will hit hard from 3500 to 6800.My cam comes on strong at 2400 plus with a bigger single 4bbl. the t r will work well when figured out. a fella here had a gremlin with a 350 and 2x550 carters. It was crazy mid range power.I also liked the hockey stick stripe on the side.
 
#102 ·
Interesting read!
and after reading this one should learn that a well match engine combo will go a long way, just do a lil research and take your time on an engine build even if it means waiting to get the etra money to get the best parts way better to do it right the first time thats how you save money in the long run!

As for cylinder heads there are a few great heads out there and a few average heads and alot of junk. will not name them most already know who they are if you have read any amount of forums or threads.

With that said if you are truelly looking for a great head and a reasonable price you will not go wrong with a set of profilers.

Have a set on my roller 406 after looking into a set myself hard to beat the flow and pinch on these heads are so nice theyll rival any AFR you match them up to.

I noticed you mentioned them, truely a great head and awesome castings aswell.


 
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