hey I came across this sbc chevy cross ram and trying to figure out what the rarity and value might be
I've seen the Mickey Thompson cross-ram like that, bead blasted clean, offered in the $650-850 range on Ebay...but whether they sold for that or not I don't know. Manifold only, no carbs or linkage. The fact you have linkage is likely a big plus, but I couldn't speculate on total value. What size are the carbs?? None of the aftermarket cross rams perform very well, as there is no shared plenum like there is with a true tunnel ram, or the Chevrolet Z28 cross ram, or the SY1 Smokey Ram box manifold. No shared plenum means each carb acts like it is on an odd-fire 4 cylinder engine...it really messes with mixture distribution. Hot Rod magazine tried to make one work for their big manifold shoot-out issue several years ago and found it gave up nearly 100 hp on a 500 hp SBC(it was an Edelbrock XC-8)....mentioned they tried hard to make it work "because it looks so eff'in cool", but tried 3 different sized pairs of carbs on it and nothing helped. They noted at a certain rpm ranges there was a visible fog of fuel hovering over the carb throats due to that poor distribution and reversion effect. If your after power, they are not the manifold to use....if you're all about that type of look, the M/T is one of the better looking versions.
I am going to run this Weiand on my 29 RPU on the street, just because it looks cool, I have a Hilborn for the Strip !
Value is what someone is willing to pay. They are only rare because no one wants them for performance most are probably sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust. The carbs are probably worth more than the manifold. That being said they do look cool. Pat
G'day, I think the Mickey Thompson cross ram is probably the rarest I have seen and the price listed above looks pretty accurate. That being said the time I went to a Pomona swap meet a guy had multiples of them in SBC and BBC. Since it was a swap meet they were priced a bit higher but were in exceptional shape. I have two of the SBC, one is polished and one is original, and also have one BBC that is natural. I am a hoarder and have been collecting cross rams for a while so have a selection. Bad Mitch. Bad. Personally I did not pay that much for them but it was a bit ago.
Around here I would guess $400-$850 depending on how many cracks, stripped threads, corrosion damage, carbs match and are rebuildable. The linkage is nice but not a big $$ factor. That was a nice setup when it was new.
One of the biggest problems with that design... Doesn't it weigh about half of what a complete small Chevy engine weighs ? Mike
I am of the understanding that particular model has a balance tube cast into the upper plenum, to help balance fuel distribution? The casting not visible in your photos due to the carbs being mounted. I recently paid $700 for a unit like you show. It is in excellent condition with no damage readily visible. The balance tube casting is clearly visible without the carbs. I do intend to try it on a hot 350 I have on hand. I do hope it performs well.
I always see the M/T's in the $800 range because of their rarity and yes they do have a balance tube, you see Edelbrock's in the $450 range. Now with all that being said this M/T and carbs was listed at $2,000 a few months ago and sold for $1850 I know what I have into my setup and they are not cheap If you want a cheap one Edelbrock and the Offenhauser are your intakes.
If it's all about looks, than IMO they sure look better with Holley's sitting on top than they do with the Carters.
Anyone know whose version worked best? I’ve been thinking of taking the 6-71 off of my Austin gasser and I was thinking of using a cross ram instead. I see all of them frequently at our local swap meets. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
As stated before, the M/T cross ram does have a balance tube. I ran one on my 32 for quite a while both on the street and at the track. Works very well at both. Plus it's pretty menacing to look at. They used to go for around $1000-1200 a few years ago, but I have seen them cheaper recently.
Probably the two best without alot of fuss work is the factory unit Chevy made for the 68/69 Camaro Z/28 trans am cars or the Offenhauser piece as its pretty much an exact copy of the Chevy intake. Mainly because I know Chevy put a lot of R&D in that intake. The only big draw backs with the Chevy unit is you need high compression/big cam set up and preferably a manual trans. They were never designed street use.
I Had that same one on a 66 El Camino that was my daily driver for a few years. the best thing that I came up with for street driving, was putting 2 inch aluminum carb spacers under each carb, the drilling and tapping holes for heater hose fittings in both plates, then running hoses between the two carb spacers. It really seamed to help with around town driving, letting the vacuum signals from both banks sort of sink up, and the reversion problem seemed all but gone.
Bought this one with carbs and some linkage for five hundred off Ebay about fours years ago and the guy shipped it for free. For now it sits on my shelf with Cal Custom breathers awaiting me to get my butt in gear and finish rebuilding the motor I'm putting it on.
Another big drawback would be a much smaller bank account after that purchase. You guys think a M/T intake is spendy, then you don't even want to contemplate buying a Z/28 setup.
What's in the engine, what's it weigh, and what kind of times does it run, so we can have an idea or what "works very well" is for you?? I'd be interested in knowing if the M/T falls into the similar performance category to the Z28/Offenhauser piece, or the Smoky Ram/Rat Roaster style. I know the Weiand and Edlebrock versions suck, much like a single 4 barrel cast tunnel ram but worse.
G'day, Edelbrock built both styles of SBC cross rams. I have the old school unit with no balance tube with the carbs directly across from each other. They also have one very similar to the Z28 unit with the removable top. I have one of these still in the box although the box looks like a mess. I think that Offenhauser made both styles as well. I have a used and a new of the removable top units and I am pretty sure I have the older straight across unit as well. If my feeble memory serves me right I think it had been painted an ugly brown. Good candidate for glass beading if I ever saw one. If my back gets better I am going to go out to the garage and take pictures of the ones I have here. I should have my engine guy try some of them on the dyno to actually see which one puts out the most power. I have a feeling it will be the SY1. I wish I knew how to post pictures as I am sure you gets would get a laugh out of my mess.
I have to agree with what has been said above, Crossrams are really cool!!! I love to see them . I had the one pictured below back in the 70's. On Telegraph road where we cruised Friday and Saturday nights whenever I popped the hood open it always drew a crowd. Mine was modified from factory to have both carbs face forward. Mine had 660 center squirters and I believe factory was 600 carbs. Actually I think mine ran really well. I had a General Kinetics cam (see cam card below) and a 4.88 rear end, in the 4000 - 7500 RPM it was a screamer!! and with a 4.88 it was easy to be in the over 4000 range! Now back to the original posters question. I am not sure if you found it for sale or in your pile of parts you forgot you had?? I think that crossram will hold its value if you own it and within reason you won't go wrong buying it.
that's why the Offy is a good option, its practically an identical copy of the Chevy unit. Its main differences is that's its missing that $5000 winters snowflake and the reinforcing bead around the perimeter of the top plate is slightly inward compared to a Chevy, but they lower plenum part of the intake is a dead copy of a Chevy. If fact you can still buy the Offy intake through Summit racing
The last one I setup it ended up having a mixture of jets. Tune with your sparkplug color. Power valves will help in tuning with the Holley. Make sure your ignition and advances are working 100%.
My son in laws cousin has 4 of the Z28 setups-one set never assembled/ installed and carbs still in the boxes. He runs Hendrick NASCAR motor shop.
Well, now I have a good reason to hit the swap meets this season.... I've never really considered Offy intakes ever since I got an Offy 3x2 for my Buick and looked inside. Some of the runner cross section areas are barely the size of my fingertip. Centerville Auto even offers a service to open them up and correct them. I also have an old DualPort that's mighty strange. I'm glad to hear good things about the Offy cross rams. I wasn't aware that they made cross rams without a balance tube, I had one on a little 292" SBC years ago that ran just fine but I never looked to see if it had a balance tube or not. Don't even remember what brand it was.
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