I'm looking to add a tunnel ram to my smallblock chevy in the near future, (70 % strip/ 30% street), i want the car to remain "reasonably" streetable, and i figured that the best tunnel ram to go for needs to have a smaller plenum and longer runners, to keep the operating range a little lower. With this in mind, who makes the most streetable version and , does anyone make runner extension pieces?
I'm running an Edelbrock "street" T-ram, and do pretty well, but there are so many other things to consider with a Tunnel ram like car weight,auto/manual,gear,cam,carbs,heads, blah, blah, blah. What else can you tell us Biff? Oh, and I have never seen extensions, but that doesn't mean much.
the car is a tube framed 68 camaro, about 3200 pounds, 3.7:1 rear end. compression ratio will be in the low 10:1 region, and there will be a 2700 rpm stall torque converter in the th350 tranny. I'm pretty certain that i know which heads i'mlooking for (dart pro1, 215 cc runners as i had a pair of the 230 versions on my blown smallblock a few years back and was VERY impressed by the quality) the carbs will be a pair of 390 holleys (i have varios powervalves/shooters/jets and pumps to play around with), and i have yet to decide which cam to go for. I know i would probably get better results with a good single 4 barrel on a dual plane intake, but i have my mind made up on a tunnel ram, even though it will take a good deal more work to set it up right.
You are exactly right with the smaller plenum, longer runners. What cam specs are you looking at? BTW this is off topic for this board and will be deleted soon . . .
Agreed!! Runner length can get quite involved and is an entire science in itself. Check out some of the work/writings of Jim McFarland (he has a great CD as well). If you are dead set on using long runners, read up on the science behind the Chrysler long ram intakes. A lot of people run tunnel rams and the street (mainly for looks) and get away with it. But, as you know, if you are looking for max performance, forget about it; tunnel rams make power in the higher RPM ranges.
I'm sneaking on here at work so I'll give you a better response tonight...if we make it that long lol, but the biggest challenge you may face could be with whatever cam your running...and what is that by the way?! You have the smaller carbs so you won't have rich bank one side lean bank the other like I ran into with sideways mounted carbs. Fouling was a problem for me until I went to autolite AR25 plugs and bingo problem solved. Idle it up too that helps. Mine idles at 1400, but I have an aggresive cam for the street. They seem to like rpms and aggresive cams on light cars. Good ignition system with msd 6a box is a good idea. Ah shit..gotta go the man is lurking lol
Yep, I am surprised it has lasted this long! DirtyJohn - I love your signature!! That line is classic...
The Jalopy Journal
