who's made their own tunnel ram

X2....I wish I had pics of a manifold I built for a Ford 200 6L...It idled good, ran like a raped ape between 6 and 7 grand and SUCKED everwhere else!! Lesson learned about air flow....The Olds manifold above is pretty good effort...The alum intakes from Hogan/Wilson are nice, lots of fab knowledge there but it is just a good start, they still have to be air flowed and tweaked inside for them to really work but that they can get that close is a big start..

 

thats the one

 

I remember an Impala with 409 and a homemade tunnel ram in a late 70's issue of Pop. Hotrod , but I can't find it. It was an article about the new bracket racing craze.

 

Used a big block chevy intake for 4 downdraft webers, built an aluminum box, mounted two holleys. Tried some air vanes inside to direct air flow. Worked really good at the time, killer top end.Huge plenum area. Circa 1968, not too many off the shelf tunnel rams at the time. This engine was one of the first L-88s delivered.

 

1)Not sure i understand the question?

2) What engine is this for?

3) If i were going to do it, i would get an existing manifold, as suggested, and weld in 8 individual runners going to four 2 bbls or two 4bbls with mechanical secondaries. This way the distributor hole will probably be in the right spot and the right height. Also, it should run ok or better than a tunnel ram.

So, essentially we have an individual runner manifold that looks like a tunnel ram.

 

these guys know how too make one




</ARTICLE>

 

That baby's nice!

 

Here's mine kind of a short tunnel ram. I did exactly what some of the other guys suggested and used a single plane intake and milled the plenum and runners off. I didn't want to mess with locating the distributor. I built everything else above that.

I'm know I could make more power with a single Dominator but that would be boring. Lets face it if we worried about getting every last bit of power out of our cars, we wouldn't even be on this website. Also for me I wanted to challenge my own personal fabricating and tuning skills. If I just bolted on a carb and intake I wouldn't of really learned anything. I'm not busting on anybody else that's just me.

It took a lot of tuning but I'm really satisfied on how it performs, idling, cruising, and WOT.

The next step, when funds allow is adding a centrifugal or 2 and blowing throw the carbs.

 

I wanna see more pics of youre ride![/B]

 

It's not a "tunnel ram" type of manifold, and I don't have the ability to do it either, but there's a guy on that auction site we all know and love, selling his own home made cross ram for SBC's using the lower part of Chevrolet's cross ram fuel injection unit (the LATE style electronic FI, not the early mechanical FI; although that's what Ralph Ridgeway used for his prototype tunnel ram). It's almost a copy of the factory, trans-am style cross ram intake of the late 60's/early 70's. The item number is 271167262021 if anyone cares to look, or possibly do a link for me, and I have nothing to do with the item. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Sometimes I make my stuff sometimes I buy it. On my BB Mopar I bought my tunnel ram but I'm going to modify the inside of the plenum to make it more streetable.

When I'm working on my Dodge HEMI I make most of the stuff because even thou you can buy it (if you have a small fortune) the stuff you are buying is usually a one off hand built product. In this case I research to see if it is something I can make.

Some things I have made or modified
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=673198

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=664528

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=668868

 

Im down with the wow factor.

 

With all due respect, i will not run any mopar of ford parts, or any parts based on ford or mopar designs on my car. Volvo, honda, VW and really any other brand is ok though.

 

Does this count? Slant six TR made from 1.75 EMT and a cast valve cover! EFI of course and the injectors are going into the HEAD, epoxied right through the water jackets and into the roofs of the intake runners. Will it work? Ill find out soon...

 

Here is one.
Random pic that I acquired somewhere.

 

Here a manifold I made. Don't know if you'd call it a tunnel ram

<a href="http://s816.photobucket.com/albums/zz86/rovertenrod/?action=view&current=83817645-9F39-48BC-B155-A46ECB0ADE17-4303-00000F40FBD4DB5A.jpg" target="_blank"></a>

 

just remember, fuel in air doesn't like to turn sharp corners as the heavier fuel likes to keep going in its original direction while the less massive air can make the turn, making some "middle" cylinders run lean. Dry intakes can be almost any shape as long as the injector is close to the valve.

 

As an additional suggestion to the original question, why not try changing an existing tunnel ram into an individual runner application? Then run 2 mechanical secondary carbs. Or four 2bbls?

 

I made one for a slant six and pics are just below this this morning. I also did a partial build for a 440 making a 2 x4 lid for a Wiend STR superstock sixpack manifold which is a tunnel ram in the full sense of the word. If I was doing an early hemi etc I would do a U-fab with extended runners. Formula for runner length is not hard.
AND I would never not try something because it seemed hard. Here building trumps buying everytime.
Don

 

I'm also not into paying for things I can build, even if the price of building is many hours of labor. But I don't kid myself about saving money by building certain parts. If saving money is the motivation for a tunnel ram, then I doubt it will hold water for most engines.
If you're building a hand fabbed intake for the wow factor, or because you've got an engine that's tough to buy for, then that's great. But rarely will it be to save money, as buying new or used tunnel rams is usually cheaper.

 

So True.
Most of the large intake companies have an engineering department for a reason. There is quite a bit more to building any intake than just runner length.
There seems to be some confusion between the terms tunnel ram and individual runner intake.

 

>
>>>>>>???

 

Hard to buy a tunnel ram for a slant six.
Or any six. Have reworked a lot of manifolds in the last 40 years of racing. Had many gains on the time slip. Some spectacular, some so so but more often then not a plus in perfomance. For instance most mopar single planes are too short for a typical 440. Would be more suitable for a SBC which is probably where all the development was done. Grew up in the home of an engineer. They have their place but they are just a dumb as the rest of us sometimes. Tom Edison once said "Inventions are made by people too stupid to know it wont work." While that may be an oversimplification it is sometimes true. I am no longer willing to trust someone elses judgement or determination to my project. Besides building stuff, especialy successfully, is a blast. Even the failures are great for learning. I understand it isnt for everyone. That is ok. Some of us though actually enjoy it. (And believe it or not understand it as well. )
Don

 

^^^^ well said. I like to build stuff.

 

Looks great except there is no taper in the runners, so there will be a lazy moving air column. Still a great first effort.

Tom

 

hey-no wonder you can do so good on rehabbing old lathes!!