Tunnel Ram

[CVA59]

Does anyone know if a tunnel ram will clear the hood when closed? I am running a SBC w/stock engine mounts, Edelbrock Carbs. I would like to run the tunnel ram but i don't want to cut the hood.

[markeb01]

Here’s one that had a tunnel ram under an uncut hood. I suppose it would depend on what style air cleaners you run and which brand manifold. Some are quite a bit taller than others.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...ght=tunnel+ram

For a long time I wanted to install a tunnel ram or a blower for just the opposite reason – so I could stick a BDS blower scoop through the hood, but early retirement cancelled those plans.

[Captainfab]

Yep it will fit under the hood with the right air cleaners.

[CVA59]

Thanks guys. Now, if i can just make up my mind, LOL.

[blackmopar]

dual carb tunnel is in my future for sure - whats to decide - whether to do it or which one to do?

maybe here is the push Looks liek it might be in your backyard!

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/pts/2147505115.html

[QWYKTRUK]

If it doesn't fit... Cut a hole in it.


Or... Go without one !

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by blackmopar

dual carb tunnel is in my future for sure - whats to decide - whether to do it or which one to do?

maybe here is the push Looks liek it might be in your backyard!

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/pts/2147505115.html

LOL, trying decide if a tunnel is really what i want. I know they look good and all but how practical are they for a truck that will be driven on the street 50-60% of the time.

[blackmopar]

tunnel rams are streetable - dude - call that guy on cragislist and talk him down in price! yea, i feel like living vicariously right now cuz i aint got the bucks to do it - hahaha

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by blackmopar

tunnel rams are streetable - dude - call that guy on cragislist and talk him down in price! yea, i feel like living vicariously right now cuz i aint got the bucks to do it - hahaha

LOL, yes i know they are streetable but how practical. Let's say i want to take a 200-300 mile trip in my truck. There are issues Like GAS consumption that concern me. I know T/R's are not designed for gas mileage so that is why i am trying to decide if that would be a mistake or not.

[shortbed70]

Ill make a deal with you buy it and try it if you dont like it I will trade you my intake for it. I was going to run a tunnel ram but never could find on for the right price. I am wanting on with a single carb top or one that can be converted to single.

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by shortbed70

Ill make a deal with you buy it and try it if you dont like it I will trade you my intake for it. I was going to run a tunnel ram but never could find on for the right price. I am wanting on with a single carb top or one that can be converted to single.

LOL, that would be an awesome deal. Seriously i think i have made up my mind to atleast give the tunnel a try. If i don't like it i will pull it, no biggy.

[CVA59]

Originally Posted by QWYKTRUK

If it doesn't fit... Cut a hole in it.


Or... Go without one !

BTY, that is one wicked truck!!!

[jocko]

well, having run one on a 57 chev i owned a while back, i'd have to somewhat argue the "streetable" claim... I thought I could MAKE it streetable, but it simply was not. Having said that - if you put the appropriate carb(s) on it - you can kinda make it work. Holley 390 or 450 is a good idea - nobody will know they're not 600's....

In the set-up below, it wasn't just the tunnel ram and 600's that made this 57 barely streetable, it was also the 11.25:1 compression, deep rear, and gear drive. It sounded blown, and it ran like a skeeered rabbit. And I thought it looked way cool back in the day. Still do. But I probably wouldn't go as far as calling it streetable though.

My 2 cents only. I'm a huge tunnel ram fan (obviously) - but I personally would not want to drive it 200-300 miles (or maybe I'm just getting old and a tunnel ram is EXACTLY what I need!!). Make sure there's a few gas stations along the way. I got 4 mpg on my little 327.

Good Luck - I can't wait to see some pics! (I couldn't fit it under the hood - and couldn't bear to cut the hood. So, I just left it off. Back then, you could get away with that).
- jocko

[markeb01]

I would love to have that setup on my truck, including a hole in the hood and a Hilborn style scoop. Alas I’ve known too many guys with tunnel manifolds, and they are everything you claim.

[geezer#99]

I ran one on a 56 chev for a while. Built some 400 cfm carter afb's from a big box of parts my buddy gave me. Spent a long time fiddling with fuel pressure and tuning. Built my own linkage too.
In the end it got pulled off and sat on the shelf.
I always told everybody it ran the best it ever did sitting on the shelf.
They're good for wide open a 1/4 mile at a time. Not for the street. Get a little blower instead. JMHO

[lakeroadster]

My co-worker back in Ohio drove a 70 C10 for 2 years everyday with a tunnel ram sticking through the hood.

They can be used on your daily driver but I think the problem here is "Streetable" means different things to diffeerent people.

In the winter my co-worker would let the truck warm up for at least 5 minutes before heading out. Being a motor head he didn't mind the wait, just gave himmore time to look at thos e carb's sticking out of the hood.

Maybe "prostreetC-10" will chime in here. He has a$$ kicking tunnel ram set-up on his '66 SWB and he is a Holley carb. guru.

[prostreetC-10]

haha......it's a 68 silly! Let me "chime" in because I'm not just the President of Tunnel Ram International......I'm also a client! lol

Let me knock out a few questions. First one is clearance. I'm not as familiar with the engine bays of a 60-66 as I am the 67-72's. Whether you have a SBC or a BBC will really come into play on clearance. I can't help but ask though, If you don't want it coming through the hood, why do you want it? Sure it would be a cool factor to be able to pop the hood and see it but how many times will that be happening? The big problem is not the rear carb but the front carb because of how the hood slopes on my 68. My carbs sit high enough that you can actually see the linkage moving when I leave a light. I also have an M-22 4 speed.

As far as "streetable" goes, they are VERY streetable if you know your carburetors. The biggest problem is a guy will stick 2 carbs on that were designed to supply fuel requirements to a motor buy themselves and expect them to run okay together. If you rode in my truck, you would not believe how smooth and streetable it is at even the lowest rpms. At least with Holleys, throttle shaft position and REALLY understanding power valves is a huge factor. Most guys on the street have a tunnel ram that idles WAY too rich. That's because they need to really cut down the idle feed restrictors on each carb. If Holley makes a certain carb with a correct idle circuit to supply fuel for a 350, running 2 would be correct for a 700 cubic inch motor. Is that the size of your motor? Understand that this is a general analogy but you really need to cut back on the idle fuel because you will be running 2 carbs. When it comes to power valves, you need to bump up the HG number to be closer to the actual HG your motor is pulling at idle. It will help cover up that lean spot that you develope off idle on a tunnel ram.

Even though you will have to ditch your HEI make sure and still run a vacuum advance distributor and DO NOT run it to the metering block (this is assuming you make the correct choice of running Holleys) where you have no vac at idle. You need to run it to 1/8th vac port on the base plate.

Probably the other biggest thing is to try and go with the smallest carbs you can to meet the fuel requirements of the motor. Notice I didn't say what you think it needs? Your motor needs far less fuel than you think. By running the smallest venturi you can, you increase the velocity and really help with throttle response. The Holley list 8007 is a 390 cfm carb that is great for mild to medium motors. What ever you do.....don't run double pumpers unless you have a wicked motor and certainly don't run 660 center squirters on the street. Even though they are in fact tunnel ram carbs, they are just about the only carb Holley makes without a power valve port in the metering block and they are a nightmare on the street. Strickly drag racing.

Here are a few pics of my TR in the mock up phase. Excuse the dusty motor. You can see that I was not even close in the clearance catagory.

[blackmopar]

love it ProStreet - that thing looks great! I was really just bein instigator above cuz I just think a tunnel is drop dead sexy and I want one - tend to agree with lakeroadster - my idea of streetable is dif than Geez and Jocko.

everyone that Ive spoken to def backs up your carb comments - you cant compensate for small penis with large carbs on a tunnel - hahaaaaa

one thing you did mention was use of a manual 4 spd - my brother is running a very similar set up in a ranchero (BBC w tunnel and manual trans) and he absultely swears by it.
i imagine an auto would throw another variation into this and really require proper stall to make it manageable, yea? vacuum issues?

also agree - why hide a tunnel as a sleeper? but id want to be able to throw a hood over it if it were raining - but imagine the hood would be OFF the other 360 days in SOCAL

[blackmopar]

oh yea - why no HEI? just simply no fit?

[markeb01]

OMG that is so cool looking!! Thanks for sharing your input. I'm saving a copy of your information in case I ever fall into a pile of money. IMO nothing else compares to having that setup poking through the hood.

Also - how important is manifold selection. Is one brand or style more street friendly?

[prostreetC-10]

Yes......HEI is strickly clearance. you will have firewall room but the runners will hit big time.

As far as "the" tunnel ram......they all do just about the same thing. The vintage ones tend to be enormous (speaking of enormous....I'll answer the penis comment in a minute. LMAO) and there is not near the choices like a single 4 barrel. Weiand and Edelbrock are just about it in new. I have the hi-ram by Weiand.

I strickly put the tunnel ram on my truck to complete the "pro-street" look. If you look at the pic with the tire beside the truck.....that's the rears I'm running on the truck now. A single plane will almost ALWAYS out perform a tunnel on the street. You just don't use a ram in its ideal "operational" range when you are on the street. That said, they can still be awesomely streetable when setup right. Sideways with blower linkage is the only way to go!!

4 speeds flat make it fun and easier to leave on because you can control the R's. You really want a decent stall if using an auto....probably 2,800+. Gears too. A 3,500 stall and 2.73's aren't going to work too well together.

Click on the "my sorta build thread" to see where the truck has come from and just how far it has to go. Super fun to drive and one mean "shop truck".

[CVA59]

This is some really great info. The biggest reason i don't want to cut my hood is around here "good/usable" hoods are almost non-existant. I hate to cut my perfect hood because i may decided to take the TR off in the future and then i would be screwed. I can't really afford one of those expensive fiberglass hoods so that is why i want it all tucked inside. I mainly want a TR because of how it looks, sure i won't see while driving but every time i pop the hood, there it is and that is enough for me.

My motor is pretty much a stock 350, I do have a Thumpr cam, headers and 4 speed tranny. I never had the patience to tune carbs so i would be in trouble there. I hear there are people around who sell match carbs for blowers and TR's.

After all this info it looks like i may still have some more thinking to do on this. Thanks again for all this very educational info.

[Rich 5150 69]

You can get small base HEI, as well
http://www.dragtimes.com/parts/sbc-b...408432097.html

or MSD small base to work with the tunnel ram.

[prostreetC-10]

Originally Posted by CVA59

I hear there are people around who sell match carbs for blowers and TR's.

After all this info it looks like i may still have some more thinking to do on this. Thanks again for all this very educational info.

Coming from someone who sells 100s and 100s of carbs on eBay, you have to be kind of careful of people selling tunnel ram or blower carbs. There seems to be this thing that if you have 2 carbs that are the same, you now have TR or blower carbs. It's funny when I ask how the blower carbs are manifold referenced for the power valves and they go "HUH??". When it comes to TR carb, guys like to take 2 $30 list 1850 600 vacuum Holleys and try to sell them for $300 as "tunnel Ram" carbs. If you don't know how to tune, tinker or know someone who does, you might want to think twice. Even the Holley 9776 carbs that are sold as TR carbs that I am running needed a little help to get in there. I just think of all the guys that can't get a single Holley to run correctly. How you gunna get two to work together? There's always dual Edelbrocks but why?????????

[CVA59]

LOL, having said that would you be up for putting me together a couple carbs if i send them to you? I can give you all my engine specs and mail you the Holley carbs. That would atleast get me started and i could "maybe" find someone around here who could tune them from there. If not, i understand. You seem pretty sharp on this stuff.