Tunnel Ram people, I need ur help

I have decided to tunnel ram my current engine. MFG. says orig dist. wont work. Also, carb selection for street cruising use. I know there are a few of you in the forum that run tunnel ram set-ups. You have probably had to trouble shoot and "dail-in" your set-up. Would someone who has a tunnel ram mav/comet please tell me there "magic combination" of parts to do the swap. and I mean Everthing..lol. Also, should I cut the hood or take it off. Please let me know so I dont go spending money twice.
Your friend
-Mark

 

My friend M.A.V. should have a good answer for your ??? he runs a tunnel ram setup... I've thought about it myself although I turn toward the 3x2 set up..good luck...Jim

 

Or a pair of 390's. Depends on how much engine is under them. I agree with the distributor choices though.....I'd go with the MSD.

 

I have an Offenhauser intake on mine, it has a split plenum and I figured it may run a little better on the street than the Wieand (I have no proof of this however).
I run 2 holley 450`s with mechanical secondaries,they are only around $180.00 each from Summit or Jegs.I have a Mallory unilite distributor ,it has a small cap and body and clears the T-ram easily. My carbs are mounted inline (not sideways) and use a Summit brand chrome fuel line set up that has a built in filter. Of coarse any car will require its own tuning set up, but I can tell you that I ended up stepping the discharge nozzles (squirters) up several steps larger than the carbs come with. I also stepped the jetting down a few sizes. My car always starts up instantly, Idles well,never "loads up"and has VERY quick throttle response. When running a tunnel ram you will need to run a fairly high rearend gear (Mines a 4.11 with 28" tall tires) and a looser converter (mines a 3,800 !) I don`t know, but you might be okay with something like 3.55`s and a 3,000 stall converter. I would only cut the hood if I had a spare ,and then only AFTER I had ran the T-ram for a while and was happy with it!

Do a search and you will find a few other threads here about Tunnel rams and some of the myths with running one, along with Facts about them posted by those of us who actually have one

Keep us posted on your dicision !

 

I had 500 edelbrocks on a friends T ram they worked good for his combo .

 

Offy makes a tunnel ram upper with a small plenum.
It was designed for a specific type of boat drive that needs throttle response.
It is supposed to be very responsive and street friendly, especially in single carb form.
Set up properly, the tunnel ram is said to be the absolute best N/A form of induction for an engine. They are very effecient and have the broadest possible rpm range (again, if set up properly).
IMO:
I would get the Offy lower, the small plenum upper (single carb), and a 650 to 750 DP Holley carb.
Also, do not mess with an optical trigger distributor (like Unilite), they are fragile and relatively unreliable. Use only a magnetic trigger, like MSD.

Good luck
Dave

 

I personally would never run a single carb on a Tunnel ram...I don`t know how it would run ,but I think it looks funny(Just my humble opinion). I have an Offy single carb top that came with my tunnel ram when I bought it. If anyone here wants it send me a Private message and we can talk about a price.

 

Is it the small plenum, or standard?
Just curious...
That small plenum single 4 is supposed to be the $h...t
It don't look right, but they run like heck.

 

Its the "OLD " standard plenum which has the flange to work with a spread bore carb.

 

Lonnie ,I wasn`t going to say anything about it ,but both of the unilites I`ve Owned have given me trouble free service also...I hope we didn`t jinx it by saying so...I`m about to go out now and see if mine still works

 

The only reason that I am so 'down' on unilites is because I used to work for Mallory/Erson when they had a chain of speed shops (Super Shops), and 8 out of 10 unilites that we sold came back at least once with problems, more often than not, they came back over and over... So I have a biased opinion.
I don't mean to jinx anyone... I hope you set a record for longest lived unilite!

Dave

 

i had a duel quad set up b4.. i ran some 390's on it which i think was a great combo in cfm but they were just so expensive! so i can see why you guys would go with 450s.

OMG... super shops!!!! man i remember that! "would you like to buy some oil with that?" "what kinda car is it going on?" just give me my freakin part already!

as for unilites maybe i may have the record for them. had my since 87 or so.. and still working! it will probably go out tomorrow! though my friends gone though 2 already!

on the other hand the thing with the msd is, you gotta ran a Box (6A or other) with it! and if the box goes your screwed too! if you run a box with the mallory unilight at least you can by pass the box unlike with the MSD.... well at least on a ford.

i say they all go out sooner or later!

 

Ok math whiz, 2005 - 1987 = 18, which is < 21... Lonnie has you beat.

 

The one thing I liked about Super Shops was that they Torqued your wheels when they installed them instead of just blasting away with an impact wrench

The one here would also test fit different wheel offsets and tire sizes until you found the best fit (of coarse you had to come when they were having a slow day).

I guess I`m really gambling with my ignition system ...I have a Unilite...AND an MSD digital 6 plus.

 

i told you i only look smart... can't read either!