to tunnel ram or not to tunnel ram, that is the question

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BillyBBad

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All my years growing up i wanted a car with a tunnel ram intake (love the looks of them, it just screams RESPECT ME!!!!).
Now I have the chance to do so and im not sure on how to build the motor to run one.
Im running a 360 as of now, anyone wanna build a motor on the boards that will run twin 4's and click off low 12's for fun?
Also the car may be bottle fed at a later point.
 
NOT!!!!!!!!.....IF you just want a fun little car for cruzin and sometimes take it to the track then..ok...but IF you want to go as fast as you can with the money you have AND put on NOS then deffinately NO!!!

just MY 2 cents!!! :roll:
 
Tunnel rams are nice but not cheap and really not worth the money. With the level of single plain intakes now you can put 850 plus HP in a motor with one carb. Unless you have money for another carb or a 800hp 15K motor I dont like the idea. Have you ever run and beat a tunnel ram car? I feel when you have one on the car and you don't have the numbers it makes you a target. Do what floats your boat. My 2cents follow you deam and make your car what you want.
 
my dad had a 69 440 super bee with a Tunnel ram and twin 850's and 4.88 dana a car that did wheel stands all day long and did a high 9! :salut:
 
Here's a build up of a stroked 360 (408ci) with a tunnel that makes 607 hp @ 6,300 rpm, and 551 lb-ft @ 5,100. http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/76858/
I'm sure there's plenty of single carb buildups that make this much or even more HP and maybe cost less to do it, but if you just REALLY want to run a Tunnel Ram this build up won't get ya laughed at, but it will cost ya.
Back in my youth I blew the doors off a Tunnel Rammed 383 Challenger that thought he was the Sh#T with my old 100,000 mile mildly built 318 Duster, it was funny as hell! The guy never raced again for some reason :dontknow: :wink: :D So if you are going to run a Tunnel Ram it better run good or like MidTexCuda said you'll be a target.

Tunnel Rams are ALOT of work to get to run right. I've had alot of friends from back in the day that ran Tunnel Rams, some worked great and some didn't. In fact I have a Tunnel Ram and a pair of modified 750 holley double pumpers on my 383 that I'm going to run in my Duster until I build a stroker.
On the street they tend to load up alot while driving around town and suck gas like it's going out of style, but I think you said your car is mostly track so that doesn't matter. If your just looking for low 12's there's much easier and cheaper ways.
Good luck
 
I always liked the looks of a tunnel ram, so much so that I have one still the box :roll: I know they run like crap on the street, but I have a solution for that :wink: It'll be expensive so I'm taking my time collecting parts to do it, but heres my plan. I'm having the lower part of the manifold machined for injectors and running two 4V throttle bodies on top. With aircleaners mounted it should look like a regular tunned ram but will be streetable with EFI. Like I said I always liked the looks, but now I'll be able to make it run smooth on the street. Plus with the EFI in place it will make it easier to run twin turbos :twisted:
 
Years ago when I ran.....ummm....I ummm...ran....Fords :silent:
I had a 289 HIPO that smoked a 440 tunnel ram 71 Road Chicken.
But I dont think he knew how to build it to run right.
I may just try to build a tunnel ram car yet, anywhere in the 12's i guess would be good. Not all street cars run 12.80's.
Altho......if I droped in that 440 I have been looking at.......Hmmmm :twisted:
 
In the early 80s a friend of mine got his mothers 69 or70 GTX 440. They were the original owners and gave it to him for graduation. I immediately stuck in a big cam and a tunnel ram. Nothing really matched so the car didn't run very well, but he used it as a daily driver. One thing it could do was run high 12s whenever he took it to the track. I'd say if you just want it to look mean on the street and run 12s, do it :twisted: You're not planning on making it a serious racecar that has to run perfect with everything matched, so have fun and build the car you always wanted as a kid :wink:
 
I say go for it. I love the look as well and thought about it to. I dont which looks better 2 fours or a six pack. Who gives a crap if you are a target or just a poser it looks cool and makes you happy what the hell.
 
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