ok, i know this ain't gonna work already soo let's get that behind us. anyway, could use any and ALL info on this manifold,suggested carburation.cam,stall speed,gears ,etc. this is going on a mild 350(yeah,i know...) with a 350 turbo in a 50 chevy panel truck..(not mine, but the owner wants to use it) last time i ran a tunnel ram, i used a 4 speed
Use a 10 or 11 inch aftermarket stall converter, 3.55 or higher (numerically) rearend gears, a cam with about 225 degrees duration @ .050" on the intake side, two Holley 450cfm vacuum secondaries "tunnel ram carbs" (available pretty cheap from Summit or Jegs), a decent set of headers and good heads (World Products SR/Torquer heads come to mind as a good, moderately priced choice). This should give the customer the look he's after with acceptable street manners and performance potential. Not the optimal set-up, but it'll work okay. Tunnel rams really DON'T hurt streetability as is commonly thought...so long as you mind the entire combination when selecting parts!
I ran a TR-1Y on a stock 300 horse 327 with a single 600 Holley double pumper first, then a Carter competition 625. The DP was a dog, but once I put the carter on it ran like a raped ape. If you can't find a single four top for it, use as small a carb as you can find, Holley 390's work great. You won't have a terrific bottom end, but it sure livens a mild motor up over 3000. Gears help lots.
thanks fathack, hey guys, for the record this thing is about as old as i am,before tr1 x's and y's. just the big box with short runners(wish i knew how to post pixs here). i, too ran a tr1y on a .060 283 w/600 holleys on it and 4.88 gears, got about 10 mpg at 80mph(5K rpm). whatcha think about progreesive linkage? this guy wants a screamer but doesn't have the motor for it.... oh yeah, we be at about 5000 ft,too....just ta throw a wrench in the works..
Take the cover off and check if it has the runners coming up into the box with a lower cavity surrounding the runners. The first ones did and the results can be disasterous. Fuel can collect in the cavity surrounding the runners and a backfire can launch the whole top of the manifold w/carbs through the hood. I saw this happen on one of the first engines Diamond Engine service built with one on it. The guy was in the staging lanes and couldn't get it to start. Pumped the shit out of it and turned it over. KA-WHAM!! Blew the top off the manifold and bulged the hood on a '56 Pontiac Modified production. There were some real teething problems when the Tunnelram first come out, this was just one of them. Frank
Boy, your guy sure likes to give you CHALLENGES!! Progressive linkage will work pretty well with small vacuum secondaries carbs. There's a LARGE plenum above the runners so fuel distribution won't be a major issue. Holley 390 carbs are good, but cost like TWICE as much as the 450s! The 450 carbs are MADE specifically to be a dual quad tunnel ram carb, and they're about the cheapest Holley four barrels on the market to boot. I think you'll do fine with them. (After all, you'll only be running on 450cfm until the secondaries open...and with progressive linkage, the bulk of your low speed driving will be done on 225cfm!! Not a problem!) As far as the altitude thing goes...proper jet sizing will iron out most of those wrinkles!!
My previous post refers to the very earliest Edelbrocks, the ones that looked like a shoe box mounted on very short runners. If yours is the taller one with the plenum up higher and the long runners it doesn't apply. Frank
fab, it sounds like we're on the same wavelength. i'll pop the 2 2bbl ford carbs (yep, no shit!) off there and take a look tomorrow. FH, the money problem is HIS problem, not mine. i don't have money problems. no money, no problems i'll let him choose but just for the hell of it, would you have a carb number for the tunnelrams handy?
Here's a link to a page from the Speedway site with the mechanical secondary 450 Holley tunnel ram carb featured. They also make a vacuum secondary version, but I don't have the number handy. Jegs and Summit both sell them, though...for less than the $209 listed here for the mechanical secondaries unit. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/product.ASP?wc=true&strBase_List=&hilt=&source=2192&base_no=4259776&str_base_no=000-CATALOG+STREET,26010201,4251850,4252668,4253425,4253426,4254412,4254777,4254779,4257448,4258007,4259776,42710833,4271161,427122,427125,427125500,427134101,4271354,42734503,&header_title=Street+Rod+Products-Carburetors+&+Related+Parts&page_name=prod_list_display&search_type=L2~391&search_option=&deptsearch=&dept_id=L2~391&dept_id_p=&dept_name=&dept_name_p=Street+Rod+Products&ShowImages=yes&sq=0&cont=1&intPgNo=1&redirect=
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