I have an old 60's era Edelbrock TR1X 2x4 Tunnel ram with two carters on it. How badly will this run on a 327 with the pyramid heads? What kinda compression should i gun for? i would really like this engine to run on premium and not race fuel. Call me a *****, i dont really care. i just dont wanna have to pay $5 a gallon for race fuel. Also is if even possible to use this on a 327 successfully of should i sell it off, or save it for a 383 or 400?
nah you don't want it. I'll give ya 100 for the intake and you can keep the carbs. All kiddin aside it should be alright. You just have to remember that a tunnelram takes alot of your low end power away cause they like rpms. Some run on 1 carb through progressive linkage until you step into it and some don't run for **** unless it's doing it on both carbs all the time (like mine). Can be real touchie to set up but once it's there, they're alot of fun and because you don't find them around here much anymore, their eye candy at shows and cruise ins
I ran a TR1-Y on a basically stock 300 horse 327, with a single carter 625. Heads were mildly ported, and the thing went really good once you got the revs up. On an open car, nothing looks better, other than a blower, maybe.
i think i may give her a try then. I was just gonna start from scratch and use a nailhead, if i could find one, but using a 327 would be the cheapest route and would look cool. I may ***** out though and ditch the carters and get a couple of new eddys. I dont know **** about rebuilding a carb and it seems that most of the GOOD carb tuners have died off.
Lumpy cam's with TR on the street are not the best combo. You want a cam that produces the most vacuum you can find. Mild cam's work best for TR on the street.
wouldn't you want the cam and TR to work together in as close an rpm range as possible? You can add a vac. tank. I think you would have a better working combo with a cam that worked say from 2800 r's to 7k . That would put it right in the same operating range as the TR.
what he said. although i ran mine on a .060 11.6 comp 283 and 2 600 holleys... the "y"s where the big plenum wern't they? or was that the "x"? anyway, mine was the big plenum... kinda doggy until about 3500 then the tires'd smoke ran fine on 35.9 a gallon premium
One thing in your favor is the tunnel rams (in general) are less sensitive to compression ratio than other hi-per types. For street, you're going to want less plenum volume. This is easy to do - you make a "stuffer" out of wood (you can use 2 × 4 pine boards, attach them with br*** or stainless screws to avoid rust), coat it with fuel-proof varnish or epoxy. Here's an early TR modified with a wood stuffer in between the runner groups by Bill Jenkins for his SBC pro stock car 500 years ago. You can also add a flat panel to the underside of the top but the carb holes must be very precise. How much? Measure the volume by taping the runners shut at the bottom and filling the manifold with water. If it's about your engine size (327" = 5.7 quarts,) try it out. If it's bigger reduce it.
Im not understanding. Does the wood go in the runners, under like a carb spacer or what, i cant really tel by the pic, thanks , i'll give it a shot, what cfm carbs, 500 cfm each
Here's a photo of my first roadster with a 327 and a TR tunnel ram. I used two 600 Holleys with a Muncie 4-speed. It ran great with the original plenum volume (133 MPH in the 1/4) but it would probably work even better with less plenum volume. P.S.: That goes for cross rams too. Mine had the runners that extended up into the plenum box. To preclude the possibility of gas filling up the plenum I drilled two o.o18" "drain holes" in the back of the plenum box and adjusted the idle screws accordingly. I didn't run a lot of cam (.446" lift). I would say keep it to 11:1 or less to have a chance to use pump premium.
OK, I bought a similar deal to you over 25 years ago. I spent approximately $150 on a TR1X Edelbrock ram and a pair of used Holley carbs. I had it on a 67 Camaro with a 283 and Powerpack (pyramid casting) heads. I ran the car all year round every day as my daily driver in Midwest weather (summer/winter/everything). Even drove it 22 hours to Fort Lauderdale for spring break (see pic below sitting on Daytona Beach near the surf.) Here is the best advice I have. Keep the heads you have. Nothing wrong with small runner heads, in fact they are preferred in this case (for street driving). You are not trying to maximize your situation at 7000 rpm, but rather maximize driveability. There is no need to use larger heads. DO NOT use a big duration camshaft. Again, that would be great to make the combo work best at 7000 rpm, but not to maximize driveability. It will make low speed driveability MUCH worse. If you can, buy two new carbs. Either the 500 cfm edelbrocks or the small 450 cfm holleys (I think the holleys look better, but I have dual edelbrocks on my latest car...) Or, at least rebuild your carbs to new specs and start from there. If you use Holleys, block the power valves. The setup will work best with a manual trans or about a 3000 stall converter (if auto). It would be best to have 3.73 or higher (numerical) gears in the rear. Have fun.
I dont know about the heads, redline, seems to me going from BIG runner to Small runner is really not a good thing and would hurt you, and i'd say larger cam because it might make it run a little rougher at lower RPM, but it will also draw more air which an intake/carbs like that needs especially at rpm I'd love to pay $5 a gallon for race fuel, i'd build my stuff hotter then
I've run T.R.for 30 years on the street and strip. Holley makes a 390cfm for T.R's. Buy a pocket full of jets..Watch your plugs and go have fun.
"blocking" the power valves DID NOT work for me...and yes i jetted the **** out of it. your combo may vary.... everybodies does...
wow thanks all. As for drive ability it doesnt really matter alot, this will be a straight axle g***er so itll drive like a wagon with square wheels anyway, i may occasionally "crash" a cruise in or two and take it down the track. The main think i want to know is with a 10.1:1, 327 with a... lets say a 30/30 cam what kinda heads and carbs should i be looking at. I have a set of pyramid power packs i would love to use so i dont have to sell a nut to by double humps.
I still say use the powerpacks if ya got em. I ran them with no problems as far as everyday driveability. I do agree with the comment "your results may vary" as every combo, including total weight, is a little different. I run a big plenum Offy crossram and dual 500cfm carbs now with Dart Iron Eagle heads with big runners and a 560 lift big duration cam. It has all the other good stuff in it as well... Goes like stink to 7500 rpm w/4.88 gears but is a big ***** running around town compared to the little 283,power pack, mild cam, 3.73 geared big tunnel ram and dual carbs I used to run in the Camaro years ago. That little combo ran good too, but drove well to boot. Lots of combos to consider... Frankly I am thinking of detuning mine as it is fun as a can of monkeys for 11 seconds at a time, and pretty much just fouling plugs the rest of the time...
If you're going to run a 30/30 cam and the old tunnel ram, go with a set of double humps and two 600 edelbrocks. I had this exact setup in a 64 impala and I loved it, although it was a torqueless wonder. I had it in front of a glide with 4.11's. I used to pull up next to fox mustangs and we'd go, but I always picked left lane. They always pulled me on the line but I'd catch them before long. I just left it in low until I pulled up next to them with my shorty pipes howling in their face. They would get alarmed looks on their faces and start to pull off the road because they'd never heard 8600rpm up close and personal before. Then I'd shift into high and wave bye-bye. Good times.
great thread , i have been wanting to fit a tr to my 305 but everyones been telling me it wont run as a 305 aint big enough to handle one ... i already have a weiand tr under the bench so going to find some carbs and go for it now ...
Power Pack heads was all they had till the Camel Humps came out in '61, they just got good with the grinder!
Here's a TR-1 setup on a car from the day. This motor was a .030 over 327, fuelie heads, strong cam, etc. Can't recall the carb size, but this was a full-out race motor anyways, so that doesn't relate here. Just a cool pic. For quite a while after they came out, nobody really thought there was any possibility of running a tunnel ram manifold on the street. They seemed VERY exotic at the time BTW - This car was AHRA Street Eliminator at the World Finals in '69, and was featured in Car Craft shortly thereafter.
i found out the hard way with power pack heads and my tr combo. i went for alot of compression and got too much (14:0-1) ended up ditching them and going with some run of the mill 1.94's and a .504" lift 306dur. cam. this works really nice w./a pair of holley 650s & 10:0-1cr on my 383. i have a th350 and 4.11 gears. i drive it everywhere!
This is an old picture truck is runnin' now...TR1, 355cid, 2 edelbrock 500cfm, 194 Double Humps, 390 rear, Th350, 2800 stall. Runs fine but think I may jet it down a tad
It will work fine. Just use what ya got and get it running. I don't think you will be disappointed. You can always throw more exotic parts at it later depending on what ya want to do with it. The old adage... "Speed costs money. How fast do you want to go?" In truth, you can build a faster car on a single four barrel, but you are looking to have fun right? Throw it together and go have fun. I think you will be surprised how well it will work. The old Camaro pictured above was essentially a bone stock 283 with powerpack heads and the tunnel ram/dual four setup with a four speed and gears. Worked just fine for several daily driven years and I had a ball with it.
Got for it. I've run one for 2 years on a HO 305 with a 274 duration Crane with only 470 lift. Muncie M-22 and 4:10 gear. Not lying, 17 mpg and smokin tires. Remember that the 305 is the same stroke as the 350 so it does have bottom end power UNTIL you use the TR. Not very low speed friendly but alot of fun from 2800 up. I shift mine at 6500 but this year it's going to the bigger brother (350) worked in the same way but with 327 63cc heads. Don't let anybody **** you, the little 305 can and will run good