How do I put a tunnel ram on a stock 440 safely?

[Najib]

Hello I wanted to put a tunnel ram on a stock 440, I wouldent mind putting a bigger cam in it but I have heard that some cams work better than others with tunnel rams, I wouldent mind rebuilding the motor either, I just want to put a tunnel ram on it and want it to be nice and reliable without having to adjust the carbs every few hours

 

[R413]

for real? Stock engine? Nice and reliable?

 

[Mike67]

Seriously????
Might want to do some research on the operating design of a tunnel ram....on a stock motor it's going to be a totally dog, unless you are just going for looks...

 

[WP29440SE]

this is on a basically stock 440 , with the cam being a tad bigger. I'm using two 600 Edelbrock 1406's with the chokes removed , and set up to run together instead of progressive linkage. I fabbed the throttle cable bracket and the kickdown linkage. it runs very well with 355 gears

 

[1 Wild R/T]

this is on a basically stock 440 , with the cam being a tad bigger. I'm using two 600 Edelbrock 1406's with the chokes removed , and set up to run together instead of progressive linkage. I fabbed the throttle cable bracket and the kickdown linkage. it runs very well with 355 gearsView attachment 1000867

Don't tell the naysayers that... It can't possibly work.....

One tip, try locking out the timing, no advance mechanical or vacuum, just set it at 36-38 degrees & lock it.... You may have trouble cranking it over, if you do there area couple easy fixes, either a retard switch or a ignition kill switch to disable the ignition when you first start to spin the engine, once it's spinning flip the switch & it'll fire immediately..

Also don't make the mistake of trying to run a single 4bbl... dual carbswork much better on tunnel rams..

 

[493 Mike]

Dual fuel injection throttle bodies would probably work for you too.
Mike

 

[gkent]

Although I don't see the point, I know it will work. Run the smallest carbs you can find - I think Holley make some 4 barrels around 350 cfm, use those. Cam selection is no big deal if you want a mild cam - it'll have plenty of vacuum. I see no issues with timing and no point in locking it in at full advance, stock, vacuum advance will work just fine and is a "plus". It is, after all, a stock motor.

 

[gkent]

One tip, try locking out the timing, no advance mechanical or vacuum, just set it at 36-38 degrees & lock it

Why ?!?!

 

[Badvert65]

It is more doable than you would think. Back in the 90's, a friend of mine had a Chevy II pro-street car. Nice car, ran pretty good. One day he shows up with a tunnel ram on it. He bought one from a guy who had it on a show car. I told him he was crazy, it was going to be a total dog on the street. He gave me a ride and man what a surprise THAT was. It was incredible. Anyway, I figured, if he can do it, I certainly can. I had acquired the T ram and had most of the other stuff already from some horse trading I had done. I had never considered actually using the intake, it was just cool looking in my shop. I put it on my 65 Fury and it was a blast to drive. Mild 440, Crane cam that is just a little hotter than a factory Road Runner cam. Auto trans w/3000 stall converter and 3.91 gears in the rear. I used a pair of 600 vac secondary Holley carbs mounted in line. The key to using the Holley carbs is to play around with the accelerator pumps and get that right. I think I ended up with #31 squirters and used the 'pink' cam. Also, I have a manual valve body in the trans, no kickdown linkage to worry about. I made my own throttle linkage using an extra long throttle cable (72 Dodge pickup slant six application).
That thing ran great on the street. I did not expect that when I put it on. This car was my daily driver in the early 90's. If you lived in Virginia Beach in then, you may have seen it on the roads there. I have moved from there some years ago, but I still have the tunnel ram on the car and it's still fun to drive.

 

[GrabberOrange69]

We should merge this thread with the “4 barrels and intakes are over rated on the street” thread.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Ran a crossram on a stock hemi 2-770 cfm holleys. 10 mpg or less.

 

[WP29440SE]

Although I don't see the point, I know it will work. Run the smallest carbs you can find - I think Holley make some 4 barrels around 350 cfm, use those. Cam selection is no big deal if you want a mild cam - it'll have plenty of vacuum. I see no issues with timing and no point in locking it in at full advance, stock, vacuum advance will work just fine and is a "plus". It is, after all, a stock motor.

those 600's were already too lean, I actually had to richen them up to run right.

it is super reliable and it is definitely not a dog. I can toast the 255/70/15's from a dead stop without a bog. I think people should actually set one up and drive it every day before jumping to conclusions that it will not run and that it would be a turd on the street.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Why ?!?!

Because it really cleans up the low rpm drivability...

 

[Jerry Hall]

And I was told a crossram would only be good at an idle and wide open throttle. Don't believe everything you hear. This is one of the best throttle response cars I own.

 

[Don Frelier]

Wear gloves.

 

[zyzzyx]

I'm Old School and was always told that tunnel rams only work on engines that rev above 6500
and are best suited to cars under 3000lbs. You can make anything work, but at what cost?

 

[beanhead]

those 600's were already too lean, I actually had to richen them up to run right.

it is super reliable and it is definitely not a dog. I can toast the 255/70/15's from a dead stop without a bog. I think people should actually set one up and drive it every day before jumping to conclusions that it will not run and that it would be a turd on the street.

Agreed. TRs can work very well on a street engine...Najib pay zero attention to the "you can't do that!" crowd. It will take some more work to get it right, but nothing good comes easy with these babys anyway, right?
Put these items on your list: more in-depth tuning, some creativity to get linkages/fuel lines/etc hooked up, a better matched cam, and no less than 600 cfm carbs. It's a fact (in the real world) that street TRs (meaning, not big all-out racing pieces) peak LOWER in the RPM range than single plane/single 4-barrel combos...

 

[beanhead]

We should merge this thread with the “4 barrels and intakes are over rated on the street” thread.

I red X'd your post because, that thread about "my bone-stock 318 screams circles around my 360, so 4 barrels are overrated" thread is ridiculous. This thread is about someone trying to learn something---nothing wrong with what he's trying to do

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Agreed. TRs can work very well on a street engine...Najib pay zero attention to the "you can't do that!" crowd. It will take some more work to get it right, but nothing good comes easy with these babys anyway, right?
Put these items on your list: more in-depth tuning, some creativity to get linkages/fuel lines/etc hooked up, a better matched cam, and no less than 600 cfm carbs. It's a fact (in the real world) that street TRs (meaning, not big all-out racing pieces) peak LOWER in the RPM range than single plane/single 4-barrel combos...

BTW to clarify street tunnel rams are fairly tall with smaller runners, not the short fat runners, those are for high RPM's & make very little torque at lower RPM's...

 

[beanhead]

BTW to clarify street tunnel rams are fairly tall with smaller runners, not the short fat runners, those are for high RPM's & make very little torque at lower RPM's...

Right
Oh and OP, be careful cutting the hole in your hood!