Maybe. I'd definitely like to think it's in the top 5. I blew a head gasket and needed to tear down the motor. My original plan was to put a Big Mouth manifold on there and then put the stock TPI runners back on. That way if I wanted to do Large Tube Runners later, it would be easy. Then I got in for the AS&M LTR group purchase last September, but grew tired of waiting and wanted to get something with a bit more power anyways. With the automatic transmission and 3.27's as well as my love of torque, I figured a SuperRam would suit me better than a MiniRam. I also wanted to stay emissions friendly.

I've known 88BlackZ-51 (Rick) for years and he mentioned that he had a nice SuperRam for sale. Being in Canada, it made shipping etc a lot cheaper. So for Christmas I sent Rick a big wad of money and bought his SR as well as the matching Accel base. Came with instructions for both as well as the bolts. Unfortunately I was 1 bolt short for bolting on the lid. I went down to the hardware store and they "conveniently" only sell them in packages of 100. ARGH! I already had a Big Mouth that I'd purchased earlier in the fall, but that was no big problem. Wound up selling that to Gramps.

I spent an evening cleaning up the SR. Some Goo-gone and a claybar to get rid of any old gasket material (not much). Some Wenol metal polish to go over the plenum and lid. Finally some Zaino Z-2 and Z-6 to finish it off. The result wound up being my desktop wallpaper for quite some time.




If you recognize that as LD85's old SuperRam, then you're correct. I asked him about the lid. At first I just saw that it had the grooved lid rather than the flat lid. But the grooves are different from everybody else's grooved lids. LD85 mentioned that that lid was cut from a sheet of 5/16" thick plate, and formed to the SR lid profile. He built the lid himself? Wow! So it really is a 1 of 1 SuperRam. He said that it fit better than the stock lid. Having read about other people having trouble with the lids not fitting, LD85 sure was right. This thing sealed like a man hole cover when I put it on.

Which manifold to put on? The Accel or the TPIS? I figured the Big Mouth would be easier to sell as it has more of a name brand. I also had it in the box, in the shrink wrap, all I'd done was open it and take pictures of it. And why not use the matching base if possible. Comparing the two, I was surprised to see that the Accel looked to be bigger and smoother on the inside.





The TPIS Big Mouth below:


The Accel below:

 

For those wanting to compare the stock vs LPE runners and plenum, here are some pictures.





Some pics from the engine rebuild stage. In retrospect, that EGR wire should have gone to the back before the SR got bolted on. That wire had to be run under the SR to the back after it was all done. A rather tricky job. The runners were the hardest things to put on. Took a long time. The SR had already been re-done so that it bolts in from the top of the plenum and then cotter pins are pushed through the bolts from the bottom of the plenum.



^^^ No, I didn't forget to run the transmission cable. This was just placed together for a picture.

How does it look now that it's finished? I like it. The other reflection you see is my garage door in the open position. It's reflecting through the opening between the hood and the windshield.





Here is one I snapped at a car show on Monday.


So I went from blown head gasket and stock TPI to SR base, plenum, runners. A ported, painted, polished SR with custom lid. Full tune up while everything was being put back together. Every bolt was ground on the wire wheel and coated. Valves were re-done. I considered doing some AFR Eliminator 180's and 1.6 roller rockers. But my budget was being stretched. Besides once you do heads, you pretty much need to do a cam. And I suffer from the small gas tank problem as is (12 gal tank).

I'm a stickler for efficiency and running clean. I went from no cat to high flow cat. Kept the EGR. Kept the AIR injection. I do have sympathy for people who take out the AIR after doing this. That stuff really does get in the way of working. Trying to work around the tubes coming out of the manifolds makes changing the plugs an ordeal as well. On the plus side, this car runs amazingly clean. I pull into the garage and shut it off. Get out and walk to the back of the car. I smell NOTHING. No gas at all.

The windshield wiper motor needed to be changed to make the SR fit. I expected that. Took the 3 rubber washers and cut them in half then put them back on the outside. Still didn't clear. So I took the round fuzzy bit out from the interior part of the wiper motor. Fits now.

My only issue at the moment is that I have the stock throttle bracket on there and need to find the SuperRam throttle bracket. Anybody have one? It just doesn't quite work right with the stock one on there.

 

I must say that's one good looking SuperRam!


I can't believe how much a difference the TPIS base is compared to the Accel one, looks like they only made the runner openings big enough for the stock runners. Accel one is much smoother on the inside also, glad I have A Accel base myself.

 

There were a couple times working in there that I wondered how the heck you shoehorned in that supercharger of yours.

Definitely agree with you on the Accel base.

 

Good Job looks really nice! Nothing like a polished SuperRam!

Ive always read that out of the box the Accel was the better base. over the Edelbrock/bigmouth tps base. Glad i have the Accel base as well.

Button head screws on the lid would look really nice as well.

 

Excellent polishing job and write-up!!!! Having fought one of those for years, I feel your pain on the install. Just plane on a whole day to remove and re-install it for anything that requires access. And watch the narrow edge gasket placements on the lower intake, real easy to cause a vac leak.

Make sure you periodically tighten up (or at least check) all the bolts. They are notorious for trying to loosen up all the time. In my case, especially the lower runner to lower intake bolts (the hardest ones to get to).

 

I just havent the guts yet to polish my intake. I kind of like the untouched virgin look. I may try to just get it powder coated to keep the original look. On a side note I have the Edelbrock base but the openings are the same size as the Accel base but then they only cleaned it up like a 1/4 inch in so it still needs smoothing. Looks like the Tpis base has smaller diameter openings.

 

I got this picture from someone else but its pretty much how mine looked. It looks like they are starting to open up the mouth more on the Edelbrock base but it still needs smoothing. Maybe its just me but they look more opened than the TPIS base.

 

Gord your Superram is by far the nicest I have ever seen. BTW. I didnt hear you say thanks to me for shining it as well. If it wasnt for me you would still be waiting for your AS&M runners, lol!

But that's another bullshit story.

 

nice superram but i wouldnt say its the best of all time. i like powdercoated ones alot better. i have a pic of a nice black/red colored setup but not on this computer. its pretty sweet

 

I noticed the lids are completely different. Ok I see now. Great job on the lid.

 

Great job Reid, it cost me $350 to have the SR ported and I had to weld material onto the intake to match a 1206 Felpro.

I have looked all over and I am pretty sure I used my stock throttle body bracket with my 85 throttle body, I did not use a kick down cable nor a Overdrive cable.

 

Reid,

That thing has more shine than my bathroom mirror. Looks fantastic........

 

looks awesome !! I think a well done SR is awesome Looking. @nd In like to a Nice LTR(AS&M Runner) Setup.

Heres one I did for a Guy with a GTA.
http://www.cecoatings.com/images/coa...s/DSC00701.JPG
http://www.cecoatings.com/images/coa...s/DSC00706.JPG

 

Some good news. Some bad news....The good news is that the Accel throttle bracket that I ordered from Lingenfelter came in. $18 for the part. The bad news is that UPS charged me $76 for shipping and brokerage.

I found the part numbers interesting. If you look on Summit, the 74196 is the small block SR bracket. The 74200 is the carburetor SR bracket. (carb SR???). The 74200 is the picture of the one you want. (the 3 hole kind).

The Accel order form said 74196 while the box said 74200. Every other company lists the 74200 as the small block SR bracket. Summit has the 74196 in stock while the 74200 has been pushed back several times in regards to shipping.

Confusing isn't it?

After putting the bracket in and setting the TV cable, it shifts the way it should and has much better pedal feel. I'm getting shifts at 5000 the way I should rather than the 4300 shifts I was getting with the stock bracket and SR. Kind a pain that you install a SR to gain that upper RPM power and then it wouldn't shift higher than the stock HP peak.
----------
I really like that black intake manifold. Has a strong sleek look to it.

 

Hey Rick, just think it cost me the same amount to ship that darn bracket as it did for you to ship the SuperRam and intake manifold. (2 very large boxes with massive amounts of packing material inside).

 

Wholly shiit man..that lid does look awesome!
I definetly like that better than mine! I don't like all the extra grooves on mine.
Damnit....why did I have to see that SR...now I will have to try and copy it!

Here is a picture of mine...as you can see....I went 'polish crazy' and polished everything I could get my hands on!
Tommy

 

Very nice..... I have the AS&M runners and a CorvettePlenum, now just need to buy a base. That SR is mighty sexy though.....

Great job!

 

You know I could make a new lid for ya... :P

 

Hey Tommy, that polish job is over the top! I've seen pictures of yours before and I'd say it's easily one of the nicest ones. Both of us have unique ultimate SuperRams just in different styles. You even polished the injectors? Wow.

For awhile I thought about Jet Hot coating my runners to give them a ceramic type look. But with all my AIR injection stuff hooked up, they're not even that visible. Besides, I think the slightly rougher look I have gives the plenum that extra contrast.

 

Here's some of the porting that was done. That's gutsy going that close. I know I wouldn't go that far....then again, I know jack about porting.

Wound up cutting a fair amount of gasket off during the install.



Those two bolt holes. One behind the throttle body opening and the other by the passenger side outlets. What are they for?

 

possibly vacuum locations? or one of them for MAT sensor?

 

i dont understand how changing that bracket would change your shift points? wouldnt adjusting the tv cable properly fix your shift points, im using the stock bracket on my superram, and i looked at the picture on the summit website of the bracket, and i cant tell any difference between that and the stock one, can you please elaborate on the differences.

 

The difference is in the angle of the TV cable. The stocker will bolt up. But With the stock bracket it hits the underside of the SuperRam plenum. This puts it in a slight bind so it can cause problems with the TV cable.

 

I've looked on the Summit site at the bracket. It does look the same to the eye as the stock one. But once I bought the bracket and opened up the box, it was immediately noticeable how much different the SR bracket was. Must be a 45° angle on it. Much more than the stock one.

I tried to take some pictures but it's tricky without a 3rd arm. The flash seems to cover up the differences. Basically with the SR bracket on there, the TV cable does a nice swoop underneath the plenum. With the stock one on there, it zig zags underneath the plenum and gets caught on it. Makes it pretty much impossible to adjust unless you
a) Unbolt the bracket, adjust TV cable, bolt on bracket
or
b) Take TV cable out of the square hole, adjust TV cable, try and get it to ratchet.

Both systems can get it close, but not the way it should be. I must have adjusted that TV cable a dozen times before giving up and taking it to the shop. They got it better than I could. But still not right. Afterwards when I got that SR bracket on there, it ratcheted into place the first time. And you knew it was right just by the way it looked. Getting into the car for a test drive, it was night and day better.

(Both pics are with the SR bracket installed)



For the picture below, I lined up the top halves of the brackets. This shows you that with the stock bracket it's more of a flat TV cable opening rather than the angled opening the SR bracket gives.

 

mine is about a 45* angle and has no interference with the intake, maybe i do have the SR bracket and just dont know it, judging by the pictures you have the stock one looks to be at a 20* angle. now if they only made a bracket that made the throttle cable not have to run over top the that beautiful plenum

 

Some nice-looking pieces here - I can appreciate the work that you guys have done...

 

When I bought mine used from a guy on here, he forgot to send the throttle bracket. I figured it was no big deal, then I read through some of the super ram threads on here and discovered it was different. I'm so glad I was able to contact him, and that he still had it. I agree, you can't see a difference between the two in pictures, but when you hold them both in your hands and compare them, there's definitely a difference in the geometry.

 

Here is mine... Polished it about 5 years ago, still looks ok.. You guys have some good work done too!

Jason

 

*whistles twice* That's a beauty. Real clean and smooth looking.