what would it take to make a street strip car (355) sbc run with a tunnel ram? i always love the look of the tunnel rams, and was just wondering what does it actually take.

 

It takes a tunnel ram intake manifold (obviously), small-cap distributor, 2 carburetors (although you can get a top plate for only one), throttle linkage to connect the two carb throttles together (if you go with two carbs), a hole in the hood, a whole bunch of cam, a whole bunch of stall, and a whole bunch of money you don't have any other use for. For good measure, you'd better throw in a willingness to give up any hint of street manners and to get beaten regularly by cars with a single carburetor.

 

Running dual quads they better be perfectly matched and have someone tuning it who knows how to set up the linkage correctly too. More headache than they are worth.... Tunnel Rams look cool but not as cool as Enderle F.I. or a BDS 6-71 with dual quads.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Enderle-Edelbrock-S-B-Chevy-Fuel-Injection-Bird-Catcher-Tunnel-Ram-System-/200926731759?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2ec82a9def

 

I've seen dual quad tunnel rams that ran pretty well on the street. The key is keeping the carbs on the small side, setting it up with progressive linkage, and running it with the right combination of heads, cam, etc. Like any other engine part, it needs to be part of a properly matched system.

 

holly makes a set for this set up

they are 465cfm ea mech secdry no choke. they are inline styl. and work fantastic..

 

i was looking at putting on on my car but not sure if i wanna go through the hassle. any have pics of there install?

 

I would suggest contacting Holley directly. You might start by visiting their website. Holley owns Weiand and markets the Weiand tunnel ram. There are many others to choose from as well. I also remember seeing a single 4 barrel high ram manifold, that wasn't just a dual quad tunnel ram with a single carb top plate, but actually a high ram single carb manifold. It's been too long since I've seen one and I don't remember who made it.

 

I ran dual 850's on my BBC for a few years but only with alcohol fuel. There's a lot of work with tuning when you consider there's dual everything to change when tuning. Jets, accelerator pumps, float levels etc. I now run alcohol injection and won't go back to carbs in a race car.

For a SBC, a couple of 450 cfm Holley 4160's should work well. Tunnel rams don't make more HP. There are super fast cars with only a single carb. Tunnel rams do however flatten out the powerband so you have more area under the curve. The only time you need to go to a dual carb system is when you're making more HP than a single carb can supply.

 

There's a thread on the Hotrodders forum devoted to tunnel rams on the street. Guys on this thread all say they love the setup they run on their car but how much of that is because they look cool and how drivable are they really. Just because we can manage to get the thing started and rolling doesn't equate to great drivability. Then again, each person's idea of "drives fine" is subject to their own taste, they only have to make it work for them. You might drop in over there and ask some questions.

I'm looking at a few different tunnel ram bases myself to select the best one to serve as the platform for my new fuel injection intake. I like the idea of the HSR but feel like they could have done better in the execution. To make it what I think it should be would take more work, and likely produce lesser results, than to start with something like the Edelbrock 7110 and build it to my vision.