Swapped out the tunnel ram

[LarryH]

I decided it was time to swap out the old Edelbrock TR1YX tunnel ram/800 cfm Holley for something a little more streetable. I found a new in the box Weiand Street Avenger intake manifold cheap and ordered up a 600 cfm Edelbrock Performer carb and a 9" chrome breather from Summit. I started swapping 'em out last Wednesday, got distracted, and finished it up today. After playing with the timing a tad she fired right up. Tomorrow i'll buy a new timing light (i hooked mine up and it was dead. I tried it one the '56, and yup, it's done for), so i can get the timing dialed in and see how much carb tuning i'm in for. It idles a tad rough and smells a little rich but it runs 100% better than it did. I also replaced the chrome Chevrolet script valve covers for a set of old M/T's i picked up at the swap meet a while back. I like 'em much better. I still need to find a piece of braided stainless steel line to replace the ugly black pvc hose.

It doesn't look as cool as the tunnel ram and big ole Mr. Gasket's bug catcher but it should be alot more streetable.

 

[putz]

Really nice looking. No detent cable.I have a lokar throttle cable on mine makes a nice finished look.

 

[VegasBruce]

Nice, that looks great Larry. I like the M/T's.

 

[mikesplumbing]

That's great Larry, I would like to hear how it runs now and the performance change.

What's your experience with the tunnel ram set up? I was always told that it's best for upper end performance and RPM range. Just wondering about the type of issues you were having.

Mike

 

[LarryH]

That's great Larry, I would like to hear how it runs now and the performance change.

What's your experience with the tunnel ram set up? I was always told that it's best for upper end performance and RPM range. Just wondering about the type of issues you were having.

Mike

A lot of the problem could have just been the fact that it was just way over carbed. An 800 cfm carb is a bunch of carb for a stock 327. It ran extremely rich and backfired on initial start up and i had to just kind of roll into the throttle. Punch it and it would just back fire and die. Once the rpm's got up it ran okay. I tinkered with it a bit but i never really noticed any change in the performance. Even though i need to time it and probably do a little adjusting on the carb (the one i put on my '71 Cheyenne ran great right out of the box. Same with the one we put on my buddy's '58 step side), it's like a totally different car. Now when i get on it there's no hesitation or backfiring, it just goes. I think i might put a fuel regulator on it just as a little insurance.

You can make a tunnel ram work on the street but it takes some patience and fine tuning. I just don't have the patience to make it work.