Need help with carb setup on a tunnel ram

[minnesota_duane]

I am putting a Wieand tunnel ram on my 429. The cam is an Erson .545 lift 228* 235* @ .050. Ported C8 heads with CJ exhaust valves. Hardin logs for exhaust. 10-1 comp. Mallory electronic distributor.
I have never run a tunnel on anything before and I am lost for what to do for jetting and for power valves.
The carbs are Holley 750 vacuum secondarys 80508's I know how to balance the vacuum signal to the secondary and will be running the quick spring change tops.
Boat is a 20' Hawaiian with a Berkley12 JC-A

[pw_Tony]

Just run it at first, pull a plug and see how it's running. Obviously jetting will be needed and possibly power valves. I would just kinda jump into it and bring a holley Jet Kit with you on the lake or river or whatever. Can't determine anything until you try it right?

[OverKill]

IMO you should ditch the vacume secondaries and go with mechanical. So you don't get mixed signals.

[pw_Tony]

Yea mechanicals would be nicer. Wouldn't dual 750's be too much carb for that set-up?

[minnesota_duane]

Just run it at first, pull a plug and see how it's running. Obviously jetting will be needed and possibly power valves. I would just kinda jump into it and bring a holley Jet Kit with you on the lake or river or whatever. Can't determine anything until you try it right?
Thats not the way I do things, you need to be in the ballpark and then tune.
I know others have an idea on where about to start, will save me fouled plugs or burnt pistons and keep me from looking like an idiot on the water with a paddle in my hand.

[Blown 472]

Thats not the way I do things, you need to be in the ballpark and then tune.
I know others have an idea on where about to start, will save me fouled plugs or burnt pistons and keep me from looking like an idiot on the water with a paddle in my hand.
Perhaps some reading on say, plug reading, carb tuning? that sorta thing

[pw_Tony]

Thats not the way I do things, you need to be in the ballpark and then tune.
I know others have an idea on where about to start, will save me fouled plugs or burnt pistons and keep me from looking like an idiot on the water with a paddle in my hand.
Run it on the trailer for a few minutes and check, and run again until you get ballpark. Then tune it on the lake. I just put a tunnel ram set-up on a BBC. Ran duall 660's on it, it was too much carb, then got brand new 450 dp, tuned it on the trailer the best we could, and then made some passes on the river. We only had to rejet it once from the water after trial on the trailer. It should only take bout half hour or so...

[watergun4u]

as far as jets go and the carbs that you are using, and the setup on the motor, i would start with 78's and 80's, I run the 750 carbs and those are the jets i found to be best for the set up i have, I am running more hp, and a more ci but thats a start for you!

[Cas]

Duane,
Get ahold of Jesse at Bigs Performance http://www.bigsperformance.com/
he'll set you straight from the get go.....they've been in business building carbs since 1962. He's built 2 different carbs for me and they've worked awesome! He's also built carbs for at least 15 others that I know of and they've all worked great also.

[396_WAYS_TO_SPIT]

I would check with Lakesonly. He has set up alot of killer fords on here and should give you a good baseline with what you got;)

[Devilman]

Read these threads, Dominator Scott was having problems too, but he got it figured out..... May be of some help to you....
Help with TunnelRam (http://www.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151312)
Fixed It (http://www.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152106)
Oops, different carbs. His were 600s, but I think they were still vacuum secondaries, sorry.... :cool:

[Dominator Scott]

Read these threads, Dominator Scott was having problems too, but he got it figured out..... May be of some help to you....
Help with TunnelRam (http://www.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151312)
Fixed It (http://www.***boat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=152106)
Oops, different carbs. His were 600s, but I think they were still vacuum secondaries, sorry.... :cool:
Yes my carbs are 600's on the tunnel ram but they work fantastic now. Here is the setup that worked for me. Might be a good place to start for you.
Primaries- 72 jets
Secondaries-80 jets
Power valves-10.5's
Vacuum diaphram spring-Short yellow spring 1450-5000RPM's
Let us know where you end up for jetting when your finished.

[ap67et10]

I'm still at a loss as to why people with mild setups even bother with holleys. save the headache and wasted time that could be spent enjoying your boat (and better fuel milage) and slap some edelbrocks on and go. they take next to no tuning at all. obviously in your case duane you don't want to do that...I would not want to waste money either. but anyone that is thinking about doing the t-ram and hasn't gotten carbs yet just think about the constant flow of people asking for help tuning. i know from experience they can be a huge frustration too get correct. good luck with your tuning.

[Dominator Scott]

Duane,
Get ahold of Jesse at Bigs Performance http://www.bigsperformance.com/
he'll set you straight from the get go.....they've been in business building carbs since 1962. He's built 2 different carbs for me and they've worked awesome! He's also built carbs for at least 15 others that I know of and they've all worked great also.
Jesse is the man!!!!!! He built my 950HP blower carbs for my SC motors in my 32 Dominator and all I had to do is set the idle and I haven't touched them since. They weren't cheap by any stretch but you can't put a price on quality.

[Dominator Scott]

I'm still at a loss as to why people with mild setups even bother with holleys. save the headache and wasted time that could be spent enjoying your boat (and better fuel milage) and slap some edelbrocks on and go. they take next to no tuning at all. obviously in your case duane you don't want to do that...I would not want to waste money either. but anyone that is thinking about doing the t-ram and hasn't gotten carbs yet just think about the constant flow of people asking for help tuning. i know from experience they can be a huge frustration too get correct. good luck with your tuning.
Edelbrock carbs are a good plug and play carb. But when I tried the ones I have I found that they didn't work as well on my tunnel ram compared to the Holley's when I finally got them tuned correctly. Plus I personally like the tune-ability that the Holley offers and how simple it is to do it.(No metering rods,needles ect.) Just a couple metering blocks,screw in jets and your power valves. Pull the 4 bowl screws and go at it.

[-XTC-]

Bigs are great! I have a couple of 750's on my T-Ram and like Dominator Scott said earlier, Jesse sets them perfect for your application and then you just bolt them on adjust the idle and your off running, been good for me so far - havent had to touch them.

[pw_Tony]

I'm still at a loss as to why people with mild setups even bother with holleys. save the headache and wasted time that could be spent enjoying your boat (and better fuel milage) and slap some edelbrocks on and go. they take next to no tuning at all. obviously in your case duane you don't want to do that...I would not want to waste money either. but anyone that is thinking about doing the t-ram and hasn't gotten carbs yet just think about the constant flow of people asking for help tuning. i know from experience they can be a huge frustration too get correct. good luck with your tuning.
Eldebrock's on a tunnel ram? I guess if you were a raging homo you could do that lol:devil: JK. Most people run Holley's for a reason, and that's cause they just out perform eldebrocks. My experiences are you tune in the Holley's once and that's it. Yah sure when I'm at the strip with a car I constantly rejet to compensate for different air, but just to have fun on the water it's not needed. I've used plenty of Eldebrock's even on mild set ups for ease of tuning, but when I had a holley available there was no question the Eldecrock was coming off.... but you already got carbs so you run what yah got! Luck:D

[MudPumper]

after you're done with the carbs, ditch the logs.

[shaun]

Duane,
Get ahold of Jesse at Bigs Performance http://www.bigsperformance.com/
he'll set you straight from the get go.....they've been in business building carbs since 1962. He's built 2 different carbs for me and they've worked awesome! He's also built carbs for at least 15 others that I know of and they've all worked great also.
I had them do my 660's, they also converted the carbs to get rid of the second metering plate. I have not ran them yet, hopfuly soon!
before...
http://reitanfamily.com/gallery/d/22313-2/IM000801.jpg
after...
http://reitanfamily.com/gallery/d/26064-2/DSCF3894.JPG

[minnesota_duane]

after you're done with the carbs, ditch the logs.
This is the station wagon of boats, I'm not looking for a lot of power just wanted "the look". There are very few jets where I am at. I have an 87 Baker Mod V that I will be putting the power too in the form of a blown BBF. But till then just crusin the sand bar in the station wagon.

[Bahner tunnel]

as far as jets go and the carbs that you are using, and the setup on the motor, i would start with 78's and 80's, I run the 750 carbs and those are the jets i found to be best for the set up i have, I am running more hp, and a more ci but thats a start for you!
I ran a pair of 660's on a 496 with 82's ( non jetted rear plates) and it ran well to 6200rpm. Sounds like this would be a good starting place(78-80 range)