To tunnel ram or not tunnel ram
 

Hi guys, new to the forum and trying to get back into the hot rodding world so please no flames if it is a stupid question. I have an older wieand dual quad tunnel ram from my previous car and now I inherited a 1985 350 2 bolt main block with 1.74/1.50 heads. Now I do not want a 800 hp motor, but a very streetable motor that will have enough get up and go so when I mash the throttle, it makes a statement. The block will be 30 over and the heads I plan on just going through them. So I guess my question is this: Would you go with a tunnel ram with small carbs or larger carb with a high rise manifold. I did a search and read everything I could, but something is not clicking in my mind with the info I read. I like the look of a tunnel ram but I am not prepared to suffer through poor performance just to look cool. Maybe I answered my own question.

So, what would you recommend as far as a cam, headwork and such, or just can the ram ond go high rise?

By the way, the car is a 1963 nova pro street roller.

I think you should ditch the heads for as good a set that I could afford and forget the tunnel ram. The thing will be a slug. A big cam and a tunnel ram will be worthless if you can't get the air into the cylinder.

OK, now I think I have it. After re-reading the other post about tunnel rams, I think I have too small of a budget and am trying for looks instead of performance. The guy in the other thread would have the same problems and he is sinking a lot more money in his engine. I also made a mistake about the heads. I have the 1.94 intake valves. Is it Ok to run those with a larger cam and a performance intake?

So, no tunnel ram for me.

You need to figure out what kind of flow your heads have, http://users.erols.com/srweiss/tablehdc.htm#Chevy. You can make up for lack of flow with a big cam but you really have to be spot on doing this. The cheapest way to get power is to stroke it, which depending on how how much work your block and crank need might end up cheaper. Also, if the heads are really crappy or need lots of work it is way cheaper to buy better ones, ebay has some great deals if you look around. I don't know your budget but the comp cams website has lots of cheap build ups in the articles section.

Those heads would be ok for a set up from a stocker, and I've seen many people use them small valve, small combustion chamber vortec head and makes good power they are some torque monsters for a small block 350, but if you have the older 194 "smog heads" your fighting a losing battle, you need comp and flow or velocity, those smog heads heads have neither.
I would recomend saving your money up and getting a good set of aluminum heads you can score some for about 900 to 1000 dollar mark easy, they are money well spent. Then build a flat topped 350 with a slightly aggresive bump stick with a dual or single plane intake, with a 650 or 750 double pumer holley for some serious street power.
Goodluck, Charles.