Jays tunnel port adapter arrived friday,,,,,,

[GJCAT427]

I gotta say it is a work of art. Well worth the wait. Now I got to round up some 2" aluiminium tubing and flat stock to build a sheet metal top for it, I`m thinking a dominator single carb and interchangeable 2x4 top. again very nice work Jay.

[jayb]

Thanks Garry, glad you like it.  I hope you post a picture of the intake adapter with the sheet metal top on it when you get it finished; looking forward to seeing that - Jay

[XR7]

Sounds interesting Jay. I was wondering if you had any tunnel port adapters done yet. Will you post some pictures of the adapter and features in your adapter for sale thread now? I would like to see what they look like, I am sure others would as well. I imagine it was a challenge doing those ports and pushrod tubes. Do the ports "bulge" out around the tubes like the FORD tunnel port manifolds?

Did anyone ever check for sure the port spacing on some of the aftermarket Pontiac RA5 tunnel port manifolds to see if that was a viable option to place on top of your adapter (I imagine it would have to be custom machined somewhat... to work if at all).

[jayb]

Couple of pictures below of one I just finished for another guy.  The lighting in my shop makes the casting look yellow, but really its not.  Also please excuse the one hole that I didn't get deburred yet on the closeup of the port.  The pushrod tubes are 3/4" OD 0.062" wall aluminum.  I squeeze them in a vise onto an arbor with the correct oval shape, then use the arbor to pound them into place in the pushrod holes.  They are a very tight fit, and I also used green Loctite on the top and bottom to keep them in place.  Also the top of the pushrod tube holes have some reliefs in either side, so I can stake the top of the pushrod tube in place there.  I just don't like the idea of those tubes coming out 





You probably can't see it from the photos but the ports are indeed widened out around the pushrod tubes, to increase the port area to compensate for the presence of the tube. I just copied the Ford dimensions for that bulge.  Since the ports were mostly round, they were actually pretty easy to program compared to the 351C to FE ports on the high riser and medium riser intake adapters.  I did need a special tool, a ball-end mill with a 1" ball on the end of a 3/8" shaft, to bulge out the port around the pushrod tube.  If I only had a 5 axis machine...

I did update the intake adapter thread in the Vendor Classifieds with some verbage about these, but haven't posted pictures yet.  I'll get some better pictures in the next few days and post them there also.

By the way Thor, guess who's manifold I'm working on now? 

[XR7]

Looks really nice Jay! Good job all around. Thanks for posting these pictures, and also good news on the "next in line" for the production schedule. I'm getting excited to work on my own stuff for a change.

[Katz427]

A work of art! What manifold fits or is suggested??

[jayb]

The only solution in this case is a custom sheet metal intake.  There is some chance that a Pontiac Ram Air V manifold might fit, with some modifications, but I don't have one of those so I haven't been able to evaluate it.

I've actually been thinking of doing a custom sheet metal top myself, to make available for sale.  I already have the port plates programmed and in stock, so it would be a matter of machining the plenum pieces and welding on some tubes.  I'd probably use one of those Holley LS tops for the carbs or throttle bodies.

[fekbmax]

How about a blower manifold to fit one of these ?

[machoneman]

Yah know.....given the near total lack of FE blower intakes (ala' the originals, NOT those with merely a plate hooked to an existent carb intake) I wonder if Jay can find enough demand to make a one piece intake (6 or 8-71 GMC) for traditional  rectangular port FE heads? 

How about a blower manifold to fit one of these ?

[jayb]

Bob, I'd probably have to have at least 50 firm orders for such an intake before I could justify the tooling cost.  Foundry tooling would probably be in the $15K-$20K range.  To say nothing of the design, machining programs, CNC tooling...

[machoneman]

Bob, I'd probably have to have at least 50 firm orders for such an intake before I could justify the tooling cost.  Foundry tooling would probably be in the $15K-$20K range.  To say nothing of the design, machining programs, CNC tooling...

Wow, had no idea of the total $ involved.

[GJCAT427]

I actually built a sheetmetal (Aluminum) Top for mine. I had it at Beaver Springs a yr ago at Jay`s stand. It`s set up for a Holly Dominator. It was a lot of work and I figured it cost me about a grand in time and materials. Jay liked it and could see the time involved in building it. I also mad a removable top out of Plexiglas So I can see if it puddles when running.  I own a fab shop and it was still costly. I hope to get it on my new TP engine, but am sure it wont make it in time for Beaver springs. I still need to get a Dominator. The new motor will have a single 4 bbl on a stock manifold.

[Drew Pojedinec]

I don’t have tunnelport stuff, but given my time spent swapping and testing carbs for people, I would literally freak out and push people out of the way if there was a removable top for 4v, 2x4, and 3x2 that would fit under my stock galaxie good.

[GJCAT427]

I`m not sure if this unit will fit under the hood of my 63 with a stock hood. It should fit with the factory bubble hood that's on it now. I should know later this winter though.

[Drew Pojedinec]

Yeah, one of these days I need to get a teardrop hood, in the meantime this is how I roll with MR intake and spacers

IMG_1831 by Drew Pojedinec, on Flickr