Secrets of Chrysler Ram Induction
- Thread starter 1978 NYB
- Start date
At the time Chrysler introduced the Ram Induction intake manifold set-up, it was quite ground-breaking in concept, BUT built on solid scientific principles. It looked impressive and worked, too! Giving the mid-range power output a boost in a time period when "Two-lane blacktop passes" (of slower vehicles usually running about 40mph or so) was beneficial and SAFER as they got completed sooner. Made the tail lights on those big, beautiful hunks of Chrysler sheet metal get to the horizon sooner.
ONE other innovation which kept Chrysler squarely in the product innovator with solid engineering in the automotive industry. Which made me smile, back then, in spite of their limited numbers and complexity of the system. More about "street performance" than the growing love of drag racing, at the time.
Remember, too, that in those times, people were keyed on "Longer, lower, and FASTER". too. Buick found out (after spending millions of dollars to tool and build their Triple-Turbine DynaFlow that people still bought the normal DynaFlow in large numbers. Reason? It was hidden, only knew about it when you hit the gas, or read the emblem inside of the car. So they bought things (like chrome trim, etc.) which could be easily and quickly seen by others instead. With the Chrysler Ram Induction, it was "Raise the hood and hear the jaws drop", by comparison. Being in a Chrysler Letter Car was the ultimate statement of "Power AND Authority" of that time. Not to forget that Dodge had their version with exterior emblems. I suspect it was better received than the prior Bendix Fuel Injection system.
Great artricle, thanks for posting the link!
Enjoy!
CBODY67
ONE other innovation which kept Chrysler squarely in the product innovator with solid engineering in the automotive industry. Which made me smile, back then, in spite of their limited numbers and complexity of the system. More about "street performance" than the growing love of drag racing, at the time.
Remember, too, that in those times, people were keyed on "Longer, lower, and FASTER". too. Buick found out (after spending millions of dollars to tool and build their Triple-Turbine DynaFlow that people still bought the normal DynaFlow in large numbers. Reason? It was hidden, only knew about it when you hit the gas, or read the emblem inside of the car. So they bought things (like chrome trim, etc.) which could be easily and quickly seen by others instead. With the Chrysler Ram Induction, it was "Raise the hood and hear the jaws drop", by comparison. Being in a Chrysler Letter Car was the ultimate statement of "Power AND Authority" of that time. Not to forget that Dodge had their version with exterior emblems. I suspect it was better received than the prior Bendix Fuel Injection system.
Great artricle, thanks for posting the link!
Enjoy!
CBODY67
TxDon
Well-Known Member
Many many years ago a guy came to look at a car I had for sale. He drove up in a 64 300K that had been "customized" with white pearl paint, chrome mags and a horrible red velour interior. But...it had the 390 hp ram induction motor...and he was interested in a trade! I knew a little about these cars and saw it had the right block stamping, the cast iron headers, etc. He let me drive it and it was amazingly fast for a big car. Long story short he wanted cash plus a trade and I didn't have the cash so away it went. One of many deals that I wish I could have done...
The other reason that the Buick triple turbine DynaFlow became unpopular was that it was very unreliable and broke constantly. A lot of the cars produced with these transmissions wound up in the wrecking yard at a relatively young age. See 1959 Buick Triple Turbine Transmission « 1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible
Dave
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Gerald Morris
Senior Member
An excellent article illustrating, superb, elegant engineering based on solid fluid dynamics applied! Thus Old Mopar bestrode the very razor's edge in innovation AND practical, clean design. No need for Paxton Super Engine Blasters with Applied Bernoulli Equations. As in exhaust headers, intake too ideally can be optimized for tube volume and length at desired levels.
To THINK, that the Men who designed these WONDERFUL machines did so using naught but slide rules with logarithmic tables, pencils, papers and MAYBE ONE PRIMITIVE computer to generate some Tables of Values. The REAL SECRET of this design is USING THE HUMAN BRAIN TO MASTER THE ENVIRONMENT, as opposed to being mastered by it!
Ah, but such thinking makes the bean counters nervous......, then and NOW.
To THINK, that the Men who designed these WONDERFUL machines did so using naught but slide rules with logarithmic tables, pencils, papers and MAYBE ONE PRIMITIVE computer to generate some Tables of Values. The REAL SECRET of this design is USING THE HUMAN BRAIN TO MASTER THE ENVIRONMENT, as opposed to being mastered by it!
Ah, but such thinking makes the bean counters nervous......, then and NOW.
SGT FURY
Senior Member
I have a complete ram induction for my 61 Plymouth.
Are these ram inductions as difficult to tune as everyone says? They kinda look intimidating to work on tune.
Are these ram inductions as difficult to tune as everyone says? They kinda look intimidating to work on tune.
Tuning starts with the angle of the accelerator pedal and the proper position and angle of the bell crank on the firewall all of which are described in the FSM.
There is a 19 or so step procedure to follow to properly set one of these up.
Ram Fury
Member
Lads --
Back in 1960-1964, I had a '60 Fury with the SonoRamic (note the capital "R") Commando engine that I thoroughly abused on street and strip. The first time I took it back tp the dealer to have it tuned, I was quoted a price of 5 bucks a plug to change them. The shop foreman told me that they had to jack up the front end, remove the wheels, and remove the panels on the fender wells just to get at the plugs. In those days, not every bay in a dealer's shop had a lift and five bucks is close to $40-50 nowadays (and that was just to work on the plugs). As a snot-nosed kid digging ditches to go to college there was no way I could afford that, so a buddy and I did the work ourselves. Incidently, after I traded that car for a '65 Sport Fury (426S/4-speed), that foreman happened to catch me and with great pleasure he said, "You know, those manifolds from your old car sure made a nice clang when they hit the bottom of the trash car!" The techs in those days didn't like ram-induction very much.
But I didn't learn either as I loved both the '60 and '65 and was lucky enough to acquire another '60 SonoRamic Commando powered Fury and the virtual twin to that '65 SF with the 426S/4-speed.
Joe Godec
When I was first learning about the Ram Induction system, I noted that the cam had "mechanical" lifters rather than hydraulic. That kind of brought down the aspirations of me ever owning something like that. Adjusting mechanical lifters was bad enough, but to seemingly take the top half of the engine off to do it?
But I still admired them for what they were. The normal inline 2x4bbls were more the rage in the drag racing arena, especially as Ray Brock (of HOT ROD magazine fame) was campaigning a '62 Chrysler with great success. Didn't think about spark plug accessibility until years later as I was changing or cleaning and gapping the plugs on our '66 Newport 383 (noting how easy they were compared to similar GM cars!).
Enjoy!
CBODY67
But I still admired them for what they were. The normal inline 2x4bbls were more the rage in the drag racing arena, especially as Ray Brock (of HOT ROD magazine fame) was campaigning a '62 Chrysler with great success. Didn't think about spark plug accessibility until years later as I was changing or cleaning and gapping the plugs on our '66 Newport 383 (noting how easy they were compared to similar GM cars!).
Enjoy!
CBODY67
The Ram equipped cars needed some TLC. Plugs were a PIA to access as noted. It was very important to tune these cars to the factory specs as far as dwell and timing as they would run like crap if even a couple of degrees off. Carb adjustments also had to be done carefully. The mechanical lifters on so equipped Ram cars needed to be set accurately about every 5-6k miles to keep the engine running correctly and this was a labor intensive/expensive job that most shops other than Mopar dealers did not want to mess with. These engines needed a good grade of premium fuel to perform adequately and they were sensitive to changes in altitude and humidity. Today's blended fuels are unlikely to be adequate for a Ram engine. Ram engines when properly tuned were a really sweet runner but it took a lot of effort to keep then running that way.
Dave
Dave
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