| "What
idiot thought of this, anyway?" I asked many times as I
twisted myself into unbelievable positions to access something as simple
as a spark plug. And the day I decided to replace a tappet in my 300G,
well, that was it. I still don't know where that wrench went, but the
birds had to duck, I can tell you that much.
It isn't clear
(it rarely is) exactly whose idea this was or who developed the
"mechanic's nightmare" known as ram injection. (No, it isn't ram
induction... ram induction is defined as using the forward momentum
of a vehicle to scoop air and force it into a carburetor via a
suitable passageway). It is credited as a design from Chrysler Corporation,
nothing else. It seems that they were fooling around with this little
knuckle scraper since 1952. Maybe they should have stopped in say, 1953?
It looks nice, but, well, it just looks nice. Don't try to work on it.
My
aforementioned friend Bob Mackey came over one day while I was contemplating the
valve tappet project. He offered his condolences and left me a box of band
aids and a magazine advertisement featuring single 4 bbl intake manifolds. I should have listened to
him. From what I've heard, many 300 owners have temporarily replaced rams
with a single quad if they actually drive the car and have to maintain it.
I would, if I ever owned another ram car. Here are two articles from 1959 explaining
how the system works. |
