Good looking build! I'm getting back into some original Ardun stuff over here - have an original 4-pot log manifold from back in the 50's. I'm thinking of making a few of them for guys who want a carbed Ardun and want a manifold like they used to run. I don't really know of any cast aluminum manifold from the 50's - but maybe somebody made one? Let us know how it runs when you first fire it - that should be a HotRodding Christmas Day if there ever was one. Anyway, here is a picture I took of the manifold and how it looks with a set of heads: Here is another picture with a set of Hilborn Ardun injectors - took me a LONG time to find those suckers!
I believe youre right, a stop gap between the move to OHV. It was only mildly successfull in the day but the hot rodders fine tuned them and had great success at time trials. Now they are just super cool collectors pieces.
Man that is super cool. That has the look you want for sure. look very cool in a 32 coop or roadster. Beautiful. Cheers Brom.
I totally get it. When I started my 5W 16 years ago, the Hemi / 5 speed sounded like a great idea. Now, it takes at least 15 mins. for my left knee to loosen up. I'm considering an automatic for my next build. It sucks getting old, but it's better than the alternative. Good luck with the build, looks great.
Me being me,I am known for my dislike for fugly electric fans,that engine deserves a traditional mechanical fan. HRP
I be curious about the intake manifold..Who made it? Looks nice, sorta gives the engine a later flavor, quick blink and looks like a SOHC ...
That is a Ken Austin manifold - which are now owned by and being produced by H&H out in SoCal. The nice thing about Ken's manifold design is that the bottom plates that attach to the heads actually "float" on the manifold. By that I mean they are not an integral part of the main casting - they are separate pieces with an o-ring seal. This accounts for the issues of different Ardun heads having different thicknesses - causing a "solid one piece manifold" to have gaps and sealing issues with various sets of heads.
I dont know where you would run an engine like that with a trad fan but in Australia we destroy engines that are not cooled properly in minutes.
Beautiful intake mate. I had one that came with the original kit but I just had to buy the Austin intake.