Earlier this year I came across a video of a roadster, I believe at El Mirage, that was running what I remember being a Model A four banger with an overhead cam Volvo head adapted to it. I think it was blue, had some odd looking alloy wheels, and sounded just wicked. I've tried searching all kinds of terms and for the life of me it seems to have been wiped from the internet, at least as far as I can find. I'd really like to find some pics and hopefully a video of it. I couldn’t have just made it up, I don’t think so, anyways. Does this ring any bells for anyone here?
Not sure about that particular combo, but look-up Pete Aardema. He was(is) into all kinds of cool engine-bits adapting. Not much of his machine-work/adapting is appreciated here, but it's worth the search. !!! Been doing xtra-cool stuff since the 70's at least. Marcus...
Yes!!!! That's the one!!! Totally wild car, I think it's just super cool seeing that kind of ingenuity. Thank you for posting that, now I can sleep tonight haha
I wasn't aware of Pete Aardema, but I looked him up and WOW that is some crazy stuff!!! Thanks for putting that on my radar, I love reading about guys like that.
Sadly, a *lot* of Petes' stuff got melted/destroyed in the Cali-fire a few years ago. Don't know how much was well-documented as for specs/etc, but wish it was. Marcus... Sure wish I could understand the language... Lots of neat engineering there...
Ohhhh... There's more than one that looks retro. Wish Pete would/could come on here & share specs n build details. Guessing he'd get canned/banned so fast the electrons would be smoking enough to come thru the ph lines. Some very serious Talent there. Much Respect! Marcus...
If I remember right, Pete once did some overhead cam Harley stuff for Arlen Ness. He’s definitely very innovative.
How about a 1932 four banger with a head assembled from 2 Ford overhead cam heads cut in half and welded together, “precision” built with homemade camshafts and crankshaft, 5 main bearing block girdle, blower manifold and header. Built by Gay Peifer from Amherstburg, Ontario for his Bonneville car. Gay was inducted into the Canadian Street Rodding Hall of Fame in 2022.
That one looks interesting. Marcus... On a lot of these conversions, just some softening of the edges n corners gets real close to the cast-look. A cast-look cambelt cover & you're not too far away from the late teens->early 30's look. None of this is needed for racing, or the current streetrod look, but I still like the non-billet appearance of the older sohcs n dohcs. Streetrod Trickery at it's best. .
For those interested in Pete Aardema model a motor, here are the links to the Youtube videos <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqopaEr4Er4?si=RTGV0BUFW2ZHDtTi" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe> <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T29HFhrbT_s?si=AvZVOfgp6jRNgWTb" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The Jalopy Journal
