In the early '60s when Phil Brown and I ran our Ardun, they had pretty much disappeared, so a lot of people didn't know what they were. So we got a lot of "wazzat?" As we were young punks we gave smart-*** answers. One guy demanded to know what year Chrysler it was. "It's not a Chrysler, it's a flathead with..." DON'T BE A SMART*** WITH ME, I KNOW WHAT A FLATHEAD IS!!!" (spittle all over his face)...mostly it was "wazzat?" One time, "It's out of an Arden milk truck" (Arden was a local dairy). "Oh," walking away satisfied? Maybe we once told them that it was a garbage truck engine, and the story never died (?) Seriously, there has been a lot of words about why the Duntov brothers first designed and built the Ardun setup. They suggested racing car applications, but the stock cast exhausts and the two-carb setup indicated the real reason, to be fitted to Ford trucks whose flatheads had serious heating problems. They knew they needed to m***-produce the kits to make their initial investment pay off, though they knew that some would wind up on racing engines. Ford, however, tried to fix the heating problem initially with Lincoln flatheads and, in late '51, with OHV engines, which is when Ardun moved to England to make engines for Allards. (and, who knows, maybe some wound up on London garbage trucks)
My grandpa had a work bench in his barn... that's the only work bench he had, where he worked on everything from Model T's, his Ford 8N or whatever broke on the farm. And he had some neat ole Model T stuff that would definitely cl***ify as "Barn Finds"
The thought crossed my mind that'd be neat to put in a 50s shoebox. Seen several in 30s coupes but never a shoebox. It'd be a shame to cover it up I suppose. Prob even a bigger shame to never see em get used. I guess they aren't worth anything sitting in a box under that work bench but they don't belong to me. They're his so he can do whatever he wants with em. 😢 Andy from STL
There's the correct answer. Ardun heads on a block work great. Ardun heads on a workbench. Not so great. I wish people would use the damn things instead of look what I got and you can't have them at any price.
Looks like second generation heads. I saw a number that 400 sets were made. Mine are numbers 167 & 168 (first gen.) Getting close to completion with mine on an 8ba. Will hopefully go in my 53 by next month.
old cars and parts will be out there til the end of time Its not unusual that stuff is "still out there"
The Jalopy Journal
