So I am building some stacks for Chadman at Belltown Speed Shop that will go on his very rare Hilborn traverse fuel injected flathead. He called me up and told me he found a guy near by who says he has the same thing on a flathead that is on a running engine stand so we set up a time to go check it out and try to get some tips on setting this thing up for the street. Well when we first walked in to the garage we see this really nice flatty that came out of an old sprint car but the injection is alot newer than the one we are working on so we were alittle disapointed at first. Then he started telling us about the motor and that it has a very rare crank in it that places the throws 180 from each other and is super light compared to the stock crank. I cant remember what he called the motor but it was definetly very cool, especially when he fired it up!! It sounded unlike any other flatty I have ever heard and turned a ton of rpm (no tach so we didnt know how much). So after the smoke cleared from the flat motor he shifted our attention to the 32 roadster that sat at the front of the garage. He has owned this car since he was 16 (50+ years) and has taken it through almost every transformation amaginable but the most special attribute of this car was the motor, It is powered by an Ardun equiped flathead!! He built the motor in 1983 and has drove it to every state except Hawaii and Alaska. So after the short dissapointment at the begining of the trip it turned out to be well worth the afternoon and short drive!!
The flat or 180 degree cranks were by "Norden" or a very similar name. I know what you mean about the sound; Harry Duncan sponsored a very radical T coupe with a flat crank Ardun which ran at Santa Ana in the early 1950s. Amazing sound!
I had a "crossfire" 180 degree flathead crank many years ago. Used in a 3/8 mile stock car. They accelerate really fast but don't like extended time at high RPM. I've known a few that threw rods on the salt. I never saw one in a 60 HP though.
The Jalopy Journal
