Hi Folks. Did Chrysler Engineering have a set of Arduns sitting up on
the bench when they designed the '51 Hemi, whose descendents today are
Kings of NHRA Top Fuel racing? I don't know if we will ever find out
for sure. Let's look at the evidence.
Anthony Young in his book "Hemi: History of the Chrysler Hemi V-8
Engine" (Motorbooks International 1991) interviewed surviving factory
engineers and draftsmen about the origins of the design. The word
"Ardun" appears nowhere in this book, but company engineers had long had
a hemi design in mind, and by 1947 one of them (Moeller) was in the
Engine Development Laboratory where, he says "We tested every engine in
site(sic)". The company needed a major new engine for their postwar
program, and knew of the OHV V-8 R&D at General Motors which became the
'49 Olds and Cad units.
Moeller says the lab procured an English production car engine, a
"Healey"(?) with a long stroke hemi design, but high powered and very
efficient. They were impressed with this. Subsequently a six-cylinder
prototype Chrysler hemi was built, first with chain-driven DOHC, then a
pushrod OHV rocker arm version (shown in the book). The latter was
successful on road testing, and "By 1948, Chrysler had a 330ci Hemi-head
V-8 undergoing testing,..." After successful testing the next version,
the 331, was approved for production.
Where does Zora and his Ardun fit into this scenario? Maybe at the
point where "We tested every engine in sight". Original Ardun sales
literature shows that on February 1, 1947 Zora tested his Ardun-V8-OHV
engine on a dynamometer, producing 175 HP at 5200 rpm with a 7.1 to 1
compression ratio on 78 octane gas. The short block was a stock 239
c.i. Ford.
The brochure is not dated, but we may assume that in 1947 the
Arkus-Duntov brothers had started manufacture at their engineering firm
in New York and were offering Ardun sets to the public. I have not seen
anything definite on this, exactly how they were advertising and selling
them, but certainly a set may have been procured by Chrysler
engineering, or a complete engine as they were offered in that form as
well(or maybe, only in that form at first, I don't know).
It appears that a number of Ardun sets (or compete engines) were made in
New York, perhaps all those originals with "New York" on the valve
covers. Then, when the '49 Ford was announced with the distributor
change, Zora saw he would have to change his patterns to the center
water outlet, and perhaps(I am guessing) at this same time arranged for
the rest of the manufacturing in England. When I interviewed him he
said he did this because high class engineering was much, much cheaper
in England at the time. He said the famous automotive firm there, AC,
took on the contract, and AC still manufactures buses today. I asked
Zora how many of the early-style Ardun heads with the end water outlets
he made, but he said he couldn't remember.
It is undeniable that the general layout of the Chrysler hemi head is
very similar to the Ardun. Both had 3/8 valve stems, valve head sizes
almost identical. Rocker arms and shafts almost identical. General
layout of the ports very similar, except exhaust heat provisions in the
Chrysler. The centers of four of the eight 3/8 studs on the Ardun
intake manifold are identical with the Chrysler. It seems impossible
that all of these things could be coincidental.
I asked Zora if Chrysler ever contacted him for a license or any
consultancy on their heads. He said "No, the first I knew of Chrysler's
V8 head design was in 1953, when I had gone to work for GM. One day I
happened to see a poster on the wall with a cross-section drawing of the
new Firepower V8. It was apparent that the head design was very close
to mine of 1947. Standing there, I felt a great sense of pride that
this huge corporation had followed my design and was making tens of
thousands of successful engines with it. I didn't care to make an issue
of it; engineers have always learned from and built upon earlier
designs."
I've got some more stories Zora told me for you, for another time. It
was a wonderful privilege and pleasure to sit with him for an hour that
afternoon at Carlisle.
If anyone out there can add anything to these tales of old times, please
do so. Regards, ArdunBill
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