Got to hang out with Smokey at the Induction ceremony for the International
Hall of fame thing.... What a character... seems he owned several
helicopters and as a Pilot he and I shared several stories....
Smokey Shouldn't have a Pilot's lic by the way... Damn man treated them
like he stole them.... (kidding obviously) he hot rodded them just like
the cars and Motors over the years.... neat guy... and lots of fun... I
wanted to chat about cars.... and he was all about the Pilot thing... funny
conversations going 2 different ways but always forward....
again Carrol Shelby was the Presenter for Donald Healey and we spent the
evening Prior with him... in a small group.... pretty neat...
Keith
----------
> From: Thomas E. Bryant <saltracer@awwwsome.com>
> To: ardunbill@webtv.net
> Cc: land-speed@autox.team.net; bigsid@webtv.net; marco <bk185@lafn.org>;
LITNMAN@aol.com; wrhoddinott@webtv.net
> Subject: Re: Ardun/Chrysler??
> Date: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 9:28 AM
>
>
> Very interesting reading. I have always admired, but never met, Mr.
> Duntov, truly one of the greats in automotive engineering. Two more of
> my heroes, who I have met and talked with briefly, are Carol Shelby, and
> Smokey Unick. These three men have forever changed the automotive scene.
> Tom
>
>
> ardunbill@webtv.net wrote:
> >
> > 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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