Look at what i stumbled across today!!! Ardun

This week I am in California for the Formula SAE race at the California Speedway. It has been a great week so far. Tuesday I went to Gale Banks and got a personal tour of the whole compound, today we went to one of our sponsor’s shop who makes our axle shafts, Friday I am heading to the open house at So-Cal Speed Shop and the one at Walden Speed Shop, and Sunday I get to go to the LA Roadster Show. Not too bad for a trip that Drexel University is paying for right?
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So today when I was getting a tour of our sponsors shop who makes our custom axle shafts for our ¼ scale F1 car, I got the biggest suprise of the trip so far and probably the biggest suprise for the rest of the trip. The company builds race car parts for all kinds of custom cars. While I was getting the tour of the machine shop there I happened to notice a very familiar pair of bare heads sitting on a pallet next to another pallet of custom Hemispherical heads for a Small Block Chevy. When I asked the owner what kind of motor they were for he said that they were for a flathead. When he said that my jaw dropped and I shit my pants. It just happened to be that they also are the ones who machine and manufacture the Ardun OHV heads that Don Ferguson sells. They make or machine every single part for the heads and are the ones that assemble the head before it gets sent to Don. So after I caught my breath I asked if I could see all of the other parts for the Ardun conversion. I got to see everything from the bare heads, to the rocker arms, and even a complete kit. <O</O
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After talking flatheads and cars with the owner for several hours I heard several cool stories. I even got to see and read an original copy of the conversion manual that came with one of the original kits. The owner told me that to get all of the proper dimensions and specs for the heads he got to cut up an original head. He has also made Eddie Meyer heads and a bunch of other flathead parts.
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Here are a couple of photos that I was able to take while I was there.<O</O
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Cool, did they giveyou a set as a keepsake of the tour

 

I wish they did. I was trying to see if they still had any pieces of the original one they cut up that i could take with me.

 

More importantly, did they give you a set to give to me?

 

That would be some of the best garage art there is!

 

And I thought I had fun at Edelbrocks factory....nice !!

Rat

 

that is cool, glad to see ya had fun

 

Nice! Most of us will never be able to even touch an Ardun motor. I would frame that pic of you holding the rocker

 

I did but we ran out of room in the rental car!

Hahaha i agree. The kits cost 4 times more then what i have into my car right now.

 

thanks for sharing your pictures how cool of a tour is this , man i cant imagine putting the saw to an Ardun head , ooops i slipped got another i can cut up ?