I am trying to help a neighbor here, he has been robbed. Some time in the last week or two apparently someone stole the valve covers off his 29 roadster. The man is sick over this and I am hoping that these will surface at a swap meet or something and can be recovered. The man is a farmer in his mid eighties and built this car himself between 1950-53. He hauled the car to Bonneville in 1953 in the back of a Studebaker grain truck and set a record there. The car was in Hot Rod magazine that year also. The car had not been touched in about 50 years. He decides to get his car out and get it going again while he still can and finds the Ardun valve covers missing. The thieves also had one head loose but the exhaust system stopped them from getting the head. I hope that someone can help here, keeping an eye out for the valve covers and tube seals. We are located about halfway between Indy and Chicago, no telling where they might turn up. I am SURE this was not a case of random methhead scrappers. I would really like to help this man get his parts back. If anyone has any leads my cell number is 219-476-5652. I have never started a thread here, I hope I have entered this in the right place.
You are in the right place, I am sure that HAMB'ers will be on the lookout...what a sad story, hope they catch the bastards ... as a former Ardun owner I can understand his pain, reproductions are probably available from Ferguson (I think), but hopefully someone will find the originals.....
That really sucks, there are two different style rocker covers, any photos of the car that show which style were on it? Hope you find the covers.
I hope it ends with .45 justice. Yeah I said it. These people are likely to hurt others. They should be brought down.
My question is if something is found how can these be identified and prove that they belong to this gentleman? Are there any serial #'s? Identifying marks or anything? I hope they are found along with the skumbags who did it. Maybe the HAMB will solve another case!!!
He said there were there a week or so ago when he finally decided to get the car out and get it running again.
I`ve been going to swapmeets for over 3O years and have never seen a set forsale. One of my buddies has been go`in longer than I have, and he hasn`t seen a set forsale either.
The differance that first comes to mind is the brass tag "Made in England" that some covers have, don't know if the cast New York is on all covers, so in fact there may be three different designs. Were is Ronnieroadster when we need him?
Did he tell many people about his plan to get it running? Was it sitting in plain view of the road or anywhere that people who know what they are and their value may have decided to help themselves to them? Sucks that the car could slumber in peace for so long only to have this happen. I hope it wasn't some one he knew and trusted.
That's the world we live in. Nobody wants to work to get the things they want, so they steal them. I hope he can get them back, but with auto parts the chances are slim. Just a shame.
What is wrong in this days ,i dont understand what and how they think f-g idiots. A 29 roadster built in 50-53 with Ardun engine must be a fantastic car.I hope the covers come back and if i get any reply in my search after original covers in the future i prommise to let you know .
Let us know what text is on the covers, although Id hazard a guess its ARDUN New York unless milled off. Were there any repairs or scratches? Any marks to ID the parts will be helpful. Good thing is, original Ardun parts do not exchange hands often and the community is small... a pair of solo original valve covers for sale will be a dead giveaway. Fergueson should sell valve covers if your friend is in a pinch. I can assist with getting a pair if you want, I am not far from their foundry. http://www.ardun.com/ Good luck. Pictures of the project would be nice.
I am working on trying to find some engine pictures. The car was not in plain sight, it was in a building, covered. The car is a true time capsule look into what early rods were. It was homebuilt by a man with the bug we all share. I will find as much detail as I can and post it asap. Thank you all.
guys i saw on ebay a few weeks back an origninal? (didn't have NEW YORK on them) set on ebay. i put them on my watch list but the guy ended them early after a short time on ebay. but that was several weeks ago so if this just happened a week or so ago may not be them. I will keep my eyes open and post on here if I see some.
It's surprising that the type of person who would steal would even know what Ardun heads even are, or would have a buyer.
They whas not original ,i see they on pictures inside and there whas no cast numbers or cast mark like the originals should have.
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