Super Rare Supercharged Ardun Flathead Ford Making Huge Horsepower!
- Thread starter GURPS
- Start date
Now it's 2005, and the flathead's resurgence shows no sign of diminishing. In fact, the growing flathead movement has basically sorted itself out into three distinct groups. At one end, there are restorers who insist on putting everything back to exact original condition. Most in this group will accept a modified flathead as long as it is period-correct, with no obvious modern technology visible. At the other extreme are dry-lakes, Bonneville, and nostalgia drag racers who have applied modern technology to the point where in some instances it is questionable whether the engine still remains a true flathead: Once-85-hp engines now produce over 400 hp on gas and have exceeded 700 hp on fuel—all this on an engine with only three main bearings.
Somewhere in the middle is the largest group: potential street-rodders who just want reasonably fast hot rods without having a cookie-cutter, 1-800-CAR. For this group—whether building a rat rod, yanking a Chevy that just doesn't look right in that old Deuce, or building a brand-new car—the outlook couldn't be rosier. It's even better than the flathead's heyday ... so long as the bucks hold out. You can now build a brand-new flathead. There are builders on the left and right coasts and all points in between who assemble reliable, powerful, 150-to-200-hp engines, or you can buy new parts and build one yourself. A good supply of new French (really!) blocks exist and outfits like Scat make new H-beam rods and sell cranks with up to a 4.5-inch stroke. Ross, Wiseco, Egge, Arias, and others make pistons in any configuration you desire. The old cam grinders—including Isky, Schneider, Elgin, and others—have both old and new cam grinds. New stainless valves are available from several sources. Baron, Edelbrock, Sharp (Wilcap), Navarro, and Offenhauser make both old-style heads as well as improved new configurations.
Still not enough? There are kits to install Weiand and Magnuson superchargers, or even one or two GMC 71-series blowers. Fabled Stromberg 97 carbs are back, but you can also upgrade to modern Holley four-barrels or even electronic fuel-injection systems. Finally, there are brand-new aluminum blocks and Ardun OHV conversion heads and valvetrains. On the following pages, we'll take a look at some of the stuff available for the flathead and also cover the lineage, interchangeability, and secrets of this proud forebear of modern hot-rodding.