HiYA folks! see below for MORE of "the rest of the story" :=)
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From: ardunbill@webtv.net
Reply-To: ardunbill@webtv.net
To: bigsid@webtv.net, bk185@lafn.org (marco), bjgayle@aol.com,
clemtebow@jps.net, ddferguson@msn.com, gillette@aiinc.com, LITNMAN@aol.com,
jamisone@iowaone.net, land-speed@autox.team.net, gillette@gateway.net,
wrhoddinott@webtv.net
Subject: Fwd: The Duntov Allard
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 09:09:28 -0400 (EDT)
Hi Folks, by popular demand, got something special for you here. Ron
San Giovanni (Ronnie Roadster) kindly sent me a story to expand on last
year when he and Mike Hart worked on the ex-Zora Arkus-Duntov Allard and
succeeded in getting it to run the way it should. He also included a
photo.
There are some slight differences in the present story from what I got
myself when I interviewed Zora in August 1995 at Corvettes at Carlisle,
and previously related to you. Zora told me "about 300" sets of big
Ardun heads were made, and he told me re Chrysler Hemi, the first he
knew of them was '53 when he went to work at GM. He saw a poster of the
new Chrysler Firepower Hemi, cross section, and saw at once there were
so many similarities to his '47 Ardun head, that he assumed Chrysler
must have copied his design. Which made him feel very proud.
Zora's charming French wife is named Elfi, and as far as I know is still
with us. The Bean Bandits Founder is usually rendered Joaquim Arnett, I
believe. Cheers Bill
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BILL and LIST:Arnett's name, officially, "for the record" is:
JOAQUIN ARNETT
HE'S A WONDERFUL, AMAZING, and VERY FRIENDLY MAN OF (evidently...) PART
MEXICAN,PART "OTHER" DECENT
( Arn't we ALL "PART "OTHER" ? :=) DAM RIGHT WE ARE.... :=) )
JOAQUIN MOST CERTAINLY ORGANIZED WHAT COULD BE THE VERY FIRST "DRAG TEAM" IN
AMERICA.... I ONCE ASKED HIM AT BONNEVILLE "WHEN HE STARTED RACIN'" AND HE
PONDERED A BIT,...THEN ANSWERED; 1946. I IMMEDIATELY EXCLAIMED, WOW, THAT
THE YEAR I WAS BORN! HE JUST SMILED. WHERE ? I SAID; "PARADISE MESA" WAS
HIS ANSWER. (which I believe is east of San Diego....)
MOST OF YOU KNOW THE "STORY OF THE BEAN BANDITS" SO I WON'T TELL IT HERE,
BUT I WILL ADD THIS ANECDOTE THAT HIS SON JEFF TOLD ME AT SPEEDWEEK 1998
ABOUT JOAQUIN
(who has to be at least 77 or 78 now....)
IT SEEMS THAT THE ARNETT FAMILY HAVE BEEN "BIKERS" FOREVER.... -THE PEDAL
KIND ....THEY MAKE THEIR OWN FROM SCRATCH LIKE MOST EVERYTHING ELSE THAT
COMES FROM THEIR SAN DIEGO SHOP.
JOAQUIN STILL LIKES TO RIDE,(-THAT BEING THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY
AS YOU'LL SEE) JEFF TOLD ME IN '98 THAT RECENTLY DAD TOLD HIM HE WAS GOING
FOR A RIDE"....
......THREE DAYS LATER, AFTER WHAT MUST HAVE BEEN MUCH WONDERING AND
WORRYING ON THE FAMILY'S PART,JOAQUIN SHOWS UP. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN" ?
JEFF ASKS.
WELL IT TURNS OUT OL' JOAQUIN DECIDED TO TAKE,GET THIS: A HUNDRED MILE
RIDE. JEFF SAYS JOAQUIN STILL HOLDS SOME KIND OF CYCLING ENDURANCE
RECORDS. I CANNOT SAY WITH EXACTNESS WHAT THEY ARE FOR SURE, BUT I DO
BELIEVE JEFF. WAHAT WE HAVE HERE FOLKS IS SURELY ANOTHER MAN OF LEGEND
-AND I DO NOT BELIEVE IN EVER USING THAT TERM LOOSELY.
JOAQUIN HAS FORGOTTEN MORE ABOUT TUNING AND SPEED THAN MOST OF US WILL EVER
LEARN. SOME OF YOU KNOW THAT THEY NOW RUN 3 STREAMLINERS, HAD RUN MANY
FLATTIES IN THE PAST, AND MOST KNOW THAT THEY RUN AN ARDUN, BUT SOME MAY NOT
BE AWARE THAT THEY HAVE ALWAYS RUN CHIZZLERS AS WELL. IN FACT THEY'VE GOT
IT DOWN SO GOOD AS TO CHANGE FROM ONE TO THE OTHER IN THE SAME CAR IN ABOUT
AN HOUR.....
WELL, AT SPEEDWEEK IN 1998, THEY FINALLY SUCCEEDED IN BLOWING UP THE
CHIZZLER THAT "WOK" (-AS EVERYONE PHONITECALLY AND LOVINGLY CALL JOAQUIN,)
WON THE NHRA NATIONALS WITH IN......1956. "WOK" WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO
LEARN HOW TO PLAY WITH NITROMETHANE. AS I RECALL READING, HE FOUND IT
SAFEST TO USE IT ALMOST STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAN AND TUNE ACCORDINGLY THAN TO
TRY TO MIX IT AND RISK MISTAKES.
IT'S MY HUMBLE OPINION THAT THAT POOR OL' CHIZZLER BLOCK JUST DIED OF OLD
AGE. THE CYLINDER WALL ON THE ONE BANK FINALLY GAVE WAY.....THINK OF ALL
THE RUST AND CORROSION SINCE THAT THING WAS CAST, AND NOW THINK OF HOW MANY
CANS "WOK" POURED DOWN HER THROAT!
YAH, I B'LIEVE SHE DIED OF "NATURAL CAUSES" DAVE MARQUES (who just very
recently passed away...GOD rest his soul,) BOUGHT THE HISTORICAL HOLED BLOCK
FROM "WOK" AT THE BURRITO PARTY THERE IN '98 TO USE AS A LAMP STAND. I
KNOW. I WAS THERE.
LIKE I SAID; AN AMAZING MAN. I'M VERY PROUD TO KNOW HIM AS A FRIEND. I
CAMP NEXT TO THESE GUYS IN THE K.O.A. WHEN I CAN ATTEND BONNEVILLE. WHAT AN
EXPERIENCE. WHAT A BUNCH OF WONDERFUL PEOPLE. MY FONDEST MEMORIES. GET TO
KNOW THEM IF YOU CAN......
BTW; RONNIE TOLD ME SATURDAY AT THE STROKERS REUNION IN MASSY-CHEW-SETS
ABOUT HIS MEETING ZORA, AND DID HIS BEST IMPERSONATION OF A RUSSIAN CYLINDER
HEAD AND CAR DESIGNER (in telling the story of ARDUN head count ) ....ONLY
SOMEHOW IT CAME OUT SOUNDING AN AWFUL LOT LIKE AN ITALIAN DIALECT. I WONDER
WHY -UNLESS OF COURSE RON WAS "THINKING OF THE TIME HE MET ENZO FERRARI
INSTEAD OF ARKUS-DUNTOV..... Hmmmmmm.......I WONDER.
LOL! (Hi Ron!) :o)
-"Doug down south" --in exile, in south NuYawk
thursday 1:00 after lunch EDT
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From: RonnieRoadster@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001
Subject: The Duntov Allard
To: ardunbill@webtv.net
Hi Bill I have attached 3 photos in jpeg format these pics were taken at my
home when I worked on the Allard for Jerry Latrerio who is the present owner
of the Allard. I took the photos next to my roadster to have proof that the
Duntov Allard was at my home. Since the LSR group is interested in the
Arduns and the related storys about them maybe some more info about this car
and the Ardun gathering held in 91 with Zora would interest them. Its long
so
here goes the first time I saw this car was at the vintage sports car event
held at that Watkins Glen in 1991. I was invited to the event by Tom Turner
the guy who found and restored this Allard. His guest was none other than
Zora himself Toms plan was to have the first ever Ardun gathering with Zora
as the honored guest. Since I had a hot rod powered by one of Zoras
inventions I made sure at least one Hot Rod was there. At the time Tom
Turner
sent out invites to as many know Ardun owners as he could find. A number of
Allards Ardun powered of course attended. Besides the cars some guys brought
Ardun literature including photos of the original Ardun heads being machined
in the factory from around 1948. Also included was the original press
release
from the New York times Date 1948 announcing the revolutionary new engine
using aircraft techniques in the build process this press release was about
the Ardun motor for trucks. Another item that was on display for all to see
was a complete set of Ardun V8 60 heads. Thankfully the owner of the V8 60
heads was a nice guy because I had to pick them up and look them over. I
figured this was probably as close as I would ever come to a set of the V8
60
heads. Up to this point I still had not meet Zora. Well, as things went I
was
getting hungry so Tom Turner pointed me in the direction of the food
concession area. I got a burger and went to sit down at the table by the
food
stand when I noticed Tom Turners wife sitting there. So down I with Toms
wife
and she asks me if I have ever met Zora I say no and she says your sitting
next to him! So I introduce myself and I congratulate him on designing the
Arduns. Now here I am talking to probably the most important guy I will ever
meet I decided to ask him a couple of Questions. As far as I knew up to that
point no one knew for sure how many heads were actually made. So I just
asked
him he said to me in his broken English voice 225, 250 sets. Well, not
wanting to stop talking to him just yet I asked him did Chrysler copy your
heads and he said yes. Now I know this debate about the Hemi heads being
copied for the Arduns will always be a controversy but at least I know what
he told me when I asked! Zoras wife Effy was also sitting there and she
related a story about how in 1951 she was ridding in a car with Zora when
they see a large bill board on the side of the road advertised the new
Hemi
V8 engine she says Zora sid Effy thats my motor. Well, enough about Zora
and me now about the Allard. At the 91 Watkins Glen event the car ran
poorly.
Since I had lots of time running a 3 carb Ardun motor doind so since 1981 I
knew it need a little attention to make it run better. The trouble was Tom
Turner had his engine builder with him and he would have nothing to do with
a
Hot Rodder trying to give him guidance. So need less to say the car never
ran
right the whole time at this event. Now fast forward to 2000 I receive a
call
from Jerry Laterio he says he is thinking about buying this very same Allard
he was told that I knew of it so I told him what I could including how
poorly
it ran in 91 when I last saw the car. Well, next call from Jerry he tells me
he is now the owner of this very historic car and guess what it still runs
poorly. Here it was 9 years later and no one was able to fix it. As Mike
said
to you before we were able to get this car to finally run as it should. Some
of the additions besides the carb work and distributor was the addition of a
MSD 6A ignition system, conversion to 12 volts the correction of a major oil
leak in the fuel pump push rod hole causing the engine to have very low oil
pressure and the rewiring of the plug wires making thermostat mounts that
went into the upper radiator hoses so the engine would get warm and
machining
of the intake bridge manifolds and spacers. Jerry has continued to find
other
info about this car. I had always wondered if this car was the first to ever
have an Ardun in it. It turns out that it was the heads in the car are not
the originals though. The only original parts are the Valve spec plates on
the valve covers. The original heads that were in this car are owned by the
founder of the Bean Bandits the one and only Arkin Arnet (sic) . Jerry has
been in contact with him to verify the facts and all is true. He still has
the Ardun engine on his engine stand minus the valve lash plates and no he
wont sell it. RON
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