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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