Ford’s flathead V-8 engine changed motoring forever. Introduced in 1932, the flathead V-8 offered people not only the opportunity to own a V-8-powered car but hope. The fact that it was available to pretty much anyone earning even a modest living provided hope to Americans everywhere that things were going to get better. The Arkus-Duntov brothers, Zora and Yura, were the masterminds behind the Ardun Mechanical Corp of New York, and by 1945, their government contracts were beginning to thin out. Ardun, a portmanteau of ARkus and DUNtov, approached Ford Motor Company with the idea of improving the flathead with new, overhead valve heads, though it was ultimately turned down. Undeterred, the company bought a couple of its own flatheads and, with engineer George Kudasch, went to work developing what would become the Holy Grail of performance equipment for the flathead V-8. Initially, the OHV Ardun heads were problematic, as they were very heavy, very large and very expensive, thanks largely to the use of premium, heat-treated 355-T6 Alcoa aluminum alloy—but, they did produce between 25% and 60% more power, depending on the overall engine tune. Employing hemispherical combustion chambers with centrally mounted spark plugs, twin valve springs, high-chromo rocker arms, bronze valve guides, streamlined exhaust ports and more, the exotic heads also inspired similar products later down the line from Stephens, Alexander and others. Despite the greatness of the Ardun heads, in the end, experts agree only 200-250 sets were originally made, the scarcity usually attributed to their expensive nature. One of the most outspoken fans of the Ardun Head V-8 was Willie Glass, who set records at Bonneville with an Ardun engine, and this particular engine was acquired from Glass. A Ford 239 CI flathead V-8 Ardun OHV conversion, it was originally intended as a build for the Grand National Roadster Show, features eight Weber carburetors and was scoped by Evernham Motorsports.
