Group. I have to defer to all the veterans of records and successes
with big-inch flatheads at Bonneville and elsewhere.
But it should be pointed out that I have it on good authority that there
is a also a small-inch school of thought. This school holds that the
ideal racing flathead or Ardun is 3-5/16 x 4" (Mercury) crank, for low
cost, and you keep the metal in the block for structural strength, and
use the full-strength Merc crank with full-size crankpins, which is a
pretty strong item.
Next, you pull any amount of power you want out of the said shortblock,
with high compression for unblown gas class, (not so much on flatheads
which work better with low compression for gas flow), and by varying the
nitro percentage for unblown fuel, or by varying the boost for blown gas
or fuel.
With this technique you extract all the power that the flathead block
can withstand. At some level the Cunningham rods, Scat cranks, full
girdles, etc., become helpful. Makes sense to me. Cheers from
ArdunBill in the Great Dismal Swamp, Chesapeake, VA
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