Hi Folks, encountered an "old boy" at the speed shop the other day and
had a nice chat while I was waiting for the Boss. The said old boy was
7 years my senior so I guess I'm at the point of being an old boy to
some people myself.
He was retired from many years in the local machine shop trade, but the
interesting thing was he went back to the Flathead racing era about
fifty years ago when he was involved with a local team that ran hot
Flatheads in what were then called "stock cars". Generally Ford coupes
of the '30s, on dirt or asphalt ovals. With or without fenders, etc.
He said the practice was stock cranks, rods and main caps, and the lower
end was generally reliable, but the top end was not. He said the
problem nobody could seem to find a good answer for was overheating, and
then the blocks would crack around the sidevalve seats and water would
start to seep into the combustion chamber. The blocks had valve seat
inserts in them, but would crack outside the seat, and no repair was
practical then. This was a persistent problem despite big radiators,
fans, flow-restrictors, etc. It arises of course from the Flathead
exhaust port routing through the water jacket. And the moderate speeds
on these short ovals.
The other interesting thing he told me about was when I showed him a
photo of my Ardun. "Zora Arkus-Duntov designed them," said he, "I met
him once". So I really perked up my ears then and asked him about it.
It seems he was at Daytona in the early '60s with a NASCAR team and Zora
had a Corvette experimental prototype down there, and drove it himself
around the Daytona track for exhibition to the crowd. My friend
remembered Zora as "A cocky little guy". Fair comment, but of course
Zora would have been some combination of excited and scared during the
event. The prototype had to perform well in front of the crowd, and he
had a lot to lose and gain personally and professionally, especially in
the event of an accident! So I can imagine his feelings.
You never know who you'll meet. It pays to be sociable. Cheers Bill
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