Ardun Motor Install - Meticulous Merc

Installed in the car you can clearly see how the oil pan is notched at the front to clear the steering rack, and how it now fits above the dropped crossmember.

Here's how the stainless steel exhaust looked at the beginning of this project. Most of the front section would be removed from the mufflers forward.

With the dummy block in place, along with all ancillaries, like the starter motor, shifter arm, brake pedal, oil pan, and oil lines, header fabrication could start. New collectors were joined to the old system using V-band clamps (arrow), available from companies like Deeds Engineering or Dynatech, which provide a leak-free joint that can be removed and reused indefinitely. A temporary jig was used to ensure both collectors would be at similar heights and then header construction could start.

This is the driver side header almost completed. Fabricated from sections of mandrel-bent stainless tubing, each tube was welded and ground smooth during installation. The tubes will now be sent out for polishing before they're welded to the header flange and collector, then polished again. This way no welds will be visible on the tubes themselves, and they'll be polished even in between the tubes, impossible to do after they're assembled.

Looking up at the driver side header flange, you can see how the tubes exit the heads vertically. They'll be welded inside the flanges. The masking tape is holding everything in position during fabrication.

Almost too nice to install in a car, the all-aluminum Ardun is a work of art. The polished ribs on the valve covers are replicated on the air cleaner, while a PowerGen alternator mounts in the stock Flathead location. Even the oil fill tube is a ribbed Ardun piece.