Set of Fenton Heads on eBay...
RESERVE IS SET AT $899.99
THIS ITEM WILL BE SHIPPED FEDEX, NOT UPS AS SHOWN ABOVE
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These have just been professionally polished. My polisher was apprenticed in his trade about 68 years ago (Think of it. He was probably a little kid when these heads were cast.), so he has a bit of experience. His work proves it. Even if you find a NOS set of these, they won’t glow like mine. Again, special thanks to Dick of D & L Polishing in Riverside.
Unlike most of the flathead heads that show up on eBay, these heads haven't been surfaced to the point where there's little left of the combustion chamber. The whole chamber is there. These are probably either 8 or 8.5:1 compression ratio parts. One fin had a small piece broken off of it but it has been invisibly repaired. You absolutely won't be able to spot it. As a matter of fact, I'm not 100% sure of where it was. There was also a small casting flaw in one of the combustion chambers. That;s no longer there. A special thanks to Randy of Fortune Fabrication in Riverside for the excellent job he did on this as well as all the other work he's done for me.
Aaron Fenton made speed parts in the early 1950's. As you should know, he made lots of 2x2 manifolds for Ford flathead V8's, and his Chevy 6 manifold sold like crazy. As a matter of fact, his 2x1 Chevy intakes and headers are currently being repopped, but there are no repops of these Ford flathead heads. Fenton went on to buy out Eddie Edmunds machine tools and patterns at a tax auction. Fenton's flathead V8 heads were produced using a pattern he leased from Al Sharp. Is that a gathering of early speed equipment legends? So far as I know this is the only time Al Sharp actually leased one of his own designed head patterns. Sharps heads were considerably heavier and stronger than the rest and had less tendency to warp under heat. Not that flatties heat up............... Fenton was squeezed out of the head, intake and header business by Edelbrock, Weiand, and Offenhauser, but that didn't stop him. He went on to produce shifters and wheels that bring really high prices now. Incidentally, if anybody reading this knows any of Mr. Fenton's children or grandchildren, I'd appreciate your contacting me.
A bit on Al Sharp. Al Sharp was a genius. Before World War 2, he lived in southern California and regularly raced at the lakes. He was a member of the Idlers Car Club. Always a bit short on cash, all he could afford was a 2x2 Eddie Meyers intake for his flathead. The tight budget led to his first attempt at manifold design. He cobbled together a 4x2 built from a flat aluminum plate. When it didn't work out as well as he wanted, he went back to the Meyers 2x2 but became determined to learn how to do it right. He couldn't afford the engineering education he wanted, but he got himself a job as an apprentice pattern maker at a foundry . That job was to be the key to his future. After a stint in the Navy through World War 2, Sharp decided to go into the speed equipment business when he got out. From there, the legend grew. I could probably write 10-20 pages of the incredible accomplishments of this man, but I don't think eBay would be happy with me taking up that much bandwidth on their servers. Here's a few highlights. In 1946, with a little over $175 of his own money and a borrowed $1,000, he founded SP Pattern Service. The “P” was Gordon Pilkington, another pattern maker. Do SP tops for Stromberg 97's sound familiar? He started making patterns for himself as well as outside customers. One of his customers was GRANCOR, a Chicago company founded by the Granatelli Brothers, Andy, Vince and Joe. He made both head and manifold patterns for them. It's commonly stated in threads on forums on the internet that the GRANCOR manifolds and heads were produced by Edelbrock for the Granatelli's as the design is so similar. Only problem is that the pattern SP made for the Granatelli's was made almost 2 years before Edelbrock's Super. Who copied who? In 1948 he produced the first successful and efficient 3x2 for flatheads (I know, but notice I said efficient.). In 1952 He did the same with a 4x2. In an attempt to avoid reinventing the wheel, he bought a pair of patterns for a flathead Ford head from another pattern company, but when the first pair were cast and didn't work as well as hoped, he was forced to completely redesign them. That was a lucky break for us as his heads are the ones that came out of that process, and the majority of those who've used them or tested them feel they're the best flathead heads ever made. Al felt that the key to top performance on flathead heads was exhaust flow, the opposite of the vast majority of other head manufacturers, and designed them accordingly. History has proven him correct. Safety hubs, foot shaped gas pedals? All Al Sharp inventions. The first Aluminum Heads for early Chrysler Hemi's? Yup, Al Sharp! The modern engine stands we all use, Enderlie injector scoops, Moon early Hemi aluminum valve covers, like I said, I could go on for a long, long time. I'll let it go with the fact that it was tragic loss to all of us when Sharp passed away in 2004.
I'm sorry if my ads seem overly long and contain information you may not need to know. I'm 73 years old and feel obligated to pass what information I have along to the next generation of hot rodders. The information is hard to come by and without it being written down, history just disappears with the person who fails to leave it behind. I don't want to be that guy. I would recommend to all the other old timers out there with a wealth of information that they get it out on the internet. It won't do much good trapped in your mind a few years down the road.
