There has been many good Pro Stock racers but nobody will ever match Glidden. Using engines that nobody else in their right mind would use, therefore no one knew how to use, he beat engines that had 100's of people doing development work on for decades. What he did was impossible.
Interesting how it was confirmed that Don Hardy already had a Volare built for Glidden for 1980 and that it was Mopar's bankruptcy that quit Glidden, not the other way around. So I guess that means bob had to scramble at the last minute to go back to a Ford, what a let-down that must have been for Bob.... and what a blown opportunity for Mopar.
Noone else but bob Glidden would have had the fortitude and put in the work that he did to make that combination work, let alone DOMINATE a very competitive field. Back then there were really no other "big name" Mopar pro stockers that were really Nationally competitive back then, and even if there were it's unlikely Bob would have been willing to sell off all that hard work and speed secrets to anyone else.
If those ported W2 heads made 900 hp back in the day I'm wondering why nobody ever copied them and sold that combination of rectangular W2 heads with matching intake. The stuff that Mopar sold over the counter never got close to 900 hp back then.
Re: Glidden’s Arrow
[Re: AndyF]
#3189315 11/07/2311:43 AM11/07/2311:43 AM
If those ported W2 heads made 900 hp back in the day I'm wondering why nobody ever copied them and sold that combination of rectangular W2 heads with matching intake. The stuff that Mopar sold over the counter never got close to 900 hp back then.
I think it was up to 970HP by the end of the video? "Your ET / MPH computed from your vehicle weight of 2350 pounds and HP of 900 is 8.02 seconds and MPH of 168.48 MPH." But the math was different back then. NOT FOR ONE SECOND to take away from the cool factor OR the innovation and accomplishments! This is just typical 'car-show' talk.
It'd be interesting to blueprint Bob's 79 spec motor and dyno it, I'd bet it was well over 800 hp but 9 would be pushing close to 3hp/Cube (assuming he was running around 315 cubes) That arrow was really pulling in the higher rpm in every gear and his header primaries looked HUGE.
I wish there was more info regarding the development of the 48 degree block and who found the limitations of the 59 degree lifter angle. I'm thinking that it must first go back to the Trans Am days and Paul Rossi running the 305 Daytona in the 71 Daytona 500.
Also Petty was being pretty successful in NASCAR when the first went to the smallblocks in the mid 70's. Petty switched to GM because after 76-77 because he couldn't run the 74 Charger body anymore, it wasn't because the smallblocks weren't making competitive horsepower.
I think in the comments he retracts the HP numbers back down some. Still a good channel for vintage pro stock engines as he has some cool stuff for show and tell. He is mostly a Ford 351c guy, but throws Mopar and GM stuff in when he finds it.
The material left between those ports is so narrow how does an intake gasket even work on such a small area? I'm sure Bob pulled those engines apart very frequently due to necessity so long term gasket life was of little concern.
That stuff was secret. I remember seeing intakes covered in the pits.
It would not have been secret if Mopar was paying the bills and providing parts. When Bob switched to Fords Mopar Performance should've been able to copy that top end package and sell it. I doubt that it actually made 900 hp since I don't think an X block would handle 900 hp for very long but that combo might have been making 800 hp.
If Mopar had sold a top end package that made 800 hp on a high compression X block small block they would've moved the bar up a few notches. Lots of guys would've wanted those parts in the 80's and 90's.
That vid shows too different block. Both look like the decks were cut .250 or better and both show a bit different lifter valley. Id swear 12-15 years ago these blocks were listed on ebay but I could be wrong but I do follow these old ones close as they were semi cheap to buy.
First pic is one of mine and then screen shots from the vid.
Almost looks from the lifter valley on the one by some of the casting marks a different core box was used.
It'd be interesting to blueprint Bob's 79 spec motor and dyno it, I'd bet it was well over 800 hp but 9 would be pushing close to 3hp/Cube (assuming he was running around 315 cubes) That arrow was really pulling in the higher rpm in every gear and his header primaries looked HUGE.
I wish there was more info regarding the development of the 48 degree block and who found the limitations of the 59 degree lifter angle. I'm thinking that it must first go back to the Trans Am days and Paul Rossi running the 305 Daytona in the 71 Daytona 500.
Also Petty was being pretty successful in NASCAR when the first went to the smallblocks in the mid 70's. Petty switched to GM because after 76-77 because he couldn't run the 74 Charger body anymore, it wasn't because the smallblocks weren't making competitive horsepower.
If I remember right Glidden himself redid those lifter bores (cut out and made new ones) he said without that mod the 340 wouldn’t fall out of a tree. The MAIN reason it ran that good. The LA engine was just an adaption from the Poly engines rocker arm geometry. I was reading all the stories about his little Arrow then, I’m shocked now that he was only 35 at the time. Witer-Weber had their 360 based W2 headed single four Daytona (C-altered I think) running 7.70s not long after that (that engine was loud!)
That vid shows too different block. Both look like the decks were cut .250 or better and both show a bit different lifter valley. Id swear 12-15 years ago these blocks were listed on ebay but I could be wrong but I do follow these old ones close as they were semi cheap to buy.
First pic is one of mine and then screen shots from the vid.
Almost looks from the lifter valley on the one by some of the casting marks a different core box was used.
I'd say you are right on both accounts. Look at the material of the deck above the cylinder bores. Also look how much material has been removed to clear the pushrods on the second image, my guess by cutting the deck that much it helped with pushrod geometry too. It appears that both of the "Glidden" blocks have been decked a lot.
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