Custom Street Rod Build - Garage Scene
Pete Aardema
From the March, 2008 issue of Street Rodder
By Eric Geisert
The quest for more speed and more power will never end for some rodders. In a strange way, it never can, because there will always be another combination of engine and driveline parts that can be put to the test. Pete aardema (are- dee-ma) knows this fact all too well, as he's been chasing the dream for more than 20 years
A self-confessed tinkerer, pete's fascination lies in four-valve heads, single- and dual-overhead cams, and aluminum blocks-all key ingredients for a lower e.t. Or record speed. And though he has a weakness for dry lakes racing (one of his 196-cid, four-banger engines has a record at 153 mph), most of what pete has to offer is for the street.
Not afraid to try something new, pete will pull from any parts bin to make what he wants work. Porsche four-valve heads on a big-block chevy? No problem. A pair of subaru heads (with twin cams) bolted to a 200-cid model a motor? Already got one. How 'bout a simple overhead cam conversion for a small-block chevy? He's made more than 50 of them. And he's finally started to adapt the ford big-block fes with one of his single overhead valve kits, too.
By accident, we discovered that the bore center on a 928 is within .030” of a BB Chevy and with help from Arias, an all aluminum 4-valve double OHC was born. The Dyno results at Westech in Mira Loma were better than expected. The engine made an astounding 550 ft. lbs. of torque at 2500 rpm.