simple flathead question needing an answer

Take the head off of an old Briggs&Straton, bolt to the top of a rake handle, when he steps on the rake, have a mirror handy ..Flat Heads Forever!

 

To: 286Merc. Thank you for the lovely photo of the 1938 Cadillac 135-degree v16 flathead engine. This was a particularly superb engine design. The crankshaft had nine main bearings--one between each pair of cylinders. Unlike almost all other flathead engines of the era, it was a "square engine" meaning that the bore and stroke (3.25") were identical. It was also a "modern" engine in the sense that it was one of the last new flathead engine designs completed before World War Two. Work had already begun on advanced high compression overhead valve engines. This V16 was theoretically the smoothest p***enger car engine in history. Firing intervals were even, the engine design insured inherent balance, the large number of cylinders ***ured even torque flow, and the short stroke helped to minimize individual piston-connecting rod imbalance forces. The cylinder block extended below the crankshaft centerline to provide additional rigidity. There is an SAE paper written by Ernest Seaholm, the senior engine designer responsible for the engine design. It tells much more and is worth reading.

I would like to see more photos if you have them. Have you ever ridden in a Cadillac V16 car?

 

Not to mention that Ford made flatheads that weren't V8's either.

 

I beg your pardon Sir but it is the overheads which have the valves upside down.

 

http://www.vintagespeed.com/

About halfway down the page there's an old catalog pix of a
"Edmunds equippped Nash flathead"

 

Well, there WAS Christie before that...
And Citroën is the first volume producer of FWD.
But. more to the point, does anyone realise that the Cord engine placed the trans in FRONT of the engine, as did Citroën for 40 years or so??

As to flathead Ford V8s, was that term in general use refering specifically to Fords before the '54 OHVs??

Cosmo

 

Here's a couple.........

Pontiac 8 inline... Oh owned by a Hamb'r as well.





Dodge-a-roo....inline 6 owned by another Hamb'r.

 

I think you need a new buddy, or tell him to quit staying up late at night and listening to the 'conspiracy crowd' on Art Bell....

Now...trivia buffs and bowtie fanatics...which US auto mfr was first to claim 1hp per cubic inch or more...and what year was that? and which engine?

shooby do wop baaadaaaa

 

Chrysler NASCAR 331 cubes 350 Hp 1955, NASCAR changed the rules to outlaw it.

 

Actually, Buick and Chevrolet are the only U.S. car companies I can think of that DIDN'T run flatheads in the '20s and '30s.

 

Plymouth used their flat six up into 1960.

 

Studebaker until 1963, IIRC.
Cosmo

 

1956 Chrysler 354 - Optional engine was rated 355HP

 

What did they call the Ford flathead when they ALL had flatheads and before the overhead became popular (besides Buick and Chevy)?

 

Flathead was not a commonly used term in hot rodding until the rocker arm engines began to become accepted. The Ford guys had a few colorful terms of their own for the OHV guys.
Buick used an L head (this is how most manuals decribe a flathead engine) in the '29 -'30 Marquette, but the car doesn't have any Buick badging ...
Some (?) Chevrolet engines in 1911-1912 were L head according to an SIA article I read a few months ago.
Wills St. Claire engines were OHC, lots of aluminum and innovation