Flathead Ford Information
- For nearly 30 years, virtually all mass-produced cars were powered by in-line 4-, 6- and 8-cylinder engines. Henry Ford and his son, Edsel were poised in the mid-1920s to replace the iconic Ford Model T with the stylish Model A, which began production in 1927. Henry Ford had hoped to power his new car with an air-cooled 8-cylinder radial engine, the X-8, but cooling and lubrication problems forced Ford to shelve the project and power the Model A with a 4-cylinder engine, according to Ateupwithmotor.com.
- By 1930, Ford returned to the 8-cylinder engine, this time concentrating on a V-8. At one time four separate teams of engineers worked on the V-8. Finally, Ford engineers Mil Zoerlein, Carl Schmaltz and Ray Lard produced a V-8 with the required twin banks of four cylinders shaped like a "V" on each side of the cast-iron block. The flathead, so named because the heads were flat, featured two water pumps, a generator/fan assembly and a single belt to operate them.
- The flathead V-8 displaced 221 cubic inches and had a 3.0626-inch bore and 3.750-inch stroke. The compression ratio was 5.5:1 and the engine generated 65 horsepower. It earned about 20 mpg. The new V-8 option available on the 1932 Fords cost an additional $50, but the car still sold for $100 less than the low-end 4-cylinder Plymouth produced by Chrysler.
- The 1932 to 1934 Ford Model B coupe, sedan, roadster, cabriolet and phaeton, which could all be equipped with the flathead V-8 engine, became instantly popular. The flathead V-8 was durable, powerful and had a lifespan that outlasted the straight-6 and straight-8 engines of Ford's competitors. In all, the 3-year production run of the Model B numbered more than four million units.
- For two decades Ford had cornered the V-8 engine market. It appeared that no improvements could be made on what was viewed in the automotive industry as a near-perfect powerplant. Once Chrysler got around to developing its own version with a Hemi engine, in which hemispherical combustion chambers allowed for better air/fuel mix to increase power, the US entered World War II and civilian auto production ceased. Chevrolet and Chrysler couldn't get their V-8s into cars until the late 1940s.
- Ford improved the performance of the flathead V-8 in 1937 by using aluminum heads and boosting horsepower to 85. Another version, which still used cast iron heads, saw its power output boosted to 94 horsepower. Fords equipped with these engines could hit 70 mph. By 1949 a 336.7-cubic-inch flathead V-8 generated 152 horsepower for Lincolns and Ford's big trucks. The flathead V-8 was retired after 1953.
