Does anyone remember the Flathead Ford??
yes, and none of the listed engines would have been invented without that first step.
Yes, but we’re dating ourselves. Flathead Ford came out in 1932 with the Model A and continued into the 50’s. The 50’s was the time of the Chevy 6 cylinder “Sewing Machine” engine.
Yeah. The 8BAs. You couldn't put coolant in them while they were hot or they'd crack the block between the exhaust valve seat and the cylinder wall.
Yes, my dad always said they could take high RPM where the Chevy 6’s would throw a rod.
As a kid I had a friend with a 1950 Ford that had the flat head 8. He just got a 57 Ford with a 312 in it, and wanted to “blow up” the flat head. He started it up, put a cement block on the gas pedal, and we went out to finish off to drink beer. Came back about an hour later, it was still running.
In hs I worked at a gas station and the guy who owned it raced a 1950 Ford coupe with a flathead V8. I remember one issue as you cranked up the compression and timing was cracking the block between the valve seats or between the valve seat and the cylinder bore. Also the block would not tolerate overheating, and you needed a big radiator because the long exhaust passages in the block transferred a lot of heat to the cooling system.