Editing Ford flathead V8 engine

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox automobile engine  
| name          = Ford flathead V8
| image         = 1942 Ford Super Deluxe engine.JPG
| aka           = Ford L-head V8
| manufacturer  = [[Ford Motor Company]]
| production    = {{ubl
                  | 1932&ndash;1953 for the U.S. consumer car-and-truck market
                  | 1932&ndash;1954 for the Canadian consumer car-and-truck market
                  }}
| successor     = {{ubl
                  | [[Ford Y-block engine|Ford Y-block V8]]
                  | [[Lincoln Y-block V8 engine|Lincoln Y-block V8]]
                  }}
| configuration = [[Side-valve engine|Side-valve]] [[V8 engine|V8]]
}}

The '''Ford flathead V8''' (often called simply the '''Ford flathead''' or '''flathead Ford''') is a [[V8 engine]] with a [[flathead engine|flat cylinder head]] introduced by the [[Ford Motor Company]] in 1932 and built by Ford through 1953. During the engine's first decade of production, when [[overhead-valve]] engines were used by only a small minority of makes, it was usually known simply as the '''Ford V‑8''', and the first car model in which it was installed, the [[1932 Ford|Model 18]], was (and still is) often called simply the "Ford V-8" after its new engine. An automotive milestone as the first affordable V8, it ranks as one of the company's most important developments.<ref name="Sorensen1956p231">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|p=231}}.</ref> The engine was intended to be used for big passenger cars and trucks;<ref name="K214">{{Harvnb|Kremser|1942}}. p 214</ref> it was installed in such (with minor, incremental changes)<ref name="Sorensen1956p229">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|p=229}}.</ref> until 1953, making the engine's 21-year production run for the U.S. consumer market longer than the 19-year run of the [[Ford Model T engine]].<ref name="Sorensen1956p229"/> It was also built independently by Ford licensees.{{cn|date=May 2024}}. The engine was named on [[Ward's 10 Best Engines#20th Century|Ward's list of the 10 best engines of the 20th century]]. It was a staple of hot rodders in the 1950s, and it remains famous in the [[classic car]] hobbies even today, despite the huge variety of other popular V8s that followed.

==Development and production==
Ford had helped pioneer the concept of an affordable mass-produced car. Historically, these used [[inline-four engine|inline-four]] and [[straight-six engine|inline-six]] cylinder engines. Following French engineer [[Léon Levavasseur]]'s [[V8 engine#Origins|invention of the V8]] in 1902, V8s, V12s, and even V16s, were produced for use in luxury models.<ref name="Sorensen1956p225">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|p=225}}.</ref> The [[Cadillac V8 engine]] is credited as the first mass-produced V8, and when Ford Motor Company acquired rival luxury marque [[Lincoln L series|Lincoln]] in 1922, it was already producing a flathead V8 with [[List of Ford engines#8 cylinder|fork and blade connecting rods]] which remained in production after Ford took over until 1932.

Even though Ford had an engineering team assigned to develop its own V8, many of the ideas and innovations were [[Henry Ford]]'s. The [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Model A]], its variants (B and 18), and this V8 engine were developed between 1926 and 1932, and this period was the elder Ford's last central contribution to the company's engineering.<ref name="Sorensen1956p225"/>

Mercury's {{cvt|239|cuin|L|1}} version of the engine was introduced in 1939.<ref>Shelton, p.20.</ref>

An economizing design feature of this engine was the use of three [[main bearing]]s to support the crankshaft, rather than the customary five used with most V-8s. The flathead mounted the [[camshaft]] above the [[crankshaft]], like later pushrod-operated [[overhead-valve engine]]s. Valves for each bank were mounted inside the triangular area formed by the "vee" of cylinders. The intake manifold fed both banks from inside the vee, but the exhaust ports had to pass between the cylinders to reach the outboard exhaust manifolds, since it did not use a [[T-head engine|t-head configuration]]. Such an arrangement transferred exhaust heat to the block, imposing a large cooling load; it required far more coolant and radiator capacity than equivalent overhead-valve V8 engines. Ford flathead V8s were notorious for cracking blocks if their barely adequate cooling systems were overtaxed (such as in trucking or racing). The simple design left much room for improvement, and the power available after even low cost modifications was usually substantially more than could be obtained from an overhead-valve inline six-cylinder engine of similar [[engine displacement|displacement]]{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}}.

The Ford flathead V8 was licensed to other producers. It was used by [[Simca]] in [[France]] until 1961 and in [[Brazil]] until 1964<!--or is it 1969? --> for cars and until 1990 in the Simca [[Unic]] Marmon Bocquet military truck.<ref>{{cite book|title=How to Build Ford Flathead V-8 Horsepower|author=George McNicholl|pages=77–78|isbn=0-7603-2290-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItB4Tg8IYLYC&pg=PA77|date=1 October 2005}}</ref> In the United States, the flathead V8 was replaced by the more modern overhead-valve [[Ford Y-block engine]] in 1954. During [[World War II]], the engine was used on the first prototype of the Romanian [[Mareșal tank destroyer]], but was considered too weak and thus replaced by more powerful engines for later versions of the vehicle.{{sfn|Axworthy|1995|pp=229, 231}}

==Components==
{{multiple issues|section=yes|
{{Original research section|date=February 2019}}
{{Cleanup section|reason=<br />This section should contain information on engine design and functionality – currently, it is focussed too much on modicifications for hot-rodding purposes, without citing proper sources.|date=February 2019}}
}}

===Crankshaft===
The crankshaft development for the Ford flathead V8 was pioneering. The engine's production development program began with a [[forging|forged steel]] crank, per conventional practice, but Ford then developed the improved [[foundry]] practice, [[heat treatment|heat-treating]], and materials handling logistics to make the cranks from [[steel casting|cast steel]] instead, yielding a crank just as strong, but less expensive to produce.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp230-231">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|pp=230–231}}.</ref> These new methods were patented.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp230-231"/> The simple three-main-bearing crankshaft attached two connecting rods to a single crankpin, one rod from each cylinder bank. As with other crankshafts, [[balancing machine|static and dynamic balancing]] was performed ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RB3z1er9Sw&t=14m53s as this video on the Ford flathead V8 shows]).

The short crankshaft proved quite durable in comparison to six-cylinder engines when roughly handled. For these reasons, the flathead Ford became a favorite among hot-rodders, and this in turn led to a rich supply of aftermarket performance parts. With the use of specialized pistons or connecting rods the stroke of the crankshaft could be increased by welding and regrinding as a method of increasing engine displacement, usually in combination with overboring.

===Block===
[[File:The Valve In Block Design or Flathead Block.jpg|thumb|Engine block of a flathead V8 showing the location of the valve ports (the holes above the large cylinder bores)]]

One of the most important innovations in the Ford flathead V8 was the [[sand casting|casting]] of the [[crankcase]] and all 8 [[cylinder (engine)|cylinders]] in one [[cylinder block|engine block]]. This level of [[monobloc engine|monobloc design]] for V-8 blocks had been accomplished before,<ref name="Automobile_Trade_Journal_1916_p101A-103">{{Citation |author=Editorial staff |year=1916 |title=Pennsylvania S.A.E. section formally organized and holds first professional session |journal=Automobile Trade Journal |volume=20 |pages=101A–103 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqgyAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA102 |postscript=.}}</ref> but it had never seen mass production. Making it practical for the latter was an example of the production development needed to bring a V8 engine to the widely affordable segment of the market.<ref name="Sorensen1956p225"/> Most V engines of the time had multiple cylinder blocks bolted to a common crankcase (itself a separate casting). At most, each bank of the V was an integral block, but many V engines had four- or even six-cylinder blocks, with cylinders cast in pairs or triples. Like most other engine blocks of the 20th century, it was [[cast iron]]; but the foundry practice (e.g., workflows, materials handling) was a revolutionary advancement in the mass production of castings.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp107,227-231">{{Harvnb|Sorensen|1956|pp=107,227–231}}.</ref> [[Charles E. Sorensen]] lived up to his longtime nickname at Ford, "Cast-Iron Charlie", by leading this revolution to bring Ford's first V8 to market.<ref name="Sorensen1956pp107,227-231" />

As with any V8, the block was relatively light for the displacement supported. The cooling jacket reaches down to the bottom dead center, which is unusually low. American engineers at the time believed this would improve the piston cooling.<ref name="K215">{{Harvnb|Kremser|1942}}. p 215</ref> The bottom of the block formed the parting line for the main bearing caps. The most complex part of the block was the exhaust passage routing. The exhaust valves were on the inside of the '''V''' and exhaust flow was initially downward and passed around the cylinders through the water jacket to exit on the outside of the cylinder block. The routing of the exhaust through the water jacket put an extremely heavy load on the cooling system and led to frequent overheating, especially on early models, if the cooling system was not maintained. Somewhat primitive water pumps used until the advent of the 1948 8RT and 1949 8BA models also contributed to the overheating problem. The space for the exhaust flow was also somewhat restricted, so the exhaust passages were tall and narrow in some locations. The gas flow past the rough sand castings could be greatly improved by polishing the passages. In early blocks, some cylinder walls were extremely thin due to cores shifting during casting.

===Bearings===
The engines built from 1932 to 1935 had [[Babbitt bearing|poured main bearings]] which required skill and machine shop equipment to overhaul. Part of the 1936 production and all production from 1937 to the end of flathead V8 production had both replaceable shell main bearings and connecting rod inserts, enabling straightforward and low cost rebuilding, another reason why the Ford was a favorite of amateur mechanics. These shell main bearings are made of a cadmium silver alloy.<ref name="K215" />

=== Camshaft and timing ===
The Ford flathead V8 has a single camshaft located inside the engine block above the crankshaft. It is spur gear driven; the camshaft's spur gear is made of plastic. The camshaft has three camshaft bearings. A lid made of cast iron covers the camshaft spur gears; the ignition distributor is placed on top of this lid and is driven by the camshaft spur gears. For powering the fuel pump, the camshaft is fitted with an extra cam located in the bearing on the flywheel side.<ref name="K215" />

===Lubrication===
Ford products used high [[oil pressure]] for lubrication for the main and rod bearings, as do all modern vehicle combustion engines. This offered a significant performance advantage, as full pressure lubrication allowed for continuous use above 3500&nbsp;rpm and would not starve the rod bearings for oil, which was necessary for high performance applications, such as racing. For this reason, bank robber [[Clyde Barrow]] preferred to steal Fords as getaway vehicles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter from Clyde Barrow to Henry Ford Praising the Ford V-8 Car, 1934 |date=10 April 1934 |website=[[The Henry Ford]] |url=https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/281082/}}</ref> It also eliminated a complex oil jet system to feed the rod bearings in the oil pan. As a side benefit to a prospective purchaser of a used vehicle, this also enabled the condition of the connecting rod and main bearings to be determined indirectly by observation of the oil pressure gauge after the vehicle was warmed up, provided that oil of normal viscosity was in use.

===Exhaust===
The exhaust outlets in the 1932&ndash;48 cars and the 1932&ndash;47 trucks were near the front of the manifolds aiming down and sometimes out. A Y-pipe took the exhaust gases to the right side of the vehicle to a single muffler, then to a single pipe out the back on the right side. The left side exhaust manifold exhausted to the front in the 1949–53 Ford cars, where a crossover pipe took the exhaust to the forward end of the right side manifold on the car engines and between the 1st and second cylinder on some trucks, in turn exhausting to a single pipe at the rear.

A common conversion for the 1949&ndash;53 Ford cars and 1952&ndash;53 Mercurys was to block off the right forward manifold entrance and route the left side exhaust to a new pipe to form a dual exhaust system with better flow characteristics. These typically involved installation of free-flowing mufflers, which if at a legal noise level still allowed low frequency sounds to pass, giving a characteristic rumbling dual exhaust sound to these systems. In the 1950s shortcut exhaust outlets with manually removed covers were added to street machines in emulation of vehicles intended for high speed straight line racing on dry lake beds, typically located just behind the front wheel, although chromed external runners sometimes extended to just forward of the rear wheel. These covers were referred to as ''lake plugs'', the pipes as ''lake pipes''. This style exhaust was also used legally in sanctioned drag racing and illegally in unsanctioned performance demonstrations.

===Internal Air flow===
More extreme modifications were to improve the airflow by removing material from the top of the block between the valves and the cylinders (called ''relieving''), increasing the size of the inlet and exhaust passages (called ''porting''), and by ''polishing'' the sand-cast surfaces to improve air flow. Increased compression ratios could be cheaply obtained by milling material from the head or by obtaining aluminum heads as aftermarket parts. Higher capacity intake manifolds were similarly available. Changing the camshaft to a higher performance version required head removal so that the valves could be held up out of the way, so this was usually done only as part of a substantial rework of the basic engine.

===Overhead-valve kits===
A popular modification for the flathead was conversion to an [[overhead-valve]] configuration, and many such modification kits were available, including the ''Ardun'' heads<ref>[http://www.ardun.com Announcing the Reintroduction of the ARDUN OHV Cylinder Head]. ''ardun.com'', 1 July 2008</ref><ref>{{Cite news |at=The Grand Finale |title=Automotive History: The Small Ford Flathead V8 (V8-60), Part Three – The Simca Years |date=5 October 2016 |website=Curbside Classic |url=http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/automotive-history-the-small-ford-flathead-v8-v8-60-part-three-the-simca-years/}}</ref> from [[Zora Arkus-Duntov]] who was to go on to fame as the "father of the Corvette". These conversions were not initially demanded by [[hot rod]]ders looking for extra power, as they had not yet exhausted the capabilities of the flathead configuration, but were demanded by users of the engine in trucks and other such high load applications, where the constant flow of hot exhaust through the block to the exhaust manifolds caused the entire engine to overheat; the overhead-valve heads routed the exhaust out more directly, and away from the block.

==Hot-rodding applications==
In the early 1950s, many hot-rodders could not afford to purchase and modify even a "cheap" flathead V-8, and a large investment in machine work and [[aftermarket (automotive)|aftermarket]] parts was necessary to bring a Ford flathead V-8 to even the performance levels of most stock OHV V-8s available at the time. Even many inline six-cylinder engines from that period could be modified to produce more reliable and practical power than Ford V-8s, as the Ford flathead V-8 is saddled with many design features that make modifying it for true high-performance use difficult and expensive compared with other V-8s.

As modern OHV V-8s became available and affordable in salvage yards, the Ford flathead V-8 rapidly disappeared from the hot-rodding scene. Hot-rodding in general moved away from the salvage-yard car builds as parts and labor became more expensive and many hot-rod shops priced themselves out of business. The modern OHV V-8 powered vehicles available also contributed to the demise of hot-rodding's original culture (affordable modifications by working-class car owners), as new factory cars became capable of much higher performance than most hot-rods.

Today the flat-head Ford is mainly used in "retro" hot-rod builds by builders more interested in an historic feel and recreating history than performance. Even four-cylinder Ford engines are used to make a retro hot-rod "correct".
[[File:FordFlathead hop-up.JPG|thumb|Ford flathead V-8 with an aftermarket twin plug cylinder head & Stromberg carburettors]]

===Modern performance flatheads===
Ford flatheads are still [[hot rod]]ded today, with a special [[land speed record]] class for flathead engines. The current record holder achieves {{cvt|700|hp|0}} and {{cvt|300|mph}}.<ref>"[http://www.bluebird-electric.net/flatfire.htm Flatfire Racer Sets 300 Miles per Hour Record at Bonneville Salt Flats 2004 Using 1946 Ford Flathead Engine; Ron Main Speed Ace on Land]." ''bluebird-electric.net,'' 7 October 2006.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.flatfire.com/Flathead300mph.htm |title=Flathead Engine Breaks 300 mph Barrier |date=14 September 2002 |website=Flatfire Racing Team |publisher=Main Attractions |location=Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah }}</ref> The current land speed record for a Ford flathead V8 stands at 302.462mph.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://scta-bni.org/bonneville-rulebook-recs |title=Bonneville Rulebook Records}}</ref>

==Tractor conversions==
During the 1930s to 1950s, the farm market in North America and parts of Europe demanded ever-increasing power output from farm [[tractor]]s. It was in this climate that Ford experimented with V-8 tractor designs, some individual farmers converted their 4-cylinder tractors to Ford inline-6 or V-8 engines, and a few aftermarket companies offered such conversions for sale. Among the latter, the best-known were Funk conversions by brothers Joe and Howard Funk. In the 1930s, the Funk brothers built aircraft—including the [[Funk B]], which used an engine design based on Ford engines. In the late 1940s, their aircraft line became unprofitable, but they found renewed profitability in aftermarket parts for tractors—transmissions, engines, and accessories.<ref name="Leffingwell2002pp145-151">{{Harvnb|Leffingwell|2002|pp=145–151}}</ref> They sold many converted [[Ford N-Series tractor]]s and conversion kits using Ford industrial inline-6 engines and Ford flathead V-8 engines.<ref name="Leffingwell2002pp145-151"/>

==Version types==
[[File:1937 Ford coupe engine.JPG|right|thumb|Flathead V8 in a 1937 Ford coupé]]
Types are classified by their [[engine displacement|displacement]].

===221===
The original flathead engine displaced {{cvt|221|cuin|L|1}}, with {{cvt|3.0625|by|3.75|in}} bore and stroke.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" >''Street Rodder'', 1/85, p.&nbsp;73</ref> The [[engine block|block]] was cast as a single piece (''[[monobloc cylinders|monobloc]]'') for durability, and a single-barrel [[carburetor]] fed the engine. The 1932 V8-18 with 5.5:1 [[compression ratio|compression]]<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> produced {{cvt|65|hp|0}}. The 1933&ndash;34 V8-40 raised compression to 6.33:1<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> and power to {{cvt|75|hp|0}}. In 1934 a two barrel down draft carburetor was introduced.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} 1935's V8-48 saw compression drop to 6.3:1, but power climb to {{cvt|85|hp|0}}, and torque was rated at {{cvt|144|lbft|0}}.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> It became the V8-68 in 1936, with compression, horsepower, and torque unchanged.

Production of the original 221 lasted from 1932 through to 1936. These engines can be identified by the fact that the water pumps are at the front of the heads. A similar 221 flathead was used in Fords for 1937 and 1938 but the block was revised to have the water pumps mounted on the block. This design also relocated the water outlet from the front of the heads to the top center of the heads. These, designated V8-78, were offered with standard 6.2:1 compression aluminum or 7.5:1 compression iron [[cylinder head]]s, rated at {{cvt|85|hp|0}} and {{cvt|144|lbft|0}} (aluminum) or {{cvt|94|hp|0}} (iron).<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 1932 through 1938 motors used twenty-one studs to hold down each head and are known as "21 stud" motors. This motor continued to be made into the 1950s in Europe.

In late 1938 Ford introduced V8-81A,<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> commonly called the "24 stud" engine because it uses twenty-four studs to hold down each head. This engine debuted at the same time as the 239 motor. With 6.12:1 compression,<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> horsepower remained the same, but torque increased by {{cvt|2|lbft|0}}. In 1939, as the V8-91A, compression increased to 6.15:1, power rose to {{cvt|90|hp|0}}, and torque reached {{cvt|155|lbft|0}};<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> the ratings remained the same for the 1940 V8-01A, 1941 V8-11A, and the last civilian model, the V8-21A, which saw compression rise to 6.2:1.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> This engine was used through 1942 for civilian use and saw some use in military vehicles during World War Two. Collectively all of the 221 motors are commonly referred to as "85 horse" motors.

===239===
[[File:1953 Ford V8-B3 flathead (Sunliner).jpg|thumb|'''V8-B3''' engine in a 1953 [[1952 Ford|Ford Crestline Sunliner]]]]
Ford introduced the {{cvt|239|cuin|L|1}} V8-99A engine with {{cvt|3.1875|by|3.75|in}} bore and stroke and 6.15:1 compression in 1939.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> It produced {{cvt|95|hp|0}} and {{cvt|170|lbft|0}}.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> This was done to provide a more powerful engine for the [[Mercury (automobile)|Mercury]] cars, which Ford Motor Company started making in 1939. It was used in Mercurys in 1939 and in Fords in 1946. This engine is very similar to later versions of the 221 engine. As the V8-09A in 1940, compression, power, and torque were unchanged; in 1941, the V8-19A compression and power were static, but torque rose by {{cvt|6|lbft|0}}, while the 1942 V8-29A increased compression to 6.4:1 and power to {{cvt|100|hp|0}}, while torque stayed the same.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> Postwar, it became the V8-69 (suffixed "A" in Fords, "M" in Mercurys), with compression 6.75:1, {{cvt|100|hp|0}}, and {{cvt|180|lbft|0}}.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> For 1947 and 1948, only the designation changed, to V8-79 and -89.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 239 was redesigned in 1948 as the 8RT for Ford trucks and in 1949 as the 8BA for the cars. It had higher 6.8:1 compression, but performance was unchanged.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 1950 V8-0BA boosted torque by {{cvt|1|lbft|0}}, the 1951 -1BA by {{cvt|6|lbft|0}} more, while in 1952, as the V8-B2, compression climbed to 7.2:1, power to {{cvt|110|hp|0}}, and torque to {{cvt|194|lbft|0}}, then to {{cvt|196|lbft|0}} in the -B3 of 1953, its final year.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 1948 to 1953 engines have a revised cooling and ignition system. Collectively all 239 engines are referred to as "100 horse" engines, although the horsepower was increased in 1952 to 110 horsepower in cars and 106 horsepower in trucks. This engine was used in Ford's transit buses during the most productive years of the company's short stint in the transit bus business from the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, most notably in the 1939&ndash;1947 version of the [[Ford Transit Bus]].

The latest iteration of this engine was used from 1948 to 1953 in the U.S and till 1954 in Canada. It was initially designated the 8BA (see above) in automobiles and the 8RT in trucks. 8RT remained the truck engine designation throughout the entire run from 1948 through 1953 in the U.S (1954 in Canada). The engines were essentially identical. Earlier Ford V8s had the unique Ford designed distributor driven directly from the forward end of the camshaft, which was an inconvenient location for maintenance. This final flathead used a more conventional distributor driven at a right angle to the crankshaft and located at the right front of the engine where it was readily accessible. The water inlets and thermostat housings were moved to the front end of the heads, and the 21 studs and nuts that attached the heads on the old engine were replaced by 24 bolts.

==={{anchor|136|Aquilon|Simca|Emi-Sul|Super Typhoon}}136===
[[File:1953 Ford Comète, Aquilon Engine.jpg|thumb|The 144ci ''Aquilon'' engine used by Ford France and later Simca]]
A {{cvt|136|cuin|L|1}} V8-74<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> version was introduced in the United States in 1937. With {{cvt|2.6|by|3.2|in}} bore and stroke and 6.6:1 compression,<ref name="K214" /> the engine was rated {{cvt|60|hp|0}} and {{cvt|94|lbft|0}}.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The designation changed again in 1939, to V8-922A, but the specifications remained the same.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> It was produced in Europe in 1935 and 1936, and was used in the many standard Ford vehicles based on the [[1937 Ford|car platform of the era]]. It was not very popular with U.S. buyers who were used to the {{cvt|85|hp|0}} cars. Redesignated V8-82A in 1938, V8-922A in 1939, and V8-022A in 1940, compression, power, and torque remained unchanged.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The engine was very popular as a powerplant for midget race cars after [[World War II]]. This engine is most commonly referred to as the "60 horse" flathead, or the V8-60.<ref name="K214" /> It was replaced by the [[Ford Straight-6 engine|226 straight-6]] in the [[1941 Ford]]s, though it would continue to be used after the war in the French [[Ford Vedette]] and the British [[Ford Pilot]].

In 1952 [[Ford SAF|Ford France]] (who called this engine the ''Aquilon'') created a somewhat bored out version displacing {{cvt|{{cvt|2355|cc|cuin|0|disp=number}}|cuin|L|1}}. Production was taken over by [[Simca]] in 1954 who began installing it in their [[Simca Vedette]] in 1955. Simca then transferred the Aquilon production line to [[Simca do Brasil]], where it was kept in production until 1969 (the company was known as Chrysler Brazil from July 1967).<ref name=SdB>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/simca/simca-aquilon.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425220541/https://www.allpar.com/cars/adopted/simca/simca-aquilon.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-04-25 |magazine=Rod & Custom (Brazil) |number=10 |title=The Simca Aquilon: Ford V8, Retuned by Chrysler and Simca |last=Ferraresi |first=Rogério}}</ref> Simca do Brasil introduced a {{cvt|{{cvt|2432|cc|cuin|0|disp=number}}|cuin|L|1}} version in May 1962 but the real surprise was the {{cvt|2.5|L|cuin|order=flip}} "Emi-Sul" of April 1966. This engine has overhead valves and [[hemispherical combustion chamber]]s; it produced {{cvt|{{cvt|140|PS|hp|0|disp=number}}|hp|0}} in its most powerful version.<ref name=SdB/>

===255===
The 1948&ndash;1953 {{cvt|255|cuin|L|1}}, referred to as the model BG,{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} was achieved by use of a {{cvt|4|in}} stroke crankshaft in the {{cvt|239|cuin|L|1}} 8BA/8RT engine. It was only used in Mercury cars, and heavy service trucks. Known as the V8-9CM in 1949, it featured 6.8:1 compression, {{cvt|110|hp|0}}, and {{cvt|200|lbft|0}} torque,<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> which stayed the same for the 1950 V8-0CM.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 1951 V8-1CM raised this by {{cvt|2|hp|0}}, and {{cvt|6|lbft|0}} torque,<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> The 1952 V8-MA boosted compression to 7.2:1, power to {{cvt|125|hp|0}}, and torque to {{cvt|218|lbft|0}},<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" /> while only the name changed, dropping the -MA, for the last year of production, 1953.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p73" />

Because of interchangeability, the Mercury crank made a popular upgrade in the 239 among [[hot rod]]ders. In fact, in the 1950s, the flathead block was often fitted with crankshafts of up to {{cvt|4.125|in}} stroke.<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p72" >''Street Rodder'', 1/85, p.&nbsp;72.</ref> In addition, rodders in the 1950s routinely bored them out by {{cvt|0.1875|in}} (to {{cvt|3.375|in|disp=sqbr}}).<ref name="Street Rodder, 1/85, p72" />

French-built 255 engines were fitted to the [[Matford_F917WS#Simca_SUMB|Simca Unic Marmon Bocquet]] (SUMB) light trucks of the French military. During the 1990s, the Ford V8 that was used in these trucks was decommissioned and removed for more economical [[Renault]] engines to be retrofitted. Thus the Ford V8 engines were sold off and thus provided a new source of little-worn engines for the hotrodding community. The block metallurgy, being much later, was also stronger than the originals.{{sfnp|Bishop|Tardel|2015|page=11}}

===337===
The largest displacement version (at {{cvt|337|cuin|L|1|disp=sqbr}}) of the production Ford flathead V8 engine was designed for large truck service. When Lincoln could not produce the [[Lincoln-Zephyr V12 engine|V12 engine]] it wanted for the 1949 model year, the 337 engine was adapted for passenger car use. The 337 features a {{cvt|3.5|in}} bore and a {{cvt|4.375|in}} stroke.

It was introduced in the 1948 two and a half ton and three ton Ford trucks and the 1949 Lincoln passenger cars. It was produced through the 1951 model year. In 1952 it was replaced in the Lincoln passenger cars and Ford three ton trucks with the [[Lincoln V8 engine|Lincoln Y-block]] {{cvt|317|cuin|L|1}} [[overhead-valve]] V8. The two and a half ton Ford trucks got a {{cvt|279|cuin|L|1}} version of the 317 engine.

In the song "[[Hot Rod Lincoln]]", the engine referred to in the original lyrics was a Lincoln V12 not mentioned in the [[Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen|Commander Cody]] version.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rockabillyhall.com/HotRodLncln1.html|title=History of the song Hot Rod Lincoln|access-date=22 August 2015}}</ref>

*Vehicles used
**[[Lincoln (EL-series)]]
**[[Lincoln Cosmopolitan]]
**[[Ford F-Series (medium duty truck)]]

==See also==
* [[List of Ford engines]]
* [[Universal Carrier]], the most-produced of all WWII tracked military vehicles, powered with Ford flathead V8 engines.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
*Shelton, Chris. "Then, Now, and Forever" in ''Hot Rod'', March 2017, pp.&nbsp;16–29.

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |title=Third Axis – Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945 |first=Mark |last= Axworthy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhawQwAACAAJ |date=1995 |publisher=Arms and Armour |location=London |isbn=9781854092670}}
* {{Cite book |title=How to Rebuild & Modify Ford Flathead V-8 Engines |series=Motorbooks Workshop |first1=Mike |last1=Bishop |first2=Vern |last2=Tardel |publisher=Motorbooks |year=2015 |isbn=978-0760343999 }}
* {{Citation |last= Leffingwell |first= Randy | title=Ford Tractors | year=2002 |orig-year=1998 |publisher=Borders |isbn= 0-681-87878-9 |postscript=.}}
* {{Sorensen1956}}
* {{Citation |last=Kremser |first=Hans |year=1942 |title=Der Aufbau schnellaufender Verbrennungskraftmaschinen für Kraftfahrzeuge und Triebwagen |series=Die Verbrennungskraftmaschine |editor=Hans List |volume=11 |publisher=Springer |location=Wien |isbn=978-3-7091-9755-4 |language=de |pages=214–216}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ford Flathead engine}}
*[http://www.motorcityspeedequipment.com/content.asp?page_id=newblock Newly Engineered Flathead Block]
*[https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/hdrp-0511-ford-flathead-engine/ Ford Flathead V8 Engine Guide]

{{Ford_v8 engines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford flathead V8 engine}}
[[Category:Ford engines|Flathead]]
[[Category:V8 engines]]
[[Category:Gasoline engines by model]]