1932 Ford V8

[Morris Minor]

92 years ago. Thought this was interesting and nicely done. It had a bumpy start, with engineering teething problems and the horrible economy.

[FoMoJo]

Good information.  As mentioned, the Ford V8 had some teething problems, but progressively got better.  The V8 flathead, in the '51 Mercury I had as my first car, it was 8 years old when I bought it, ran so smoothly and quietly you could hardly tell it was running, but there was a lovely sound coming out of the tailpipe.

[GoCougs]

It was quite something it its day - took competitors +/- 20 years to catch up (Dodge in '51 and Chevy in '55).

[Morris Minor]

Don't know the details (& finding it really difficult to visualize ) - but I remember someone saying exhaust gases in these can cause overheating problems because the exhaust ports for the two middle pistons in each bank of cylinders pass through the cooling jacket in restricted areas. The exhaust ports for the two outside pistons in each bank also pass through the cooling jacket, but on the outside of the cylinders.

[Morris Minor]

They had one in an auto museum near here. Got this shot of it a while back.You cannot view this attachment.

[CaminoRacer]

Don't know the details (& finding it really difficult to visualize ) - but I remember someone saying exhaust gases in these can cause overheating problems because the exhaust ports for the two middle pistons in each bank of cylinders pass through the cooling jacket in restricted areas. The exhaust ports for the two outside pistons in each bank also pass through the cooling jacket, but on the outside of the cylinders.

Flatheads are definitely limited by their cooling. Most are under 200 hp, supercharged ones can get into the 300 hp range.

Some salt flats racers have gotten up to ~700 hp but obviously not a street engine and those might all be running nitro or other fuels.

[FoMoJo]

Seems to be an entire industry around salvaging and rebuilding/hot-rodding these old flathead engines.  Many parts are being manufactured either to spec or for performance.

[Morris Minor]

Good information.  As mentioned, the Ford V8 had some teething problems, but progressively got better.  The V8 flathead, in the '51 Mercury I had as my first car, it was 8 years old when I bought it, ran so smoothly and quietly you could hardly tell it was running, but there was a lovely sound coming out of the tailpipe.

The quietness makes sense: no clattery valve gear sitting up top.

Edit: Also low compression ratios generally make for less racket.

[FoMoJo]

In watching some of the you tubes showing how to rebuild a flathead, it's pointed out that the drive gear that spun the gear attached to the cam shaft was some sort of nylon/plastic/synthetic material in order to reduce the noise of metal to metal gears.  Seems that Henry wanted the engine to run as quietly as possible.  The contemporary replacement part is made of aluminum now.

I would add that the car that I first remember my parents having was a '38 Ford 2 door sedan.  Riding in the back seat, I became enamored with the rhythmic sound of that engine note that was quite audible inside the car.  Not a lot of sound proofing.