Ford's famed flathead V-8 was revolutionary when the automaker put the engine into production in 1932. It brought the V-8 to the mass market and ready power to hot rodders for decades to come. But its design would eventually make it outdated. After more than two decades of service, the flathead V-8 was finally laid to rest in 1954 in favor of an overhead-valve design.
Why did Ford kill the innovative V-8 engine? That's a job for Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained to expound upon. Using a 3D-printed model for a visual aid, Jason takes the time to walk us through why the engine was so advanced, but also the downfalls that led to its death.
Ford's design was incredibly simple, which made the engine cost-effective to produce. Its simplicity and affordability also meant an everyday person could purchase a V-8-powered car. The first flathead V-8 displaced 3.6 liters and boasted a compression ratio of just 5.5:1. It put out 65 horsepower in the 1932 Ford Model 18, a major selling point at the time.
As you can see from Jason's model, the flathead engine design features rather flat heads, which is how the mill earned its nickname. Each head is a single piece of metal that helped keep costs much lower. A single camshaft sits in the center of the block's V, and the exhaust and intake valves are situated above each piston.
So, why did the revolutionary V-8 die off? Advances in technology is the overarching answer, but it came down to the flathead V-8's major airflow problems and low compression ratios.
As you can see in the video, the airflow path for the engine is hardly ideal. As the air feeds its way through the engine, it has to turn 90 degrees, then turn another 90 degrees to head into the cylinder. A modern engine's valves help route air toward the piston, around it, and then down into the cylinder.
When air comes back up from the cylinder, it has to perform the same 90-degree turns, now in the opposite direction. Add in the fact that the intake and exhaust flow sit in opposite directions, and it's easy to see why the flathead V-8 wasn't an efficient engine.
Engineers couldn't simply open the intake and exhaust valves open more, either. That would have meant digging out more area in the cylinder head, which would have lowered the already low compression ratios further.
In 1953, Ford made the final flathead V-8. It displaced 3.9 liters and made 110 hp. As engineers sought more power, Ford scrapped the design in favor of an overhead-valve engine. Thus the flathead V-8's tenure came to end.
Click on the video above for more details from Jason on how the flathead V-8 works and its issues with airflow and compression ratio.