Technical Best Flathead Engine of all time?

I'd like to know what was the best flaty ever built and why?

 

4 cylinder Jeep. They're the reason you aren't speaking some other language ...

 

Great answer!!
Definitively the “go devil” engine made by Willy’s.
Those engines saved our world as we know it.

 

That started as the Whippet engine.

 

I like the 80" Harley. Dependable as a hammer, plenty of torque to gear it tall and easy to work on.

Oh you meant just cars, right?

 

As far as performance.......The Hudson Twin H.
As far as culture.....the game changer.....the engine that spawned performance not in the Luxury market but for the average Joe........the root of Hot Rod...,,
That belongs to the Flathead Ford V8.....

 

The go devil was developed by Willy’s.
This was the engine that beat out the competition for contracts during the war.

 

Rick Schnell's, because it's the fastest. And it's pretty.

 

Yep and Ford was in the competition. I guess wining is only a option even if your name is Ford.

 

Mine. Because it was mine. And I miss it. That stinky, thirsty lil bastard...

 

Best for what? If you want the ultimate in sophisticated design I nominate the 1938 - 40 Cadillac V16. One of the first large bore, short stroke engines and a real powerhouse capable of driving a 3 ton limousine over 100MPH.



The Pierce Arrow V12 also deserves a mention. It set 3 successive 24 hour world speed records on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the early 30s all 117 MPH or higher, average speed for 24 hours without a mechanical failure. At that time you could count the cars capable of doing 100 MPH on the fingers of one hand.

 

PB. Is that winning or wining?

 

I know we are all about the legend here but name one battle, just one where the Jeep, the Blitz Buggy.... was directly responsible for victory?

I comes down to the sole of the boot and the tip of the bayonet.
Jeeps helped but if they were not there something else would have been.

Legend has it a German Tank Ace was asked this question....

"Is it true the Tiger Tank was 5 to 1 better than the American Sherman?"

The German replied.....

" All I can say is....... They always had six!"

 

No it's not...

 

Briggs & Stratton...

 

There’s a reason why it would be hard to find a specific battle that was won by Jeep.
It was a workhorse that was used on all fronts. Here’s a good article on this subject.

https://www.google.com/amp/warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/the-magnificent-jeep/amp/

 

Well I misspelled the word but there may have been some goin' on. I have never been around the Ford's but I have been around several money driven people in my time.

 

Yes.....
Willys did not design the engine from scratch in 1940 they had the basic design already. The Go Devil was simply a updated 1926 Willys Whippet engine..... a very sound design.

 

Absolutely. Wars are fought by the young and expendable but they are won by the generals. Generals don't walk.

Jeeps carried everything from Officers to the wounded to munitions to communications. I do not know the entire process on determining what vehicle to use whether it was cost or performance but for whatever reason the Willys Jeep was chosen to make the trip.

 

Speaking of the Sherman, a fair number of them were powered with flatheads. 5 Chrysler 6 cylinders mounted with a common output shaft. I think the Chrysler 6 should at least be considered in this conversation, talk about tough as nails...

 

And Ford ended up building many WWII Jeeps as designed by Willys. Must have been tough for Ford executives. They surely had unkind things to say about Willys and about govt procurement officials.

 

I think it would be as hard to nail down the best flathead as it is to nail down the best car. A lot of it is based on preference and usage.

For example as @FrozenMerc says the Chrysler needs to be considered. They are tough but like the 80" Harley they are just not common hot rod fodder. Maybe they should be but they are not. But if you like 'em they are a good engine. if you don't they are just another trotline weight.

I had a Ford Jeep for a while in the '70s. Wasn't a bad little car. I don't know if it was one that got passed over or one that they built after the fact. But Henry was proud enough to make sure that anyone looking at it knew it was a Ford.

Here is an interesting thing about Willys (Kaiser Willys?). They used that same banger into the '60s. The only other flathead that I recall being used that late in the game was Rambler.

 

How about a 1939 Horsch V12 these things were as smooth as glass. The car had great lines was part of the AutoUnion brand.

 

It is interesting now to look back and think about what engines were overlooked by the aftermarket / hot rod crowd. The big Lincoln 337 Flathead V8 is generally considered a boat anchor despite the fact that it was competing directly against and generally matched the performance of Cadillac's 331 OHV V8, which is generally one of those wet dream motors that hot rodders lust over.

Lincoln: 152 Hp, 265 ft-lbs Torque
Cadillac: 160 Hp, 300 ft-lbs Torque

The Lincoln had the potential to go to 400 cubes, with a bore and offset grind on the 105 lb crank. A multi-carb intake and higher compression and the motor was easily capable of 300+ Hp. It has a more efficient port configuration that allows it to breathe much better then its little Ford sibling. Short of a Seagrave or Pierce Arrow V12, it is hard to think of another flathead with that kind of displacement potential.

 

I know there are a lot of flathead designed engines in the world, but I automatically think Ford when I hear the word. Now for your consideration how about a new flathead that is hopefully only a couple years away... yes our own Mr. Tod aka 427designer and the improved 8ba he's working on.
-Dave

 

Hudson and Packard deserve mention along with Lincoln for bringing out new flatheads in the 1949 - 51 period, the last all new automotive flatheads. The Hudson and Packard had a sophisticated design with valves tilted towards the cylinders for better breathing. They came close to the performance of an OHV engine as long as the available fuel kept compression ratios below 8:1.

 

Concerning the Go Devil engine, some years ago I was restoring my mother's Jeepster which Dad told me to replace the 4cyl FH with a Chevy engine and replace the ft. susp. with Must.2/Pinto,etc. I said,"Well, Dad, the Go Devil is recently rebuilt, and it's a great engine, faithfully got us through the war,etc. , don't you think it's a good engine. He said none of them lasted long enough to find out if it was a great engine, that they were all shot up or blown up before they reached the first oil change. This from a guy that was a tank and Jeep mechanic in the European theater and also fought there including hand to hand.
Concerning the subjective topic of which was the best flat head, it's fun to take an old Motors Manual and calculate HP/cu.in. for the FH's. The latest Mopars and the straight eight Hudsons, had the highest specific power, if I remember right.

 

Right now the best flathead engine is the one with the strongest bottom end. Forced induction is better understood than it has ever been, and offers effective solutions to the old breathing/compression conflict – enough so to break the bottom end of a typical mid-20th-century engine many times over.

 

I heard these run pretty good!

 

Hudson. Haven't you seen the Disney Cars video?

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