School Me: Engine Theory

Best book on engines I have read is Design and Tuning of Competition Engines by Philip H Smith. It contains a wealth of info and not an ounce of BS. Not too many pictures but solid info. Warning it is British not American. In fact the only American engine is the slant six mopar. Still if you are serious knowing why it is in there.
If you had a specific question it can be answered. Just ask. I dont know it all but taught engines at college level for several years and there are many others here to who would answer including Bruce L. There is a lot of baloney about motors too. Much comes unintentionaly from theories often seen in hot rod mags. However in the 60s and 70s Hot Rod mag did a series of tech books covering each section. Carbs fuel injection, ignition, etc. They were very good and quite factual.
Dont get fooled by modern hi-tech vrs old technology. Should you be tempted to get sucked down that path go out and buy a copy of Popular Hot Rodding this month. At the engine dyno challenge which included 30 motors and builders, #3 in points was a 1957 Desota hemi . He was up against everything and was with in spitting distance of some of the newest and best stuff. Points were based on average HP made from 3000 to 7000 RPM per cubic inch (rough but reasonably accurate description of the rules) By all accounts and current thinking he shouldn't even have been able to qualify. A doz more hp and he would have won.
A motor doesnt really care whether it is 1 cyl , 5 cylinder or even 10 cyl (I have one of those) Probably the 1 cyl has the easiest go because no other cylinder is negatively affecting it. A V8 provides a different method of balancing by using a combo of rotating and reciprocating weight (which helps offset the actual balance weight normally required). It is also more compact.
A cyl head needs air flow. Whether it goes in and out the same side or not is really not a big deal. How well it flows air is the big deal. v8s aere usually crossflow because they have to be. We mistakingly sometimes think it is because it makes more power but it is because there is no room for both manifolds on a v8 to be on the same side.
Inlines are a lot of fun. The only real drawback is cubic inches. 300 or so being the biggest we see and around 230 to 250 being the norm.
Matching a combo is the real secret to getting exceptional power, and efficiency from seemingly mundane parts. When every single part in a motor (any motor) is working iin unison with al lthe other parts then wonderful things happen. ie same rpm range, proper compression for the cam duration choosen , Right size carb to feed the engine efficiently at that RPM range etc )
Then there are the mega buck engine guys. "Spend till it breaks and then order the next biggest one." We have them here running now literlly $75,000 engines (Alloy blocks and heads 570+ cubes, injector bug catcher on alky with nos) to race with us "po folks" for the same $500 prize money. I refuse to think about such nonsense. Beside they dont win anyway so what is the point?
Anyway ask away. Someone here will know the answer.
Last but not least, learn to think factually away from all the hype. The two most important words in the english language are IF and THEN. Learn to use them. "If one does this then that will happen" etc.
Don

 

In a nut shell a motor is a big air pump.

 

Is this too simple an answer for what you asked?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_combustion_engine

 

inlines generally make more bottom end torque than a comparable sized/cylindered V counterpart? But the V engines tend to have the advantage at higher rpms?
Or not.

2) OHV vs. OHC:
With overhead cam, you can eliminate the lifters and pushrods? This reduces friction? It's probably better than conventional OHV setups?
Some OHC have both pushrods and rocker arms (only DOHC has no rockers). They all have lifters, the cam doesn't operate the valves directly. Friction isn't the reason.

Roland Leong?
Not really a secret why he was such a big player in early racing.
Mechanical genius?
Brilliant designer?

No, his mother put up a lot of money.

Don't expect to acquire any real competence for a few years.
Reading: anything by Vizard, Blair, Jennings