The Ford Barn - View Single Post

tubman · 05-30-2020, 11:42 AM

When I think about it, an aluminum flathead block makes no sense, economic or otherwise. Yeah, maybe in the thirties when Ford was considering powering airplanes with their V8's, but not these days. What would you save, 100-150 lbs? If we were talking top-end cutting-edge technology here, yeah, maybe so. But remember, we are talking about a seriously outdated engine design favored by a bunch of nostalgic old coots.

We'll be lucky if someone comes up with a reasonably priced cast iron variant. No matter what it ends up being, it will probably still be ineligible for vintage racing classes, so it will appeal mainly to a crowd that already has a bunch of good original blocks stashed in all of their nooks and crannies.

Fun to discuss on the board, though.

05-30-2020, 11:42 AM	#5
tubman Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Minnesota, Florida Keys Posts: 10,414	Re: How To Make and Aluminum Engine Block When I think about it, an aluminum flathead block makes no sense, economic or otherwise. Yeah, maybe in the thirties when Ford was considering powering airplanes with their V8's, but not these days. What would you save, 100-150 lbs? If we were talking top-end cutting-edge technology here, yeah, maybe so. But remember, we are talking about a seriously outdated engine design favored by a bunch of nostalgic old coots. We'll be lucky if someone comes up with a reasonably priced cast iron variant. No matter what it ends up being, it will probably still be ineligible for vintage racing classes, so it will appeal mainly to a crowd that already has a bunch of good original blocks stashed in all of their nooks and crannies. Fun to discuss on the board, though.