The Ford Barn - View Single Post

Henry Floored · 07-03-2011, 09:38 AM

Regarding the 3- main bottom end: we have to remember that there is almost as much main bearing surface area in a 3- main Flathead Ford as there was in many 5- main brg OHV V8's that followed. The famous Miller- Offy and even the Novi V8 pure race engines used 3- main brg bottom ends if I'm not mistaken. Another thing to think about is those long 7" rods combined with a slightly offset crank and you have a considerably less thrust loads on the cyl walls. Notice this was a small cube engine with moderate over boring and short crank stroke.This drastically lessens the mechanical strain on the bottom end. I suspect the power was intended to be made at a relatively low RPM with nitro and boost. The lower end was pretty much along for the ride much like today's nitro engines.

07-03-2011, 09:38 AM	#5
Henry Floored Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Florida Posts: 630	Re: 435 horsepower in 1955..... Regarding the 3- main bottom end: we have to remember that there is almost as much main bearing surface area in a 3- main Flathead Ford as there was in many 5- main brg OHV V8's that followed. The famous Miller- Offy and even the Novi V8 pure race engines used 3- main brg bottom ends if I'm not mistaken. Another thing to think about is those long 7" rods combined with a slightly offset crank and you have a considerably less thrust loads on the cyl walls. Notice this was a small cube engine with moderate over boring and short crank stroke.This drastically lessens the mechanical strain on the bottom end. I suspect the power was intended to be made at a relatively low RPM with nitro and boost. The lower end was pretty much along for the ride much like today's nitro engines.