hot rods - flatheads - authoritative period-correct information and engine torque curves

Hot rods - nothing but hot rods - the real thing - the only thing - to drive.
For all you newcomers out there, if you do get a hot rod, make sure it is period correct and that you keep it that way. That is, it must have a Ford flathead engine in it, and the rear tires should be 7 - 7.5 x 16 and the fronts maybe 5.25 x 16 or so, bias ply tires from Coker or Firestone. That way the hot rod will look and feel and sound authentic, you will like it better, and its resale value will only go up. Keep history alive!
In case you were wondering what the door numbers and letters signified, the SCTA classified the cars:
Roadsters (model A, model 32, etc)
Streamliners
Lakesters (model T)
The engine classes were:
A: 0-150 cu. in.
B: 150-250 cu. in.
C: 250-350 cu. in.
D: 350 cu. in. and up.
A factory Ford flathead would have been 221 or 239 cu. in. so in class B. A bored and stroked flathead might have been 276 or 296 cu. in. and so in class C. Coupes were initially not allowed to run, but since the WTA and the Russetta clubs allowed anything to run, eventually the SCTA also allowed coupes. The lowest numbers were assigned to cars that consistently ran the fastest speeds. Some of these cars set the land speed records for decades on the dry lakes.
The Ford flathead was king 1932-1953. Nothing was faster.
After the Chevrolet OHV engines came out, the flathead found itself harder to stay on top. Also, more people had access to short run drag strips as opposed to the unlimited speed of the dry lakes, so the nature of the sport had changed, preferring acceleration to speed. By the 1960's flatheads were pretty much abandoned. But in the last 15 years, there has been a renewed interest in these historic engines again. Nothing like the sound of a flathead engine, very unique due to the lower compression ratio, the shared exhaust port of the center cylinders, and the long winding path of the exhaust ports through the water jacket in the block. If you can find a car with an original engine - restore it! You'll be the hottest thing of interest, even amongst Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, 'Cudas, Hondas. Something lacking in these modern cars that just can't give the thrill of a racing flathead engine in a light car.
radios.2y.net/f... Totally stock 1940 flathead engine, note how much torque there is at idle...flatheads have almost as much torque at idle as at the peak! This is the unique feature of this engine due to the long stroke and the in-block placement of the valves at the sides of the cylinders in the block. This is really an "underhead" cam - similar to overhead cams today in OHV engines. Torque is what accelerates the car, not horsepower. Horsepower = Torque x wheel revolutions/unit time and only determines how long you can keep it up (until red line in a particular gear = time limitation). A normally aspirated flathead, bored and stroked to 296 cu. in. could develop more than 250 ft-lbs of constant torque and close to 200 h.p. With such a flat torque curve from idle up, it felt like more horsepower than the dyno numbers imply. Some supercharged flatheads were close to 300 h.p. For the years 1932 - 1953, this was incredible performance from what was basically a low cost production family car. Thank Ford for the lightweight cars and V8 engine.