Ford Engines

The experimental Ford engines introduced in 1919 were the first design of the experimental air-cooled prototype radial X-8 engine conceived by Henry Ford in 1918. He built the first X-8 in 1919 and built a special car, named the X-Car, to road test it in. After many design changes, he then built the second and final X-8 engine in 1925. It was secretly tested in an Oldsmobile and driven around Detroit. This X-8 had the greatest appeal to Mr. Ford of both his air-cooled and water-cooled designs which he considered in the 1920s to replace the four cylinder engine in his popular Model T. After test driving this exact X-8 engine in an Oldsmobile for nearly a year, Henry Ford decided his engine needed more power and eventually developed the flathead V-8 design.

The first flathead V-8 experimental engine was built in 1927 and had 25 head studs.  Henry Ford finalized the flathead V-8 in 1931 with 21 head studs and went into production with it in 1932. The flathead V-8 was such a success it was used through 1953 in both Ford automobiles and trucks. It is still a great racing engine even today in 2009.

In a radial engine such as the X-8, the pistons are connected to the crankshaft with a master connecting rod assembly. One piston has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Four-stroke radials always have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that a consistent every-other-piston firing order can be maintained, providing smooth operation.

Mazda was the first auto maker to use the Wankel rotary engines in cars in any quantity from 1963 to the present. All Mazda Wankel engines  are essentially a single family — they all derive from experiments in the early 1960s by Felix Wankel, a German engineer. Over the years, displacement has been increased somewhat and turbocharging has been added to great effect.

Rotary engines are used in prop airplanes. In 1903, The Wright brothers commissioned Charlie Taylor to build an inline aeroengine, which had 12 horsepower for the Wright Flyer. Still used in propeller planes today. The design remains the same, however the engines are built to meet modern altitude demands. The engines in Harley Davidson motorcycles are a form of a rotary engine, largely unchanged from the original V-Twin engines 0f 1908. GotEngines.com @ 1-877-268-0664. Pic from Wiki