What is the common name for a Mopar engine with valves in the block?

[36 Ply]

Flatheads Forever !

Among the flathead powered vehicles that put scars on my hands while working on them have been 2 '36 Plymouths, '38 Ford, '42 Caddy, '46 Dodge pickup, '47 Ford, '47 Merc, '47 Plymouth, '48 Plymouth, '49 Dodge, '50 Ford, '52 Willys Jeep and a '53 Ford. Of all those vehicles, only the '36 Plymouth and the Jeep are left.

Pat O'Connor

[FourDoor]

This isn't in the'Technical' section. And the question asks what is the 'common' name not what is the technical name,for which the answer would be 'L-head'. A descriptive answer of the internal valve workings would be 'side valve' to differentiate between it and 'overhead valve'. And the common name for the construction of the engine is 'flathead'.
I was talking to a Ford guy to-day and he was describing his stock of cars and without me saying anything he says that "this car has a flathead but the next year Ford went to overheads"(I believe 1954 to 1955).
I have never heard anyone call that type of engine, under general conversation conditions, an L-head or side valve. Never.    

[elmo]

this is one subject i have to have an input into , if i am right i think the question was , what is the common name . not what is the correct name , i  don,t live in the US so this might not count , but i bought my first side valve , flat head 38 dodge in

[TodFitch]

I have NEVER had anybody use the term L-head or side valve in conversation about a flathead engine NEVER. Not in 50 years of playing with engines and cars. The ONLY times I have ever seen the terms L-head and side valve are in articles where the technical description is being outlined. Every time someone asks me about my cars they ask "Is it a flathead or overhead?" I have never been asked if they are L-heads or side valve. If fact if someone asked me at a cruise if the engine was an L-head I think I would consider calling 911 for the poor sod. 

From the specifications section in of the Plymouth DeLuxe Six Instruction Book that came with the 1933 Plymouth:

Engine
L-type, water-cooled, six cylinder, four-cycle. Bore 3 1/8" (79.3 mm), stroke 4 1/8" (104.7 mm), N.A.C.C. horsepower 23.43, developed horsepower 70, piston displacement 189.8 cubic inches (3111.06 cc). Suspension: Floating Power mountings. Unit type. Firing order 1-5-3-6-2-4. Force feed lubrication to all crankshaft, connecting rod and camshaft bearings. Positive spray from small metered hole in connecting rod bearings lubricates cylinders and valve mechanism. Four-bearing crankshaft. Four-bearing camshaft.

Starts right off with "L-type", so maybe "L-head" should give way to yet another term. :)

From the 1943 edition of Dyke's Automobile and Gasoline Engine Encyclopedia

The "T"-head type of cylinder is made so that the exhaust valves are on one side tnd the inlet values on the other. Note the "T" shape in Fig. 55.

The "L"-head type of cylinder is made so that the exhaust and inlet valves are all on one side of the cylinder. Note the "L" shape in Fig. 56 (if turned up-side-down).

The "I"-head type of cylinder is made so that the valves are place in the top of the head of the cylinder (Fig. 57), and is termed the "valve-in-the-head" type.

The "F"-head type of cylinder is made so that one valve is in the head, usually the inlet, and the exhaust is on the side.

The term "flathead" does not occur in that book, so I assume it was either considered too much of a slang term or had not been invented by 1943.

[plym_46]

for registration purposes on p15 d 24 website it's flathead one word.

[JimCno]

The "common" name, "Flathead" is a generic term for any valve in the block engine as opposed to and overhead valve engine.

The term "L-head" means that both valves are on one side of the cylinder. A "T-head" has one valve on each side of the cylinder. An  "F-head" has one valve in the block and one in the head. And an "I-head" is overhead valve engine.

[12905]

Yes, Plymouths, the term 'L-head' IS technical. Somehow, I thought thiese discussions would be on the technical side. Perhaps, in your case the operative term is "playing for 50 years"

[FourDoor]

I have NEVER had anybody use the term L-head or side valve in conversation about a flathead engine NEVER. Not in 50 years of playing with engines and cars. The ONLY times I have ever seen the terms L-head and side valve are in articles where the technical description is being outlined. Every time someone asks me about my cars they ask "Is it a flathead or overhead?" I have never been asked if they are L-heads or side valve. If fact if someone asked me at a cruise if the engine was an L-head I think I would consider calling 911 for the poor sod. 

[12905]

As has been stated below, the correct name (principally in Canada and the U.S.) for an engine with its valves inline beside the bore is 'L-head'. The rest of the world refers to it, more decriptively, as a 'side valve' engine. Go is correct when he offers the opinion that the 'L' comes from the combination of the bore as the vertical of the L and the combustion chamber over the valves as the horizontal leg - although it is inverted. Engines (very old timers) with side valves on opposite sides of the bore were referred to as 'T' heads: those with on side valve and one overhead per cylinder (Jeep, Rover, others) were called 'F' head and the most common today was called 'I' head. We now refer to it as an OHV engine. 'Flat head' started out as a slang term.

[Wm Steed]

Go... Thank you for the kind words... I have very fond memories of our time in Fulda, Germany. The Suez mess broke out a few months after I got back to the States, I got alerted to deploy to active duty when it happened, however, my wife was pregnant and having difficulties so her doctor got me deferred from the deployment...
Elvis was not far from us at Friedberg.... we had a different spin on his time in the military... Contrary to what has been written about him, Elvis was actually more of a "show piece", living in a private off post apartment and being transported around in a staff car.
Recently reading history I found it to be very interesting that the Hessen soldiers that England hired to help put down the American Revolution were mainly from the Fulda, Gesson, etc., area.. Hessen Principality... Funny how history and time changes things.... Bill   

[Go Fleiter]

I was just a kid (*1951), Bill, You have been in the very hot first row protecting us.. shortly after Hungary and Suez crisis..Thank You all for that! You have been close to Elvis (Friedberg, Hessen, 1958)!

[Wm Steed]

Go, Your description of an "L" head valve placement and/or intake portion of the head is most likely correct. The term that would be used in the Western US to describe an "L" that is "nosed over" or laid down, would be "a lazy L"... This term is used in livestock brands.. ;D
Recently I have been making postings to the facebook site for Fulda, Germany.. I was stationed there with the US Army in 1957-58....Bill

[Go Fleiter]

Bill , I think the L comes from the cross section of the cylinder room plus upper combustion chamber leaning over the Valves.

 I too couldn?t figure out: the L stands nose over...

Greetings! Go

[Wm Steed]

I think that the term "Side Valve" is used in many countries, other than the U.S., to describe the valve in block engines.. The term "L Head" has been used by many people to describe the valve in block engines, however, for the life of me I have never been able to figure out why... I have never seen a head that was "L" shaped.... Flat head and/or side valve seems to be the most accurate description....   ???  Bill

[TodFitch]

The engineering term is "L-head". I think some of the older (period) literature had "valve in block". The Ford aficionados seem to apply "flathead" to the V-8 "valve in block" engines but I haven't heard of it used for Model T or Model A Fords that also used the same cylinder geometry.

"Sliver Dome" was a term used by Chrysler at one point and I've seen "Sliver Dome Era" used to describe older Plymouths.

Take your pick.

[FourDoor]

"flat head" (sometimes in articles they're called "L head")

[Sebastiano]

What is the common name for a Mopar engine with valves in the block?