The Ford Sidevalve is a side valve (

flathead engine A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, a ...

) from the British arm of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, often also referred to as the "English Sidevalve". The engine had its origins in the 1930s Ford Model Y, and was made in two sizes, or "8 HP", and or "10 HP".

History

Early Ford Sidevalve engines did not have a water pump as standard, instead relying on

thermosiphon A thermosiphon (or thermosyphon) is a device that employs a method of passive heat transfer, heat exchange based on natural convection, which circulates a fluid without the necessity of a mechanical pump. Thermosiphoning is used for circulation ...

cooling as the

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by the Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first mass-affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. Th ...

engine had. A water pump was added in 1953 for the 100E models when the engine was re-engineered to the point that few specifications are identical between the early and the later series. The Sidevalve engine was used in many smaller Fords as well as farm vehicles, commercial vehicles and a marine version in boats. Production of the engine was stopped in 1962. Windscreen wipers were often driven by the vacuum generated in the

inlet manifold An inlet manifold or intake manifold (in American English) is the part of an internal combustion engine that supplies the fuel/ air mixture to the cylinders. The word ''manifold'' comes from the Old English word ''manigfeald'' (from the Anglo- ...

. The Sidevalve engine was also used in German Fords, starting with the Ford Köln in 1932 and ending with the last rear-wheel drive Ford Taunus P1 12M (G13/G13AL) in 1962. Early further research and development were being carried out at the German Ford engine plant in Cologne to improve the engine for ease of use in the Taunus line of cars, including a 44 hp 1.5 developed from the 1172 cc for the Taunus G93A but this work was finally halted in 1942. Ford of Germany would later make use of the work on the 1.5 development of the 1.2 Sidevalve and convert it to a 55 hp 1498 cc Overhead-Valve design for the 1955

Ford Taunus The Ford Taunus is a family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Germany throughout Europe. Models from 1970 on were manufactured using the same basic construction as the Ford Cortina MkIII in the United Kingdom, and later on, the two car mode ...

15M P1, which would later be further enlarged to a 59 hp 1698 cc for the 1957

17M P2 and 69–74 hp 1758 cc for the 1960

17M/TS 1750 P3 until production ceased in 1964. It was replaced by the Kent engine in Britain and by the Taunus V4 engine in Germany.

Modifications

Many ways were explored to enhance the power output of the standard engine, most notably special

exhaust manifold In automotive engineering, an exhaust manifold collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. The word ''manifold'' comes from the Old English word ''manigfeald'' (from the Anglo-Saxon ''manig'' anyand ''feald'' old and ref ...

s, twin

carburettor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor or carburetter) is a device used by a gasoline internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the Vent ...

s, stiffer valve springs, thinner cylinder head gaskets and modified

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

s. The most hardcore performance tuning available was the Inlet Over Exhaust (IOE) cylinder head conversion from Willment and Elva, which could be built to produce 70+ BHP

Power rating

The

nominal horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are th ...

quoted for each engine size comes from the British method of power calculation for road taxation purposes, and bears no relationship with the actual power output.

Displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

, cylinder diameter, stroke, and number of cylinders determined the power for road taxation purposes.

Gearbox & transmission

A three-speed

gearbox A transmission (also called a gearbox) is a mechanical device invented by Louis Renault (who founded Renault) which uses a gear set—two or more gears working together—to change the speed, direction of rotation, or torque multiplication/r ...

was fitted as standard; three forward and one reverse. Several ways of improving the performance through modifications to the gearbox and transmission train were applied; replacement close ratio gears fitted to gearbox, overdrive gears fitted behind the original gearbox and higher ratio crown & pinion gears fitted to the differential unit on the back axle.

Applications

Ford cars

*Ford Model Y (1932–1937) *Ford Model C (1934–1937) *Ford 7W (1937–1938) *Ford 7Y (1937–1939) *Ford Anglia E04A, E494A (1939–1953) *Ford Prefect E93A, E493A (1938–1953) *Ford Popular 103e (1953–1959) *100E series **Ford Prefect (1953–1959) **Ford Anglia (1953–1959) **Ford Squire (1955–1959) **Ford Escort (1955–1961) **Ford Popular (1959–1962) * Ford Köln (1932–1935) * Ford Eifel (1935–1939) * Ford Taunus G93A (1939–1951) *

12M first generation (1952–1959) *

12M second generation (1959–1962)

Other makers or models

* Ashley * Autobee Pacemaker *

Buckler A buckler (French ''bouclier'' 'shield', from Old French ''bocle, boucle'' ' boss') is a small shield, up to 45 cm (up to 18 in) in diameter, gripped in the fist with a central handle behind the boss. It became more common as a companio ...

* Concordette *

Convair Convair, previously Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was an American aircraft-manufacturing company that later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee ...

* Dellow * Fairthorpe Electron *

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

* Ginetta Cars ** Fairlite ** G2 ** G3 (Also called Fairlite) * Gregory *Hud * Lotus ** Mk2 ** Mk4 ** 6 ** 7 S1 *

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

* Mazengrabs * Morgan ** F4 ** 4/4 Series II ** F4/ F2 ** F Super * Naco Estate * Nota *

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

** C-type ** F-type ** MkVI ** ST ** GT ** Riviera *Shirley * Speedex Sirocco GT *

Streamliner A streamliner is a vehicle incorporating streamlining in a shape providing reduced air resistance. The term is applied to high-speed railway trainsets of the 1930s to 1950s, and to their successor " bullet trains". Less commonly, the term i ...

* TVR ** Grantura I **

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

Typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...

Cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...

** Trials Car

Ancillary equipment, designers & other related information

*Aquaplane, manufacturer of dedicated exhaust and inlet manifolds for the Ford sidevalve engine, also aluminium alloy cylinder heads etc. * Leslie Ballamy, designer of split front suspension used on many Ford "specials" * Buckler Cars manufactured 1172 Formula racing cars using a space frame chassis and the 4 cylinder English Ford Sidevalve engine and other Buckler sporting cars using similar equipment. Manufacturer of close-ratio gears, special axle ratios, and all types of engine tuning equipment for the 4 cylinder sidevalve engines. *Willment in the UK, designed and manufactured IOE valve cylinder heads for the side valve engines. *Elva Engineering in the U.K. designed and manufactured overhead inlet valve conversion cylinder heads for this sidevalve engine, also complete sports/racing cars and other tuning parts.

References

External links

Ford Sidevalve Owners Club

Bibliography

* Cars and Car Conversions, "Tuning SU Carburettors", Speed and Sports Publications Ltd, (1968). * G B Wake, "Ford Special Builders Manual", J H Haynes & Co Ltd. * Philip H. Smith, "The Ford Ten Competition Engine", G T Foulis & Co. Ltd. A complete tuning manual. * John Haynes, "Building a Ford 10 Special", Auto Publications, London. * John Mills, "The Constructions of Ford Specials", B T Batsford, London. * Bill Cooper, "Tuning Side-Valve Fords", Speed and Sports Publications Ltd, (1969). * Miriam Nyhan, "Are You Still Below", The Collins Press, (2007) — The Ford Marina Plant, Cork, 1917–1984. * Ford Motor Company, "Anglia-Prefect Repair Manual" * Dave Turner, "Ford Popular and the Small Sidevalves", Osprey Publishing Ltd, (1984). * Bill Ballard, "English & Australian Small Fords", Ellery Publications, (2002). {{ISBN, 1 876 720 07 7

Sidevalve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

Gasoline engines by model Straight-four engines