Abstract: A shaft-type valve means for an internal combustion engine of the type having a block in which there is a cylinder and a piston reciprocal in the cylinder wherein the chamber is covered by a head and an improved valve is in the form of a shaft journaled in the head with a portion of the shaft spanning a portion of the cylinder above the piston and the shaft has a diametrical passageway of a cross sectional area which, in the direction of the centerline of the shaft, is at least as great as the radius of the cylinder and circumferentially is a distance substantially equal to one-sixteenth of the circumference of the shaft and wherein seal means are provided between the shaft and the engine and a crank shaft connected to the piston is connected to the shaft to rotate it simultaneously with the crank shaft by a force transmission means such as a belt or the like.