Bp?

[seeroy]

I do have more pics, but because of angle, you can't tell anything more about the engines. I gotta go mow my yard now...Yes, even at my advanced age, I can still do that......and a few other things ...maybe more pics later.

Seeroy you have more pictures of that boat? BP subscribed friend has an inline bp looks like a trick inline. Rick

[T2x]

In the case of Seeroy's boat it stands for Burns Petrol.

In the case of early inline 6 race motors it means Blueprinted and in the later V6s Bridgeport.

While there were Bridgeport V-6's, I believe there was never a "BP" badged V-6 motor. To my knowledge the "BP" engines were all inline 6's and the name on all of them stood for "BluePrint".

[the Shocker]

Well arent you funny stink finger.....You better stick to fishin this season!

I will still stick to fishing along in between smokin you on the liquid drag strip buddy.HA

[Powercat]

BP add from 1969

[99fxst99]

[QUOTE=seeroy;2154801]The business end of my 1969 Bahama 500 32' Cary. The sweetest boat I ever ran. Sounded like a 1000# dog bark when they came out of the water in the rough stuff. - Steve Sirois



Seeroy, Cool Boat!!! Thanks for the picture! Got any more??
What kind of steering was it? Were the units switchable for rotation like a Bravo sterndrive or were they LH and RH specific? How fast did it run?

[seeroy]

Seeroy, Cool Boat!!! Thanks for the picture! Got any more??

What kind of steering was it? Were the units switchable for rotation like a Bravo sterndrive or were they LH and RH specific? How fast did it run?[/QUOTE]

Thank you for your keen interest in such details. Responding brings back very fond memories of a fairly short, but very exciting, period of my life. - Steve Sirois

As you will notice from the previous posted rear end shot of the stainless steel props, 2 left hand and 2 right hand, also center engines are long shaft and outers are short shaft. As I remember, each lower unit was either left or right rotation. Also, as I remember, most sanctioning bodies required the ability to have reverse, therefore the BP did have reverse gear.

As requested, here is another photo. I'm the short one driving and Ralph Seavey is the tall one. This link will take you to a story (Post #71) I wrote about that race. After going back and reading it myself, I was probably a bit hard on Jarry Langer.

http://www.screamandfly.com/showthre...-the-60s/page5



To specifically answer your question, yes they were either LH or RH specific. We had seperate shift and power levers. Sometimes we placed the shift levers below deck so they were out of the way. We would start engines in nuetral to warm them up and then shut down to shift into forward (or reverse) and then restart in gear. That way we did not place uneeded stress on them. It was a little awkward, but it worked. Steering was very smooth as long as all 4 engines were running. Steering was dual "Rideguide" to (I think) the outer engines only with tie bars aft and between. The tie bars were adjustable in and out so we could precisely adjust toe-in/toe-out. We would carefully measure distance between nose cones and center of prop shafts and then adjust tie bars accordingly. With 2 LH and 2 RH the steering forces were neutralized and consequently steering was beautiful with little or no effort. Additionally, with 2 long shafts and 2 short shafts, when we got airborne (and you must believe me when I say that in those days we spent considerable time airborne) the prop bite and resulting steering wheel torque was a piece of cake. I only ran this particular boat in one race (1969 Bahama 500) which was pretty calm. However, I also did rough water testing in it for a couple of weeks. Talk about a license to steal. I was sent to our salt water test facility in Sarasota (my home town) to run those tests. I think just about everybody I knew got a ride. As to your question about speed, I think it ran in the 65-68MPH range depending on fuel load.

Sad to say. the 3 engine boats that I ran were not a piece of cake regarding steering wheel torque. Here is photo of me (front) and Ray Dowling (aft) in 3 engine 28' Memco. We are in the Glufstream with VERY good lumps and I am about to experience considerable steering wheel torque as well as a significant jolt to the my knees. But, you know, when I was in my mid 20's, I was too dumb to realize that it hurt. As I remember, we ran short shaft on the outers and long shaft in center. The 2 outers would have been opposite rotation while the center was probably RH.

[Speed Jr.]

Amazing pic seeroy, Im lovin it!

[delawarerick]

Great photos thanksRick

[Jerry Howard]

Steve-Wasn't that the race that we were going to change the gearcases in Nassau? I remember John Stenback and I practicing at the lake. We got it down to 9 minutes to change 3 gearcases. Something about the propshaft being too long which caused a vibration. Do you remember that or am I having one of those senior things.

[seeroy]

Steve-Wasn't that the race that we were going to change the gearcases in Nassau? I remember John Stenback and I practicing at the lake. We got it down to 9 minutes to change 3 gearcases. Something about the propshaft being too long which caused a vibration. Do you remember that or am I having one of those senior things.

First...Let me say it is great to have you onboard here at S&F. It was really great to see you at OFF2010 after 40+ years, and we all hope to see you again this year at OFF2011 on 20-23 October.

Secondly...It is entirely possible that I am having a "senior thing" at any given moment. I don't remember the gear case change thing, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. 1969 was the third Bahama 500 and I only remember three 4 engine factory boats (909 Me, 808 Jerry Langer, 505 Dale Thayer). I cannot even imagine that You and John did not run that race. I'm feel quite confident that you were in it, I just don't remember what you ran.

Jerry (one of the really GREAT guys from "back in the day") and I meet again after 40+ years.

[GENE LANHAM]

First...Let me say it is great to have you onboard here at S&F. It was really great to see you at OFF2010 after 40+ years, and we all hope to see you again this year at OFF2011 on 20-23 October.

Secondly...It is entirely possible that I am having a "senior thing" at any given moment. I don't remember the gear case change thing, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. 1969 was the third Bahama 500 and I only remember three 4 engine factory boats (909 Me, 808 Jerry Langer, 505 Dale Thayer). I cannot even imagine that You and John did not run that race. I'm feel quite confident that you were in it, I just don't remember what you ran.

Jerry (one of the really GREAT guys from "back in the day") and I meet again after 40+ years.

Steve is right---Jerry is ' one of the GREAT guys'!! and he did run the 1969 '500' with John Stenbeck. Here he is , in the Jones Cat---three BP's (Black Power)

[FUJIMO]

Steve-Wasn't that the race that we were going to change the gearcases in Nassau? I remember John Stenback and I practicing at the lake. We got it down to 9 minutes to change 3 gearcases. Something about the propshaft being too long which caused a vibration. Do you remember that or am I having one of those senior things.

Welcome to Scream & Fly Jerry! Its good to see more & more of us old guys learning how to use a computer. But, I guess if someone knows the guts of a BP gearcase, a computer is a breeze, lol. Welcome.

[seeroy]

Steve is right---Jerry is ' one of the GREAT guys'!! and he did run the 1969 '500' with John Stenbeck. Here he is , in the Jones Cat---three BP's (Black Power)

Thanks Gene - Not only have you solved that question, but you have also helped to solve aniother question that I have had for a long time. That is, the what, where and when of that Jones "cat". At one point in time, which my befuddled memory can not quite figure out, Ralph Seavey and I went to Jacksonville to work with Ted Jones in Mabry Edwards' shop at the old Imeson airport. The project was to cut a vee bottom in half longitudinally and install a tunnel between the two halves. I graphically remember the boat in the "old" Lake X shop during rigging. There was conversation about devising a method to actively trim the engines while underway. Jim Emerson welded a outer transom bracket that could be trimmed in/out by hydraulic rams. The three engines wee then attached to the bracket. This method was devised in order that all three engines would always be at the same trim. If they had been trimmed independently, at that point in history, we had no way to keep them in sync. It should also be remembered that, at that point in history, we selected a "pin position" and fastened our outboards in down in that position. That is to say, we could not actively trim "on the run". We even had some sort of device that locked them in position against the transom. I can visualize it, but I cannot explain it. It/they were large bolt type devices that went through the transom with a large cupped washer, with rubber inside the cup, on the outer side of the transon and flat waster with nut on the inside of the transom. On the engine end of the bolt was an eye that fastened where the shock absorber normally fastened. Wow! I can see it in my head, and I am sure somebody can come up with a photo. Anyway, as I remember, the improvised trim baracket that was attached to the Jones "cat" could not sustain the forces and failed during testing at Lake X. By the way, the photo of that "cat" is one of only very few that I have ever seen. Here are three more. Looks like Tom "Becky" Wyrobeck standing behind it in one of the pics.

[Old fiberglass]

Gene knows a lot about this BP powered race boat.

[seeroy]

First...It pains me to EVER contradict Gene Lanham. But I just could not imagine that Jones cat running the Bahama 500. Not a good boat for such conditions and probably could not carry enough fuel to make the 1/2 way at Nassau. Soooo...When in doubt, go to the horse's mouth. I just spent 35 minutes on the phone with John Stenback. Here's what he said. In the 1969 Bahama 500, he ran a 4 BP outboard 31'-32' Bertram. When he found out that he would run a new Bertram, he called Sammy James and asked for a super light layup, which is what he got. John and Jerry did indeed practice changing gear cases at Nassau, but never got there. Very early on they got airborne and came back down sideways. Jerry looked under the deck and reported all bulkheads broken, so they beached the boat. By the way, John said that was the same boat that Doug Silvera won the 1970 Bahama 500 with (once again with 4 BP's). As to the Jones cat that Gene Lanham referred to, John said he ran that boat in 1968 Miami Nassau but did not finish, which renews my question...What the hell ever became of the Jones cat? - Steve Sirois

Here is photo of the 4 BP Bertram with Doug Silvera in the 1970 Bahama 500. This is the same Bertram that John Stenback and Jerry Howard ran in the 1969 Bahama 500.