Bp?

[willabee]

I'm not aware of any bearing assembly, the thing half way down the drive shaft is the shift mechanism ... and its the failure device mentioned earlier

I think he's refering to the "steady rest" bearing installed after the fact. Seems like all rebuilt units had a "SR" or some letters stamped into the housing to show that it was indeed an updated lower unit and is, once again, ready for the rigors of racing.....we hope, we hope, we hope!

[jackie wilson]

Welcome to to the "one and only" club Stavros,-------Don't you just love it, when the intellectuals amongst our tribe have to resort to plumbing the depths, to create infantile [not even juvenile] observations.
ME------i'd sooner make it interesting and fun and maybe half right-----------than accurate-----mundane and boring, factual and correct. Must be terrible to wonder if you're ever going to get the odd fact wrong--------Bet you Willa does not sleep like i do.
Keep on making sure you are absolutely spot on Willa---------don't slip ---or i will give you the little shove to help you on your way-and when you're down, Stavros will probably pee on you from a great height.

[willabee]

.....Keep on making sure you are absolutely spot on Willa---------don't slip ---or i will give you the little shove to help you on your way-and when you're down, Stavros will probably pee on you from a great height.

Good morning Sunshine .....I see you've already turned the tea pot off in favor of something a bit more robust.

[GENE LANHAM]

I'm not aware of any bearing assembly, the thing half way down the drive shaft is the shift mechanism ... and its the failure device mentioned earlier

Jerry is referring to a 'steady rest' bearing that was added to the propeller shaft. The original units had only the front and rear bearings to support that long prop shaft. The original units also had a two piece rubber coupled ('Lord') engine driveshaft that had a life expectancy of about 2 hours----

[willabee]

Jerry is referring to a 'steady rest' bearing that was added to the propeller shaft. The original units had only the front and rear bearings to support that long prop shaft. The original units also had a two piece rubber coupled ('Lord') engine driveshaft that had a life expectancy of about 2 hours----

Geez Gene, Jackie's already drinking and you're just waking up.....retirement must be wonderful (post # 61 - ).

I think that by the time the "steady rest" fix came about, the rubber driveshafts had been replaced by the solid shaft and a new warranty ..... if you put your hand over your heart and promised that you would never, ever attempt to shift the unit again.

[jackie wilson]

Was fool enough to once ask Ridgell [Roy] what the warranty period was on the speedmaster.???
He said "is it fixed to the engine"?
Told him it was, and the reply came---------"Then it's out of warranty".
I know -----iknow---shouldn't have asked !!!!!!!!!!!!!

[willabee]

BP. . An engineering masterpiece... And a disaster for Mercury Racing for a couple of years. Guaranteed to self destruct in 3 to 10 hours. Willabee remembers what the garage floor looked like in that house they rented in Havasu, 1969----

I do remember.....what an absolutely miserable time that was, trying to keep those boats running on the water for any length of time. There are two things that quickly come to mind when you bring up that event.

We had the triple Jones boats there and were putting a new gearcase on them about every half hour. Billy Don would come limping in and we'd replace a right hander and send him back out. By the time we picked up our tools, the other triple would be limping towards the pits. Maybe he needed a left hander on that stop. We'd replace a unit and there was Pruett again. This went on all day long, and they weren't the only boats blowing lower units! We had accumulated a rather large pile of them on the beach and someone took a photo. The photo was sent to Merc with a sarcastic letter that included the comment.... "and I suppose you're going to try to tell me that these guys were also paying for their new lower units."

Apparently this guy had bought a BP, blown a unit, went to our parts truck to get a replacement and was told he'd be billed for it. He obviously wasn't happy about that and took the photo. I don't remember for sure, but I think Merc ultimately offered to rebuild his unit at no cost if he paid the shipping back and forth. Anyway, lots of unhappy campers at that time.

The other thing that comes to mind is the leaking rear seal problem. There is nothing like working in the hot sun at an outboard marathon with BP lower unit oil all over your body! The guys would finish their last test run before the race, then we would inspect some basic stuff to make sure all was well. Sometimes you'd pull the plug on the BP lower unit to check the oil and every now and then it would just explode out of the cavity and greet you in the face and hair and just about everywhere else. Those were the units that had rear seals that had failed and water leaked in. That pressurized the housing and the mixture was anxious to get out of there. Once you were hit with that yellow, stinky, gooey stuff, you swore it would never happen again, but you were wrong, it always happened again.

Ah, the Golden Days of Racing.....

[jackie wilson]

Jonroods didn't seem to have the problems we had ---------and it was a sweeter looking unit-----They must have got something right for all the dosh they spent trying to keep up with BP's Once heard 'em called Black Pastards, but that guy never could spell.

[seeroy]

Jackie & William - I am particularly pleased to be in such extinguished...er excuse me....."distinguished" company as our magnificent British gentleman. Damn...I thought I got something else right somewhere back in the distant past. Oh Well, I guess I'll have to go back and read every post I've ever made to find it. - Old Stavros...dadgummit, now he's got me saying it.

[Mark75H]

Jonroods didn't seem to have the problems we had ---------and it was a sweeter looking unit-----They must have got something right

Just this week I have a thread over on BRF showing the internals and the elegant shift mechanism. The gears, shafts and bearings are massive inside the X-115 unit compared to the BP.

[GENE LANHAM]

I do remember.....what an absolutely miserable time that was, trying to keep those boats running on the water for any length of time.

Ah, the Golden Days of Racing.....

The units actually held up better on the offshore boats. But---we were running less horsepower; a different gear ratio; running the 'red dot' rev limiters, and I rebuilt every unit after every race---

[GENE LANHAM]

Just this week I have a thread over on BRF showing the internals and the elegant shift mechanism. The gears, shafts and bearings are massive inside the X-115 unit compared to the BP.

Hey Sam---
???Where did your BP/Speedmaster thread go????

[jackie wilson]

Just this week I have a thread over on BRF showing the internals and the elegant shift mechanism. The gears, shafts and bearings are massive inside the X-115 unit compared to the BP.

Just goes to show ,not ALL the r&d funds at OMC went on that damned Mortally wounded and flawed Wankel !!!!!!!

[FUJIMO]

The units actually held up better on the offshore boats. But---we were running less horsepower; a different gear ratio; running the 'red dot' rev limiters, and I rebuilt every unit after every race---

I agree. Had no problems with them. Just never shifted them & they would never bite you.

[STEVERINO]

Gentlemen while you are discussing Mercury BP outboards`we had a few Mercury 1000SBP`engines raced in the UK good engines higher rpm than the 1250SBP .Why did Mercury never produce a 89cu`in Twister 1`i know 1 or 2 were built.I know Georgio Molinari ran 1 at Paris 6 hr in OI class 1971 keeping up with some of the ONs.Would that engine have been built by the Factory?