OMC Rotary - Running Survivors?

[WaterZebra]

Where did all of the OMC rotary race engines end up? Who has them? Where? Still running? The LiquidNirvana website provides some tantalizing photos of one Johnson example, except the digital photos (taken in somebody's driveway) reveal a disappointing conclusion: the engine in the photograph is only a shell.......top cowl,clamp bracket,mid section & exhaust, plus the gearcsase.
The two "interior" photos of the lower pan reveal a lot of surface corrosion on the aluminum, indicating that the powerhead had long since been removed. I was surprised that OMC went to the trouble of casting the lower pan component......thought for sure that the pan and upper cowl were fabricated with fiberglass. You can see the historical relationship of this "deepwater" pan many years later in the F1 V-8 lower CG mid section pan design.....I'm sure that Charles Strang provided the link at some point. Does OMC have at least one working copy still locked away somewhere? Are there any ex-OMC development engineers or racers who have a complete working engine stashed away in their basement? The Popular Mechanics article scanned on to the same website state that the carbs for this engine were borrowed from OMC's line of snowmobiles being produced in the same era. I thought for sure that everything related to this engine was designed from scratch. Besides Posey and McConnell, who were the other lucky factory drivers who got to play with this toy?

[Mark75H]

Since there were only 4 made, it pretty well narrows it down. I'm pretty sure 2 are in the hands of collectors.

I'm also pretty sure the item that was on eBay was never a complete motor

"OMC" has not existed for some time now, and its successor, BRP does not express that much interest in racing or history. I'm pretty sure they "let someone take home" the other 2 a long time ago.

[merccoop]

I don't know if you are talking about an outboard or not, but here are some pictures of a rotary marine engine that I took last year....

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/1409492387_ee826f4b73.jpg
and....
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1380/1410373578_d1dd521590.jpg

this isn't what your talking about is it???

[Mark Poole ModVP]

The engine he was talking about was the 4 rotor outboard engine that was raced in '73, '74. The main problem was the apex seals, which is what I was told by an ex OMC employee involved with the racing program. OMC built other small rotary engines that were used in small hover-like aircraft and I think they were used in some of the snowmobiles. It was not entirely their idea since OMC had a license agreement with Wankel to use the technology. I believe it had potential but someone made the decision not to spend the time and money to solve the problems.

Mazda has made many improvements to the rotary engine including moving the ports from the sealing surface of the rotor housing to the flat side walls that contain the rotor. I am sure that reduces stress and wear on the apex seals.

[half fast]

Good to know you are on the boards Mark. When you you are in the Lake Oconee area look me up at work 4 Seasons. hf...

[Mark Poole ModVP]

I know who that is, I recognize the boat pic. I just got me a prize. You need to see this. Maybe I will haul it up that way next time I go. Don't think I can get away with running it on Oconee!

[Tim Bennecker]

Here is a partial answer.........as noted earlier.......2 are definitely in the possession of a collector.........but the whereabouts of the other 2 are a mystery, especially when remnants show up on Ebay. It sounds like this small company is attempting to carry on where OMC gave up in 1974........looks like the focus was primarily on snowmobiles.......not the outboard market.......the 4 rotor concept had no viable application with snowmobiles. It appears that OMC's V-6 development encroached the same market intended for the rotary. See URL below.........

http://www.rotamax.net/history.html

[racer]

1 is in the lobby in Sturtavant and is a complete engine that may or may not still run.

[Rotary John]

There was a total of 6 race engines plus a ton of spare parts. The 6 were defined by the shourd, bucket and exhaust manifold. The bucket/shroud sold om E-bay was not completely machined and never had a powerhead installed. 2 units are in a private collection, 1 unit is on display at BRP and 1 unit is on the 100th Evinrude anun. tour. I believe there is 1 more complete unit somewhere. I am told that all the OMC race hardware was scrapped when BRP took over (V-4, V-6, V-8, and rotary).

[Capt.Insane-o]

Did'nt SeaWay pick up what was left of OMC's racing stock?

[Mark75H]

Seaway acquired what Cees Vandervelden had moved to Europe well before the fall, but long after the era of the Rotary