Hey Sam

[Powercat]

Sam:
I didn't know if you had been keeping up with Dick Davis's new
projects with the Fantasy Hydro's. He has 3 out of the mold now
and this one is about ready for its first run....
Danny Leger

[Powercat]

another

[Back To Havasu]

Sweet looking rig, particularly with the old Scotts. Are those Flying Scott 60s or 75s, and if 75s, do they have the speedmaster type gearcases?:)

[Mark75H]

Yes. Dick has a number of the "Sportsman" 1.1:1 FGS lower units that came on the "Flying Scott Custom" motors that were standard on these boats. The original sales flier called them by the Sportsman name, but no one outside that ad guy ever called them anything but a "Custom"

They bolt up to the standard Scott McCulloch mid section and even have the "Bail-a-matic" secondary pump to pump water out of the bilge of your wooden boat.

A single 75 Custom can push the 14 ft three pointer a little over 50. Twins can hit 65 or so, not bad for 1964. Look for one of Dick's boats at Clayton for the Antique Raceboat Regatta next year.

There are 2 distinct types of Custom lower unit. The early type is 2 pieces and has an eliptical exhaust outlet thru the back of a hollow cavitiation plate and the later type has a cavatation plate a hair over 8 inches wide with the exhaust outlet above the plate.

The later 1 piece foot came with an improved rear bearing & seal carrier which can be retrofitted into the 2 piece foot.

[Mark75H]

McCulloch made a completely different motor based on the same block with a 1930's type external rotary valve, special carbs, different pistons, different heads and a very special lower unit. The final version of this motor made 88 hp from 63.24 ci for marathon use.

The lower unit was a non shift lower unit similar to a Speedmaster, but stronger. To make this unit tougher they used heavier gears with reduced diameter and one tooth different between the driven gear and the prop shaft gear and made up for it with an addtional gear pair between the bullet and the water pump. By switching the upper gears with accessory pairs and switching the postion you could change between 2:1 reduction, 1:1 and 1:2 overdrive in about 10% increments.

I don't remember whether Oxley or Kies told me they set up the first prototype to run at Site 6 and decided to run it until it broke or wore the gears out. After a week of 8 hour days running wide open at 75 to 80 mph on Lake Havasu, they gave up and disassembled the unit to have a look inside. It was pretty badly worn, but not yet ready to break. The design was sent to Minneapolis to be produced with no changes.

A few more things about the McCulloch full race lower unit. It is incredibly UGLY. Above the bullet it does not pinch back in like a Quicksilver or Speedmaster. Instead it bulges wide to meet the mid section. But, this is a case of form following function ... it doesn't matter if that part is fat....it isn't under water.

[T2x]

Sam:

I remeber those engines..and I understand the 630's role(biggest thing in McCullough's arsenal)....but what was the 590 for?

T2x

[Mark75H]

NOA and APBA "F" classes. "F" used to be limited to 60ci, the regular motor was 63.24ci, just a little too big for F. The earliest Scott F class racer was a reduced bore job and is extremely rare; it used the Custom foot. The 590 used a reduced stroke to squeeze in under 60ci.

[Capt.Insane-o]

Kick ass. I've been looking around here for a couple scotts.

[Mark75H]

The business end:

[Powercat]

I checked with Dick to be sure .... They are 75's
...........
..............
..................

Originally posted by Back To Havasu
Sweet looking rig, particularly with the old Scotts. Are those Flying Scott 60s or 75s, and if 75s, do they have the speedmaster type gearcases?:)

[Mark75H]

There are a number of external visual differences between the 60 and 75hp versions of the Scott McCulloch triple. If you look closely at these cylinder heads you can see that these spark plugs are pretty well on center. The 60hp heads have the sparkplug offset to the side. The 60 hp combustion chamber had an awful shape and was very prone to detonation. The 75 combustion chamber is a modified hemi (with a lot of "squish area") and gives the double advantages of more power and more knock resistance.

The later 630's used a different head with the plugs set at an angle. The 630 head developes more power than the 75 head, but gives an unacceptibly rough idle on a motor that doesn't particularly idle smoothly any way.

[Scream And Fly]

What a great thread this is, as with many in this section. Love those pictures and the information is priceless. I can read this stuff all day.

Greg

[Raceman]

Sam's got some of the neatest pictures on the planet. Where's the damn book Sam??????

[Powercat]

Yes, easy sell 4000 copies just to Scream and Fly forum members alone !! LOL !! Well me for sure !!
Danny Leger

Originally posted by Raceman
Sam's got some of the neatest pictures on the planet. Where's the damn book Sam??????

[Powercat]

Dick got it in the water, had a little trouble with a clogged fuel line
from debris in one tank. But reports that before that could tell he was going to need a speedo that went above 60mph.
Danny Leger

[Powercat]

another

[Powercat]

more

[Powercat]

same

[Powercat]

more

[Powercat]

wet

[Powercat]

another

[Powercat]

more same

[Carsen]

do you have any pics of it running?

[Powercat]

Originally posted by Powercat
Dick got it in the water, had a little trouble with a clogged fuel line
from debris in one tank. But reports that before that could tell he was going to need a speedo that went above 60mph.
Danny Leger
It got to dark yesterday when he had it out to fix and run anymore, but I expect he will have it out again soon and will post follow up photos of it running..
Dick lives in MN and has a website dedicated to his many boats..Dick Davis Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net/)
Thanks
Danny Leger

[Mark75H]

You know, not only does he make pretty boats and solidly good running motors, he's pretty good with the camera and scanner, too.

[Powercat]

Originally posted by Mark75H
You know, not only does he make pretty boats and solidly good running motors, he's pretty good with the camera and scanner, too.
I told Dick I have more pictures of his boats than of my own kids!! LOL !!
Danny

[Powercat]

photoDicks Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net)

[Powercat]

Dicks Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net)

[Powercat]

Dicks Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net)
Another photo

[Powercat]

Dicks Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net)
And another one

[Powercat]

Dicks Marine (http://www.dicksmarine.net) and this one

[Powercat]

Dicks Marine (http://www.dickksmarine.net)
And this is the 3rd one he is working on...

[Powercat]

"FrankenCat" (http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/frankencat/frankencat.html)
And then Dick had molded an extra one of the Fantasy decks and wanted to do something with an older PowerCat 14t tri-hull so this is what that will look like... The link above will take you to a page showing more of this project...
<*>
Danny Leger, Austin, Texas

[Powercat]

Here are some up to date photos of Dick
Davis' Powercat 14t that he modified with
the Fantasy deck and is close to having it on the water

[Powercat]

And here is the mota'

[lilabner]

After Booger Red Wahl bought Chuck Mersereau's Powercat hydro he got into it with EC..and put the trick Scotts on it..
They claimed it was fuel injection at the time but I think it was really a floatless carb system with an overflow circuit in them...
maybe Sam could tell me...

[Mark75H]

You got it right. Floatless Carter N carbs. Special bowl within a bowl arrangement and enrichening jet starting instead of chokes, too. Lots of fuel lines! 6 in, 3 out plus the main to the distribution block gives a total of 10

I can't find the bowl pic, here's the motor

[Powercat]

more photos

[Powercat]

and another

[Powercat]

one more

[Powercat]

again

[Powercat]

Clean and sleek !!

[Powercat]

Video Link ( Right click and save as.. ) (http://www.powercatboat.com/video/PC-65mph.avi)
This is a short video of a clean pass with the little
orange and white Power Cat runing the 105 Chrysler...
Danny Leger
.......................
Full 23 meg Video file (http://www.powercatboat.com/video/14t_23meg.wmv) If you want the whole story.... here it is....:D

[Powercat]

The lattest of Dick Davis's projects... And this one is with his
first ever Mercury motor...
This is the yellow Fantasy hydro from the photos above finished out.
The boat is a 1962 model and the 100 hp Merc is a 1964 with the
speedmaster lower unit. Dick put this motor together from a pile of
parts from several motors. He is hoping to get it wet next weekend
if the weather holds up.

[Powercat]

From the front...

[Dukeofchippewa]

The green one has the 105 I just sold this spring.

[Jeff_G]

Maybe Sam or lilabner can explain the floatless carb? Never saw one. How did it work? Drawbacks? Thanks

[Mark75H]

Floatless carb:

Pretty simple. Usually done as a conversion to a Carter N model carb which was known as a great carb with one drawback in its original configuration .... the float tended to stick down and flood the motor. This is because the float was shaped like a donut and was hinged on the side.

To convert to floatless remove the float & needle, drill and tap the bowl for an 1/8" fitting so fuel fills to the correct level in the bowl and overflows into the new fitting connected back to the fuel tank.

Disadvantages:
(1)requires an addtional fuel line returning to the tank. The return line has to be pretty big. On multi carb motors this can get messy


(2) to change the level you have to have a different bowl with the fitting higher or lower on the bowl.


Jack Oxley and Bob Kies had special bowls made for the McCulloch racers that were a bowl within a bowl. The inner bowl set the level and just overflowed to the outer bowl which had the return fitting. They said it worked well but they got a few more horsepower with Dell'Orto/Mukini slide/mid-range needle type carbs. Cost stopped them from using Dell'Ortos, they probably didn't know Mukini was making copies.

Quincy Welding probably converted thousands of Carter N's to floatless carbs for alcohol

[Tom Foley]

I contacted Dick via email and asked if I could aquire one his hydros and was told unavaileable . I wish he would reconsider as I think it would be neat to mess around with . I dont have a vintage motor but maybe an SST 90 would be the ticket . what do you say Dick ? Tom Foley !

[lilabner]

Porsche also used floatless 3 barrel Solex carbs in 65-66..
The carbs were overflow style with a return circuit in the one piece magnesium manifold,with built in float bowl...the fuel returned to a single bowl for the three carbs mounted on it..
You ended up with 6 carbs, 2 manifolds, 6 separate adjustable links, a shaft on each manifold and a cross shaft for the opposite bank and 2 more adjustable links for the cross shaft..also a dual mechanical fuel pump and an electric one to feed them...they actually were more powerful than the Webers that replaced them, but they were pretty fussy to adjust, especially after having some wear on them..wear lifespan was very short...discontinued in mid 66..

[2us70]

I would have liked to try that modification on my old 50 Merc. It was always tough to get those Tillotson carbs to run in rough water. I am pretty sure the OPC inspectors would have noticed that little trick right off .
LilAbner, is that your shop right off I-95 in Hallandale? And howcome since we know so many of the same people we have never met?

[lilabner]

that's me..and I don't have a clue...stop by someday and we can tell some lies..love to meet you..

Butch

[Powercat]

http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/frankencat/frankncat3.html
Dick Davis got himself a new motor for the little Power Cat
14t. This 1977 150hp Merc with a nosecone and LWP
Should push this little boat into a whole new speed range
for Dick. With the Chrysler 135 and speedmaster unit
it got to the high 60's, but this 150 should let him swing
a much larger prop and with the trim and jackplate once
the setup is right... well we will have to wait for some
decent weather to find out what it will do.
:D
Danny Leger

[Powercat]

another view

[Powercat]

Dick and friends took out the boats for some fun time on the lake
over the New Years weekend.
2- Fantasy Hydros
1- Power Cat
1- Power Cat / Fantasy cross breed