:D :D
I can't give you his name, but a hint is.......he's bald, old and responds if you call him "Boob"
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbd29
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:D :D
I can't give you his name, but a hint is.......he's bald, old and responds if you call him "Boob"
Quote:
Originally Posted by mbd29
Because #33 was finished by DeSilva and #31 was finished by Russ Hill Sr., Jimbo McConnell's dad and Rod Zapf after being abandoned by OMC at the DeSilva factory ....Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
After it screamed so fast at Parker (first outboard to lead Parker) ... Kiekhaefer tried to buy it and OMC ended up buying it back
Here's a link to one of the posts where Ron talks about it
I remember that "checkerboard" at Parker. First time I saw it, it was on the trailer and I thought to myself "Man that's ugly, wonder how it runs". I also remember thinking how much prettier it got when I saw how it ran down the backstretch - 1968 ( maybe 1969 ) :cool:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark75H
Just wanted to say thanks to Willabee for taking the time to write down and share some of Mercury's racing history with us. I'm really enjoying it. Thanks - Rick Connolly
Thanks, glad you're enjoying :)
Havasu Outboard World Championships - 1968
This race really sent signals to everyone that major changes were about to take place in outboard racing. Yes, Kenny Kitson won it with a 18' Switzer Wing and stacked 1250 cross flows, a combination that people expected to see compete for the win. However, 2nd and 3rd overall was taken by a pair of single engine Molinari's......Cesare Scotti with an Evinrude and Carlo Rasini with a Merc 1250 BP. Tom Stickle was actually 1st overall for a while in another Molinari with one of the four new direct charge 1350's ( soon to be named a 1250 Super BP ) Mercury raced for the first time. Additionally, twin engine V bottoms finished 4th and 5th overall, the last time this combination would finish that well at a major event. The Tunnels........they were a comin'
#T-10 - Ken Kalibat - Glastron with ( I think ) 1250 BP's finishing 4th
#T-82 - Bill Combs ( co-owner of Checkmate Boat Co. ) - Checkmate / 1250 BP's
finishing 5th
Note: In my picture, I can see louvered wrap arounds on the Checkmate....they were made for the 1350's, but we had several extras and we loaned them to other Merc drivers - first time they were seen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old fiberglass
Yes we are, thanks you :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
They were definitely 1250 BP's.... They wound up on my 16' Eltro after that race...Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
After "seeing the future" Kenny went on to run a 21' Glastron Molinari....and Pruett ran over him with his Jones the following year at Havasu. Both boats wound up sitting one on top of the other cross ways in a turn........ and for an instant the two guys almost came to blows on top of the mess.
Frankly....in that fight..... I couldn't/wouldn't pick a winner. Kenny was the strongest human being I ever met....They were both about the same size....and Pruett had a short fuse and a great right hand.... Probably one of those moments where both guys said........"maybe not a good idea".
Rest in peace to each of you..... old friends
T2x
More Havasu Championships - 1968
#U171 - Jim Clinkenbeard - another one of those "belly beatin" V bottoms, a Glastron with triple 1250 BP's taking 1st in the Unlimited class ( don't think it was in the top 10 overall )
#U105 - Roy Reeves - A Stylecraft with triple Chyslers finishing 2nd in the Unlimited class.....had 1st Unlimited locked, but ran out of gas in the final few minutes........I'm pretty sure that this is the boat that collided with Jim Merten's Wet and Wild Switzer Wing at Galveston the next year. Merten had passed him just before the pit turn, but came in too hot and spun right in front of Reeves. Reeves had no where to go but into and then over the Wing, Merten was seriously hurt.
A Couple of Havasu Winners
Just a couple of different shots of boats you've already seen.............Bill Sirois in the 1970 Molinari and Kenny Kitson in the 1968 Switzer Wing........a couple of boats and a couple of stories.......
When we built engines for a race, the approach was always a little different depending on the race and the driver. For example, Gary Garbrecht gave me his list of who was going to run what at Havasu in 1970. At that time, our best engine was the 1350 water injected stacker on SSM units. During this period we ran counter rotating powerheads on the left side of the twins because the left hand SSM's design at that time would not take the horsepower. We were also playing with the 1350 silo and cowbell and his list included a pair of those for Merten's boat.
From there I would figure out how many of each component we needed to equip all of the boats and how many of each assembly I wanted to take along as spares. Since this build is for Havasu, everything would be new, and I would order all of the blocks, housings and internal parts that we would need. If the next race was going to be the Miami 225 ( or any short event ), this Havasu equipment would get rebuilt...all new internals in the blocks and lower units rather than all new from scratch again.
Here's where the driver came in. I would prepare a powerhead "build form" for each and for the spares. Sirois would always start his cold engines nice and easy, warm everything up and then test and he didn't put much time on his equipment testing. He used his trim to adjust how the boat ran rather than the throttle....he was easy on equipment, so we could build his powerheads with thinner reeds, remove the retarded timing disc, give him a little more spark and a little less jet, install a limitless switch box, etc. A bunch of little things that gave him more power and performance. Billy Don Pruett ( here he comes again :) ), no matter what instructions he was given to the contrary, would start his cold engines and be instantly at 7000 RPM. Once he was satisfied that everyone knew he was on site :rolleyes: , he would go out to test. He tested a lot and drove with the throttle....he was very hard on equipment, so his were built just the opposite ( as bullet proof as possible ), costing some performance.
Next, all of the components were prepaired for assembly. Rods were sent to Bob Hetzel's prop department to be ground and polished and returned to us for magnafluxing ( the polishing was only done so that we had the ability to find cracks along the I beam ). Pistons and rings were measured and marked, electrical components were assembled and tested as a group ( distributor,switch box,etc. ) for each powerhead. Blocks were deburred, ports ground, cylinders trued and measured so that pistons and rings could be matched for proper clearances. When all of this type of work was finished, the actual assembly per "build form" would begin.
Sorry, this is getting pretty windy, so here are the photos.......I'll tell the stories later.
I think most people are thinking it is getting pretty ..... interesting :)Quote:
Originally Posted by willabee
Yes what he said :cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark75H
Thank you for your comment, makes this guy feel pretty good........also makes me want to share another fun thought......
I moved to Columbus in 86 and found this restaurant that I hang out at in 88. I've met a bunch of really nice people there over the years, but I've had a problem with the regulars for some time now. Whenever a new person joins our group and we all get to talking, something will be said that causes me to say " That reminds me of a Molinari story". Before I have a chance to continue, the regulars go into all sorts of gyrations.....some look at their watch, some yawn, some put their head down on the bar as if to go to sleep, some ask for their check and someone always warns the new person not to ask what a Molinari is. They say asking me that question is like asking someone what time it is and then having to listen to a dissertation on how to build a grandfather clock :)
These folks ( and my wife ) tell me that they are just thrilled that " there are people out there that actually enjoy a Molinari story "......they say they won't have to suffer any longer as long as I don't give them reports about the stories I tell on S&F :D.
PS: The regulars do enjoy the stories, but they enjoy giving me a ton of grief about them even more :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark75H
Like stated here and on other threads....Thank you Sir!!
ok now get out the shovel & throw some dirt :D
I know this is older than you guys like, but here it is anyway. It's a Jav-Cat from 1964 with twin 1000's. Dick.
Willabee, we certainly are enjoying your stories and your not boring us !!! :)
Agreed Mike, enough of that, time to get back to work.......
A Couple of Havasu Winners ....continued
So, in the engine shop, all of the powerhead component parts have been readied and powerhead assembly per "build form" has begun. The same thing is going on for the lower units....the deburring,measuring, magnafluxing and finally assembly. All of the boats in our possession go through the rigging shop prior to departure. Sirois' Molinari had been previously raced, so the DSH's are pulled, inspected and reassembled with new fasteners, bushings, etc. ( whatever applies to each style housing ). Then the guys start in the cockpit replacing trim switches, coil cords, etc. and work their way to the rear. The powerheads and lower units are sent to them and they get it ready to test. Depending on the weather, we may run it in Oshkosh or just have to wait until until we get to Havasu. For the boats that are out in the field, we load the parts we will need and perform this work at the race site.
To my knowledge, very few people knew we built the powerheads that way. You couldn't tell the drivers because they would all be screaming that they didn't get the "hot" stuff. Couldn't tell the engineers because "No Engineering Degree" and I could get into some very hot water because I wasn't authorized to change specs. Didn't really say much at all about this to my boss for a number of reasons and didn't even tell some of the mechanics because they had developed their own relationships with different drivers. I did this mostly with Dave Beier and Bill Allen.
During the build for this race, Beier and I were talking about Sirois, and the more we talked, the more ideas we got. Dave asked me to let him build a couple of special powerheads for him and I said no, let's build him four "throw-aways"....if he makes it through Saturday, we'll pull the first pair and give him new ones for Sunday. Turns out, that was exactly what we ended up doing.
To be continued.......
Quote:
Originally Posted by mike farmer
Jim . How old is that Jav Cat you have? Brooke Russell had one that was cut down to a pickle fork and had an adjustable wing in front. The boat was named "Escape Velocity". Last time I saw it it was rigged with a pair of 700 speedmaster motors for the around Key West Race. It didn't do very well and I never saw it again. Wonder if it's the same boat?
got any pics of your Jav-Cat? I'd like to see it. Dick.
A Couple of Havasu Winners....continued
When we went to Havasu, we rented a home with a large two car garage and a big empty lot next to it. Four or five of us lived in the house for the week and we used it as race headquarters. All of our boats were kept there and the garage became our rig shop. Our rigging guys would begin the week by going through all of the boats that we didn't have in Oshkosh......replacing parts as I have described and installing new powerheads and lower units. While this was going on, the rest our our people were at the race site with the parts truck and the prop truck and final setup work was taking place.
After the four hour race on Saturday, all of the boats were taken back to this house. We would perform a complete inspection on each one, using the race results to determine what was inspected first through last. This order of inspection was necessary because we may run out of time to get to all of the boats or we may run out of replacement parts before they were all checked.....no matter how well you planned, there was no way to predetermine what was going to have to be replaced. In the case of this race, the first two boats brought into the shop were those of Merten and Sirois.
Unfortunately, we missed a power trim coil cord that was chafing on a screw under the dash on Merten's boat. It started an electrical fire just after two hours of racing on Sunday which cost him the win....we had to lock his trim in one position, cut the cord and send him back out. Beier and Jerry Kohnke were working on the Sirois boat. Dave came to me smiling and said the powerheads were shot....I smiled and said, well that was the plan, put the other pair on :) Turned out that we also had to replace both lower units, one DSH, a couple of trim cylinders and a pump before that boat was ready to run again. I don't think Sirois ever knew how much effort and special stuff went into his win that year.
Every year at Havasu, there were several of us that never got to sleep on Saturday night.....just too much work to do. That year, Bill Seebold's single was the last boat to go into the garage ( around 6 am Sunday morning ). We discovered that his reeds were chipped, but didn't have a new powerhead to replace his. I told the guys that we'd have to use starting fluid and hope that we could get him started two more times before they failed completely. When Grandpa Seebold saw what we were doing to start him on Sunday, he went to Charles Alexander ( then VP Engineering ) and complained, justifiably so, and Alex came to me and chewed my backside up one way and down the other. I explained that we had found this problem, but were out of powerheads. He said that he thought that was very poor planning on my part. It wasn't until a few days later that it dawned on me that we had a new counter rotating powerhead in the truck.... we could have installed it and had him prop out on Sunday morning......that still bothers me to this day, just wasn't thinking clearly:(
PS: We got Seebold started Sunday and he was fast, passed a lot of boats, but were unable to get him going after his fuel stop ( reeds were gone by then ).
A Couple of Havasu Winners.....continued
The other boat pictured in this post was the Switzer Wing driven to victory by Kenny Kitson in 1968. A couple of short stories about that boat.......
As I have mentioned, I was not privy to the exact "deals" that Mercury had made with different drivers. At this point in time there were no drivers actually working for the company, so deals varied from just mechanical support for engines to supplying complete rigs. Deals became much more sophisticated as time went on, we were pretty new at this in 1968. I don't know this for a fact, but I believe in 1968, Kitson had the biggest package. It included boat(s), engines, props, expenses and a full time mechanic, Dave Kane. Before heading to Havasu, we put a pair of new powerheads on the truck for Kitson. However, when we all met at the race site, Garbrecht informed me that Kitson was going to race with the equipment he already had on the boat. They didn't seem very happy with one another, and I just followed orders. Well, if there was a last laugh to be had, Kitson got it. He took those engines with over 100 hours on them, spotted the other 130 boats in the race one lap at the start on Saturday and drove like a man possessed to finish three laps ahead of the field!
Of course, after that performance, everybody was happy with everybody again. A short time later, Kitson brought the boat to Oshkosh to have new engines installed. It was then that I got to drive the boat and accomplished something that I don't believe Kitson ever did..........I sunk it :eek:. Before testing with the new engines, it needed fuel. At the time, we didn't have any at our location so I drove it to Plt #5 ( visitors were not allowed entrance ). As I neared the plant, the boat drew a lot of attention and I really milked out bringing it into the fuel slip......wanted as many of my old buddys as possible to see me in this thing. I tied it up, fueled and then went inside to visit. While inside, I received a page.....it was Garbrecht and he said Kitson just told him that the boat leaks badly. Just then, one of the dock guys ran in to tell me the boat was going down.....I said to Gary " Too late! " When I went out, all I could see was two yellow dock lines ........very embarrassing :o .
you mentioned dave kane do you remember kenny"s brother clark kitson what a bruiser that guy was
Spoke softly and didn't need to carry a big stick!Quote:
Originally Posted by mike farmer
Found an article from the Oshkosh newspaper titled "NOISE - Kiekhaefer makes it, but tries to minimize it". It talks about how many calls the police and fire departments received when we tested stackers...the locals thought the noise was a warning siren of some type! It goes on to say that we now tow the stacked boats out to the middle of the lake before we fire the engines. It also talks about what a mean machine the new triple Jones is......wish all you guys would have had a chance to drive one, it was a real thrill.
The picture below accompanied the article....it shows a couple of test Checkmates and a 482 powered 27' Thompson ( we didn't have anything slow :) ) towing yours truly back to the race department. This is the boat that Jim Merten won Galveston with - it was " A Hot Multi "
Thats My Dads Ron Jones In That Pic, U Can See More Pics Of It In The Hammer Down Galleries .
I was talking to Kenny yesterday. I asked him about the engine change issue at Havasu. His reply was there wasn't a problem between anyone or anything. He just didn't believe in changing out engines if they were running good. Sometimes he would run an engine for the whole season. I guess it falls under the old saying - "if it ain't borke don't fix it"
He did say during the same race new speedmaster(s) were put on that caused him problems. One of the screw-on pointed nose cone tips came off. So, when he got goiing too fast it would create too much drag almost throwing the boat sideways. I think he had to run a good part of the race working the throttles a little more to stay out of the upper speed range. At the time he didn't know what caused the problem until the boat was pulled out of the water.
At the same race he had the boat on the trailer for an extended period of time. When launch time came there was water up to the back of the seats. The tow car couldn't pull the heavy boat back out of the water. Needless to say panic set in. Luckily the water truck was coming by and had a winch to pull the car and boat up to high ground. By the time Kenny got into the race he was 2.5 laps behind at the start. Pushing the boat hard and running in shallow water at times to get around the slower boats, he was running in first place at the end of the day.
I asked him about Bill's sinking wing episode. He chuckled on that one saying I told everyone who would listen the boat was a leaker and don't let it sit in the water. He remembered one time at Mercury they, (Bill ~Willabee??) were testiing BP lowers on his wing. After eating lunch Kenny walked back to the dock and saw just the sponsons sticking up out of the water. Don't know if that was the same incident Bill described or not.
I only sunk one - honest! He probably is remembering what he saw when Gary brought him over to Plt.5. We had moved it over to the hoist slip and were just beginning the removable process :(. Tell him it would have been nice if he would have told us about the leaking problem before I had taken it over for fuel :p .Quote:
Originally Posted by Old fiberglass
Chrysler Outboards.....
Going through some old Powerboats and it reminded me that Chrysler was a force to be reckoned with in the mid 60's. Just thought I'd post a few photos from that time frame.....
T174 - Bob Spratte - Glastron with triple 105's at Havasu ( 1967 ? ) - was on the cover of the July,1968 issue
U39 - Jim Umbarger - Hustler with twin 105's - 1967 U Class high point champ
Chryslers......
Bill Hill - Powercat 4 point with triples - U6 Class high point champ 1967
766 - Jerry Rice - 1967 Canadian U Class champ and Stan Fitts - 1967 Class 36 high point champ, both featured in a Chrysler ad with Hill and Umbarger
Chryslers.....
707 - Jack Oxley - Stylecraft with triple 105's
T251 - Jim Parker - Carlson with twin 135's setting V bottom drag record of 103.5 mph
World Invitational Marathon, Long Beach - 1969.....
That's what it was called - really! It was a three hour run in the stadium by invitation only. The outboards ran on Saturday and the inboards on Sunday. On a single buoy course of just over a mile, the winning outboard completed six more laps than the winning inboard.
Here's a shot of the winner, Bill Cooper in an 18' Jones with 1250 Super BP's. This is the first 18' that Jones built...it got rigged while the paint was still drying at Jones' shop, went straight to Long Beach, tested two sets of props and raced! He led from start to finish, passing boats on the inside,outside and down the straights....a very impressive performance. This combination won again at its next race, Galveston.
The 2nd shot is Bob Massey in a 21' Molinari also with 1250 Super BP's, finishing second. Believe it or not, this is the same boat Bill Sirois won Havasu with in 1970. I'd forgotten how many guys raced that thing.
Here is another picture of Bob Massey running the same boat I believe. Looks like Long Beach.
Who was running the 301 Molinari ??
More Multi's.....
We were talking about Dutchman wings and tunnels on the "in search of wings" thread, here's a shot of a tunnel doing well. It's "Doc" Appleton running 1250 Super BP's and finishing 5th at the 1969 Long Beach Invitational.
The 2nd photo is from an ad in Powerboat, October,1968. The boat is a Rayson Craft with ( I think ) triple 1250's......it won Havasu in 1967 driven by Bill Cooper, Rudy Ramos and Mike Reagan ( the President's son ) - this same boat also won in 1966. The first five Havasu World Championships were won by Mercury......Eis, Eis, Ramos team, Ramos team and Kitson.
T-40 Bob Massey, 148 -Dick Sheer. 871 - Doc Appleton ??
Notice how Bob is cutting on the inside of both of them in a wing. I think that took some driving.
Yes, same boat, same race - much better picture ( I believe that was the only time Bob ran that boat )Quote:
Originally Posted by Old fiberglass
Don't remember who was in the 301 - Mr.T, you raced in that event, do you recall the driver? There were 18 entrys and I can come up with 13 names - Cooper, Massy, Witt, Petty,Appleton, McConnell, Sherrer, Habay, Hill, Stickle, O'Connell, Larson, McCune ( if it was at Long Beach, maybe Larson in the Rudy Ramos entry ).
Don't think the 301 picture was taken at Long Beach. More like Havasu or Parker.
Florida Multi's from back then......
Al Ensweiler passing Chick Gagen to win UU Class at the Div.8 Regionals in Miami, July, 1969.....not sure of the hulls, a McCall passing a Magnum??
The 2nd shot is Tom Sikes winning Miami to Key Largo, The Roaring 100 in June, 1969. Again not sure what hull Chickenship was.....
A Pair of Wings......
T40 - Bob Massey - taking 1st ouboard and 8th overall in the first Elsinore 500 in 1968....a race won by Vic Edelbrock. Gene Lanham told me that the best outboard finish to date was he and Bill Sirois at Parker that year in his 18' Wing, Red Bird when they finished 6th overall. Jim Merten and Boots Spellman finished 2nd overall at Parker in 1969 and that was the last win for the inboards. Massey's right side engine cowl fell off of his boat during the race, making the boat look a little strange.
T119 - Kenny Kitson - hopefully a better picture than the one I posted previously of him taking 4th at Parker in 1969 ( the Champion spark plug ad )
Always thought the Champion ad has to be in the top 10 race boat pics of all time. Have it as background on my computer. True definition of "Switzer Flying Wing"
Kenny got in trouble with Mr. Carl K when that ad came out. Some sort of deal was made for the Champion ad "before" Kenny started working for Mercury. After the fact Kenny got hooked up with Mercury and the ad came out. Mr. K wasn't please and Kenny had to do a little tap dancing to explain the situation.