Sold....I will take the very hi performance model in the center....:thumbsup:
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OMC's "J" motor was a great contribution to stock outboard racing. The SST45 / 45SS engine made a good home in OPC but the stock outboard (45SS) was kind of a puzzle? I never did understand if it was a success?
Kathy Johnson a.k.a "Billy"
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...4&d=1681319687
Experience the same joy of racing as you described in your well said piece. To compete with the likes of the factory and semi factory racers one had to have at least a dealership sponsor or an independent person with money. I was just a local razor in the Miami Florida area and had a lot of fun when I got married in 1976 I gave up boat racing myself and experience a positive cash flow for a while until my wife discovered she like to spend money. So I started making good money started sponsoring a GEN boat and my wife and still had a negative bank balance who could ask for more
Yes this was the 1986 model year.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...7&d=1681326393
Was the 45ss a direct competitor with the Merc 44xs?
@2us70
I dont know but at one time there was around 450 SST-45 boats around the US ready to race. It was a very popular class and still is.
Evinrude and SST 45 was the start for F1 Shaun Torrente ..!!
https://svera.se/blogg/evinrude-and-...haun-torrente/
Not even close. Merc was a cross flow deflector whereas the OMC was a loop. Despite what you might read I built the first prototype of the 45SS in my workshop. Sent the data to Edgar Rose at OMC, never heard anything & Alas, they introduced it. And, I was working as Service Mgr at Lawn-Boy. It seemed too fast for the Stock boys, wasn't approved, but mod approved it & then the 45SST was formed by the OMC race group headed by Fred Miller. Largest OPC class ever & still is.
Not sure how many 45 SS OMC sold in the US and around the world but it was a big number.. Plenty of new 45 SS ended in Scandinavia.
https://www.screamandfly.com/attachm...6&d=1681396896
#1 Were the SST45 and 45SS identical engines?
#2 Did 45SS ever get off the ground with the stock outboard people as a stand alone class or just blended into a MOD class?
* I think the APBA was careful not to try blending the SST45, 45SS and 44XS together.........
The 45SS & SST45 engines were the same. APBA Stock category ran the 45SS class which for all practical purposes was the OPC SST45 class. Sam rules including only 3 blade props. The west coast put both classes on their sanctions. The rest of the regions deferred to OPC SST45 only. Eventually SO bounced the class. The Merc 44XS was only a runabout & hydro class motor in stock. In mod they had a 45 runabout & hydro class with the stock 45 motor for several years then dissolved the class due to limited registered drivers. Some modified the motor & ran it in what is 850 today but weren’t competitive either the 3cylinder 49 c. I. Looper
If I remember wright 45ss were rope start.