Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[willabee]

.......Where you at Parker in 68 ??

Yes, why?

[Old fiberglass]

Yes, why?

It was in keeping with the theme of sunken wings. Years ago I talked to Bob Switzer and said the yellow 20' sunk in front of the judges stand when Dave Switzer was driving it. He hit something in the water and punched a hole in the bottom. I'm pretty sure it was in 1968. Just wondering if you recall it happening......would love a picture of it. I might have asked you before....don't recall. Have a picture of the red wing forks up sunk in the water.

[GENE LANHAM]

It was in keeping with the theme of sunken wings. Years ago I talked to Bob Switzer and said the yellow 20' sunk in front of the judges stand when Dave Switzer was driving it. He hit something in the water and punched a hole in the bottom. I'm pretty sure it was in 1968. Just wondering if you recall it happening......would love a picture of it. I might have asked you before....don't recall. Have a picture of the red wing forks up sunk in the water.

Old fiberglass----The 'Mustard' 20 sank at Havasu 69. At the start, first day--- I don't think the 20 was even ready to race at Parker, March 1968---

[willabee]

Also from the Molly Ballou collection comes a great shot of the C6 in early development. We have talked about OMC getting it's first win at Havasu in 1969 and how much effort Merc put into the 1970 event to try to reclaim the title. This is just another example of Merc pulling out all of the stops.

The C6 had made it's first appearance at the Berlin 6 Hour a month earlier and didn't do well. It showed it had plenty of ponys, but the bigger question was how long would they run? The concerns about longevity made it too big of a risk to put this prototype on one of the factory boats, so a deal was made with Checkmate. They built a lightweight sprint and Merc supplied the power.

The Merc man in the yellow jacket working on the engine is Jim Acheson. He worked in Fond du lac for Dr. Ted Morgan who was the engineer in charge of the six carb project at that time. We didn't touch the C6 at the first few races it entered, only Jim and Ted worked on the adjusting and tuning. We assisted in getting them on the boats and with the prop work, but did no tinkering under the cowl.

As I recall, this Checkmate ran better than any they had built to date. Gordon Downard was the driver and the boat with this power was fast. Probably a little too much power for the small boat on Havasu's rough water. He ran quite well for a while, but suddenly that certain bad combination of speed, wind and wake got together and over he went.

Anyway, here are the photos.....I think this powerplant belongs on the "Coolest Engine" thread.

Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

[T2x]

Also from the Molly Ballou collection comes a great shot of the C6 in early development. We have talked about OMC getting it's first win at Havasu in 1969 and how much effort Merc put into the 1970 event to try to reclaim the title. This is just another example of Merc pulling out all of the stops.

The C6 had made it's first appearance at the Berlin 6 Hour a month earlier and didn't do well. It showed it had plenty of ponys, but the bigger question was how long would they run? The concerns about longevity made it too big of a risk to put this prototype on one of the factory boats, so a deal was made with Checkmate. They built a lightweight sprint and Merc supplied the power.

The Merc man in the yellow jacket working on the engine is Jim Acheson.He worked in Fond du lac for Dr. Ted Morgan who was the engineer in charge of the six carb project at that time. We didn't touch the C6 at the first few races it entered, only Jim and Ted worked on the adjusting and tuning. We assisted in getting them on the boats and with the prop work, but did no tinkering under the cowl.

As I recall, this Checkmate ran better than any they had built to date. Gordon Downard was the driver and the boat with this power was fast. Probably a little too much power for the small boat on Havasu's rough water. He ran quite well for a while, but suddenly that certain bad combination of speed, wind and wake got together and over he went.

Anyway, here are the photos.....I think this powerplant belongs on the "Coolest Engine" thread.

Best wishes for a Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

Why was there no bottom cowl on the motor?

[willabee]

Why was there no bottom cowl on the motor?

They had not experienced one taking a big drink of water through the #6 carb yet! It went to Parker the following March without a bottom pan. When the weather finally changed in Oshkosh, a ton of on the water development work began with this engine. It was then that they locked the first one up and the bottom pan was soon to follow.

Gagen & Downard with the single pipe C6 at Parker 1971, no bottom pan yet.

[Skeet 2]

Does anyone have a picture of these engines from the exhaust side .

[willabee]

Does anyone have a picture of these engines from the exhaust side .

They are on post #1740.

[Mark75H]

How about the exhaust side with the cowl on? Actually I think there are some in the Merten record motor section

[Old fiberglass]

They had not experienced one taking a big drink of water through the #6 carb yet! It went to Parker the following March without a bottom pan. When the weather finally changed in Oshkosh, a ton of on the water development work began with this engine. It was then that they locked the first one up and the bottom pan was soon to follow.

Gagen & Downard with the single pipe C6 at Parker 1971, no bottom pan yet.

Can you explain the exhaust setup on these motors ???

[Mark75H]

Its a crude prototype exhaust that evolved into the cowbell Twister/Twister and T-2 exhausts

[Skeet 2]

Whats the difference between the cow bell twister and the twister . Any pictures of the the two ?

[Old fiberglass]

Whats the difference between the cow bell twister and the twister . Any pictures of the the two ?

It appears like the good cowbell picture is elusive.

[Bob V]

It appears like the good cowbell picture is elusive.

Your are so correct. A true picture of a Cowbell Twister continues to be the most elusive picture on this site. With all the talent here, that is probably the only picture that nobody has been able to produce. I think that the only hope would be Olegator. I know that he ran one back around 1971. He ran it in the annual Clearwater Fun 'n Sun Regatta. I have to believe that somewhere in his archive he must have a good picture.

The difference, as I remember it, (Cowbell vs. Twister) was that with the Twister and Twister 1 the exhaust travels down the exhaust log and then transfering back into the tower, where it would exit. On the Cowbell, it travels down the exhaust log and exited at the bottom of the log through two "cowbell" looking stacks, one being slightly larger than the other. The Cowbells were slightly quieter than a stacker, but not by much. The Twister and Twister 1 seemed like they had mufflers compared to the Cowbells.

[Bob V]

The way I look at it, if we don't get an actual picture of a Cowbell Twister posted on here, all the inquiring minds on this site that have asked for one for years and future generations will miss an important piece of racing history. Although their life was short lived (about 9 months if I remember correctly), they were an integral part of the transition from the Stacker to the Twister and Twister-1.

The solution is an easy one...Send me the pictures, I will scan them, post them, return the originals to you and you will get all the credit. Then the mystery of the Cowbell will finally be resolved. It is still amazes me that nobody has been able to come up with a Cowbell picture.

Jim, if my memory is correct, you were running the Cowbell when you ran circles around Duff Dailey and the Hemi powered "Oh Mona" GN boat. I think he destroyed two Keith Black Hemi engines that weekend trying to catch you!