Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[willabee]

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

The Twister was a exhaust silo or log that extended from cylinder #1 exhaust ports to about the center of the driveshaft housing. The exhaust was dumped inside the DSH. The Cowbell had a similar log, but it didn't extend to the DSH. It stopped at approximately the bottom of the powerhead, was open on the bottom end of the log and dumped the exhaust into a pair of outlets that resembled a cowbell, one being larger than the other.

Hopefully, the pictues below will help in describing the difference.

The yellow Molinari is running the Twister, the exhaust log continues from the powerhead down the DHS. The #22 Molinari is running the cowbell. The shape of the log changes at the base of the powerhead and you can see the beginning of the "bells".

The third photo is a drawing done by brianT2, it shows the location of the bells imposed over a Twister log. The larger bell actually belongs behind the smaller one, but other than that, he shows what a Cowbell looks like.

The last two shots are of the Cowbell during a prop change. This may very well be the first Cowbell tested on the water. I think the bells in these photos are weldments, while the bells on the engines we ran at the races were castings. There were enough castings available that I didn't have any concerns about sawing some off to test performance with different length bells.

The Cowbell was a very cool engine, with a very husky voice. I wish Merc would have decided to build them instead of the Twisters. Hell, even an offshore boat with four of those bad boys on the transom would have become interesting!

[Old fiberglass]

Thanks for the info. How many cowbells do you think they made.....doesn't seem like they survived the ravages of time. The blue boat appears to be a Shooting Star....is that the one you went ~ 90 MPH something in ??

The Twister was a exhaust silo or log that extended from cylinder #1 exhaust ports to about the center of the driveshaft housing. The exhaust was dumped inside the DSH. The Cowbell had a similar log, but it didn't extend to the DSH. It stopped at approximately the bottom of the powerhead, was open on the bottom end of the log and dumped the exhaust into a pair of outlets that resembled a cowbell, one being larger than the other.

Hopefully, the pictues below will help in describing the difference.

The yellow Molinari is running the Twister, the exhaust log continues from the powerhead down the DHS. The #22 Molinari is running the cowbell. The shape of the log changes at the base of the powerhead and you can see the beginning of the "bells".

The third photo is a drawing done by brianT2, it shows the location of the bells imposed over a Twister log. The larger bell actually belongs behind the smaller one, but other than that, he shows what a Cowbell looks like.

The last two shots are of the Cowbell during a prop change. This may very well be the first Cowbell tested on the water. I think the bells in these photos are weldments, while the bells on the engines we ran at the races were castings. There were enough castings available that I didn't have any concerns about sawing some off to test performance with different length bells.

The Cowbell was a very cool engine, with a very husky voice. I wish Merc would have decided to build them instead of the Twisters. Hell, even an offshore boat with four of those bad boys on the transom would have become interesting!

[T2x]

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

The cowbell already existed and the later T-2 exhaust exited directly into the DSH.

Actually this system seemed to be aimed in a totally different direction and doesn't look all that crude.....It appears that a 6 into 2 into 1 exhaust on a C-6 of that era gave the most power... Since the engineers were on the cusp of the new noise standards this layout was obviously short lived, but it was the same system used for the team's World Record Kilo run with Jim Merten up......... That exhaust layout must have had something going for it.... since Mercury had their pick of the litter for the record attempt I imagine.....

Willabee???

[Mark75H]

How many cowbells do you think they made.....doesn't seem like they survived the ravages of time.

here were enough castings available that I didn't have any concerns about sawing some off to test performance with different length bells.

I think we asked Willabee this once before and the guess was 12 to 24. They disappeared because they were an engineering prototype that was never sold. When the regular Twisters were ready, the cowbell motors came off the boats and they may have been scrapped. Mercury owned them and scrapped them.


I don't know that we know that the cowbell was made first ... but it was seen first. Agreeing with T2x about the welded 6 into 2 arrangement being the pick of the litter ... almost any production casting has some compromise ... that would be why an earlier prototype piece might reappear on a boat like a world record attempt rig


If I recall correctly ... the Mertens bought the contents of one of engineering's buildings that was cleared out to make space for new work. Its possible that's where they went and where they are now if they weren't melted down.

[willabee]

The cowbell already existed and the later T-2 exhaust exited directly into the DSH.

Actually this system seemed to be aimed in a totally different direction and doesn't look all that crude.....It appears that a 6 into 2 into 1 exhaust on a C-6 of that era gave the most power... Since the engineers were on the cusp of the new noise standards this layout was obviously short lived, but it was the same system used for the team's World Record Kilo run with Jim Merten up......... That exhaust layout must have had something going for it.... since Mercury had their pick of the litter for the record attempt I imagine.....

Willabee???

I'm certainly no connoisseur of fine exhaust systems, but sure don't think there was anything crude about the C6 single pipe that was pictured. I thought it was rather unique and with the cowl removed, it looked like a very mean machine! However, it had nothing to do with the Cowbell or Twister exhaust systems. This single pipe on the Checkmate was being run for the first time at Havasu in 1970. The Twisters had just run a month earlier in Paris and the Cowbell was running at this same Havasu event.....their exhaust systems were already complete. I do agree that some of the things learned from the C6 exhaust system were incorporated into the TII.

Additionally, the single pipe system is not what was used on the Merten record run. Mercury's advertising of the record showed the boat with that system, but it was a twin pipe system that set the record (go back to page 16, post #237 of this thread). The engineers did remove the twin pipe and tried the single to see if they could improve the speeds, but it didn't perform as well. Apparently the PR group ended up with better pictures of the single pipe testing than they did of the twin pipe setting the record so that's what they used in their releases.

Merc's release with the single pipe and a shot from Powerboats's coverage of the record run. If you look real close at Powerboat's, you can see two pipes.

PS: My guess for the number of Cowbells built is closer to 12 than 24.

[JP Love]

Hé!!!! Nice pictures and stories... The 70's......... Fun to read your threads.... JP

[milkdud]

Cool photos, interesting read so far.
Conrad

[Skeet 2]

Looks like the cowbell twister pictures are as rare as the T2X timing belts !!!

[willabee]

Looks like the cowbell twister pictures are as rare as the T2X timing belts !!!

If you missed them, they are on post #1753.

[Mark75H]

Thanks Willabee ... the cowbells themselves look much like the tuners that ended up below V-6's. Are those the same motor or 2 different motors with different length bells?

Looks like the mid section is a BP mid with an adapter to SSM.

[willabee]

...... How many cowbells do you think they made..... The blue boat appears to be a Shooting Star....is that the one you went ~ 90 MPH something in ??

A guess is somewhere around a dozen.

The blue boat is a Star, believe it once belonged to Raceman. He bought it from someone that didn't really use it, something like 5 hours on the engine. Said he kept the engine but got rid of the boat. He must be older than me cause he said he didn't like the way the Star turned or the ride it delivered. Me, I just loved the way the Star's handled, even at 90 plus !

[willabee]

...... Are those the same motor or 2 different motors with different length bells?

Looks like the mid section is a BP mid with an adapter to SSM.

They are the same motor, just pictures from different angles.

You have the configuration right. They are not good pictures and it's hard to see detail, but if you look close at the lower right corner of CB4, you can see that the prop Boob Hetzel has in his hand is a three blade RH speedmaster.

[J. Sherlock]

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

I'm certainly no connoisseur of fine exhaust systems, but sure don't think there was anything crude about the C6 single pipe that was pictured. I thought it was rather unique and with the cowl removed, it looked like a very mean machine! However, it had nothing to do with the Cowbell or Twister exhaust systems.

Single pipe for the Merc... NOTHING CRUDE WITH THESE PIPES !!

[Dave S]

So the whole getz is the crank firing......AKA twister....

[Jimboat]

Single pipe for the Merc...

Very cool pictures, John! Love 'em!