Facts about Evinrude/Johnson racing outboards made my OMC

[Bob V]

A picture to brighten up your morning..!!..
Three racy models............
Johnson booth at the 1985 Marine Manufacturers Trade Show in Chicago

Sold....I will take the very hi performance model in the center....

[WaterZebra]

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?

[lars strom]

Sold....I will take the very hi performance model in the center....

Kathy Johnson a.k.a "Billy"

[Amberjack1234]

After the 1976 season I was trying to figure out what I was going to race going forward. In the process of this I came to the conclusion that a privateer like myself with no factory or dealership connections had to have a lot of money to spend. Even then you would find yourself racing against the factory that built your motor or the dealer who sold it. By 1978 I finally decided that OPC racing had become too expensive and moved on. In 1979 my wife and I experienced the first positive bank balances of our lives.

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

[lars strom]

A picture to brighten up your morning..!!..
Three racy models............
Johnson booth at the 1985 Marine Manufacturers Trade Show in Chicago

Yes this was the 1986 model year.

[2us70]

Was the 45ss a direct competitor with the Merc 44xs?

[lars strom]

@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/

[Bob V]

Kathy Johnson a.k.a "Billy"

Definitely could use one of these on my transom....Smoking...

[John Schubert]

Was the 45ss a direct competitor with the Merc 44xs?

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.

[lars strom]

@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 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.

[John Schubert]

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?

It was an A class motor, with a restrictor plate provided by APBA it was legal for J.

[WaterZebra]

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.

#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.........

[John Schubert]

#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

[keith scotton]

If I remember wright 45ss were rope start.

[John Schubert]

If I remember wright 45ss were rope start.

Wrong. Both were the same engine. On the west coast finish 2 heats of 45SS then 3 more SST45. In mod at first it was stock motors with ES & cowls then when they went modified, some top dome ES