Tricks that old racers get up to after retirement

[Rotary John]

Close enough is only good enough in Horse shoes and Hand grenades ——it took a long time before i squeezed a 100mph out of a Hodges !!!!!!!
123+ mph out of the Cosworth— that was in 1978 [before the advent of the V8]
No way could anyone pull a long prop at Bristol ——-was always a compromise —— needed acceleration more than top end§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ §§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§ §§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

We were testing at 120+ in 1973 with the rotary. And you might recall the 2 rotaries were leading a 7l hydro that had been clocked at 140 at Parker in March of '73.

[jackiewilson]

[QUOTE=Rotary John;3413340]We were testing at 120+ in 1973 with the rotary. And you might recall the 2 rotaries were leading a 7l hydro that had been clocked at 140 at Parker in March of '73.[/QUOTE

what you are actually saying Johnno is nobody clocked the Rotories ???? But it did lead a hydro that had been timed at 140 mph ?????? Certainly was nothing in the outboard world even beginning to do those speeds in 1973 !!!!!!!

[2us70]

This was back in the time when some people still thought running an inboard hydroplane designed for 5 mile heat racing in a multi hour endurance race might be a good idea?

[John Schubert]

This was back in the time when some people still thought running an inboard hydroplane designed for 5 mile heat racing in a multi hour endurance race might be a good idea?

In 1969 at Lakeland I set the 3 lap 1 2/3 mile per lap, 3 laps record at 84.901. Faster then all inboard hydro records except 266 & 7 liter. This was accomplished with a 12 ‘3” Sid-Son hydro & a Konig with only 40c.i. Or 700 c.c’s

[Rotary John]

[QUOTE=jackiewilson;3413341]

We were testing at 120+ in 1973 with the rotary. And you might recall the 2 rotaries were leading a 7l hydro that had been clocked at 140 at Parker in March of '73.[/QUOTE

what you are actually saying Johnno is nobody clocked the Rotaries ???? But it did lead a hydro that had been timed at 140 mph ?????? Certainly was nothing in the outboard world even beginning to do those speeds in 1973 !!!!!!!

Jackie: I was in Fl. when we were testing the rotary for the first time prior to Parker.. As I recall Jimbo was running 117 to 121 MPH in testing, Thats when the V-4 racing engine was running 100 MPH on the same boat. That's a fact Jack, not a made up want-a-be.

[John Schubert]

[QUOTE=Rotary John;3413355]

Jackie: I was in Fl. when we were testing the rotary for the first time prior to Parker.. As I recall Jimbo was running 117 to 121 MPH in testing, Thats when the V-4 racing engine was running 100 MPH on the same boat. That's a fact Jack, not a made up want-a-be.

Yup I was there as we were prepping for the intro at the Miami Marine Stdiumpress introduction for the rotary. Two rotaries Two V-4’s. The best that I could ever see with the club gear case was mid 80’s, some said 90’s but I never believed it. I know with the 1:1 I could run 105 as that is what my speedometer max was & I buried the needle at 105 blowing over.

[jackiewilson]

[QUOTE=John Schubert;3413357]

Yup I was there as we were prepping for the intro at the Miami Marine Stdiumpress introduction for the rotary. Two rotaries Two V-4’s. The best that I could ever see with the club gear case was mid 80’s, some said 90’s but I never believed it. I know with the 1:1 I could run 105 as that is what my speedometer max was & I buried the needle at 105 blowing over.

Only the factory stuff was running around 100 in 1970— a long way short of 121 ??????????? With full tunnels there was still a lot of even good drivers blowing over!!!!!!
Advent of the pickle did allow faster speeds.
Do not ever remember a Rotory. On a pickle of any sort ???????????

[Rotary John]

[QUOTE=jackiewilson;3413379]

Only the factory stuff was running around 100 in 1970— a long way short of 121 ??????????? With full tunnels there was still a lot of even good drivers blowing over!!!!!!
Advent of the pickle did allow faster speeds.
Do not ever remember a Rotory. On a pickle of any sort ???????????

Here's one for you, Paris 1974. Woods passing Seabold's T-3 for the umpteenth time.

[Rotary John]

February, 1973 Jimbo testing the rotary for the first time on a black and white full face narrow Scotti, 15/17 gearcase. 117/121 MPH. Later that month Rick McKinley driving a dual engine Molinari with a single rotary for endurance testing. Ran 10 hr at 108/115 MPH. Also full face. He blew it over during the testing.

[Rotary John]

John: I wasn't at the setup for the Miami intro. Do you recall the speeds the rotaries were running? Jimbo had a slotted Scotti and Posey had a full front. Both had a ton of paint to showcase the rotaries. They both had 15/17 gearcases as that's all we had for the rotary till Provo.

[John Schubert]

John: I wasn't at the setup for the Miami intro. Do you recall the speeds the rotaries were running? Jimbo had a slotted Scotti and Posey had a full front. Both had a ton of paint to showcase the rotaries. They both had 15/17 gearcases as that's all we had for the rotary till Provo.

Honestly John, don’t recall. Most of the test time was devoted to getting the exhaust hole large enough so the rotaries would start in the water . We also did several starts all even $ some staggered. I got scolded by Leek for outrunning the rotaries to the turn buoy for jumping the start and got to the buoy too soon. I don’t actually remember anyone doing speed runs as it was just a dress rehersal for the press show. My boat was the same as Jimbos. It was the same boat we took to Parker where I finished 3rd with Bill Muncey as my co driver

[jackiewilson]

Have not the faintest idea of just what the hell went on with S+F end of the week “IT FROZE” my kids think i may have been too rude ??????? Me, i very much doubt it !!!!!!
There is a “RESTORE AUTO-SAVED CONTENT !!!!!!! ——-
BUT YOU CANT !!!!! Only half of it and it’s the wrong bloody half anyway !!!!!! SEI LA VIE !!!!!!
BIG swing in temperature today —— from weeks of snow —- ice and frost . We now have fifty degrees —- gale force winds and rain——- jolly hockey sticks .
92 next week —- do i feel any different—-yes — a hell of a lot older !!!!!!!!
Been far too cold to spend any time in SUPERSHED ——- did try a couple of times , but lost all feeling in my hands , so i gave it up as a bad job !!!!!!!
Also lost a lot of interest in anything I fernagle anymore . Just dont seem to get a buzz out of anything ..
S

[GENE LANHAM]

We were testing at 120+ in 1973 with the rotary. And you might recall the 2 rotaries were leading a 7l hydro that had been clocked at 140 at Parker in March of '73.

An a smartphne is hundred times more accurate--

[donmac]

Have not the faintest idea of just what the hell went on with S+F end of the week “IT FROZE” my kids think i may have been too rude ??????? Me, i very much doubt it !!!!!!
There is a “RESTORE AUTO-SAVED CONTENT !!!!!!! ——-
BUT YOU CANT !!!!! Only half of it and it’s the wrong bloody half anyway !!!!!! SEI LA VIE !!!!!!
BIG swing in temperature today —— from weeks of snow —- ice and frost . We now have fifty degrees —- gale force winds and rain——- jolly hockey sticks .
92 next week —- do i feel any different—-yes — a hell of a lot older !!!!!!!!
Been far too cold to spend any time in SUPERSHED ——- did try a couple of times , but lost all feeling in my hands , so i gave it up as a bad job !!!!!!!
Also lost a lot of interest in anything I fernagle anymore . Just dont seem to get a buzz out of anything ..
S

I understand the cold fingers stuff, getting old sucks! my old hands give me grief now anything less than 5C. I actually bought some electric gloves and tried them out walking the dog, wow that's nice! havn't had any severe cold here at all lowest we had so far was -16c which is hot compared to what some other regions received! burned up about $50 propane last week getting my shop warm enough to dig into the polaris and figure out why my pyrometer jumped to 1500 on the last ride home and first time out this season! going to be up near 0 today so i might pull it out and give it a little test run to see if I actually fixed it or just wasted some days,$$ and propane!
I hear you about not getting much interest happening in projects, got lots of stuff i could do,but it seems mechanical stuff is getting old for me and i kinda like fixing stuff in the house now! havn't put my boat or dock in the water 7 yrs! seems i like to sit on the porch and yell get off my lawn a lot, but it's mostly to geese that even the dog is too lazy to chase now!

[jackiewilson]

One of the reasons following my inactivity is a trip through the bowels of the nhs. I’m on the mend, with some luck I should hope to be return in no time.