Facts about Evinrude/Johnson racing outboards made my OMC

[DanUmbarger]

Couple more cool old ads from e-bay.

Read the fine print to see the point where 25 hp was king!

And first ad I’ve seen for 3 bangers actually explaining what a looper is.

I saw the looper ad a couple of years ago...it caught my attention because its sitting on the back of one of our 15' Wildcats that my dad designed and we built from 1967 thru 1983.

[Instigator]

Very cool!

I thought it looked like the back of a Switzer.

I saw the looper ad a couple of years ago...it caught my attention because its sitting on the back of one of our 15' Wildcats that my dad designed and we built from 1967 thru 1983.

[DanUmbarger]

Very cool!

I thought it looked like the back of a Switzer.

Switzers have a completely different look but here's a pic of a local Wildcat with a cool V4 Johnson on the back. Although that would be a cool motor for a 15' Wildcat tunnel im restoring i have a Johnson GT115 that I'm sticking on it.

[lars strom]

Mouse from OMC to the right working on the powerful F1-V8

[WaterZebra]

Mouse from OMC to the right working on the powerful F1-V8

How were the F1 V8s assembled? Did one technician specialize in long block assembly? Somebody else for fuel systems and electricals? Or did the technicians do everything for one engine at a time?

[WaterZebra]

PLEASE..this is a thread about OMC..!!!
Thank you.

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Jack Aylsworth

Group expert - All-star contributor

Evinrude AQUANAUT, Johnson AIR-BUOY & OMC SCUBUOY Diving Compressors


These self-contained floating air stations delivered fresh, filtered air for two divers. The units weighed 40 pounds, complete with a 2-cycle engine driving two separate compressors with 2 hoses, masks & back packs, a 33-inch float ring and a 36” high exhaust mast with attachable “Divers Down” flag. The compressors delivered 2 ½ cfm to each diver at maximum depth of 25 feet. Depth was limited to guard against potential bends. Designed and produced by OMC’s Gale Division for all three brands, they were first released in 1966 and cost around $300. Properly functioning used units list online today for as much as $1200 to $1300.

Available Parts - The model AH100 was produced from 1966-1967. It was basically a Lawn Boy 2hp D-model engine. (The cylinder head and crankshaft, however, are unique to the diving units.) The crankcase, rings, seals, gaskets, bearings, rod, piston, points, coil, condenser, carb components are all Lawn Boy D-engine. These parts are cheap and available on eBay - search “Lawn Boy parts”. The engine shroud and steel gas tank also are from C & D Lawn Boy engines.

Safe When Used Correctly - The only danger in using one of these diving units is using it in a confined space. This is common sense. The story goes that back in the late 60's, a diver was using the unit inside a deep & narrow sinkhole in North Florida. The unit was floating on a water surface that was 30 feet below the surrounding terrain. The fumes displaced the oxygen and the diver died. This could happen with any diving compressor, but this event reportedly ended production at OMC.

How did OMC acquire certification for this product to be sold? How did the design address separation between the engine exhaust and air compressor intake?

[lars strom]

@WaterZebra

Lots of great questions but I don't have the correct answers and hat to guess.
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For sure this is a Velocity with a production Evinrude 300XP V8 looper.

[Rotary John]

How were the F1 V8s assembled? Did one technician specialize in long block assembly? Somebody else for fuel systems and electricals? Or did the technicians do everything for one engine at a time?

When I was there in the '70's, Ward Cox was the gearcase specialist and that's pretty much all he did. Ziggy and Mouse did most of the porting work,, but the build up was shared with all of the team on who was available basis. Whitey Harris was the dyno man, but wasn't actually part of the race team. How the team progressed in the late '70's and '80's, I don't know. Jim Nerstrom is the expert then.

[John Schubert]

When I was there in the '70's, Ward Cox was the gearcase specialist and that's pretty much all he did. Ziggy and Mouse did most of the porting work,, but the build up was shared with all of the team on who was available basis. Whitey Harris was the dyno man, but wasn't actually part of the race team. How the team progressed in the late '70's and '80's, I don't know. Jim Nerstrom is the expert then.

pretty much how I remembered it during the V-4 days, but each tech might have done their own porting & assembly & it always was a big deal which pulled the most HP on the dyno. Leek would assign motors to which drivers according to the dyno results. Yup, Jimbo got the best. Other techs were Ken Soller, Mike Kukla who after a snowmobile accident developed Lukemia, them Mike Gwaltney joined the team. In the Boat shop it was Bob “goat” Nagode, John Harvat & Jimbo. In the prop shop lead by Don Heinrich it was Harold Naus & John Gibbs

[Rotary John]

pretty much how I remembered it during the V-4 days, but each tech might have done their own porting & assembly & it always was a big deal which pulled the most HP on the dyno. Leek would assign motors to which drivers according to the dyno results. Yup, Jimbo got the best. Other techs were Ken Soller, Mike Kukla who after a snowmobile accident developed Lakemia, them Mike Gwaltney joined the team. In the Boat shop it was Bob “goat” Nagode, John Harvat & Jimbo. In the prop shop lead by Don Heinrich it was Harold Naus & John Gibbs

One more; Ted Wright. Worked on the rotary race engine. Also died of cancer. Tragic story. He had brought his wife alone to Europe with a 3 week fare. Scotti was killed the first week and he was told to go home. They couldn't afford the additional fare for his wife so they hung around Paris unknown to others for the remainder of the 3 weeks. Also unknown, he was extremely sick and by the time he got home the cancer was too far along to save him. He died shortly after coming home.
I don't know about the 2-stroke motor assignments but Jack Leek never saw the dyno sheets of the rotaries. Besides that, I don't recall ever seeing more that 5 HP difference for any of them for any given race, 5 out of 270/280 prop shaft HP didn't make much difference when they were running on 100HP V-4 boats.

[lars strom]

Wow @Rotary John ,

Very sad story about Ted Wright. I probably met him in Paris 1974.
Still remember how upset everybody in the OMC team was when Scotti died in the tragic accident.
I have pictures of Scotti laying stuck in the fence at the seawall and his boat floating upside down next to him.
Terrible pictures I refuse to use.
(Got it from a French friend)

[STEVERINO]

When I was there in the '70's, Ward Cox was the gearcase specialist and that's pretty much all he did. Ziggy and Mouse did most of the porting work,, but the build up was shared with all of the team on who was available basis. Whitey Harris was the dyno man, but wasn't actually part of the race team. How the team progressed in the late '70's and '80's, I don't know. Jim Nerstrom is the expert then.

I can remember some enjoyable times with Ward Cox at the PARIS 6hr race on a few occasions i think the Paris race was the only one he attended that i know of he always enjoyed himself with the racing crowd he was a very quiet person but new how to enjoy himself the only thing that i remember well was he told me he had a over a 1hr commute to work every morning to the OMC factory.

[STEVERINO]

... I

I can remember a post by Ron Hill about Scotti`s visit to the race at Havasu the race he went on to win and Ron was entertaining the Italian driver he took him to lunch a few times and Scotti had a small carry case with him and Ron asked why does the case go everywhere with you his answer was its got my props in it.

[2us70]

I can understand that. We all were always protective of our best propellers and also trying to find one better. I only had 2 really good props the whole time I raced.

[lars strom]

At our age, time FLY’s! Sooo…
Always Remember… Keep Your Beer Cold, Your Wine Fine & Life Will Be Good!