SO OMC Rule Change Suggestions

[Fast Freddie]

My Reply Was:

Patrick was talking about J kids' engines and I just wanted to point out that the Mercury 15 IS competitive in J and AXS and in fact wins a lot of the races.

Fred

[sponsonhead]

J Engines

Patrick was talking about J kids' engines and I just wanted to point out that the Mercury 15 IS competitive in J and AXS and in fact wins a lot of the races.

Fred

I got that, Fred. Unfortunately, the couple of people who have tried the Merc J's (Rick Hannon, Aaron Peterson) have not been able to get their Mercs to be competitive with the OMCs that are running in our area.

Once again, it seems that there are things that need to be done with these motors after purchase to make them competitive, and since nobody is really talking about what those things are, it's pretty disheartening to the new guy (or girl) coming in. They're faced with the following choices:

1) Buy a Merc and be a back marker or spend a buttload of money for whatever needs to be done to it to make it competitive; or

2) Try and find an OMC A for sale (which seems to be tough on the west coast...hence my request to 2-Z for a list of engines for sale).

Either way, no matter how hard we try, it's making it tough on the new guy coming in. No matter how many new kids get into racing from the HARM J Project or how many boats get built, at the end of the day, they need motors....and not something that takes major massaging out of the box to get the kids in the hunt.

Flame on, folks......

R-19

[kws]

Either way, no matter how hard we try, it's making it tough on the new guy coming in. No matter how many new kids get into racing from the HARM J Project or how many boats get built, at the end of the day, they need motors....and not something that takes major massaging out of the box to get the kids in the hunt.

hence my sugestion to be able to use pre 86 fishing blocks. one of those and small handfull of money to one of the A motor guru's and anyone should have a competitive powerhead

R-19[/QUOTE]

[Fast Freddie]

I Understand, But

I can speak from some personal experience: we spent a lot more on our OMC As to get up-to-date when the blue-printing rule went into effect than we spent on our AXS Merc with which Mikey won the AXSH nationals in 2003 and John Palmquist "won" AXSR in 2004. The only work done to our Merc was to hone all the bores (bearing and cylinder) and put it back together. (We did run very lean jetting.)

Rachel Warnock borrowed our engine this year and ran fairly well, so it is still competitive with no more work having been done.

Hope this helps some. We do need to have available engines or we are going to die out.

Fred

[Fast Freddie]

Sorry;

I realize this is a Stock Outboard thread about the OMC engines. I'll go somewhere else to talk about the J category and their engine program.

Fred

[Hydroglobe17J]

Mercs are faster?

Fred: The Mercs are not competitive in the A class, only the AXS class, and despite multiple attempts to make the Mercs competitive with the OMC, nothing that would ensure this was ever adopted by the SORC or the members.

Pray that the Sidewinder does not suffer the same fate as the Merc. Ed.

Ed,
I did well at Wakefield with the OMC "ASH", James Luce beat me real bad his first ASH race, at Whitney Point,NY, with his Merc. He runs well in ASXH too with this Merc. I started racing again this season and I thought the Merc engine was too expensive.
Earl

[kws]

Fred yes i get your point we keep saying no new motor's and yes thankfully Merc is still making a J motor

[Steve Warnock]

Merc Wins ASH at Oshkosh

Adding to Fast Freddie's comments, Rachel won ASH at Oshkosh. Granted its a Bristol short course but a WIN is A WIN.

It's not of the Bennett or the best OMC speeds, but running mid pack for a driver still learning the ropes is not such a bad thing either.

We have done some good race testing for AXSH by running the Merc in ASH.

FYI!

Warbs

[17W]

OMC replacement parts.....

I beg to differ the thought there is a shortage of replacement parts for the OMC!

[14-H]

I beg to differ the thought there is a shortage of replacement parts for the OMC!

Ahhhh: Blocks, pistons. You're right, everything else is available.

[Cameraboy]

<snip>2) Try and find an OMC A for sale (which seems to be tough on the west coast...hence my request to 2-Z for a list of engines for sale).

Either way, no matter how hard we try, it's making it tough on the new guy coming in. No matter how many new kids get into racing from the HARM J Project or how many boats get built, at the end of the day, they need motors....and not something that takes major massaging out of the box to get the kids in the hunt.

Flame on, folks......

R-19

Pat, I think what folks are saying is that there are a lot of fishing motors available to buy for $500 (or less) and then people can get their own racing motors built. We should look into the feasibility of this for the HARM project. Maybe if we could get a $5,000 loan from the SORC promotional fund, we could buy up some old fishing motors, pay Hannon to fix them up, get Seaway to cut us a deal on parts, buy gearfeet from Sidewinder, and be able to tell new J folks that we'll help them build a boat and sell them a motor.

I would hope there aren't a lot of near race-ready A motors sitting in garages around the country.

[kws]

oh i think there are a bunch sitting around and that a established racer can get a hold of one if he needs to. But no one wants to see motors leave the circle of racing. therefore are very reluctent to sell to an unknown person and the potential newbie out there has a very hard time locating one.
of course if they are smart enuff to go hang out at the races to try to find equip. to get started it wouldnt be hard.... we wern't that smart lol

[Cameraboy]

oh i think there are a bunch sitting around and that a established racer can get a hold of one if he needs to. But no one wants to see motors leave the circle of racing. therefore are very reluctent to sell to an unknown person and the potential newbie out there has a very hard time locating one.

That's a problem when it comes to growth in outboards - it's all about who you know just to get in the door?

And we wonder why folks will burn a set of tires every heat to go kart racing...

[mercguy]

Outboard Motor Dealers!!

go to any of your bigger NEW outboard motor sales dealerships and you will find lots of used 1986-1992 9.9/15 hp OMC's for sale. With the current "thought" that every pleasure boater ( especially Californians) must now own a 4 stroke "kicker", the OMC's are on the used motor racks all over the place. If you guys cannot find one, then you are not looking hard enough........(they seem to be as common as a 44 Merc!)

[17W]

Blocks......

Ahhhh: Blocks, pistons. You're right, everything else is available.

Ed- The dies for the 13.2cu." OMC block were property of OMC.....which is no longer. Isn't this why the rule was approved to resleeve?

As for piston availability, the new .030" part# is 5006662. In this kit you receive the piston,rings, wrist pin & circlips. There are ample amounts available (22 currently).

***Be aware it is very common for big businesses to reduce their inventory during "slow" time of the year***So when researching part #s & availability before the National Meeting may not provide the #s the SORC is looking for!