The History of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine

Re: A Brief History of Quincy Welding / Precision Machine


Quincy Welding at 5th & State in Quincy, IL, was officially opened for business in 1949 by my father, O. F. (Chris) Christner as a welding and machine shop. He actually started in business in a small garage several years earlier, growing the business to the point that he could build the white block building at 5th & State that is known by all familiar with Quincy Welding.

Quincy Welding was probably best known as the manufacturer of the Quincy Mercs and Quincy Looper race engines.

In a technical sense, the original father of the Loop charged two-stroke engine was a German engineer named Dr. Schneurle, who patented his engine in 1925. In his motor, a pair of mirror image transfer ports flanked a single exhaust port, thus directing the scavaging flow toward the cylinder wall opposite the exhaust and upward to "loop" over (and thus clear) the cylinder.

The unique Quincy Welding Looper was patented by O. F. Christner and it was the first 2 cycle race engine to have diametrically opposed and exiting exhaust ports. It was exclusively designed and created by my father out of desperation and necessity due to the fact that the converted Quincy Deflector Merc could no longer sustain the combustion intensity without eliminating, by melt down, the deflector dome on the piston. My father also wanted to design the new engineering technology around the already existing Mercury crankshaft and cylinder spacing dimensions.

Yes, my father wanted Kiekhaefer to produce a pleasure Looper engine. Kiekhaefer eventually bought the patent from my father - I remember the new 1965 Plymouth convertible my father bought with the money.

Quincy Welding also manufactured rings, pistons, reed cages, cylinders, sleeves, cranking plates, turning fins, racing throttles, engine supports, mounting pads, drive housings, ignition mounting plates and systems, a full spectrum of exhaust systems (including expansion chambers, megaphones, filler blocks, tuned cans and mufflers), and both racing and pleasure boat propellers.

We modified/produced many racing engines over the years: J-A-B-C-D-E-F-X-Z in the form of deflectors and Loopers, which were stock, modified and pro alky. Quincy Welding also manufactured many one-of-a kind, experimental racing engines for many clients, both corporate and private.

We were also known by some as the “area 51” of Mercury. My father, O. F., and Karl Kiekhafer became acquainted shortly after WWII when my dad became a Mercury outboard dealer. Quincy Welding did many covert projects for Mercury in the 50’s, 60’s and into the 70’s and also some secret projects for OMC. We even did some covert, experimental projects for an un-named Japanese company. Some of our efforts and contributions are still realized by today’s racers.

How many racers are aware that there was a secret meeting between O. F. Christner and Dieter Konig in the late 50’s in which Dieter offered him the American distributorship for Konig race engines? My dad told me about this meeting later on, after Quincy Welding closed.

Apparently there are some boat racing authors out there that do not realize or comprehend the degree of Quincy Welding’s significance and contribution to the evolution of outboard racing. My father, with the help of a few employees in that small shop in Quincy, took production Mercury outboards and converted them into racing engines that dominated the Johnson and Evinrudes in the 1950's. The Quincy Loopers carried that domination in pro outboard racing into the 1960's and up to the early 70's.

In the mid 1970's, my father and I reinvented the Quincy racing engines into the "Z" series engines that later became quite successful too. I will go into the Z engines, including posting pictures of the 1st Z cylinder block, later on.

A lot of people do not realize that Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine was, during the entire time it manufactured racing engines, a full service welding and machine shop. Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine also sold pleasure boats, Mercury outboards, Homelite chainsaws and was a full service racing and pleasure propeller repair shop.

My father’s intellect and vision, combined with the dedication and skills of his employees, made Quincy Welding the success it was.

As to literature -- there were racing catalogues and price lists put out by Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine over the years, but they are extremely rare. I can’t even find some of them for my personal collection. Also worth mentioning, there are some black and red Z engine sales brochures out there that are even more rare than some of the older catalogues. (Some rare literature to be posted later.)

I know this is wordy, but felt some of the racers out there might find this history interesting.


Stay tuned, much more to come.

Paul A Christner

How many of you knew that my dad, O. F. Christner, was not just a race engine manufacturer, he was also an accomplished guitarist?

Here's a picture of that very same guitar that my dad used to play ballads on to my mom -- he had a romantic side of him that he saved for her alone. Gee, you think that's why he had 7 children?

Chris also enjoyed classical music, which he listened to every chance he had. He was also a big fan of Johnny Cash & Marshall Grant's band.

I think, in many ways, the sounds of the race engines that my father produced & improved were still the music he appreciated most.

thanks,

Paul A Christner


note: This picture is for your enjoyment and not to be copied or posted to other web sites without written permission.

Almost all 2 cycle race engines currently use multiple, external reed valves. Did you know Quincy Welding pioneered their use in 1955 in conjunction with diametrically opposed internal reeds? They were referred to by racers back then as the Quincy Mumps.

My father, O. F. Christner, told me that we had, in effect, 12 valves on the 20H Quincy and that the Mumps were quite successful in their day. Considering how many were manufactured, they are extremely rare to find now. In fact, this is the first set I've actually seen in many years and they happen to be in mint condition and in the original Quincy packaging. What a treasure. (No, they're not for sale at any price -- I asked.)

thanks,

Paul A. Christner


Please note: the pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to other web sites without written permission.

Another web site picked up the topic of the Quincy Mumps after it was posted here first and discussed the origin of the name. Unfortunately, that other web site has given out incorrect information.

The name, Quincy Mumps, according to my brother, David Christner (who was there at our shop at that time in 1955), and according to information given to me by my late father, O. F. Christner, came about because an employee of Quincy Welding, Jim Griffin, saw an engine that had the new external reed cage on it. My father had wrapped a towel around the external reeds to keep them secret, and Jim said it looked like that motor had the mumps. David and my father both laughed and decided that was a good name for the external reeds, so the name Quincy Mumps came to be.

The Mumps were tried on an A but ran best on the B & D Quincy Merc engines. Unfortunately they were discontinued previous to the tuned megaphones being installed. While Mumps performance was good, they made the engine very tempermental to start. There were extreme variances from rich to lean in starting.

I don't want misinformation about Quincy Welding/ Quincy Racing being promoted, whether people have good intentions or not. This is the best web site for factual information on Quincy Welding/Racing as my brother David and I lived Quincy Welding/Racing and I personally have a huge inventory of documentation to help substantiate the information that I post here. David and I also communicate almost daily and often discuss the topics and information I post here.

Thanks to all who enjoy the Quincy Welding heritage and history.

There's a reason why this site is named Boat Racing FACTS.com.

thanks,

Paul A. Christner

I had a KG-7 that I bought from a guy named Bixby, from Excelsior Minnesota about 1959 or 60. He was quitting. I bought everything: the motor, a single step Fillinger hydro, a crummy (made out of a car trunk) trailer and all kinds of extras. I immediately sold the boat and trailer but kept the motor and the rest of the stuff. I had been racing for about 5 years, first with a Chris Craft and then A Champion Hot Rod and my best finish ever was a third. Then I finally won my first race with that KG-7 in 1961. Austin Minnesota. Short Course. 8' 9" A/B Swift. Dick Zivic ran 2nd with an Anzani. I'm pretty sure the motor had mumps. I know it had the cast Quincy tank on top. I don't know what I ever did with it, but I think Wally Roman got it because he wanted the mumps.