Quincy Welding/Precision Machine "Area 51" Photos

You are about to take a journey through the inside of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine, home of some of the most innovative and exciting outboard race engines produced in their time. I call these photos the "Area 51" pictures because very few people got to enter these production and manufacturing areas of the shop.

In honor of the DePue Reunion, I will be posting a series of these pictures between now and July 29th.

The 1st picture is of the northeast section of the shop, looking east (not to be confused with Gene East). This is the area where the cylinder blocks and crank cases were exterior machined for further production. In the extreme NE corner of this picture is where the Quincy pistons were machined and produced.

The 2nd picture is also of the machine shop area (east and somewhat south of the north end of the building). This is where we finish machined the crankshafts that we made and also the cylinder heads, cranking plates and other parts that required a larger lathe for the Looper finish production.
Special note: the Clausing end mill in the right side foreground is the very one that the world famous Gene East used to hand port the majority of the Quincy Loopers that were manufactured.

The 3rd picture is looking towards the southeast. This bridgeport was used for porting many factory Merc blocks that we modified and some machine finish work on the Loopers. In the background you will see the Dodge shop truck and on the upper rack, many customer outboards in for repair plus some new Mercury engines for sale. You will notice that the engines are on an upper level - the upper level was where we worked on outboards, both pleasure and racing, and where we finish assembled the production racing engines. (More pictures of that area to be posted later.)

The 4th picture is of the drill press machining room/ drawing room. This is where most of the drilling and tapping of the production race engines took place and also where my father had his large drafting table (not seen in the picture). This area was kept as clean as a surgical center because some of the most critical and delicate drilling & tapping work occurred here.

The 5th picture is one of my favorites - the Looper parts inventory. This was also kept in the drill press machining room. How many of us would love to reach back into this picture and snatch brand new, freshly machined parts for our Loopers? Wow!

The last picture of this series is of the pleasure boat propeller repair area and also where we forged Quincy racing propellers. This is where the great Gene East, Frank Volker and Al Herman performed magic for both stock and racing outboard uses.
Special note: Look above the light fixture over the work bench and towards the back of the shop. You will see an area we called the "Back Deck." That is where the majority of covert, experimental "X" factory secret blocks were kept hidden. The only way to reach that area was to lower the steps with an electric wench -- only certain shop employees were allowed up there. Gene can tell you how off limits that deck was.

I hope everyone here enjoys this trip down memory lane as much as I have. You know, Wayne is right. When we're living the experience, we sometimes forget about recording it for later. I was around the shop my entire life and learned how to work on pleasure outboards and build race engines, but never thought to take pictures of the inside of the shop for history's sake. I want to give a special thanks to the former customer who sent me these pictures. To me they are priceless!

thanks,

Paul A Christner

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Original Looper 1

You are about to take a journey through the inside of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine, home of some of the most innovative and exciting outboard race engines produced in their time. I call these photos the "Area 51" pictures because very few people got to enter these production and manufacturing areas of the shop.

In honor of the DePue Reunion, I will be posting a series of these pictures between now and July 29th.

The 1st picture is of the northeast section of the shop, looking east (not to be confused with Gene East). This is the area where the cylinder blocks and crank cases were exterior machined for further production. In the extreme NE corner of this picture is where the Quincy pistons were machined and produced.

The 2nd picture is also of the machine shop area (east and somewhat south of the north end of the building). This is where we finish machined the crankshafts that we made and also the cylinder heads, cranking plates and other parts that required a larger lathe for the Looper finish production.

The 3rd picture is looking towards the southeast. This bridgeport was used for porting many factory Merc blocks that we modified and some machine finish work on the Loopers. In the background you will see the Dodge shop truck and on the upper rack, many customer outboards in for repair plus some new Mercury engines for sale. You will notice that the engines are on an upper level - the upper level was where we worked on outboards, both pleasure and racing, and where we finish assembled the production racing engines. (More pictures of that area to be posted later.)

The 4th picture is of the drill press machining room/ drawing room. This is where most of the drilling and tapping of the production race engines took place and also where my father had his large drafting table (not seen in the picture). This area was kept as clean as a surgical center because some of the most critical and delicate drilling & tapping work occurred here.

The 5th picture is one of my favorites - the Looper parts inventory. This was also kept in the drill press machining room. How many of us would love to reach back into this picture and snatch brand new, freshly machined parts for our Loopers? Wow!

The last picture of this series is of the pleasure boat propeller repair area and also where we forged Quincy racing propellers. This is where the great Gene East, Frank Volker and Al Herman performed magic for both stock and racing outboard uses.

I hope everyone here enjoys this trip down memory lane as much as I have. You know, Wayne is right. When we're living the experience, we sometimes forget about recording it for later. I was around the shop my entire life and learned how to work on pleasure outboards and build race engines, but never thought to take pictures of the inside of the shop for history's sake. I want to give a special thanks to the former customer who sent me these pictures. To me they are priceless!

thanks,

Paul A Christner

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

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WOW! Look at that "parts inventory"!!!!!!!! How many peoples jaws just dropped (like mine)??????????:eek: :eek: :eek:

paul,

my jaw dropped. sure could use those gen 3 stacks in the corner!

great pictures. that's where all magic happened!

frank

Hey Daren & Frank,

Save me a couple of those new Looper blocks from Area 51.


thanks,

Paul

Paul

Thanks for posting these pictures. They sure bring back memories. I noticed the calendar said August 1973. That's 3 months after I left Quincy Welding. So many times I wish I had stayed to be a part of the Z-Engine.
Look forward to seeing you at DePue.

Just noticed that calendar was from LaLande and Gallaher Insurance company.

Bob LaLande is Paul's brother-in-law.

Bob worked at "The Shop" for several years. He was also a racer. While never achieving the fame of a David Christner, Freddie Goehl, Arlen Crouch, Earle Hull, Frank Volker, or Jim Schoch, Bob does have a couple of APBA National Championships to his credit.

I sure hope Paul and David are able to persuade Bob and their brother John to come to DePue

Gene,

There's something I have been wanting to ask you for a long time and I am sure the Quincy fans here would also find your answer extremely interesting.

You and I both know you must have attended at least 400 or more races on behalf of the Quincy Welding racing team, what race do you consider to be the most memorable and rewarding to you? In other words, which one did you enjoy the most?

thanks,

Paul A Christner

ps: More pictures coming soon, so stay tuned.

Yep your Dad got totally pissed at me that day.He was doing some port work on one of the new Z 250cc engine and he asked me to clean up around the mill and dumb 15 year old me I used and air hose.I thought he would never stop yelling.I enjoyed watching O.F work and he didn't seem to mind answering any question I had for him.I really miss being there Paul and miss Chris more.

Paul, in response to your question; I have so many memories of boat racing that it is difficult to pick just one.

Being there for so many Championships and Records by Jim Schoch of course is a high point.

My favorite race was riding 2nd man with Wayne Walgrave in F Runabout. We led the final heat at the Nationals for 4 3/4 laps. Unfortunately it was a 5 lap race. We overshot the last turn and finished 3rd.

I could already see my name in the record book, but that didn't happen.
I can however tell my grandkids the old man once ran up front at the Nationals. Not everyone can say that.

I remember the side by side back flip of Jim Schoch and Jerry Simison in A Runabout at the Nationals. These were the 2 best A-Runabouts in the world, but neither was a factor in the final results.

I remember getting caught running our D in the F class at Alexandria because we burned a piston in our 44 and didn't have time to rebuild it.Jim won his elimination heat easily, but Poppa Smith got a little too nosey with the mics on inspection. Jim and I put on acts of innocence worthy of an Academy Award.

We offerred the rig to Dan Kirts for the D-Hydro finals because Jim failed to qualify. Dan won the World Championship with that rig.

This was when people were just starting to brag about running 100 MPH in D-Hydro. We ran 87, but that was 87 all the way around the course.

As you know, your Dad was fond of saying," It ain't who's fastest, it' who's firstest"!

The Waldman D-Hydro engine swap between heats ranks at the top of my favorites list.

The most unforgetable race was the D-Hydro race in Hot Springs in 1972. I cranked Gerry Waldman's motor that day and just minutes later, I was helping to load him in the ambulance. A couple of hours later "Baldy" Baldwin announced that Gerry had died of his injuries.

The sight of 100 tough, macho guys with tears unashamedly streaking down their faces is an unforgettable experience. I wish that engine had never started that day.

The loss of such a good friend as Gerry Waldman played a large role in my decision to find employment outside boat racing. While boat racing took a dear friend, boat racing has also provided me with friendships that have endured the test of time. I'm looking forward to renewing a lot of old friendships at DePue.

I'll see you there.

Gene---it's amazing but most of what you said stood out in your memory I can remember as well. Jerry Simison and Jim Schoch stood their A runabouts on their tails and bumped together right in front of the spectators at DePue in 1969. It was hot. Very Hot. No wind. The water was slick. They hauled them off and we had to wait for awhile to get the program resumed because both ambulances were gone.

I'm wondering what year you rode with Wayne Walgrave. I may have a pic for you and your kids.:D and grandkids:cool:


Don't know about the inspection with Papa Smith, but I do know it didn't make any difference who you were...Gerry Waldman, Bob Hering, Billy Seebold, Jim Schoch, Dick Pond,...if it didn't measure right ...you were out.

As far as Gerry Waldman and his last race were concerned, I can understand it being very memorable although not in the good sense. It is the same for me. I can remember very clearly when my Dad picked up the mike up on the hill overlooking the pits and with his commanding voice told everyone he had an announcement. At that time we were all rigging down and everyone was happy to have had a successful event. We were all concerned about Gerry, but at that time in my racing career we had seen a number of racers hauled off to the hospital and brought back to the pits with stitches and casts in time for the festivities.

When he called for silence.......everything stopped. It was just a brief statement, but my Dad s told everyone that Gerry had died of his injuries and gave the time. No one moved. Time just stopped. We couldn't believe it. Gerry was one of the guiding forces of PRO racing. His partner Bob Hering had gotten heavy into OPC the year before and tried to get Gerry involved. Gerry was committed to bring PRO racing into the next level along with my Dad, Marshall Grant and Tim Butts.

I can't remember how long the silence lasted in the pits. It was not one of those things where an announcer says "Lets have a moment of silence" for whoever. It was a shock and as Gene says, tons of tears were shed. Many of us were still standing in the water with our rigs. Time stood still. It could have been twenty minutes or more before activity resumed. The pits were completely silent except for the sound of breaking down rigs and loading up boats and motors.

I don't remember anything about that night after rigging down. The next morning I went out on the water to retrieve the bouys and found a small piece of Gerry's cowling stuck on a bouy.