Midwest racer of the 1950's

[napa1]

3-12-2020
There are many stories to tell, 1955,1956,1957,1958. All the fellowship was just great!! We all helped each other (but not the Factory teams). We loaned boats, engine parts, props, fuel, what ever was needed but we still kind of kept our “little” secret motor prep and set ups to our selves. That was kind of the fun of it trying to figure out what the other guy did to make his rig go better??
I am going to try and re-live one my better race days now.
It was at Harbor Lights Bend south of Peoria on the Illinois River. We had a two week lay over since the last race so I had plenty of time to work on “things”. I pulled my KG completely down including the reed valve cage. I put in new pistons with only one 1/16 ring and did my drilling of the skirts and balancing. I worked over the reed system in the engine and mumps and reset them.
I pulled the lower unit apart and put everything needed in it also,bearings, impeller, seals whatever it warranted.
I inspected the Ashburn ,which I had just bought from Art Kennedy,and made any needed repairs. I was ready for Harbor Lights! I had not got the time to repaint my Ashburn so it still had the old colors/numbers that Butch used. A few weeks later I got that paint and new V89X job done.

There was a very large group of boats and one Merc Factory Team. I thought probably we would get ate up by them this time. The Kiekhaefer guys kind of walked around and maybe snickered a little under their breath seeing our makeshift set ups.
A few laps of testing was all that was needed to keep my RPM under 8,000. Changed props, transom heights, motor angle and the correct fuel mix for this course. I was happy and ready!
What a day I had, The redone KG and Ashburn really performed. All that work and money I had put into the rebuild really payed off.
I won EVERY HEAT and the Final B Class race that day, just pulling away after the 3rd corner of the first lap. Corner torque was great, straightaway speed was super in fact half way down the back loop I could back off and no one, not even the Factory team could catch up. I backed down the RPM far enough sometimes that it four cycled on me. I was trying to save engine stress as it was not needed Al Ward, my crew man, told me afterward the announcer said it sounds like leader has engine problems!! The old motor and boat set up ran 48-49 MPH on choppy water and the new set up ran 53-54. I used a little more prop pitch to hold down the RPM's
They say it always runs best just before it blows up!! Two Sundays later it kicked a rod out the side. I rebuilt the KG again but it never seemed to run as good after that???
Some of my photographs will tell you that it has kicked rods out the side before!! Still liked the KG??? I guess when a guy cobbles various engine parts KG and 20H and two styles of ignition into one, these things happen!! I picked some random pics so not all at Harbor Lights Bend
Old Bill