It was coool but it made me ill.....

[Skoontz]

I was out ion Valley Center over the weekend to see a buddy. For those unaware, Valley Center is the home of Meyers/Manx dune buggies and many gear heads from all venues.

So, on a trailer behind one of my buddies freinds trucks, sits an antique Midget race car from the 40's. And this guy bets me and whoever $100.00 we could never guess what kind of an engine was used to power the car.

I wish I was wrong....The engine was a vintage Evinrude 4-60 with a set of home made pipes. After I won the bet I offered to allow the guy to keep his money and I would just take the engine in trade....

What further blew me away was seeing many of the old photos, this was his dads car after the war. Almost every car running on the track had a 4-60 engine!

[Mark75H]

More than half of OMC's 4-60 production went directly to midget racing, they weren't scavenging from outboards

[Skoontz]

Man to hear a pack of those things running dry pipes rounding the turns must have been something!

[Mark75H]

I think if you check with Dudley Malone in OK City, he may be able to tell you where and when to hear a pack of mostly 4-60's racing

[Skoontz]

That's awesome!


What I really need to find is a whole other 4-60 race motor right now.

[racnbns]

If you can make it to the Tomahawk antique outboard meet I plan on running my 4-60 on my De-silva, wide cockpit[side by side] runabout. We may even give rides so come and have a ball!

Bruce Summers
V-71

[Skoontz]

Bruce, where is Tomahawk, in Wisc???? We used to canoe there if it is.
Wanna get sick? At our boathouses auction, I watched Dave Strauss, one of the locals buy my dads, Rocholt and the 4-60 with 5 props for $85.00.
I'de give anything for wild 4-60 ride!

[racnbns]

You probably did canoe up there. The Wisconsin river runs right through town and there are numerous lakes in the area. I shot the primer on the two man boat and have a week to shoot the color coat and rig it. In a week and a half it's off to Constantine, the nationals and Tomahawk if I can still move. The 4-60 has never been run. I may need one of the electric starters the guys are using to crank the beast. She's got lots of compression!

Bruce

[Skoontz]

That used to be an 8 hour drive from St. Charles, Illinois. All single lane roads through marathon county. There is this lodge/bar place where I was introduced to a coboy killer...Tequilla and Kalua on the rocks. 2 puts you in the trash can fast!

Far as the 4-60 goes, once you start them the first time, you can use a rope. Mine starts in 2 pulls after sitting 6 months. The condensers on that motor hold so much charge the spark can jump 2 inches no problem. We would charge them up and ground them on the tester and they sounded like a firecracker going off. Make sure you don't advance the spark too much while you start it, or it will kick back and break your arm.

[Tuneafish]

A friend of my family was one of the first to put OMC motors in midget race cars, his name was Doc Ayer and he was an engineer at OMC. He worked with my dad on a number of openwheel cars (my dad's business was building the cars) thruout the 50's and 60's. While growing up, Doc and I would have long talks about how engines worked. We spoke about things like valve timing, "loop-charging", tuned intake and exhaust. We even got into what 'special tricks' he knew for different fuels. It was great to be a high school kid and have a very respected race engine builder take the time to teach/discuss/explain, how motors worked. He never talked down to me, and always encouraged me to ask questions along with giving my answers to his questions. The number one thing I got from him was to always offer help to anyone who will listen. With his "lessons" in mind, I was able to build a 1966 Chevelle wagon with a 327 four speed. Soon after my 18th birthday I ran it at "Lyons" in Long Beach Calif., 12.01 @ 114 MPH. THANK YOU DOC! Thanks to all the RACERS over the years. I had to edit this post, because I misspelled Ayer not Eyre sorry.