An Amazing Story

**Jeff Lytle** · 02-15-2007

As I was reading about the way your boat was handling, I'm sure every driver who has aimed a hydro said the same thing...........Prop

**Jeff Lytle** · 02-15-2007

Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team

Dieter put the motor together for me to run at the OB World Championships at Dayton.

I noticed on the pic the CD ignition without the scatter shield. This engine you got must have been one of the 1st generations with it then....true?

**Dave_E71** · 02-15-2007

Originally Posted by MJR

Yes, that was the pic I was talking about a while back. That is Mal swimming to the shore to his pits as Tom was directing him from the shore line. Man was Tom Harden mad that day.

I was looking through some pictures and found this one of Tom and Mal Harden and Pop Augustine

Not hi-jacking your thread Wayne, just taking it on a side trip

Dave

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 02-16-2007

Hey Dave--Your side trip brings back lots of memories. Getting in the boat ready to go then some delay. Mal is going over and over in his head, the start. The first most critical part of racing. Once you get past that you can work everything else out as it comes. Pop seems to have his eye on the judges stand wondering when they're going to get the show on the road. And Tom? Who knows? He just wants to get back to the business of racing.

Thanks for the pic.

Jeff--We got this motor before the accident in Auburn, Florida. A piece of the magneto went into Tommy Small, Jr.s chest seriously injuring him. That happened on March 18, 1979 about 5 months or so after the photo was taken. The Pro Commission had an emergency vote to put in a rule requiring the 360 degree guard. Dieter ordered aluminum cast guards that Elmer Grade had made pronto. He wouldn't sell or ship any more motors without them.

**Jeff Lytle** · 02-16-2007

Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team

Dieter ordered aluminum cast guards that Elmer Grade had made pronto. He wouldn't sell or ship any more motors without them.

THAT'S RIGHT! I remember now. The 1st ones I saw other than welded up styles were on Elmer's engines.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 02-16-2007

..........I cheated Jeff. I looked up some correspondence from the time it happened.

**ProHydroRacer** · 02-19-2007

Jeff--We got this motor before the accident in Auburn, Florida. A piece of the magneto went into Tommy Small, Jr.s chest seriously injuring him. That happened on March 18, 1979 about 5 months or so after the photo was taken. The Pro Commission had an emergency vote to put in a rule requiring the 360 degree guard. Dieter ordered aluminum cast guards that Elmer Grade had made pronto. He wouldn't sell or ship any more motors without them.

Well that is not exactly true. My next Konig500 engine came from Scott without the Guard. Mel Kirts made up a stainless steel one for me without charge. Scott told me the guard was not necessary.
Bill

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 02-28-2007

I don't know when you got your 500 Bill, but a safety rule was passed requiring a guard on motors equipped with that ignition. Some day I will dig out all the correspondence, but I can't imagine Scott saying that. Jack Chance made ours of of regular steel. I don't recall any specifications regarding the guard other than 360 degree coverage. I seem to remember seeing one at one race that looked like a Hormel Ham can with the top and bottom lids cut out. Don't know if it passed.

**ProHydroRacer** · 03-01-2007

Originally Posted by Master Oil Racing Team

I don't know when you got your 500 Bill, but a safety rule was passed requiring a guard on motors equipped with that ignition. Some day I will dig out all the correspondence, but I can't imagine Scott saying that. Jack Chance made ours of of regular steel. I don't recall any specifications regarding the guard other than 360 degree coverage. I seem to remember seeing one at one race that looked like a Hormel Ham can with the top and bottom lids cut out. Don't know if it passed.

I got the 500 after the 360 degree guard rule came about. Scott told me that Konig was not going to supply the guard. You have to remember I'm a Northern boy from Chicago by his eyes and didn't get treated the same as you Southern guys.

I had a similar problem with the flywheel nut. Remember a special nut was developed to keep the flywheel from moving. I knew about it 2 or 3 months before I got my new 500. Scott claimed it was not necessary. Of course the first time I ran the engine at the eastern divisionals the damn flywheel slip. I ended up chasing Scott around my boat swinging my wrench at him. He is lucky I didn't connect. For about two years he kept his distance from me.

**Master Oil Racing Team** · 03-01-2007

My memory gets foggy about some of those things Bill. Dieter had taken the flywheel and cut it down for weight. The real problem came when a hole was drilled and tapped between the two existing holes on either side where the magnets were to accomodate a Yamato crank plate I understand. That was the weak point where the flywheel broke when the engine was revved up. As far as I know, that was the only one that failed.

Ray Hardy found out where the CD ignition system was manufactured and we started buying our "porkchops" directly from them in Massachusetts. Cutting out that trip from the U.S. to Germany and back saved us a ton of money.

I too had a similar problem with that nut, but it was at the Nationals. The last nationals I ran. Had a problem with the old flywheel and the new style fit too far down on the crank. There was no time to do any machine work prior to the race and the engine wouldn't rev good as there was no clearance between the flywheel and bearing, creating a bind. I finished 2nd behind Jerry Kirts.