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Thread: OMC’s 4-Rotor Wankel Racing Engine - The Real Story

  1. #231
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    The importer for OMC products at the time were known as Pier 39. I was at the race in question. I thought Jimbo M and Johnny Sanders were at the race but my memory fades. The ex Dick Summerveld Twin Molinari also ran in the race.
    Quote Originally Posted by LIQUID NIRVANA View Post
    South Africa

    The Johnson distributor in South Africa requested we bring the rotaries to his race. It meant leaving the week before Christmas and returning after the 1st of the year. This was the only race I didn’t attend with rotaries running. Johnny Sanders went with one Johnson, winning the race easily. The only competition was old OMC V-4’s and Mercury inline 6’s.

    That ended the ’73 racing season. In February ’74, the Iranian gas crisis hit the country and gasoline went from $0.30/gal to $0.75-100/gal if you could get it. It was felt politically, racing would not project a good corporate image when people were waiting in line for hours to get gas; so the racing circuit was put on hold. Development continued in house. The compression ratio was increased from 8.5 to 1 too 10 to1. Transfer passages were enlarged and work started to design a true 4-rotor engine, not two 2’s stacked on top of each other. This meant 3 curvic couplings and 3 center housings. We also designed a turnbuckle (left and right threads) to hold each curvic together. This eliminated the long thru bolt, which still was breaking. By eliminating the large center section in the crank common to twin rotor engines, we were able to add a center main bearing, strengthening the entire assembly and reduce weight. Power increased to 265HP at the prop shaft. @ 7000RPM. We also installed ignition limiters, limiting max engine RPM to 7000. In testing you could hear the drivers running on the limiter most of the straight-aways. This didn’t last too long, as we were afraid of engine damage would result from the high speed missing and the drivers hated them.

  2. #232
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    I did race in South Afrika 1975 and Roger Jenkins before me and Roger told me OMC took the Rotary's to S. Africa.
    The importers name was Autolec

    Much more here..

    http://svera.se/blogg/racing-historier/1975-2/
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    Lars Strom

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    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  3. #233
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    Aaaaah yes I had forgotten all about Autolec, Lars !!!! Thank you. There was however a link between Pier 39 and Autolec. Pier 39 was on the bend just after Loch Vaal club if you were traveling up toward the Barrage wall. I loved going past there by boat as there were always exciting things going on. I once rode past and there was a Schultz or Schwitzer wing boat with a pair of Evenrude V4s strapped on the back. I never saw it run or race. Maybe the altitude was a problem? You will know first hand how difficult it was to get the boats to run well and how hard it was to dial out porpoising. On the rotary subject, I thought only one was brout out to ZA. A rotary run by Johnny Sanders and a V4 or 6 run by Jimbo Mc ( or the other way round). The big question was, did the rotary motor stay in ZA or was it shipped back to the USA?

    Quote Originally Posted by Lars Strom View Post
    I did race in South Afrika 1975 and Roger Jenkins before me and Roger told me OMC took the Rotary's to S. Africa.
    The importers name was Autolec

    Much more here..

    http://svera.se/blogg/racing-historier/1975-2/

  4. #234
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    If I remember right was John Tucker from South Africa. John was in charge for OMC racing in Europe and based in Brugge, Belgium.
    Lars Strom

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    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  5. #235
    Burgess/Evinrude F1 V8 Lars Strom's Avatar
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    A Rotary – (Wankel) wins the 2 liter class in Paris 6 hours 1970.


    http://svera.se/blogg/a-rotary-wanke...-6-hours-1970/
    Lars Strom

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    Check my own racing history at BRF...http://www.boatracingfacts.com/forum...ead.php?t=6727

    My racing web site SVERA.se....http://svera.se/blogg/paris-6-hours/

  6. #236
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    Quote Originally Posted by toby View Post
    Aaaaah yes I had forgotten all about Autolec, Lars !!!! Thank you. There was however a link between Pier 39 and Autolec. Pier 39 was on the bend just after Loch Vaal club if you were traveling up toward the Barrage wall. I loved going past there by boat as there were always exciting things going on. I once rode past and there was a Schultz or Schwitzer wing boat with a pair of Evenrude V4s strapped on the back. I never saw it run or race. Maybe the altitude was a problem? You will know first hand how difficult it was to get the boats to run well and how hard it was to dial out porpoising. On the rotary subject, I thought only one was brout out to ZA. A rotary run by Johnny Sanders and a V4 or 6 run by Jimbo Mc ( or the other way round). The big question was, did the rotary motor stay in ZA or was it shipped back to the USA?
    Sanders ran the rotary and it was shipped back to Waukegan after the race.

  7. #237
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    Made by Jackie Wilson.Attachment 59575Attachment 59576

  8. #238
    Team Member ice_spy's Avatar
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    Wow ! What a read. I was glued to my seat reading this.
    Its sad one of the only alternative engines to piston and crank have had such a hard time from others, rather than a joint interest to further improve and develop them. It would be good to hear the other side of the story from Merc, how they We're doing everything they could to stop the rotary engine and we're so worried about loosing. I hate school boy politics in racing so much. It takes from enjoying competitive fun to sore loosers that need to win at all costs.
    The race never stops

  9. #239
    Team Member ice_spy's Avatar
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    EVINRUDE OUTBOARD WANKEL's Based Engine: https://youtu.be/9bgsrJNMouE
    The race never stops

  10. #240
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    He is the link again of the OMC rotories including the only know footage of the race engine running. I believe it was shot at Lake Carol for a commercial.

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