Coolest racing engine of all time???

[Mark75H]

Some people like the 1967 OMC racers. Here is an ad from June 1967 and a close up of the cowl emblem

[Ray Lumpkin]

Some people like Mercurys, like the 125 Super BP.

[corin_huke]

Have any of you guys (and girls) photos of the Yamato 500cc engines that were used by Neil LaRose and others in the pro class back in the 1990s?

The racing engines (as opposed to the stock 80s, 102s, 302s) never took off here in Europe, so for many of us they remain a mystery.

It will be interesting to see how the Yamato 500cc engine compares to the Rossi and VRPs engines of today, as a lot of the design features, 4 exhausts, reed valves, etc, I'm sure can trace their origins back to the Yamato

Any information you can provide for this (and the other Yamato racing engines) would be much appreciated

BTW does anyone race the Yamato engines in the pro class these days?

[Mark75H]

You mean something like this?

[Dan M]

Corin,

I know that Sean McKean still runs his Yamato in 500 and 700. Rex Hall still has a 700 in his stable. They may be losing a little to the new Rossi's and VRP's. We'll try to get some more pics this season.

Dan

[David Weaver]

These two engines are still very competitive. Paul Fuchslins 350cc and 500cc runabouts. Both are powered by 4 cylider Yamato's with 4 pipes and 4 carbs. Photo's by Teri Ziemer.

[smittythewelder]

Hello, Corin Huke,
The Yamato 350/500 engines started, I believe, with a company named Fuji which built a 322cc opposed four "inspired" by the early Konig piston-port fours of the mid-'60s. Gerry "Fantum" Walin had been bumping up the APBA B Outboard Hydro kilo record with his Jim Hallum-built Anzanis, reaching 90mph somewhere between 1968 and 1970. In the fall of 1970, the Japanese moved the record up to 97mph with one of the Fujis. Walin/Hallum took it back again a year or two later with the 100mph runs (which I regard as a milestone in outboard racing, an amazing feat for a little 2-cylinder B in the days when the C and D hydros had not gone that fast).

About 1976, Jim McKean began importing the Yamatos. The early engines could be considered analogous to an obsolete piston-port Konig, with low-performance pipes and battery-and-points ignition, but done with superior materials, castings and machine work. Parts were much cheaper than Konig's, McKean's crowd (esp. Denny Henderson) won some races, and the motors caught on quickly. Again, their main advantages over Konigs weren't in out-of-the-box power, but in craftsmanship and pricing.
The factory kept tweaking and gradually improving the fours over the years (and added an opposed-twin 250 to the line-up), and out-of-the-box performance went up. Over and over, in motor-racing of all kinds, an engine which has recieved a lot of careful tuning and upgrading will beat another engine which has more potential but has had less development. For a look at this principle in action, go to a sports-car club race and watch the old Mini-Coopers; they have a laughably crude engine, but one that has had fifty years of racing development, and they really go!!

[RichardKCMo]

Hello, Corin Huke,
The Yamato 350/500 engines started, I believe, with a company named Fuji which built a 322cc opposed four "inspired" by the early Konig piston-port fours of the mid-'60s. Gerry "Fantum" Walin had been bumping up the APBA B Outboard Hydro kilo record with his Jim Hallum-built Anzanis, reaching 90mph somewhere between 1968 and 1970. In the fall of 1970, the Japanese moved the record up to 97mph with one of the Fujis. Walin/Hallum took it back again a year or two later with the 100mph runs (which I regard as a milestone in outboard racing, an amazing feat for a little 2-cylinder B in the days when the C and D hydros had not gone that fast).

About 1976, Jim McKean began importing the Yamatos. The early engines could be considered analogous to an obsolete piston-port Konig, with low-performance pipes and battery-and-points ignition, but done with superior materials, castings and machine work. Parts were much cheaper than Konig's, McKean's crowd (esp. Denny Henderson) won some races, and the motors caught on quickly. Again, their main advantages over Konigs weren't in out-of-the-box power, but in craftsmanship and pricing.
The factory kept tweaking and gradually improving the fours over the years (and added an opposed-twin 250 to the line-up), and out-of-the-box performance went up. Over and over, in motor-racing of all kinds, an engine which has recieved a lot of careful tuning and upgrading will beat another engine which has more potential but has had less development. For a look at this principle in action, go to a sports-car club race and watch the old Mini-Coopers; they have a laughably crude engine, but one that has had fifty years of racing development, and they really go!!

Most are chinese phonys aren't they? Superioraty seems to have been given away , under shrewed planning.
Where oh where has nationalism gone? Me thinks it had to do with Teachers Unions, and lack of standards and expectations.
OOPs.
Richard F.

[Mark75H]

Smitty is right, Fuji was the predecessor of Yamato alky motors. When Fuji set a record in alky and submitted a bid for paramutual racing motors in Japan, Yamato bought them out. At the same time Yamato had been developing their own alky motor, but these were apparently dropped when they acquired the Fuji designs.

[Tomtall]

A record attempt of the Scott Atwater "Square Six" very cutting edge for its day. Article Courtisy of "Boat Sport Magazine" web site and "Ed Hatch".
http://boatsport.org/

Thread - http://boatsport.org/BSV67/p21.jpg and http://boatsport.org/BSV67/p22.jpg