Quincy Welding/Precision Machine "Area 51" Photos

[Original Looper 1]

You are about to take a journey through the inside of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine, home of some of the most innovative and exciting outboard race engines produced in their time. I call these photos the "Area 51" pictures because very few people got to enter these production and manufacturing areas of the shop.

In honor of the DePue Reunion, I will be posting a series of these pictures between now and July 29th.

The 1st picture is of the northeast section of the shop, looking east (not to be confused with Gene East). This is the area where the cylinder blocks and crank cases were exterior machined for further production. In the extreme NE corner of this picture is where the Quincy pistons were machined and produced.

The 2nd picture is also of the machine shop area (east and somewhat south of the north end of the building). This is where we finish machined the crankshafts that we made and also the cylinder heads, cranking plates and other parts that required a larger lathe for the Looper finish production.
Special note: the Clausing end mill in the right side foreground is the very one that the world famous Gene East used to hand port the majority of the Quincy Loopers that were manufactured.

The 3rd picture is looking towards the southeast. This bridgeport was used for porting many factory Merc blocks that we modified and some machine finish work on the Loopers. In the background you will see the Dodge shop truck and on the upper rack, many customer outboards in for repair plus some new Mercury engines for sale. You will notice that the engines are on an upper level - the upper level was where we worked on outboards, both pleasure and racing, and where we finish assembled the production racing engines. (More pictures of that area to be posted later.)

The 4th picture is of the drill press machining room/ drawing room. This is where most of the drilling and tapping of the production race engines took place and also where my father had his large drafting table (not seen in the picture). This area was kept as clean as a surgical center because some of the most critical and delicate drilling & tapping work occurred here.

The 5th picture is one of my favorites - the Looper parts inventory. This was also kept in the drill press machining room. How many of us would love to reach back into this picture and snatch brand new, freshly machined parts for our Loopers? Wow!

The last picture of this series is of the pleasure boat propeller repair area and also where we forged Quincy racing propellers. This is where the great Gene East, Frank Volker and Al Herman performed magic for both stock and racing outboard uses.
Special note: Look above the light fixture over the work bench and towards the back of the shop. You will see an area we called the "Back Deck." That is where the majority of covert, experimental "X" factory secret blocks were kept hidden. The only way to reach that area was to lower the steps with an electric wench -- only certain shop employees were allowed up there. Gene can tell you how off limits that deck was.

I hope everyone here enjoys this trip down memory lane as much as I have. You know, Wayne is right. When we're living the experience, we sometimes forget about recording it for later. I was around the shop my entire life and learned how to work on pleasure outboards and build race engines, but never thought to take pictures of the inside of the shop for history's sake. I want to give a special thanks to the former customer who sent me these pictures. To me they are priceless!

thanks,

Paul A Christner

Please note: These pictures are for your personal enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web sites without written permission.

[mercguy]

You are about to take a journey through the inside of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine, home of some of the most innovative and exciting outboard race engines produced in their time. I call these photos the "Area 51" pictures because very few people got to enter these production and manufacturing areas of the shop.

In honor of the DePue Reunion, I will be posting a series of these pictures between now and July 29th.

The 1st picture is of the northeast section of the shop, looking east (not to be confused with Gene East). This is the area where the cylinder blocks and crank cases were exterior machined for further production. In the extreme NE corner of this picture is where the Quincy pistons were machined and produced.

The 2nd picture is also of the machine shop area (east and somewhat south of the north end of the building). This is where we finish machined the crankshafts that we made and also the cylinder heads, cranking plates and other parts that required a larger lathe for the Looper finish production.

The 3rd picture is looking towards the southeast. This bridgeport was used for porting many factory Merc blocks that we modified and some machine finish work on the Loopers. In the background you will see the Dodge shop truck and on the upper rack, many customer outboards in for repair plus some new Mercury engines for sale. You will notice that the engines are on an upper level - the upper level was where we worked on outboards, both pleasure and racing, and where we finish assembled the production racing engines. (More pictures of that area to be posted later.)

The 4th picture is of the drill press machining room/ drawing room. This is where most of the drilling and tapping of the production race engines took place and also where my father had his large drafting table (not seen in the picture). This area was kept as clean as a surgical center because some of the most critical and delicate drilling & tapping work occurred here.

The 5th picture is one of my favorites - the Looper parts inventory. This was also kept in the drill press machining room. How many of us would love to reach back into this picture and snatch brand new, freshly machined parts for our Loopers? Wow!

The last picture of this series is of the pleasure boat propeller repair area and also where we forged Quincy racing propellers. This is where the great Gene East, Frank Volker and Al Herman performed magic for both stock and racing outboard uses.

I hope everyone here enjoys this trip down memory lane as much as I have. You know, Wayne is right. When we're living the experience, we sometimes forget about recording it for later. I was around the shop my entire life and learned how to work on pleasure outboards and build race engines, but never thought to take pictures of the inside of the shop for history's sake. I want to give a special thanks to the former customer who sent me these pictures. To me they are priceless!

thanks,

Paul A Christner

Please note: These pictures are for your personal enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web sites without written permission.



WOW! Look at that "parts inventory"!!!!!!!! How many peoples jaws just dropped (like mine)??????????:eek: :eek: :eek:

[fbref5269]

paul,

my jaw dropped. sure could use those gen 3 stacks in the corner!

great pictures. that's where all magic happened!

frank

[Original Looper 1]

Hey Daren & Frank,

Save me a couple of those new Looper blocks from Area 51.


thanks,

Paul

[Gene East]

Paul

Thanks for posting these pictures. They sure bring back memories. I noticed the calendar said August 1973. That's 3 months after I left Quincy Welding. So many times I wish I had stayed to be a part of the Z-Engine.
Look forward to seeing you at DePue.

[Gene East]

Just noticed that calendar was from LaLande and Gallaher Insurance company.

Bob LaLande is Paul's brother-in-law.

Bob worked at "The Shop" for several years. He was also a racer. While never achieving the fame of a David Christner, Freddie Goehl, Arlen Crouch, Earle Hull, Frank Volker, or Jim Schoch, Bob does have a couple of APBA National Championships to his credit.

I sure hope Paul and David are able to persuade Bob and their brother John to come to DePue

[Original Looper 1]

Gene,

There's something I have been wanting to ask you for a long time and I am sure the Quincy fans here would also find your answer extremely interesting.

You and I both know you must have attended at least 400 or more races on behalf of the Quincy Welding racing team, what race do you consider to be the most memorable and rewarding to you? In other words, which one did you enjoy the most?

thanks,

Paul A Christner

ps: More pictures coming soon, so stay tuned.

[dancrabt]

Yep your Dad got totally pissed at me that day.He was doing some port work on one of the new Z 250cc engine and he asked me to clean up around the mill and dumb 15 year old me I used and air hose.I thought he would never stop yelling.I enjoyed watching O.F work and he didn't seem to mind answering any question I had for him.I really miss being there Paul and miss Chris more.

[Gene East]

Paul, in response to your question; I have so many memories of boat racing that it is difficult to pick just one.

Being there for so many Championships and Records by Jim Schoch of course is a high point.

My favorite race was riding 2nd man with Wayne Walgrave in F Runabout. We led the final heat at the Nationals for 4 3/4 laps. Unfortunately it was a 5 lap race. We overshot the last turn and finished 3rd.

I could already see my name in the record book, but that didn't happen.
I can however tell my grandkids the old man once ran up front at the Nationals. Not everyone can say that.

I remember the side by side back flip of Jim Schoch and Jerry Simison in A Runabout at the Nationals. These were the 2 best A-Runabouts in the world, but neither was a factor in the final results.

I remember getting caught running our D in the F class at Alexandria because we burned a piston in our 44 and didn't have time to rebuild it.Jim won his elimination heat easily, but Poppa Smith got a little too nosey with the mics on inspection. Jim and I put on acts of innocence worthy of an Academy Award.

We offerred the rig to Dan Kirts for the D-Hydro finals because Jim failed to qualify. Dan won the World Championship with that rig.

This was when people were just starting to brag about running 100 MPH in D-Hydro. We ran 87, but that was 87 all the way around the course.

As you know, your Dad was fond of saying," It ain't who's fastest, it' who's firstest"!

The Waldman D-Hydro engine swap between heats ranks at the top of my favorites list.

The most unforgetable race was the D-Hydro race in Hot Springs in 1972. I cranked Gerry Waldman's motor that day and just minutes later, I was helping to load him in the ambulance. A couple of hours later "Baldy" Baldwin announced that Gerry had died of his injuries.

The sight of 100 tough, macho guys with tears unashamedly streaking down their faces is an unforgettable experience. I wish that engine had never started that day.

The loss of such a good friend as Gerry Waldman played a large role in my decision to find employment outside boat racing. While boat racing took a dear friend, boat racing has also provided me with friendships that have endured the test of time. I'm looking forward to renewing a lot of old friendships at DePue.

I'll see you there.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Gene---it's amazing but most of what you said stood out in your memory I can remember as well. Jerry Simison and Jim Schoch stood their A runabouts on their tails and bumped together right in front of the spectators at DePue in 1969. It was hot. Very Hot. No wind. The water was slick. They hauled them off and we had to wait for awhile to get the program resumed because both ambulances were gone.

I'm wondering what year you rode with Wayne Walgrave. I may have a pic for you and your kids.:D and grandkids:cool:


Don't know about the inspection with Papa Smith, but I do know it didn't make any difference who you were...Gerry Waldman, Bob Hering, Billy Seebold, Jim Schoch, Dick Pond,...if it didn't measure right ...you were out.

As far as Gerry Waldman and his last race were concerned, I can understand it being very memorable although not in the good sense. It is the same for me. I can remember very clearly when my Dad picked up the mike up on the hill overlooking the pits and with his commanding voice told everyone he had an announcement. At that time we were all rigging down and everyone was happy to have had a successful event. We were all concerned about Gerry, but at that time in my racing career we had seen a number of racers hauled off to the hospital and brought back to the pits with stitches and casts in time for the festivities.

When he called for silence.......everything stopped. It was just a brief statement, but my Dad s told everyone that Gerry had died of his injuries and gave the time. No one moved. Time just stopped. We couldn't believe it. Gerry was one of the guiding forces of PRO racing. His partner Bob Hering had gotten heavy into OPC the year before and tried to get Gerry involved. Gerry was committed to bring PRO racing into the next level along with my Dad, Marshall Grant and Tim Butts.

I can't remember how long the silence lasted in the pits. It was not one of those things where an announcer says "Lets have a moment of silence" for whoever. It was a shock and as Gene says, tons of tears were shed. Many of us were still standing in the water with our rigs. Time stood still. It could have been twenty minutes or more before activity resumed. The pits were completely silent except for the sound of breaking down rigs and loading up boats and motors.

I don't remember anything about that night after rigging down. The next morning I went out on the water to retrieve the bouys and found a small piece of Gerry's cowling stuck on a bouy.

[Gene East]

Wayne,

I'm sure you remember your Dad was so upset that he at first said "Mr. Seebold has died". My first thoughts were of Bill Sr. and possibly a heart attack. Then Baldy regained his composure and told us the sad news about Gerry.
Ron Hill has posted a picture of Gerry talking to Phil Wagner. This is one of your pictures and I'm sure you've already seen the post, but for those who haven't seen it, check it out.
Some of those reading this never knew Gerry, but this picture will tell you a lot about the man.
The picture shows Gerry as being a small man. What it doesn't show however, is the fact that although he was small in size. he had a heart and spirit as big as "Andre the Giant".
The picture also shows him smiling. That's what I remember most, that ever-present smile. Gerry was one of the most positive, optimistic people I ever met. You hardly ever saw him without a smile.
Ron descibes Gerry's death as "The day the music died".
That sums it up very well.

[fbref5269]

gene,

do you know where ron posted the picture of gerry? or ron do you know where you posted the picture? maybe post it here too. 1972 was my second year racing and i remember pop augustine telling us at a race what had happpened and he was choked up. gerry touched a lot of lives.

frank

[Gene East]

Frank
Go to the home page where all the forums are listed. Scroll down to Boat racing encyclopedia Select the entry entitled Jerry Waldman and click.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Sorry I was behind the curve. Been up almost 30 hours.

I had only been taking pictures two months before Gerry died and this was the only race I took any of him at. Since we were involved in helping put on the race, I probably didn't take as many as I would have because of other things I had to do. Regretably this is the only closeup I ever took of him. But I do remember the story behind it and here it is.

I think it related to F Hydro, although it could have been D. It was one or the other. Gerry had just gotten in from a test run and Gerry was talking to a small group among them Marshall Grant and my Dad and the other person in the photo. Ron says it was Phil Wagner, I think it was Dick Hoppenwrath. I'll look closer when I pull it up in a minute.

My Dad asked Gerry what he thought of his F (or D") and Gerry replied "It's got great top end "....spreading his arms wide he continued "but you'd have to measure the acceleration with a calendar." What a great wit he had.

And I do believe Ron is right. It is probably Phil in the foreground.

[Dr. Thunder]

...
And I do believe Ron is right. It is probably Phil in the foreground.
Wayne;
Do you recall if Bob Hering and Ron Anderson were at that race!

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Ron was Neal, but Bob started racing OPC then and as far as I ever knew, he never raced alky any more. He would have been there as Jerry was Captain of the North, but he had already committed to OPC.

Lee Sutter was also there and I believe he was Team Captain of the West. Originally Jerry had contacted Ron Hill to be Captain, but for some reason Ron wasn't able to. The first Captain that my Dad corresponded with was Harry Bartolomei. I don't know how that came about, but I suspect it was at Ron's suggestion. Harry had been corresponding with my Dad regarding the race, but then something came up and he appointed Rich Fuschlin to take over. I haven't found any correspondence from Rich but at the last minute the reins were handed over to Lee Sutter. He didn't have much time to get driver committments so we had very little participation from the West. We had a couple of drivers from the North and East fill in some of those spots.

Here is a list of the original drivers selected from the West Coast Team. I think it came from Harry, but it may have come from Rich or Lee.

[Original Looper 1]

Here's round 2 of the series of photos I am posting of Quincy Welding/ Precision Machine's interior, or "Area 51," as very few customers actually got to see the inside of the shop to this degree.

The 1st picture is mid shop, looking northeast at the larger bridgeport endmill that was used primarily for larger porting and machining projects & 6 cylinder Loopers. To the south of the bridgeport is the electrostatic crankshaft balancer. Many national championship engine crankshafts were balanced on this machine. We also used this machine to balance prop shafts with racing propellers on them.

The 2nd picture is of the boring room. This is where most of the Looper production engines were final bored. The final honing was done upstairs prior to final assembly (pictures from upstairs will be in series 3).

The 3rd picture is from the central far eastern part of the shop and is of the belt sanders and the propeller work area. Take note: Gene East spent a lot of time working in that area on props and grinding various projects. East performed well in the east.

The 4th picture is looking south to north, from the main State street vehicle entrance to the shop. My dad, O F Christner, is leaning on the shop truck, talking to his friend, Fred, that ran a business across the street. If you look towards the back, you can see a number of research Loopers on the back deck. As I discussed in the previous post on the shop, that area was off limits to almost everyone and could only be reached by a set of steps that had to be lowered (you can see them in the picture).

The 5th picture is looking towards the northeast part of the shop at the big southbend lathe and the machine we used to finish the Looper exhaust elbows. Notice the boxes on the back deck at the top of the photo? Those boxes contained many research blocks from the Mercury factory and some from other companies that we were doing covert R&D research for.

The last picture is also looking towards the northwest at the large bridgeport that was used for crankcase boring of the Loopers and the machine to the right of it was used for finishing the Looper blocks externally before the crankcases were finish bored.

Hope you enjoy this trip back in time. Stay tuned, more pictures to be posted soon as we head towards the inaugeral DePue Reunion at the end of July.

thanks,

Paul A Christner

Please note: these pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web site without my written permission.

[WelshMarine]

what memories I can still see the engine blocks of my dad...straight from our shop..lined up and packed in cardboard boxes for us mail to "Quincy" no ups or fed ex in those days...mom and dad arguing over how the postage would affect Christmas...but the blocks needed to be padded and ported.Anyone who remembers my dad Art Welsh G-18 from the old MPBA{Minnesota Power Boat Assoc.} and the N.O.A. please feel free and more than welcome to write. I can smell the alky and cator oil now....and hear my Dad's personal custom made tuned exhausts now..in fact some are still being used.

Welsh Marine {Dave the proud son of a racer.. my hero}

[Tim Chance]

Anyone who remembers my dad Art Welsh G-18 from the old MPBA{Minnesota Power Boat Assoc.} and the N.O.A. please feel free and more than welcome to write. I can smell the alky and cator oil now....and hear my Dad's personal custom made tuned exhausts now..in fact some are still being used.

Welsh Marine {Dave the proud son of a racer.. my hero}

I remember the days in Wally Roman's basement where your dad would entertain us all for hours with jokes and stories. One of the funniest men and nicest guys that I ever met. And one hell of a boat driver too!

[Original Looper 1]

Happy 4th of July to everyone here at BRF. Always remember, independence is more than a belief, it is a responsibility, along with eternal vigilance.

Lets all have a safe and enjoyable day.

Thanks,

Paul A Christner


PS: This picture is (hopefully) for your enjoyment and is not to be copied or posted to any other web sites without my written permission.

[Original Looper 1]

Message to D. W. -- please keep the dashpad a while longer, I still haven't decided what I want to do with it. By the way, what do you mean about the gray? I can hear your knee creaking all the way from Florida.

thanks,

Paul A Christner

[Original Looper 1]

The next in the series of photos I've been posting of the Quincy Welding shop interior is of the upstairs, which was the racing engine assembly area.
My father, O. F. Christner, when he designed the shop, decided that intricate engine assembly would be better delegated to an area upstairs, away from the machining and day to day welding & shop repair work.

The 1st photo is upstairs looking southeast. The engine on the bench in the picture is either an R&D engine or a Quincy Modified project. This workbench is unique because it is where the world famous Jack McGrury assembled the racing legend Jerry Waldman's engines. Eventually I ended up at this work station and I always had a sense of energy and the high expectations of Jack's legacy while working there.

The 2nd photo is looking southwest. There's an OMC block that was waiting for assembly and also various other projects at different stages of progression.

The 3rd photo is of the very 1st Z B 350 prototype cylinders. You are looking at pictures taken in November of 1975. That engine went from a dream at Winona in the summer of 1975 to the dyno testing of the prototype that November.

The 4th photo is also of the 1st Z B 350 prototype cylinders, different angle.

The 5th photo is of the 1st Z B prototype engine, pre-assembly. I'm planning to do another post on just the Z engine later on.

More shop photos to come. Stay tuned.


thanks,

Paul A Christner

Please note: these pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to other web sites without my written permission.

[Original Looper 1]

Here's round 4 of the Quincy Welding/Precision Machine shop photos. These pictures are of the upstairs race engine assembly area.

Picture #1 is southwest corner. This is where most projects were parts completed, waiting for final assembly at another station. The motor in the picture is obviously a modified Mercury 6 awaiting final assembly.

Picture #2 is southeast corner. This work station was primarily Frank Volker's R&D work area. Frank is my former brother-in-law that I still consider family. Frank, after leaving Quincy Welding, went on to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University. There were many occassions when Frank, my father, O. F. and I went motorcycle riding together after work well into the evening hours to release the tensions from intense development and dyno work on race engines.

Picture #3 is the northeast corner. This is the area where Jim Schoch, Gene East and Earl Hull (also a brother-in-law) (note: Dad put all of his son-in-laws to work at the shop at one time or another.) did the final grinding and hand relieving of Quincy Merc padded jobs and other ultra-fine clearance projects necessary with race engine modifications at Quincy Welding.

Picture #4 is of the central western area where the finish boring and honing was completed on race engines.

Picture #5 is a picture of the very latest technologically developed 2 cylinder Looper block. This picture was taken in 1975. This was the very last 2 cylinder Looper block manufactured.

thanks,

Paul A Christner

please note: These pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web site without my written permission.

[Mike Schmidt]

Please pull out "the book" and see who bought the last "A" Looper block. I have an idea......

Thanks

MIchael D-1

[David Mason]

This stuff is simply amazing to me. My mouth always hangs open when I see all the machines, and the place where both heros and legends were brought to fruition.

Can you imagine what a shop such as this would cost today ? To simply equip it.... wow.

[dancrabt]

Paul do you happen to have any pics of the dyno area,are is that to "TOP SECRECT".Again I can't express enough of what these pics mean to me Paul,it was truley wonderful and exciting to say the least growing up in "Area 51" watching you and your dad hard at work taking a block of aluminum and making the best pro engine that will live in the heart mind and soul of all those who took the time to believe in what your dad was doing,Thank you

[Original Looper 1]

The last 4 series of pictures were of the Quincy Welding shop, including our "Area 51" work areas.

This round of pictures is of experimental reed valves and crankcases from the early 1970's.

Enjoy!


Paul A Christner

Please note: These pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web sites without my written permission.

[Original Looper 1]

The first 4 series of pictures were of the Quincy Welding shop, including our "Area 51" work areas.

This round of pictures is of experimental reed valves and crankcases from the early 1970's.

The last picture is my dad, O. F. Christner, sitting at his desk at Quincy Welding, talking on the phone (probably to a customer) while studying a 2 cylinder Looper block. This picture was probably taken in 1973. Special note: For all of you hawk eyes out there, there is something significantly different about one of those Looper blocks in this picture......what is it? Hint: A Looper collector actually owns the cylinder I'm referring to. It was way ahead of it's time. I also noticed in that picture the dark 3-ring binder on the desk, towards the front of my dad's desk. That is the original serial number record book that I have and refer to when documenting Quincy Welding/Precision Machine racing engines. Wow!

Enjoy!


Paul A Christner

Please note: These pictures are for your enjoyment and are not to be copied or posted to any other web sites without my written permission.

[BJuby]

This post is really buried and I saw some photos in here that when I first saw them did not mean as much to me (and therefore didn't pay as close attention to them at the time) as they do now being a collector and runner of these pieces of history. Ten years seems like a good time to bring this back to the front page!

I wonder if people have discovered more photos and research over the ten years since this thread was last added to.