Ritchie I heard a story once from Anglo about the Kiekhaefer headers you had polished in Italyl
NOW that would be an impressive task even today anyway What I heard was you were so happy their polish job That you brought a couple more sets in And all the while these Italians were saying No No more!

Like a steel shot blasted finish on those pipes they had to sand thru and polish in all the tight areas and NOT missing anything !!.Tough tough Job.

We were doing Billy’s Boats in those days and everything was KAM the Champion maker 625’s and complete rigging kit to make a long story short ,those engines with the belt less precision gear driven accessories Mr Kiekhaefer’s, Headers, Crash boxes, Pumps transom assembly’s and Drives Not to mention the TABS!!! Then!!

THE props were in a league of their own His varnished wooden shipping boxes and when you opened them it looked like Jewelry better than any Rolla I have had up to now

I used to sit there at lunch and just look at the thing Mesmerised it was the baddest boat I ever saw up till then! (Except your American eagle) The exhaust system once you got it together with all the braces and the 100 aircraft bolts around the collectors you could pick up the boat by it. Amazing hardware the REAL thing period and everything You needed to win !Now it’s up to the crew.

Starting those old mechanical injected boats with the pump can and the electric pumps howling what a rush!!

Thanks for the memories: All the things you talk about and more were all results of Carl and I working together to develope new products to help us win, I have very long stories about every and all the items you discussed plus all the other items we came up with. There was a reason behind every Kiekhaefer piece we made.
Briefly: Headers= to combat Patterson`s ours were bigger and stronger.
Header braces: we had headers losen and fall off the motors at the flange`s.
Bolted tail pipes to the headers=The pattersons leaked exhaust at the joint.
Larger trim tabs: when we ran the first 35` Cig`s I felt bigger tabs would help. when they broke we added nitrogen filled accumulators to absorb the loads.
Beltless motors: we lost some races due to the belts comming off ( simple ) then came the trannies with the PTO for the power steering pump.
Stainless steel Velocity tube butterflys: The aluminum ones that came with the Crower manifolds would bend and not open or close fully. Then came the new KAM manifolds with built in oil/fuel coolers which we never used ( story ).
Trim pumps with billit alum. bases with regulators to adjust trim pressure.
Hydraulic internal steering systems.
Constant duty modified high press fuel pumps:
Original zero effort control boxes: throttle and shifts.
Gear ratios in #3 speedmasters: when I started we ran 1:1.1 ratio`s with two blade props. Carl and I came up with the various ratios from 1;25 to finally 1:68
Props: from two blade`s to three to four, various sizes, various rake angles etc. We pioneered the modern day ratios, props etc.
Polished and heat treated props. ( we broke many blades )

These are a few of the pioneering projects that Carl and I did together to help win races. Every thing we did was for a reason and the reason was to win at what ever cost. Carl always listened to my race reports, and if I broke something and didn`t win there was hell to pay.
The KAM engineers dreaded the days I would return from Europe to tell them of KAM failures, they knew there would be many special projects to do in a short amount of time to enable the KAM teams to win in Offshore. I was probably not the best liked guy by the engineers, but they knew that if I said there was a problem Carl was going to solve it, and we would win.

The name Championmaker was about me: Carl used to call me Champ my nickname from him, that`s the reason when I opened my first business I named it Champion Marine.

You bring up the starting of the old injection motors: the routine was turn the primer pumps on, get 150 psi open the throttle wide open. with someone watching in the velocity tubes. ignition off, spin the motors over until all injectors were spitting, and oil press. was starting to show. pull throttles back to idle turn ignition on and start, check and make sure all injectors are working, water is pumping through the motors, and oil pressure is up, and there are no leaks of any kind from the motor steering etc. then go test.

The polished header thing ( story ) I loved flash and wow. Patterson headers were beautiful to look at, high polish etc. So i was trying to polish a sow`s ear and make it look like a diamond. Huge, Huge task. Only the Italians would take on a job like that. They were OK but not great. Eventually Carl consented to polish the individual pipes before welding then final polish, every one involved was pissed about that, but that`s what Richie wanted. Gary Baltz at the time was building all the headers, lots of work, but he did a great job.

Well as you can see you sparked me off about the past, thank you, it`s fun to recall. As I said this is just a tip off the iceberg. All this is from 1970 to 1980 for me. Remember I started on original offshore team out of Lake X in 1967. Was also involved in the OPC days when we won the world championships in Havasau. I still have the company championship ring 1970. As for Mr. K. he has saved my life in many ways on several occasions, I`m sure he is always looking over me and guiding me as he did in the past, I miss him more than anyone could know. The Vince Lombardi of my life and probably for many others. RIP.
7XCHAMP

More interesting stories: In the days mid 1960`s to late 1960`s when most of this history takes place.
I was just a kid on the circuit of offshore when the names Aronow, Brownie, Wishnick, Balestrerie, Cooper, Rodman, Rittmaster, Magoon, Cohen, Langer etc, etc, etc. Basically the personalities of the sport at that time, other than the usual Merc. factory drivers were the hero`s we all looked up to.
Unfortunatly As employees of Merc. ( Carl Kiekhaefer ) we were not allowed to fratenize with anyone who was not with Mercury. If we were caught talking with Brownie, Wishnick, or any of the crews, and were caught by E.C. we would be fired on the spot. I`m sure Brownie when he thinks about it will remember that sometimes when he walked into a bar at a race, the low totem people from Merc. would leave, for fear of being caught talking with the enemy ( serious ).
As one of the low guys, I was assigned boat gaurd duties along with other low guys.
We were instructed to be security gaurds for the race boats 24 hrs. per day, and not to talk with anyone not associated with Merc.
I`m not sure but I think Brownie used to mess with us knowing we could not talk to the enemy, it was all a game, but serious at the time. Kiek. feared sabotage all the time, that`s one of the reasons he built Lake X with 24 hr. patroled roads around the perimeter etc. Industrial sabotage was a major deal with him.
The shame of it all is that we all wanted to say hello and have a beer or two with the hero`s and personalities, but were in more fear of loosing our jobs. If Kiek. didn`t catch you he had guys like Billy Steele, looking and he would rat you out to Kiek.
Kiek. ran a very tight team. In all the racing and test facilities was a sign that read: what you do here, what you see hear, must be left here when you leave here. That pretty much sumed it up.
I`m sure Seeroy will reiterate what I am saying, By the way he has written some really good stuff about Lake X, Merc. days, The old boats we used to race, and the races we did. Way to go Steve. I was a part of the whole era as well, and from there went on to become a seven time world champion, I was one of the few who continued the quest right up until my retirement in 1994. What a quest it was with unlimited stories from the past. So Brownie now you know, you really didn`t have to check to see if you stepped in anything when you came around us and we disapeared, you were the enemy of the day, as was everyone else who was not team Mercury.
Our Company hero`s were are team leaders and who drove the big boats, Sirois, Backus, Odell, Mel Riggs, etc.
Like I said in one of my posts, one of the most exciting times I ever experienced was when Bill Sirois asked me to test with him at Lake X in His 32` Bertram (Sternwinder) Twin 482`s, I was scared like crazy and in heaven at the same time. I was 19 yrs old and riding with one of my hero`s . Some things you never forget in life. Bill was another who followed his quest for boat racing and offshore, talk about a legend and inovator, he ranks right up there with Keikhaefer, and like all of us learned his skills and trade from the Vince Lombardi. Bill also had learned the secretive lessons, Few people were allowed into his race shops, especially competitors. RIP.
All for now 7XCHAMP

Richie, at the end, I was the only non-Merc guy in the Class 1 bunch. I loved to f**k with you guys. At the Long Beach-San Francisco in 1967, we postponed for fog for 4 days. Mr. K made all the guys work. At the last drivers meeting, Sandy Kemp, the race sponsor, invited us all to his house for a BBQ. Mr. K said no. All his guys had to work. I said "Bakos can't work, he and I are going out on the town". In the race, Johnny broke down with Mike Ramsey, and Mr. K made the two of them leave with the truck straight from Morro Bay, shouting "If you spent more time on your raceboat, and less time hanging around with the enemy, we might win more races! Get the hell out of here"! That same year, in the Miami-Nassau, all you Merc boobs had the wrong propeller material. I won the race by 30 minutes. I was standing on the end of the dock with Odell and Mel when Mr. K came up. He had taken off late, and saw Odell come in third, thinking he was first. He said "Fine job, son"! Odell said "I'm sorry sir. Brownie beat us by a half an hour." Mr. K said get these damned boats and all our people off this island"! What a sportsman!

Richie, at the end, I was the only non-Merc guy in the Class 1 bunch. I loved to f**k with you guys. At the Long Beach-San Francisco in 1967, we postponed for fog for 4 days. Mr. K made all the guys work. At the last drivers meeting, Sandy Kemp, the race sponsor, invited us all to his house for a BBQ. Mr. K said no. All his guys had to work. I said "Bakos can't work, he and I are going out on the town". In the race, Johnny broke down with Mike Ramsey, and Mr. K made the two of them leave with the truck straight from Morro Bay, shouting "If you spent more time on your raceboat, and less time hanging around with the enemy, we might win more races! Get the hell out of here"! That same year, in the Miami-Nassau, all you Merc boobs had the wrong propeller material. I won the race by 30 minutes. I was standing on the end of the dock with Odell and Mel when Mr. K came up. He had taken off late, and saw Odell come in third, thinking he was first. He said "Fine job, son"! Odell said "I'm sorry sir. Brownie beat us by a half an hour." Mr. K said "Get these damned boats and all our people off this island"! What a sportsman!

Brownie: Like I said !!!!! I remember several instances like that one, some true some over exagerated stories. Never the less, good stories to recall. One story, not sure if true or not but a good one.
Kiek. had a new Chrysler 300 delivered to the lake to use. First thing that was to be done to all vehicles used around the lake was to put the special sand tires on in case mr.K wanted to drive the sand perimeter road, which he did frequently in the evenings at sundown, well seems the maintenance crew forgot to put the tires on. He was unaware and went for his relaxing drive, the car got bogged down at the end of the runway. he got pissed walked back to the maintenance area, jumped on a payloader, went to in front of the car, dug a big hole, came around behind and pushed the car into it then buried it over.
The other one is the guy standing outside the factory smoking a Cigarette, Old man comes by and says don`t you have anything to do, the guy says no, so the old man says then your fired. turns out the guy was the Coke delivery man.
Etc. Etc. Etc. True or false no one really knows, but good stories, and many, many more. I`m sure others can chime in with some Kiek. stories
7XCHAMP

I heard this story from Janish that back in one 500 they had explicit orders NOT to Pass Aronow.. Anyway a couple miles from the finish Doug knees are getting destroyed he says screw it and passes Don and Pulls up to the Docks with the Press taking Photos and Mr. Kiekhaefer said to them what are you doing??

The answer was taking pictures of the winner! To which Mr Kiekhaefer replied That is the Second place Boat the winner is there pointing to Don Aronow.. Changed the race results on the spot.. Doug’s Punishment driving the houseboat in rough seas with the press puking all over it the next race.

Doug did our motors in one of the modified boats we ran in those days.

Kurt's actually restoring pair of KAM engines from Dry Martini
http://www.kurtsmarine.com/restoration.html

ABSOLUTELY!!!!!

Big Steve! Glad to see you back on OSO! These are great old offshore memories/stories, keep 'em coming. Ritchies & Allan's history is nothing short of incredible and you can't help but admire their nuts & bolts angle. Thanks guys.