Ever heard of such a thing?

[fisherrick]

I have been around for quite some time, but I've never seen something like this. It is a lower unit gear case off an '81 115 Johnson. The unit has the shape of an ancient Egyptian ship; (Cleopatra) type looking thing. It had regular 3 1/4 guts and water pump etc, but had a shorter more rakish fin and the prow extended out the front about 2" past the leading edge of the anti cavitation deck. Looked like the hull of a Tyree. Any one out there ever seen something like this? Would have taken a picture, but no camera/phone. If this is some kind of razoo thing, I'll go back and get one.

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Hard to tell w/o a picture. Some racing lower units have added/welded low water pickups to the leading edge of the lower unit, making it appear longer. About this time, OMC redesigned the lower units to have a more swept skeg. The early lower units from the early 70's were not a swept skeg design-that was corrected in the 80-81 timeframe, but the exact year is a guess.

 

[boobie]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Need some pics .....

 

[fisherrick]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

I will get a picture. The guy who has it said something about low water pick-up but the pick-up location was exactly the same location in relation to the cav plate. However, I guess you could draw maybe an inch or two less with the high rake, short skeg. Sure wouldn't explain the bulbous nose on it though. To put it in a better perspective, until I get a picture, it looks like a bow wave breaker on a supertanker; only thin like the leading edge of the gearcase above the cav.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Sounds like the "bat wing" lower units of a 60degree V-4.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

It may have also been one of these aftermarket "low water pickup" mods that is welded on to the stock cone of the gear case. They're fairly common here on the Gulf coast in FL and TX where folks try to get as skinny as possible.

 

[bajaunderground]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Fairly common in the outboard world of speed boats. Bob's Nose Cone being one of the most popular. As the others have said, it's about trimming and jack plating the motor out of the water as high as possible, so the need for a low water pick-up is desired. It also (as you can see) has a slimming effect!

 

[fisherrick]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Here it is.

 

[fisherrick]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

OK guy's that was just a test run. Here are a couple more.Looks like an addition onto one of the factory units in the above pictures. It looks like the paint peel line around the nose illustrates the add on. However, the front begins it's forward slant well above the peel line.

 

[boobie]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Somebody has added the nose cone to it. Parts for the insides should be standard.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Thats just a stock lower unit with nose cone. Unless boat is really lite and can get up and run on pad these can actually slow you down as overtrimming will cause nose cone to pull transom/pad deeper in water. Thats why on The Lighting series unit are only recommended for boats running in excess of 70mph.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Thats just a stock lower unit with nose cone. Unless boat is really lite and can get up and run on pad these can actually slow you down as overtrimming will cause nose cone to pull transom/pad deeper in water. Thats why on The Lighting series unit are only recommended for boats running in excess of 70mph.

so that extra bump out front, is welded on???????????


bob

 

[boobie]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Yes.............

 

[oldboat1]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

was thinking it was going to be an electric lower unit, which sometimes has (had) the bullet shaped gearcase. This unit has a lower shift shaft, but thinking maybe it is a converted electric case, doctored with some addit. shaping. If you were to do that (starting with the shell of one of those old electric cases), you would be able to weld in and shape a piece -- a fin -- all on the exterior of the existing gearcase shell(?)

 

[emdsapmgr]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

It's a normal (mechanical) shifting lower. (shift rod is visible.) It's got the later swept skeg design which came out in the very early 80's.

 

[fisherrick]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

OK I get what you'all are saying. However, my second question that so closely relates to the first so as not to kill off the thread is.... What is the benefit of this thing. I get the low water pickup business. I get the shapes of the pictures Bajuanderground posted. But what would be the purpose of going to all the work required to do this to this gear case? Seems to only make this gear case a bigger rudder.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

But what would be the purpose of going to all the work required to do this to this gear case?
If motor was on a small fast hull it was done for speed as shape not to good for weeds..Scrape it with a knife and if its aluminum it wil;ll shine under paint, if it white or grey its a epoxy made cone and can be knocked off and cleaned up

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

People go through all the trouble in order to run as fast and/or shallow as possible. While they may only pick up 1"-2" of draft or a few mph that can make a big difference in the areas you are able to access and explore, especially in a tournament situation where every second counts and there's money on the line. Time is money.

 

[fisherrick]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Thanks guys. Appreciate all the good info.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Ever heard of such a thing?

Here are some vids of the kind of rigs they're used on most often. Notice all the stuff bolted on the transom; electric jackplate, trim tabs, low water pick up, electric steak out anchor, the whole 9 yards. By the time you couple it with a modern 4-stroke motor and a modern composite tunnel hull, these little skiffs will run well +50mph in less than 4" of water. Of course they cost +$40k, but it's pretty impressive what they can do with all the gizmos.

SCB Stingray Sport / Mercury 175 ProXS w/ SportMaster - YouTube (this sort of thing)
Unbelievable - YouTube
All white Lostmen HP tunnel with mini leaning post - YouTube (jump to 3:05)
Surfacing Lower Unit / Propeller - YouTube
Megabass Bass Trick Rabeta Performance Prop Mazco - YouTube