Ron Hill
11-25-2018, 06:05 PM
Tommy Newton
As far as I know, his real claim to fame was building "C" Service Evinrudes.
Seems Tommy worked for the water department in Lompoc (Which they tried to call LamPOCK, but WC Fields changed it to Lompoc, and finally the city agreed with WC Fields... Anyway, Tommy's main job was to keep and eye on the DAM and make sure the level of the water was correct for the pumps. Basically, mornings he'd check the level and adjust a valve, if needed, then go home and work on Service C motors. Then, in the evening, he'd go check the level again.
I may not have all the details right, but Tommy had time on his hands. He also built Evinrude C Stock (GAS BURNERS) motors for guys like Ron Loomis, who at the time was from Santa Barbara, close to Lompoc.
Tommy Newton built engine for Manny Carnakis, Mayor of Bakersfield and the builder of Lake Ming, Henry Wagner of Fresno and Jimmy Hauenstein's 1964 C Service National Champion engine.... I asked Jimmy why he raced C Service? Ronnie, Jimmy said, "It's a GENTLEMAN'S class." When you look back on the class..Jimmy was right.
Tommy's C Service Evinrude could be compared to today's Rolex watches.
Tommy Newton lived in the hills behind Santa Barbara. I used to go up there every day during the summer to build my first engine with his direct supervision. I used to polish and polish things like transfer ports and and crankcase openings. I used to ask him if he thought that would help much and he would say "no", but keep doing it. Then it was the inside of the crankcase and I would ask the same question and he would answer "no, it won't help much". Then I balanced the crank and rods and the answer was the same. I really had a hard time polishing the rods, but when all the balancing, polishing and everything else was done he reminded me that it was all those little things added together that made the difference. It sure did. Couple of Nationals, couple of records, and a couple of 1-US's I could directly attribute to him.
I don't think I will ever get over a machine shop with oriental rugs on the floor...and a vacuum hose next to every machine that created grindings or dust.
What a great teacher he was.
Ron Loomis
ps - You are right about his "job" was that of monitoring water flow from the mountains...except they were in SB not Lompoc. :D
Fred Hauenstein Jr. e-mailed me this A.M.
Hi Ron:
I read the stuff on Tom Newton. Really neat, except that he was the water
guy for the city of Montecito (just east of Santa Barbara). One of his
boats was named Miss Montecito, another, Miss Santa Barbara.
Jim actually won C Service Runabout nationals in both 1963 and 1964 with
Tom's C Service engine. And Tom made the trip to Casper, Wyoming for the
1964 nationals to help out.
In 1948, Tom Newton set a C Service Hydro world straightaway (mile) record
at Salton Sea, having borrowed my Dad's Flowers C hydro. That record stood
for many years, into the late 50s.
I have a couple of pictures I will scan and send of a C Service Runabout race at Long
Beach in 1957. Fred Sr., Henry Wagner, Joe Leonardo, Manny Carnakis, and
Tom Newton were all in the race (and the picture of the start). Pop won
the first heat and blew the start of the second heat which allowed Henry to
win the race overall.
More later,
Fred
In the late 60's Bud Cowdery was living in Connecticut near my parents house. We used to go to Connecticut Outboard Associating meetings together. He talked a lot about Tom Newton and his motors. He said that he had built a very special 5 stone hone for doing the Service cylinders. Most stones either have 3 or 4 stones. Bud felt that this was part of his success.
Michael Schmidt
As far as I know, his real claim to fame was building "C" Service Evinrudes.
Seems Tommy worked for the water department in Lompoc (Which they tried to call LamPOCK, but WC Fields changed it to Lompoc, and finally the city agreed with WC Fields... Anyway, Tommy's main job was to keep and eye on the DAM and make sure the level of the water was correct for the pumps. Basically, mornings he'd check the level and adjust a valve, if needed, then go home and work on Service C motors. Then, in the evening, he'd go check the level again.
I may not have all the details right, but Tommy had time on his hands. He also built Evinrude C Stock (GAS BURNERS) motors for guys like Ron Loomis, who at the time was from Santa Barbara, close to Lompoc.
Tommy Newton built engine for Manny Carnakis, Mayor of Bakersfield and the builder of Lake Ming, Henry Wagner of Fresno and Jimmy Hauenstein's 1964 C Service National Champion engine.... I asked Jimmy why he raced C Service? Ronnie, Jimmy said, "It's a GENTLEMAN'S class." When you look back on the class..Jimmy was right.
Tommy's C Service Evinrude could be compared to today's Rolex watches.
Tommy Newton lived in the hills behind Santa Barbara. I used to go up there every day during the summer to build my first engine with his direct supervision. I used to polish and polish things like transfer ports and and crankcase openings. I used to ask him if he thought that would help much and he would say "no", but keep doing it. Then it was the inside of the crankcase and I would ask the same question and he would answer "no, it won't help much". Then I balanced the crank and rods and the answer was the same. I really had a hard time polishing the rods, but when all the balancing, polishing and everything else was done he reminded me that it was all those little things added together that made the difference. It sure did. Couple of Nationals, couple of records, and a couple of 1-US's I could directly attribute to him.
I don't think I will ever get over a machine shop with oriental rugs on the floor...and a vacuum hose next to every machine that created grindings or dust.
What a great teacher he was.
Ron Loomis
ps - You are right about his "job" was that of monitoring water flow from the mountains...except they were in SB not Lompoc. :D
Fred Hauenstein Jr. e-mailed me this A.M.
Hi Ron:
I read the stuff on Tom Newton. Really neat, except that he was the water
guy for the city of Montecito (just east of Santa Barbara). One of his
boats was named Miss Montecito, another, Miss Santa Barbara.
Jim actually won C Service Runabout nationals in both 1963 and 1964 with
Tom's C Service engine. And Tom made the trip to Casper, Wyoming for the
1964 nationals to help out.
In 1948, Tom Newton set a C Service Hydro world straightaway (mile) record
at Salton Sea, having borrowed my Dad's Flowers C hydro. That record stood
for many years, into the late 50s.
I have a couple of pictures I will scan and send of a C Service Runabout race at Long
Beach in 1957. Fred Sr., Henry Wagner, Joe Leonardo, Manny Carnakis, and
Tom Newton were all in the race (and the picture of the start). Pop won
the first heat and blew the start of the second heat which allowed Henry to
win the race overall.
More later,
Fred
In the late 60's Bud Cowdery was living in Connecticut near my parents house. We used to go to Connecticut Outboard Associating meetings together. He talked a lot about Tom Newton and his motors. He said that he had built a very special 5 stone hone for doing the Service cylinders. Most stones either have 3 or 4 stones. Bud felt that this was part of his success.
Michael Schmidt