Champion Spark Plug's

[Mike Bretsch]

My farther was a Engineer at Champion Spark Plug Co. in Toledo, Ohio. He retired in 1971 after 48.5 year's of service. He was the person that designed the spark plug's that ran in the Quincy motor's. They had one Quincy engine which they tested in their Dyno Lab. in the 60's. I remember going there and hearing the engine running wide open in the test tank. You could hear it all the way up to the engineering dept. They would run it that way for hour's. In 1970 I started working in the Dyno Lab and the engine was still there. Not sure what happened to it. I was there for 32 years, then the company was downsized and I was let go. I did work with the old guys from racing dept, Skip Mason and Bill Dilday. I have moved from Toledo to Sarasota Fl and I met the son of the Owner of Quincy Welding at a couple of car show's. I now have a 1961 Pontiac Catalina with a 421ci motor that my wife and I restored. I just wanted to say that the picture's seen on this website have brought back some nice memories. I did also race 1/4 mile drag boats in the 70's.

[Ron Hill]

Mike...

My mind is going...Who use to be like President of Champion Spark Plugs.

Dick Jone and Bobby Strallman ran the Long Beach R and D plant out here. I know that Dick Jones did a lot of development work on the Drake Offy with they turbo charged it and Bobby Unser won the Indy 500 with that engine...Dick had an SK that was fast as hell!!!!

Bobby and his wife would come to a lot of our races...They seemed to have a good budget, as they sometime bought us dinner after the races.

Ted May became their BEST FRIENDS and for years had HUNDREDS of Champion Spark Plugs...I was 22 years old and college graduate before I knew there were any other plugs but Champion.

Champion Spark Plugs was good for boat racing. They gave $100 to each APBA National Champion, and usually gave a jacket too...

Your father, Mike, may have helped my dad develop the J64G (G for gold...a plug between the J5J and the J6J)........J64G isn't the number, I don't think.. We LOVED HO-3's and when platinum went to a hundred dollars a plug or something like that, Champion tried to a replacement for the HO-3 (The HO-3 was designed for the Chevy Corvette but worked GREAT in a 55-H).

In 1978, Champion sent me about 8 boxes of different plugs to try in my Triple C Evinrude....

Thanks for posting!!!!

Just remebered the name: Dick Gail was the President of Champion...Spent several evenings talking with him at APBA Conventions....He always thought my brother was going to be President of APBA....He also thought my brother had an IQ of 2000....

[bill boyes]

Remember, We would go to long Beach at the shop and Dick or Bob would give us free spark plugs. Also we would sometimes met some big name Indy racers there. They had the only Dyno around. One time I met Keith Black. He and Dick were doing a lot of Dyno work. Bob gave me some J61Y or near that.What a great plug in the 30H. Never had a plug that gave you MPH like that one did.

[Composite Specialties]

Hey Mike, does the L84R sound familiar?

[David Weaver]

Hey Mike, does the L84R sound familiar?

At the 1976 SO Nationals, Champion gave 1 or 2 boxes of spark plugs to every driver. My dad made me get L84R's for his Konigs. In 1998 we were still running those same plugs in newer Konigs!

[Tomtall]

I think Champion provided more support for boat racing than any other brand.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

The Champion L84R's & L87R's replaced the L54R and L57R sometime around 1967 0r 1968 I think. We ran thousands of them and won one NOA Championship with them. Skip Mason was there. Then when we started working together with Jerry Waldman on promoting races he switched us over to AC.

We had a wooden box full of Champion plugs that we saved to recondition. When I was first learning how to drive I went down in a turn frequently with my plugs full of water. My Dad figured it was easier for me to keep the motor lit if we changed plugs VERY often. When HP Shakeshaft II saw all those plugs he wanted to know what we intended to do with them. My Dad said he could have them if he wanted and we had a lot more back home. So he told my Dad to ship them freight collect. The box must have weighed more than 50 lbs & Shakey chewed my Dad out for the freight bill the next time we saw him.;) The plugs themselves didn't cost hima thing, so my Dad just turned it into one of his tales and we got a good laugh every time the subject came around to sparkplugs.:D

[Gstillwill]

We used to get boxes of them at all the Nats used to run L-58R's till they chaged the number system then it was L-87R's in the KG-4's and L63R's in the 20H. They would even bring experimental plugs with an X and a number on them Skip would ask what plugs you were running and give you a couple sets of the experimental plugs to try you also got some draw string cloth bags with information tags attached to fill out and return them to Champion telling them what they were used in. I still have a bunch of the plugs left and a few of the experimental X plugs that never were used or got returned.

[Mike Bretsch]

Mike...

My mind is going...Who use to be like President of Champion Spark Plugs.

Dick Jone and Bobby Strallman ran the Long Beach R and D plant out here. I know that Dick Jones did a lot of development work on the Drake Offy with they turbo charged it and Bobby Unser won the Indy 500 with that engine...Dick had an SK that was fast as hell!!!!

Bobby and his wife would come to a lot of our races...They seemed to have a good budget, as they sometime bought us dinner after the races.

Ted May became their BEST FRIENDS and for years had HUNDREDS of Champion Spark Plugs...I was 22 years old and college graduate before I knew there were any other plugs but Champion.

Champion Spark Plugs was good for boat racing. They gave $100 to each APBA National Champion, and usually gave a jacket too...

Your father, Mike, may have helped my dad develop the J64G (G for gold...a plug between the J5J and the J6J)........J64G isn't the number, I don't think.. We LOVED HO-3's and when platinum went to a hundred dollars a plug or something like that, Champion tried to a replacement for the HO-3 (The HO-3 was designed for the Chevy Corvette but worked GREAT in a 55-H).

In 1978, Champion sent me about 8 boxes of different plugs to try in my Triple C Evinrude....

Thanks for posting!!!!

Just remebered the name: Dick Gail was the President of Champion...Spent several evening B talking with him at APBA Conventions....He always thought my brother was going to be President of APBA....He alos thought my brother had an IQ of 2000....

Ron;

Hope I'm doing this right. Yes, I remember all the guys you spoke about. I had met Dick and Bobby when they came to Toledo for meeting's. I did a lot of work with Skip, he sure new his stuff about racing plug's. The president of Champion in those day's was Robert A. Stranahan Jr. I knew Dick Gail very well and he did like to party with the racer's. He may have said he was the president but he was the Director of Racing Dept. He also new his spark plug's. Sadly, all the old racing guy's have past away except Dick Gail and he is not in good health. He is still in Toledo. I was just on the phone to one of my old friends who was a racing engineer at the time the Quincy was out there, his name was Bill Nagy and he had called on Quincy Welding about the engine and spark plug's. He is also getting up in age, but doing good. He said he throught that the compression ratio on the engine was around 19:1. If anyone know's if that is correct,let me know. I do know the fellow in the dyno lab who could start it was a giant on a man. Seem's the HO-3 was used in a lot of engine's. I still have some J64P plug's that I still put in my 1961 Pontiac with the 421 race motor.

[Gstillwill]

Im pretty sure you could send the used plugs back to Champion and have them reconditioned and they would come back each plug in its own plain white box with just the number of the plug stamped on the end of it and said Champion reconditioned. I had some L58R's like that after they stoped making that number.

[Skoontz]

Champions were the only plugs we sold at the West Side Boathouse. I remember about '65 or so, OMC gave their plug contract to AC, well, at least all the new Evinrudes we sold had them in for a year....I remeber dad pulling the hood off a 100-S and looking saying what the F---- are those G dam things doing in this motor??The next year, Champion was right back and never left.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

We ran L87's in all our motors except the 350cc VB Konig. L87's were too hot. Sounds kind of strange doesn't it. I never heard of an L85 or L86 so I always figured L87 was only a little bit different from the L84. Maybe Mike can fill us in.

Anyway... we were holding the 2nd half of the 1968 NOA World Championships which was blown in Minnesota out at my Dad's house. When we raced there a lot of my high school classmates showed up, and some of my best friends wanted to pit. We always had a team that traveled all over with us, but against our best judgement we let one guy help. Basically, we let him hand us tools, carry fuel cans, etc. It was our stupid mistake to ask him to give us some new plugs to put in the B. A couple of new packages of L84's were opened and set on a box in the trailer. Unfortunately, an L87 was next to them and was one of the four he picked up. No one checked. That plug ended up in the top rear cylinder.

I pulled out of the pits to test and just barely broke over on a plane when the power dropped off and the motor made a sound like I never heard before. Back in the pits we took out the plugs and the L87was ashen white/grey with metal splatters all over it and we found a 5mm hole all the way through the piston. The races weren't until the next day, so I was up until midnight overhauling the motor. Because of that I missed the famous shootout when Jack Chance fired off a chamber full of blanks at the "ferocious little wood creature" that Jerry Simison's crew brought down from Minnesota.

[russhill]

I think the President's name was Earl Twining. I rubbed elbows with a lot of those Dudes at the Indy races. I drove by the 11th Street shop in Long Beach yesterday, as a result of reading this post. It's still there in a pretty decrepid state. If it weren't for the huge tank in the back that stored the water used for the dyno, I wouldn't have been sure I was there. Booby thought a swimming pool would have been a better means of cooling water.

The last time I saw Bobby Strallman was in Key West at an offshore race. He and his wife were going to Miami the next day to watch the Dolphins play. That was the year that Miami won all 17 games. I believe that was '73.

Bobby and his wife were two of the greatest people on earth.

Champion has always supported boat racing. (or at least as far back as '41, thats as far as I can remember.) I made a vow that I would never buy another brand of spark plug, unless they came in a new car or something. When Bunker started racing Yamatos, they came with some Japanese brand X plug and I wouldn't let him run. I went out and bought Champions. Everybody said you gotta run the Japanese plugs. Well after winning 36 consecutive heats, we showed that CHAMPIONS worked.

[Mike Bretsch]

Remember, We would go to long Beach at the shop and Dick or Bob would give us free spark plugs. Also we would sometimes met some big name Indy racers there. They had the only Dyno around. One time I met Keith Black. He and Dick were doing a lot of Dyno work. Bob gave me some J61Y or near that.What a great plug in the 30H. Never had a plug that gave you MPH like that one did.

Bill,
Thanks for reply;
The Long Beach Dyno was the talk of the racing world back then. It was kind of state of the art testing. All the big name racers would go there. Champion was very good at helping the racer and supply them with spark plugs. Glad you had the chance to vist the lab. I also used those same J61Y in my 64' GTO drag car. The "Y" type plug was great because they would keep the plug from fouling at low speed and the fuel would cool the tip at high speed. My dad would hand make all kinds of plugs for the car and we would. find which worked best. Champion did that kind of work with a lot of racers. Take care care, Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

Hey Mike, does the L84R sound familiar?

Yes, we had alot of those heat range plugs, the L's were popular with the 2-stroke engine's. The problem with the "R" gap (known as the push wire gap) was they could foul at slow speed's. Thank's for asking.

Mike

[Skoontz]

Mike:

I was at the Bakersfield race a few weeks back and the crew chief of one of the GN boats had straightened the electrode out and was rounding off squared ends. He claimed doing that provided a better area for the spark to light the fuel in his engine. He was running a 500 or near 500 cubic inch gas burning motor using what looked like a 12-71 blower and the style bug catcher the top fuel cars run. After he filed the electrode, he bent it back and regapped the plug....I thought it was interesting he did that and that Champion just did not build the plug that way to begin with... Any thoughts here?

[Mike Bretsch]

At the 1976 SO Nationals, Champion gave 1 or 2 boxes of spark plugs to every driver. My dad made me get L84R's for his Konigs. In 1998 we were still running those same plugs in newer Konigs!

David;
Thank's for posting, all those plugs would last because they were so cold heat range the gaps wouldn't burn back. So they lasted.

Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

I think Champion provided more support for boat racing than any other brand.

That is a awsome picture, take's me back in time. As that is what I enjoy most. Yes, Champion spent a lot of time and money to get there name and plug's out to the racer's. A lot of engineering and testing was done. I can remember my dad and I taking about his new design's. Thank's, Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

The Champion L84R's & L87R's replaced the L54R and L57R sometime around 1967 0r 1968 I think. We ran thousands of them and won one NOA Championship with them. Skip Mason was there. Then when we started working together with Jerry Waldman on promoting races he switched us over to AC.

We had a wooden box full of Champion plugs that we saved to recondition. When I was first learning how to drive I went down in a turn frequently with my plugs full of water. My Dad figured it was easier for me to keep the motor lit if we changed plugs VERY often. When HP Shakeshaft II saw all those plugs he wanted to know what we intended to do with them. My Dad said he could have them if he wanted and we had a lot more back home. So he told my Dad to ship them freight collect. The box must have weighed more than 50 lbs & Shakey chewed my Dad out for the freight bill the next time we saw him.;) The plugs themselves didn't cost hima thing, so my Dad just turned it into one of his tales and we got a good laugh every time the subject came around to sparkplugs.:D

Thank's for posting, I do remember seeing plugs shipped in wood crates. Alot of racer's would look in the trash barrel's at the race's for slightly used plug's. It's always fun talking about tales'. Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

We used to get boxes of them at all the Nats used to run L-58R's till they chaged the number system then it was L-87R's in the KG-4's and L63R's in the 20H. They would even bring experimental plugs with an X and a number on them Skip would ask what plugs you were running and give you a couple sets of the experimental plugs to try you also got some draw string cloth bags with information tags attached to fill out and return them to Champion telling them what they were used in. I still have a bunch of the plugs left and a few of the experimental X plugs that never were used or got returned.

Thanks for the post, When I lived in Toledo my grarage had many of those white box's. Guy's would see them at the race's and alway's ask " what are they", we would alway's say it was a secert. Then they would keep an eye on us. Later, Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

Im pretty sure you could send the used plugs back to Champion and have them reconditioned and they would come back each plug in its own plain white box with just the number of the plug stamped on the end of it and said Champion reconditioned. I had some L58R's like that after they stoped making that number.

I don't remember of them reconditioning plug's, but when plugs were sent back they would look at them and aslo cut them apart to see what was happening in side. Then sent the person new plugs in return. But in your case when the plug was no longer built and it worked good for you the engineer would clean them and test them and then return them. Champion wanted to make sure the racer was taken care of in the old day's . Take care, Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

We ran L87's in all our motors except the 350cc VB Konig. L87's were too hot. Sounds kind of strange doesn't it. I never heard of an L85 or L86 so I always figured L87 was only a little bit different from the L84. Maybe Mike can fill us in.

Anyway... we were holding the 2nd half of the 1968 NOA World Championships which was blown in Minnesota out at my Dad's house. When we raced there a lot of my high school classmates showed up, and some of my best friends wanted to pit. We always had a team that traveled all over with us, but against our best judgement we let one guy help. Basically, we let him hand us tools, carry fuel cans, etc. It was our stupid mistake to ask him to give us some new plugs to put in the B. A couple of new packages of L84's were opened and set on a box in the trailer. Unfortunately, an L87 was next to them and was one of the four he picked up. No one checked. That plug ended up in the top rear cylinder.

I pulled out of the pits to test and just barely broke over on a plane when the power dropped off and the motor made a sound like I never heard before. Back in the pits we took out the plugs and the L87was ashen white/grey with metal splatters all over it and we found a 5mm hole all the way through the piston. The races weren't until the next day, so I was up until midnight overhauling the motor. Because of that I missed the famous shootout when Jack Chance fired off a chamber full of blanks at the "ferocious little wood creature" that Jerry Simison's crew brought down from Minnesota.

There was an L86 plug, but it was of a hotter heat range. The #'s ran close to each other, but the heat range could be a big difference in racing plug's. I have seen on the dyno's at Champion running a 2 cycle engine with a different heat range plug in each cyl. (a 2 cyl eng) (like a 63 and 64) the hotter plug would pre very fast and burn that unforgiven hole in the piston. When we did preignition testing in a 2 cyl engine we would put the test plug in one cyl and the coldest plug we could find in the other. If it preignited it only burnt one pistion. Later, Mike

[Mike Bretsch]

I think the President's name was Earl Twining. I rubbed elbows with a lot of those Dudes at the Indy races. I drove by the 11th Street shop in Long Beach yesterday, as a result of reading this post. It's still there in a pretty decrepid state. If it weren't for the huge tank in the back that stored the water used for the dyno, I wouldn't have been sure I was there. Booby thought a swimming pool would have been a better means of cooling water.

The last time I saw Bobby Strallman was in Key West at an offshore race. He and his wife were going to Miami the next day to watch the Dolphins play. That was the year that Miami won all 17 games. I believe that was '73.

Bobby and his wife were two of the greatest people on earth.

Champion has always supported boat racing. (or at least as far back as '41, thats as far as I can remember.) I made a vow that I would never buy another brand of spark plug, unless they came in a new car or something. When Bunker started racing Yamatos, they came with some Japanese brand X plug and I wouldn't let him run. I went out and bought Champions. Everybody said you gotta run the Japanese plugs. Well after winning 36 consecutive heats, we showed that CHAMPIONS worked.

The president of Champion in those day's was Robert A. Stranahan Jr and Earl was Chief Engineer of the engineering dept. My farther worked with Earl for many years. I had seen him many time's, he was a nice person. It's sad that all the the great people that made Champion so great are gone. Later, Mike

[bill boyes]

As Ron said Dick Jones had a SK. There was a race at Carlsbad and Dick had Bill Muncey drive it for him. The inspector ask if I would help out and check fuel. Well Bills fuel did not pass the Hydrometer test was close but above the line. I asked Bill were he got the gas and he says Hell, I done know I just drive the thing, ask Dick. So Dick says the the Union station here in town. I said let me check others because something is not right. I checked others and the Hydrometer had the same reading. So then I told Bill and Dick that their fuel was OK. Bill and Dick shook my hand and said Thanks. I did not want to wash my hand as the great Bill Muncey and Dick Jones shook it.

[Mike Bretsch]

Mike:

I was at the Bakersfield race a few weeks back and the crew chief of one of the GN boats had straightened the electrode out and was rounding off squared ends. He claimed doing that provided a better area for the spark to light the fuel in his engine. He was running a 500 or near 500 cubic inch gas burning motor using what looked like a 12-71 blower and the style bug catcher the top fuel cars run. After he filed the electrode, he bent it back and regapped the plug....I thought it was interesting he did that and that Champion just did not build the plug that way to begin with... Any thoughts here?

Skoontz

I have raced at Lake Ming in the late 70's with a 1/4 mile Unblown Gas Flatbottom. Great place, little short for fuel boats.
Never heard of rounding off any sharp edges for better fuel burn. Champion now builds their racing plugs with a cutback ground wire, where the sharp edge of the ground wire is even with the outside dia of the center wire. That way the spark has the shortest path to travel. (My dad did this to plugs we used in my drag car is the early 60's.) The spark arc will be blue and strong, if anything is rounded the spark will scatter around the rounded edge and be weak and yellow. That's why when we run our plug's for a long time in our daily car's and they start to missfire, you check the plug and they are rounded. The spark is scatted and weak. Hope this helps a little'
Mike

[Gene East]

Everyone has been very positive in their assessment of Champion's support of racing through free spark plugs, contingency money and "Champion"-ship jackets to winners.

Let's not forget how popular Skip Mason was with the ladies as he distibuted those fashion statement Champion earrings.

I think every woman with pierced ears had miniature Champion spark plugs dangling from her ear lobes at all the major races!

[Jones Cams]

The president of Champion in those day's was Robert A. Stranahan Jr and Earl was Chief Engineer of the engineering dept.
At that time, Dick Jones'(my dad) title was "Manager of champion's west coast racing facility". His title changed, but I can't remember what it was before he quit champion.
His Boss was Dick Kudner.

I'm right now trying to figure out where to post 100's of pictures from the champion dyno facility, and my dad's boat racing career.

[Mark75H]

At that time, Dick Jones'(my dad) title was "Manager of champion's west coast racing facility". His title changed, but I can't remember what it was before he quit champion.
His Boss was Dick Kudner.

I'm right now trying to figure out where to post 100's of pictures from the champion dyno facility, and my dad's boat racing career.


Doesn't really matter ... just post it and if it seems to go off from where it starts we can move it later. :)

[russhill]

Yes, Champion did "recondition" old spark plugs and put them in white boxes. We would typically get back about 50% of the plugs we sent in. Champion would tell us words to the effect that some of our plugs "didn't make the cut." I think they may have had cracked procelaons.

I never really owned a "new" champion Spark Plug until I'd raced a few years. My job as a little tiny kid was to hang out in the pits of some of the "Big Timers" and they'd run a set of plugs once and throw them away. I'd collect them and we'd send them into Champion.

I like to hang out in the F pits, becaused I loved 4-60s, and because I could get four plugs at a time instead of just two.

I know they were our plugs, reconditioned, because once after my dad had had a cap unscrew, he started soldering the threads, so the caps wouldn't unscrew. We'd get back from Champion our solder topped plugs.

[Mike Bretsch]

At that time, Dick Jones'(my dad) title was "Manager of champion's west coast racing facility". His title changed, but I can't remember what it was before he quit champion.
His Boss was Dick Kudner.

I'm right now trying to figure out where to post 100's of pictures from the champion dyno facility, and my dad's boat racing career.

I don't what his title changed to, I remember meeting your dad and only speaking to him a couple of time's when he came to Toledo. Where ever you post pictures of the Dyno facility please e-mail, I would enjoy seeing them. If I can get a hold of any old guy's from Champion, I'll see if anyone would remember about your dad's title. There aren't many of those people around anymore and not being in Toledo, I have lose touch of people.

[Aeroliner]

Last summer my brother and I bought 8 engines from Charlie Miller up in Canada and was treated to a view of a Quincy Looper along with a second one in parts. Charlie showed us all the info he had on it and he claimed that it was used by Champion to test spark plugs. He has the engine in his collection and has had it for a long time.

Alan

[Mark75H]

Charlie has it for sale on hydroracer

[Roy Hodges]

One of my all time pet peeves is the average guy's ignorance of spark plug heat ranges . Even among some racers , "a spark is a spark plug ". ( ! ) Back in 1959 , we raced in the ole CCRA (Norcal) my buddy had a 14 foot ( Premier ) runabout in the D D class ,in marathons (point to point)THE power a Mk58A. Since the motor would run at 6200 rpm ,steady, for 1&1/2 to 2 hours , i got some special C O L D racing plugs & we used them in one marathon . worked perfect . about 4 days later , he called me complaining the motor won't hardly run. I ask him what's going on ? he says " i went out skiing and the motor runs crappy. " I said "did you put the stock plugs back in ? " he replies " no , it ran great in the race , why should i change them ?"
!!!!!!!!! I guess my gripe is with people who don't want to learn anything .

[Sam La Banco]

I wish I could find some of the old L-81-Y plugs. They run great in our OMC 3 cylinders we use in SST-60.

[Roy Hodges]

I wish I could find some of the old L-81-Y plugs. They run great in our OMC 3 cylinders we use in SST-60............................
.................................................. .................................................. ................................. Fast Fred might know of some , asked him yet ?

[Charlie 13]

Hi Alan
This Looper is FA88 and was given to Champion to test spark plugs.
I removed the steel cavation plate that was about 18x18 in. and it came with lots of spares.
Charlie

[Aeroliner]

Well talked to Charlie and bought the A looper that Champion used as a test engine. Not only did I get the engine but all the spare parts which include six cylinder heads, 2 additional sets of stacks, and a few new pistons. I will post photos after I pick it up when the snow goes away up north.

Alan

[Mike Bretsch]

Hi Alan
This Looper is FA88 and was given to Champion to test spark plugs.
I removed the steel cavation plate that was about 18x18 in. and it came with lots of spares.
Charlie

Charlie;

My father did alot of plug design work when Champion had a Looper engine. I'm not sure how many they had for testing. I only saw one engine, this one could have been it. I know there was one in storage when I started work at Champion in 1970, but don't remember what happen to it. How did you happen to end up with it, it sure is a real part of history. There was only one guy in the dyno lab that could start it, he was a big tall strong fellow. It sure was loud when it was on test. It's nice to see someone slavaged it.

Mike Bretsch

[Aeroliner]

Being an old A/B boat racer I have been doing Mercs for a long time. I still have my first 20-H bought new in 1955 and it still has Champion K-3 spark plugs in it which is what it came with. I have been restoring engines with my brother in Florida along with building the old speedliners for more than 40 years. Last summer we bought 8 engines from Charlie Miller, a well respected racer from Canada and he showed us the engine. We when I found out he wanted to sell it it was love at first sight. You can look at our web site to see some of the things were doing. Aeroliner-Boat.com. I will pick the engine up after the snow melts up in the far north. I would love to hear from you about the engine. After restoration we will be running it a bit and showing it at AOMCI meets.

Alan

[Charlie 13]

I guess I had better tell the story or it just might end up being an urban legend. The story is true but some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. I would like to dedicate this to the guys out there trying to find that rare unknown outboard.
It was a dark and stormy night, the moon was obscured with wispy clouds.............. opps wrong story.
I was having fun racing D Classic hydro, CSR, and CSH and was bringing back memories of youth, I had meet Ron Collins a racer and collector of Merc engines and others. I had looked with lust at one engine he had, a beautiful
Mark 20H. He would stand there shinning it with a cloth that I would use to wipe the drool off my mouth. His collection was just amazing. I told him that I would find one sooner or later.
I was talking to another racer, on the phone, is southern ontario and told him of my want of a 20H. He told me of this guy that had one but wouldn't sell it.
He gave me the info and I started to track him down.
I contacted him and found that we both had many things in common, love of tunnels with too big of engines, guitars, messing with little boats and yes he did have a 20H and just like he told all the rest of the guys, he didn't want to sell it.
A few months later I called and arranged a visit to his place, as I was going to be in his area. We hit it off well with lots of stories of tunnel racing and growing up with the sounds of screaming Mercs. Just before I left he took me out to his garage and up a ladder to look through a trap door to see way in the back laying on its side on a roof truss a Green and Gold 20H.
He answered the question before I had a chance to ask "no, No it's not for sale". He asked if I had time to go over to his shop and see some of the other things he collected. The shop was full of old snow mobiles and music equipment. Up stairs was an assortment of old Mercs, fishing engines, racing engines and other other neat things. Behind another snowmobile and under a tarp was this old Looper stick engine, whos history was a test engine for spark plugs at Champion. WOW, I left amazed.
Six months later after a few phone calls trying to purchase the 20H and polite "NO's",
I tried a new idea, "you may not want to sell it but have you ever thought of tradeing something for it?" Welllllllll...... there was one thing that I would like to have.........I would like a six cylinder racing Merc!
Ok I'll find one...gulp..... give ya a call back soon.
Memory is such a great thing, and I knew that somwhere in the recesses of mine there was a six banger. I recalled a conversation about a six cylinder with a speedmaster for sale near cottage country.
I found it and confirmed a price that would make the cost of the 20H a little high, but it's only money.
I called with news that I had found the engine he was looking for, except it had a big exhaust housing on the side like a 20H conversion . Was it good enough?
He was happy, I was happy
I asked what I was trading the six cylinder for?
His answer was " Everything two and four cylinder he had, all the spares, everything.
"Be there Sunday"
called six banger guy "Be there Saturday"
Called Ron and asked if he would help me put the six banger in the back of my Dodge Dakota long box ( the long box part of the story is important, there may be a test at the end) He said yes. Sunday came.
After unloading the six cylinder we started loading boxes of parts and engines into the back of the truck, the Looper , Green and Gold 20H, Chriscraft Comander, Konic or two, a mystery racing lower unit new ( another clue)
till the truck was full, the cab was full and the tires were almost flat.
Then we went to his other shop to get the rest.
On the way home I just had to call Ron. "You won't believe it, the truck is full".
I pulled off the highway to check the load and to check something that was puzzling me. That Mystery lower unit.. I had my trusty copy of "The Golden Age of The Racing Outboard" by Peter Hunn....There at the side of the road I found it..... on page 140,...... in the photo of a 1954 Scott-Atwater 16 hp a "Green Hornet" racing lower unit. Piled under the tarp under some unknown piece of Merc history was a New, never used, shinning bit of history.
On the cell phone again to Ron "your not going to believe this"
After his gasping for air he said "I want it" I said that since he and I were buddies I would trade it to him. He asked "What do you want?"
Ooooooooooo how about a Green and Gold 20H?
It seemed like the universe was in the right spot, I was a twin at birth and now I had TWO Green and Gold 20H's.
I have lived happly there after.
I miss my friend Ron Collins, as Cancer has taken him from this world and he is racing in the stars. I would give all my 20H's to have another day of racing with him.
Charlie

[Mike Bretsch]

Being an old A/B boat racer I have been doing Mercs for a long time. I still have my first 20-H bought new in 1955 and it still has Champion K-3 spark plugs in it which is what it came with. I have been restoring engines with my brother in Florida along with building the old speedliners for more than 40 years. Last summer we bought 8 engines from Charlie Miller, a well respected racer from Canada and he showed us the engine. We when I found out he wanted to sell it it was love at first sight. You can look at our web site to see some of the things were doing. Aeroliner-Boat.com. I will pick the engine up after the snow melts up in the far north. I would love to hear from you about the engine. After restoration we will be running it a bit and showing it at AOMCI meets.

Alan

Alan;

Where do you live in Florida?. I also now live in Sarasota, Fl the last 5 yr's. It is nice that someone will restore an engine like that, that's what keep's the history going on. It was a wild engine running in a small test cell,you could hear it everywhere. In the 70's I raced 1/4 mile dragboat's. Did you ever meet Skip Mason from Champion's Racing Div.? The last couple of year's I have built a couple of supercharged BB chevy engine's for Offshore Racing. Maybe someday we can meet.

Mike Bretsch

[Master Oil Racing Team]

What a great story Charlie. I was mesmerized at how this was going to turn out.:cool

As to Mike's question to Alan...I got to wondering. Skip was always at the NOA alky nationals, but about 1972-73 I don't remember seeing him. Does anyone remember?

[JBM]

I have a new set(4) of Champion J 60 G 's I used to run them in the old 44ci merc and they ran good. I never could find any info on them in the books though. They are a 3/8" reach fine wire electrode. Does anyone need these?
John

[Aeroliner]

Well digging through some of my things today ran across a box of spark plugs from Champion and AC. In the bunch was one of the Old White Boxes of Champions. They had never been opened. The plugs are L-G 506. They have this number stamped in the steel and no other indentificiation on them except champion. The plug is a fine wire and I have no Idea what I intened to use them for. Hope the photo of the box brings back some fond thoughts.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I hope someone will know about those white box plugs. The Yellow/black/white L 87's had me confused for awhile until I saw the L 88's. That's the color of the Champion boxes I remember. But what do the A's at the end of the number mean?

When I first started racing we bought a used Merc/Quincy B that had the most humongous sparkplugs I ever saw. Russ Hill probably must know. They were Champions, but I don't remember the size. They were alky plugs, and they were the same reach as a standard 14mm, but instead of a 13/16 socket it required a larger one. MM wise I guess the spark plug hole was about 16 or 17 except it was probably in inches. I can't remember because we were never able to get the motor on a plane and junked it (hole in the top head when we bought it). When we started racing Champion was the plug to use in our area and they always had an ad in Roostertail. We put the Champion decals on our boats.

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

I was given some in boxes like these at DePue early 70's or late 60's. If I remember correctly I got them from Skip Mason and he said they were plugs that had been "rebuilt" in the Champion factory and then returned to the race course for further use. I have no idea what the "rebuilding" process was. I do remember the really fine wire electrode though. I think I ran them in my flatheads. Perhaps Gene East or Paul Christner might have some knowledge about them. I think they had 505 and 506's but I dont know about heat range. Must have been similar to L-84R and L-87R though if they were used in flatheads. I think the fine wire electrode was to keep them from loading up if you were running rich.

[Mark75H]

When I first started racing we bought a used Merc/Quincy B that had the most humongous sparkplugs I ever saw. Russ Hill probably must know. They were Champions, but I don't remember the size. They were alky plugs, and they were the same reach as a standard 14mm, but instead of a 13/16 socket it required a larger one. MM wise I guess the spark plug hole was about 16 or 17 except it was probably in inches.


Wayne I have a couple of motors "worked on" by Lon Stevens that use the big Champions. 18mm threads, 1" socket on the hex.

18mm was pretty standard for aluminum heads (and some steel) before the mid 1950's.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

That's the one's I referred to Sam. I had been thinking of a plug wrench about 1 or 1 1/8". Could you post a pic of one laid next to a standard plug?:cool:

[Gstillwill]

I have some new 18MM plugs from back when, the number is K-58 R and was used in the 6NHR Hotrod from the 50's. I have a few of the white box plugs that were reconditioned from Champion. I have a few of the experimental plugs Skip used to bring to the races for testing new numbers. Those have numbers stamped on the hex with a X before the number. You would tell him what number plugs you were running and he would give you the plugs to test and a little cloth draw string bag with a tag attached. You would make some runs with them and fill out the tag on the bag and give them back to him with the plugs that you were running in the motor and he would give you a new box of the plugs that you were using in the motor.The yellow and black boxes came when Champion revamped the number system.Example L-58-R came in the red,black and white box the L-87-R came in the yellow and black boxes but were the same plug with a different number.

[Aeroliner]

Alan;

Where do you live in Florida?. I also now live in Sarasota, Fl the last 5 yr's. It is nice that someone will restore an engine like that, that's what keep's the history going on. It was a wild engine running in a small test cell,you could hear it everywhere. In the 70's I raced 1/4 mile dragboat's. Did you ever meet Skip Mason from Champion's Racing Div.? The last couple of year's I have built a couple of supercharged BB chevy engine's for Offshore Racing. Maybe someday we can meet.

Mike Bretsch

Hello Mike,
Well I really live in Louisiana but work in Florida in Melbourne. I'm there about 25 days a month. My brother lives up close to Daytona and I spend my weekends there building boats or working on engines. Our web site is www.Aeroliner-Boats.com. I have a few more four cylinders under restoration up at Doug Kay's. They are a KF-9 open flywheel, KG-9Q, Mark50, Mark 30-H, two Mark 55-H's one a 1959, Mark 58H, two quincy engines, 40, and a 44 deflectors, a 30 cu-in engine that will be done to the Harry Brinkman standards and have almost all the parts for a 75-H. Still need a set of carbs if anyone wants to sell a set. Mike my phone is 337-304-0379. Buy the way David and I used to drag race in BMS with a a Sprite powed by an injected Buick V-8. I will post some of my 2 cylinders awaiting restoration.

Alan

[Aeroliner]

Mike,
Here are a couple photos of some of the engines I still need to do. Also need to restore one of Gerry Waldmans Sid hydros.
Alan

[Skoontz]

I have a brand new pair of R-7 Champion's, one with red writing on the porcelain, one with black. Any chance someone might be able to tell year of manufacture by the writing and color?

[Mark75H]

That's the one's I referred to Sam. I had been thinking of a plug wrench about 1 or 1 1/8". Could you post a pic of one laid next to a standard plug?:cool:

Here you go

[Ron Hill]

Check these two plugs out. Bill Curtis, AKA "POP" Curtis, Boat 990, gave me these two Factory Serviced plugs today...As I recall, you'd send them a box of used plugs and they'd return them prepaid freight in these white boxes...Seemed they were sand blasted or something...

[russhill]

That's the one's I referred to Sam. I had been thinking of a plug wrench about 1 or 1 1/8". Could you post a pic of one laid next to a standard plug?:cool:

Yes, Wayne, "standard" was 18mm, one inch wrench. All real engines had 18 mm plugs until that guy from Wisconsin started using the tiny (14mm) plugs. He started a new fad. You want an 18mm? I'll send you a brand new one, still in the box. The box is a little decayed and the steel part of the plug is rusted. Email me your address and I send it to you. You're too old to be pulling this "standard" crap on me.

I selll them for two bucks to my friends---to you it's $25 (kidding--I'll send you one)

Russ Hill

[F-12]

18mm is not 1 inch from what I remember. 26mm was closer. 18mm was close to 11/16 as 19mm was close to 3/4............................

[Mark75H]

18mm is not 1 inch from what I remember. 26mm was closer. 18mm was close to 11/16 as 19mm was close to 3/4............................

Not talking about the conversion size, but the wrench size for the hex on the plugs. 14mm plugs have 13/16 hex, 18mm plugs have 1" hex

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Yeah Russ...That would be great! I'll send you my address. I will put it in a frame in my boat racing museum with your name on it, but I would also like to extend an invitation to come look at it in the future.:cool: If you would commit, I DO KNOW that I could finally get Joe Rome down here at the same time.:cool::D.

BTW. I need to know where to send a pic from the reunion to you for your autograph unless you have one you want to make a copy of to sign and send to me. I would be greatly honored.

[F-12]

I had my post wrong from the start as you can see at the bottom where I editted it and claimed my stupidity. It is a 1" wrench for the 18mm plugs. I wasn't thinking...........Sorry about that.

[Aeroliner]

Picked up the A quicy looper from Charlie Miller. Droped it off at Doug Kay's to make sure its good inside. Will post photos after its disassemble. The propshaft has been cut down to the A/B/C diameter from the normal D size. Also need to fabricate a new cavation plate for the engine. Dose anyone have a closeup of the A setup?

Alan

[Aeroliner]

Started going over the engine last night and have a few questions that I would like to get answered. The D lowerunit has the prop shat turned the A/B/C diameter. Is this the way they all came? Also what prop would be a good starting point. I have a new D shaft that I can use in it. Also is there a looper manual that provides specifications and timing information. Right now the engine has 9.3 cc heads on it and a gas carb. I have 6 other heads that go all the way down to 6.2 cc head volumn. What is the desired size when you run gas and also fuel. Also what fuel mix is best for the engine? Looking at the heads two were used and it appears that it had a bit of reed valve go through it.

Alan

[Original Looper 1]

Alan,

Probably the reason Champion had the D lower unit put on the A Looper research engine was to insure durability for the duration of their tests.
They probably also turned the prop shaft down to an A-B size so they could find the proper test wheels, because I doubt that there was a D test wheel available that had the appropriate load level for an A. Don't forget, Champion ran this engine many hours at a time.

As to the questions about the cylinder head cc's, probably the 9.3 cc's should be pretty close for today's higher octane racing gas. As to the ignition timing, there are so many variables that affect the ignition timing setting of a gas or alky burning racing engine that my dad created the term "run the timing to where it maintains the most top end without slowing down or burning or sticking a piston." That seems to accurately fit so many variables such as air temp, water temp, barometric pressure, engine temp, boat drag, boat weight, length of course, etc. I seem to recall that 7.5 cc is just about the average limit for alcohol. Obviously, Champion tightened the cc's too much by having the tighter head to take it past the point of normal conditions to help design and create the proper heat range plugs that would enable them to have some sort of a wider than normal latitude of parameters so that the average person (racer) could miss the proper set up & still have a little margin left for error without seriously damaging the engine 1st.

This is my personal opinion based on my experience tuning many racing engines on the dyno with my father O. F. Christner. I hope this information helps you. There's a wonderful web site called russellkarting.com that has very sophisticated monitors under data acquisition to scientifically document and record many precise measurements of current race engines for charting and comparison.

thanks,

Paul A Christner

[Mike Bretsch]

Alan,

Probably the reason Champion had the D lower unit put on the A Looper research engine was to insure durability for the duration of their tests.
They probably also turned the prop shaft down to an A-B size so they could find the proper test wheels, because I doubt that there was a D test wheel available that had the appropriate load level for an A. Don't forget, Champion ran this engine many hours at a time.

As to the questions about the cylinder head cc's, probably the 9.3 cc's should be pretty close for today's higher octane racing gas. As to the ignition timing, there are so many variables that affect the ignition timing setting of a gas or alky burning racing engine that my dad created the term "run the timing to where it maintains the most top end without slowing down or burning or sticking a piston." That seems to accurately fit so many variables such as air temp, water temp, barometric pressure, engine temp, boat drag, boat weight, length of course, etc. I seem to recall that 7.5 cc is just about the average limit for alcohol. Obviously, Champion tightened the cc's too much by having the tighter head to take it past the point of normal conditions to help design and create the proper heat range plugs that would enable them to have some sort of a wider than normal latitude of parameters so that the average person (racer) could miss the proper set up & still have a little margin left for error without seriously damaging the engine 1st.

This is my personal opinion based on my experience tuning many racing engines on the dyno with my father O. F. Christner. I hope this information helps you. There's a wonderful web site called russellkarting.com that has very sophisticated monitors under data acquisition to scientifically document and record many precise measurements of current race engines for charting and comparison.

thanks,

Paul A Christner

Paul;

Not sure how many test wheel's with different shaft size's were available at Champion at that time. If your dad didn't supply one with the engine, they would have machined the shaft or asked for a shaft to fit a current test wheel. As there wasn't much material at the hub to play with. We used to modify many test wheel's by drilling hole's or welding to obtain the test rpm needed. Back in those day's when my dad was designing race plug's they were kept on the cold side so the tuner's could jet to the plug and keep it from burning a piston. (remember the term "lean is mean") I also leaned a lot from my dad about jetting to the race plug. I remember back in the 50' and 60's some racer's hated Champion's because they would use a Champion race plug with the stock jetting and end up fouling the plug's instead of jetting to the plug.

Mike Bretsch

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

I still have a whole bunch of these Champion racing spark plugs new in their boxes and had no idea they could be used in Konigs, Flatheads etc. L83R, L84R and L87R came to repalce them? I have so many NOS new L56R ad L57R I should sell most of them off. :)

[Skoontz]

An old R-7 dad used

[Allen J. Lang]

Hi Bill- Looking at your R-7 brings back memories of running in the 50's using the old OMC Johnnyrudes. We had a lot of fun then.
Ye Olde Desert Geezer :cool: Al

[Skoontz]

Them are 4-60 plugs for sure....I need an extra set and all I got is two spares, so, I'm searching. Back in the take apart your plug days. I like the idea, too bad we are so disposable any more.

[John (Taylor) Gabrowski]

I had over 2 dozen 2 years ago and they are all gone, sorry.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

I found this brochure a couple of days ago. Skip Mason gave it to me at Alex about 1972. I got $300 from AC that day. Up until then we used Champions. At first he spelled my name wrong.

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Some more pages.

[Aeroliner]

Some place in all my junk I know I have one but who nows where. I have printed it and put it in a place where I can find it. I have bought all of Harry brinkmans equiptment and in it was an old wooden box with maybe 1000 racing plugs. I have a Champion spark plug cleaned that going to get a good workout. Thanks again.

Alan

[Master Oil Racing Team]

Alan...I have done the same thing many times. I put stuff where I can find it. Dogs and squirrels do the same thing with bones and nuts. At least sometimes a tree will grow.;):D But that's how I sometimes find little gems of past boat racing memorobilia when I'm looking for something else.:cool:

I got a little sidetracked today doing a little preparation for a little squall named Dolly. But here is the rest of that Champion pamplet you have put in a good place. Joe says he gave it to me. That may be. But I don't recognize the handwriting, and whoever wrote on the back page didn't know how to spell my name. I realized after I posted the last bit that Jerry Waldman was gone by the time we got to Alex, so we had switched to AC in the spring of '72. I did win with Champion plugs at Alex in '71. They were good spark plugs and we seldom had problems. If we did, it was my fault. We only changed because of Jerry Waldman.