Hubbell Outboard Parts, El Monte, California

[Lil Stinker]

Hubbell Outboard Motors and Parts

[Lil Stinker]

Hubbell

[Lil Stinker]

Wildcat

[Thomas]

Wildcat
What is the general idea of theese extra reeds, does it suck fresh air from outside or what?

[Fastjeff57]

Correct. The extra fuel needed to maintain the correct A/F ratio was added at the carb. And it actually worked! Must have been hell to set the idle, however.

Jeff

[filthy phill]

This is brilliant stuff, those old racing motors would still be passing plenty of todays .
the 50, and 60,s stuff was so alluring to people, it had a bit of style to it and you could see what you were getting.
Todays stuff us all about hiding it away out of sight so you dont seethe crap its made of.

The Little motors polished up must of looked incredible at the time, and very simple to work on, unlike todays throw it away and buy a new one type of ownership.

whatever happened to this company ?

[ProHydroRacer]

filthy phill,
Your post has me wondering what your meaning of "Todays stuff us all about hiding it away out of sight so you dont seethe crap its made of." Hubbell was a little before my start in racing, and I assume it was a race engine in the ALKY/now PRO division. Today's PRO engines are designed and manufactured in similar fashion as Hubbell. Are you referring to Stock/OPC race engines?

[filthy phill]

no I mean the Average family boater engines with all the fancy covers hiding very poor material and workmanship. I call them the plastic fantastic's.

[ProHydroRacer]

Got it, thanks.
Did Hubbell produced a lot of race engines? It appears Hubbell made a complete race engine.

[Powerabout]

Would be nice to have the history of hubbell

I would think those bypass cover reeds wont open at idle?

[Ron Hill]

Disclaimer "Up Front" Re: Randolph "Pep" Hubbell






There is no where to look the information I have in my head about Hubbell Motors.


My first recollection of Hubbell Motors was Memorial Day 1950. My dad didn't work on Memorial Day but we listened to the Indianapolis 500 religiously in those days. We rode up to "Pep'" listening to the race. The race was shortened by rain, Johnny Parsons was the winner as he was leading when rain came. The next day, the weather was perfect but the race had been called. Parson cylinder block was cracked, he would never have made one more lap.

Pep had made a Dynamometer for outboards. My dad and "Pep" frequently argued horse power vs. Speed. My dad was into Speed, "Pep" was into HP.
I think my brother was working for "Pep" in 1950, as he had skipped two grades in school and had graduated at 16 (I was ten years younger than my brother and I graduated high school 1962).

My brother and "Pep" got along better than he got along with my dad. My dad was really a "Hard Headed" old SOB and if you argued with him, he'd just pissed off at you and tell you you were wrong. "Pep" on the other hand, listened intently to my brother and my brother had worked in George Peak's Foundry, so helping "Pep" with casting was easy.
My dad and my brother had built my brother an "A" motor in 1949, my dad had made the patterns for the lower unit. He had also bought 22 Navy Surplus "PUMPERS", basically a KR Johnson "A" with a Jacuzzi water pump attached to fight firers on the decks of ships during the war.

After my brother won the 1949 Hearst Regatta in "A" Hydro, my dad sold the pattern for the "A" lower unit to "Pep" for my first bicycle,.
"Pep" was an avid bicyclist. He road his bicycle to work and back everyday. Later, in life, "Pep" was the Senior Men's Olympic Hammer Thrower. He also won, the AAU Senior Division's Hammer Throw.
When the war (World War II, the last was we won) ended, no body had outboard parts. "Pep" tried to fill this void. Several problems arose. One, the new parts weren't as good as the "OLD GOOD STUFF". And by 1949, Mercury had a distributor in SoCal and all over America.
"Pep" endeavored to build Mercury Outboard Motors called "Wild Cats".
There is no way of knowing if he was making money. He owned the building, but rented half out to Kenny Harmon WHO MADE CAMS.
At the 1956 "ALKY" Nationals at Long Beach, Charlie Strang's mother told my dad that Jerry Waldman was going to win "A" and "B" Hydro with his Modified Mercury Motors. My dad, calmly told, Ann (He knew Ann from being the motor inspector at the 1953, 54 and 55 Winnebagoland Marathon and also for the 1954 DePere, Wisconsin Nationals). My dad said, "No, Orlando Organti will win "A" and Keith Sorensen with a Hubbell "B" on a Mercury lower unit will win "B". As it turned out, my dad was right.
Hubbell made "Tune Pipes" and "High Low" pistons for the PR Johnsons and the Evinrude Six Studs. These "MODS" helped but the Quincy Mercs were the wave of the future.

"Pep" made some lower units for McCullough, seems my dad had a hand in those. Then, he made some overdrive units for Evinrude's record run. Seems my dad worked with "Pep" on those gearcases.
I know "Pep" was angry with OMC after the first record run because they gave him "NO CREDIT" for anything. Which was always OMC's modus operandi. Something never changed!

The "A" motor is this picture was the motor my brother won the 1949 Hearst Regatta, 32 "A" Hydros, no elimination heats. My dad traded the patterns he had made for my first bicycle.

The boat is a Fillinger, my brother was 14.

My dad build a complete Hubbell "C" motor for Ed Krakowa of Selma, California. It may have been the only completely build motor from Hubbel parts.

[DeanFHobart]

Cool history.

[Powerabout]

any history on the OMC Hubbel tie up for Starflite?

[Ron Hill]

This props looks to be an old Cary. Charlie Strang told me when OMC pitch the cleaver out, on the one they set the record, one blade a full inch more pitch than the other blade. The record prop hung on the wall in Waukegan for many years.

[Ron Hill]

These are the original patterns for Evinrude's speed runs that broke the record at 114 MPH and 122 MPH.

I'm pretty sure my dad made these for Pep Hubbell!

Thanks to Karl Williams for the gift!