Early Strange Outdrives

[silverghost]

When I was a small kid in the early 60s the very first outdrive boat I ever saw was a lapstrake wood Ventnor "Sea Skiff" .
The was the very last gasp of the once-great & famous Ventnor Race Boat Company.
I remember Dad asking the owner about this boat's drive and the owner called it an "inboard-outboard "
The drive had an outside mechanical steering ram with a ball & socket pivot on the transom.
The drive also had a cast curved gear-rack for tilting up.
I have no idea who made this drive.
There were several other brand drives in this era that came & went quickly like a flash in the pan.
The first early Volvo outdrive I ever saw was on a wooden lapstrake Grady-White with a 4 cly Volvo engine.
There were also some very strange V-Drives out there in those days, One had a strange V-belt set-up !
Another drive turned the entire engine that was mounted vertically near he transom.
It was an era of great experimentation.
Since a kid I had always been interested in mechanical things.
These drives still are stuck in my early memory.
Its funny what you remember as a young kid.
Does anyone know who else built strange & oddball early V-drives & outdrives?
Photos of these early "Inboard-Outboards" & V-drives would be fun for everyone to see also.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

:yes: How about Stern Power which i think at one time was Chrysler .:crossfing:

[smidgen too]

Here is a Eaton drive I had on a boat we had in the 60's. And the other pic is of the Dana drive that later became the Stern Power drive that I had on my early Clem Gem :boggled: :nilly: :boggled: offshore boats.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Here is a Eaton drive I had on a boat we had in the 60's. And the other pic is of the Dana drive that later became the Stern Power drive that I had on my early Clem Gem :boggled: :nilly: :boggled: offshore boats. To tell you the truth i have always like Stern Power drives .

[smidgen too]

To tell you the truth i have always like Stern Power drives .
Once they did away with the machanical shifting and went with a BW trans the were a good :yes: strong drive. I believe they are still available with many improvements.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

Once they did away with the machanical shifting and went with a BW trans the were a good :yes: strong drive. I believe they are still available with many improvements. I agree and over the years they have been making a drive similar to a # 6 but not a dry sump and very strong .:angel:

[smidgen too]

Here is a link that I posted back in 08 to pictures of the drive as they look today.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=54221&page=3

[gold-n-rod]

For those who haven't seen this yet, here's a great history of the sterndrive.

http://www.rbbi.com/folders/pat/isd.htm

[Walt. H.]

I remember Dad asking the owner about this boat's drive and the owner called it an "inboard-outboard "
The drive had an outside mechanical steering ram with a ball & socket pivot on the transom.
The drive also had a cast curved gear-rack for tilting up.
I have no idea who made this drive.
Excellent memory and what you've described in the above description was known as the OMC Stringer stern-drive, named because the drive assy was mounted solidly to the engine and rubber mounted to the boat's stringers. Hence given the name OMC Stringer, the drive was sealed thru a large square rubber transom flange boot that moved with the engine's forward and reverse torque movement and the early ones had electric shift.
The brochure doesn't show all the info and by the late 60's a 210 hp Buick nailhead V-8 was also available.

[blackboat]

Here is a link that I posted back in 08 to pictures of the drive as they look today.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=54221&page=3

Here is a pic of my boat with a sternpower drive which I rigged in 1991. I still use the same drive today. Tried, but cant seem to break it!

[Conquistador_del_mar]

To tell you the truth i have always like Stern Power drives .


Once they did away with the machanical shifting and went with a BW trans the were a good :yes: strong drive. I believe they are still available with many improvements.


Here is a pic of my boat with a sternpower drive which I rigged in 1991. I still use the same drive today. Tried, but cant seem to break it!

I have heard the same things about the Stern Powr drives - very tough. I will be selling a 28' Aero (knockoff of the Magnum 27 sport) with a BBC and Stern Powr drive with the Velvet Drive tranny as soon as I can get it out for some pictures. It needs a full restoration, but the drive still turns like it is OK. Tough looking boat, Blackboat! Is there a blower under that scoop? Bill

[blackboat]

Thanks Bill, No blower, actually I needed 6 inches additional clearance due to raised X dimension when I installed outdrive. I always liked the challenge of making a boat go fast without a blower. Motor is a BB chevy,
with 11:1 Arias pistons,Brodix aluminum heads,solid roller cam,Dart Intake w/ Wilson plenum spacer, MSD ignition,and a few other goodies.

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Thanks Bill, No blower, actually I needed 6 inches additional clearance due to raised X dimension when I installed outdrive. I always liked the challenge of making a boat go fast without a blower. Motor is a BB chevy,
with 11:1 Arias pistons,Brodix aluminum heads,solid roller cam,Dart Intake w/ Wilson plenum spacer, MSD ignition,and a few other goodies.

What HP is the engine making? What speeds are you reaching? Do the Stern Powr drives use conventional Merc hubbed props? What prop are you using? Inquiring minds - lol. Bill

[Dr. David Fleming]

Well, kinda, sora and maybe. ONe thing is for sure that Van Beck had an engine with drive developed in the early 1920's. Was made in Detroit and mostly iron and bronze if I remember the early ads. Was used in a few racing boats and some production. Drawback was that it was Heavy! I have never seen a picture or surviving example.

Concept was re-invented by Johnson when their outboard motor business took off in the late 1920's. They were the company "to deal with" in racing and engine development. The key to Johnson design superiourity was the success of aluminum (called Lynite) in engine parts. Johnson brothers were not formally educated in engineering but grew up around the railroad roundhouses of the turn of the century - father was roundhouse forman. The boys did foundry casting and machining from their youth. The first 10 cubic inch opposed two stroke was mounted on bicycles. Ford did them in with the Model T, so they put it on a boat. The first outboard to hydroplane was the little 10 cubic inch with a child at the tiller.

By the end of the decade they had just put all their money in a new and fabulious factory in Waukeegan, Ill. They hired professional engineering talent in 1927 and the 1929 engines were unlike anything ever seen in quality and power potential etc.

Sterndrive idea occured to someone in Johnson and prototypes were developed and a small production. Aluminum sterndrive was mounted on the transom, could steer right and left, but no adjustment for trim. Surviving examples of the Johnson Sterndrive are in the Shipyard Museum in Thousand Islands New York.

Great Depression stopped Johnson in their tracks and Evenrude bought the company for a dime. OMC was founded as basically a monopoly until Carl K came out with Mercury and by some miracle OMC could not put it under.

The rest is history.