U3 with cowling

[ROCK RACING]

Hey guys - wondering if anyone has photos of the U3 when it ran with a cowling over the engine or even the year they did that. I beleive it was for only a race or two.

I've looked at a number of sites and old programs, but I'm comming up blank.

Thanks,

Kyle

 

[Dasboatman]

Hey Kyle,

There have been a lot of U-3 boats over the years. Can you be a bit more specific as to which you are looking for. You say U-3 - I'm thinking one of the Cooper's Piston Packers. Here are some choices. To the best of my knowledge, very few ran a cowl over Allison engines due to heat issues. CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Brandon White]

It would be the updated hull. From my small knowledge they ran it some but the engine got to hot so they ran it without the cowling.

 

[SayMikey]

It would be the updated hull. From my small knowledge they ran it some but the engine got to hot so they ran it without the cowling.

Nashville? Thats the only time I know of it running that way. We have asked Ed to run it again but he said HELL NO! Pretty sure this boat has a centered cockpit so if you are going to build it do it right.

 

[ROCK RACING]

yes it is the cooper boat - best guess is 2000 to 2007.

I love the all piston boats, but, my preference are those covered with cowlings regardless of year).

Thanks for all the feedback.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

If you like covered engines, you probably liked the 88-89 Miss Madison. It ran, off and on, with a cowl similar to the 87 Budweiser.

 

[Buddy Benedict]

Here are the picts I have of the boat as it ran in Nashville. This was the only time the boat ran with a cowling and I am pretty sure it wont run it again. The cowling was drug out of the rafters in Ed's shop this week to be fitted to the U-96 Spirit of Qatar. Apparently they didn't have another cowling with them and theirs was destroyed in Madison.

Buddy

 

[ROCK RACING]

Hey Buddy thanks for the photos. Do you recall what year that was. The sure was a nasty collision in Madison. Villwock is one lucky guy, like he said, I'm sure he got real small in that canopy.

 

[Buddy Benedict]

The Nashville race was the first weekend of May in 2008.

Drove by the U-3 shop this afternoon and both boats being repaired their were gone. So I am assuming they are in Detroit for the Gold cup.

Buddy

 

[Dasboatman]

Hey Buddy,

Thanks for attaching those photos Buddy - first time I had seen the MHR 0203 with the cowl on. Did the boat race with the cowl on??

http://h1unlimited.com site will have streaming video today and tomorrow of the Gold Cup. CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Buddy Benedict]

Bob, I believe they only ran one heat with the cowling on. There wasn't enough air flow around the motor and it was overheating and loosing power. After the Nashville race I saw the cowling stuffed up into the rafters(storage area)in the shop. Ed's shop is impressive. The storage area in the rear part of the building has a wall of Allison v12s stacked on industrial shelves three high and six or seven wide. Last time I was there, he had 15 to 20 motors weighting to be rebuilt and tons of parts sitting on the shelf.

Buddy

 

[Larry K]

Nice job coming up with the Nashville shots! I was surprised to see them. A handful of us from the Tri-Cities Fun Group went down to the pits a few years ago to try to get the Coopers to run the boat with the cowling on. I think it may have been the '97 hull & they had the cowl installed with the boat on the trailer but didn't run it that way. At the time, as I recall, the UNW rule book stated "a picture of the boat on the water" was enough to satisfy all concerned. Ed said they weren't going to run it that way. Then we tried to bribe him with $100 to just set the boat in the water with it on. He declined. We were OK with that - what the heck, it's his boat after all & at least we had a chuckle & a good story to tell!

 

[Dasboatman]

"Bob, I believe they only ran one heat with the cowling on. There wasn't enough air flow around the motor and it was overheating and loosing power."

Thanks Buddy. Like Larry, I was very surprised to see the cowl on at all. Nice to hear that "Bribery" is still in the arsenal - Har, Har !!!

I enjoyed the streaming video of the Gold Cup yesterday and will be there in another couple of hours.Heat 3A starts at 10:30 EDT, I believe there is a interview section that starts at 10:00 EDT. Excellent coverage.

The narrator, Steve Montgomery, stated that there will be coverage on the Versus Channel in October for each of the races - a one hour program narrated by Bill Weber. No specific schedule was available yet, but the indication was that it would be televised in prime time. Great !!! The last TV coverage I have was from 2006. CHEERS !!! Bob

 

[Joe Wiebelhaus]

It tested back in 2005 while in Detroit the cowl, see the angle of the air scoop, noticeable in this past weekends Gold Cup on the Qutar 96'

 

[ROCK RACING]

Thanks Joe - that is exactly what I was looking for.

Looking forward to the Tri-Cities.

 

[Buddy Benedict]

If I were you, I would check with your Scale Director and see if the Chrysler Jeep is a legal paint job. If it only tested and not qualified with the cowl on then it may not be legal to race it that way.

Buddy

 

[ROCK RACING]

Will do Buddy -

Thanks for the input.