Old Merc Cowlings...

[BILLY.B]

I'm looking for 2 1960-61 4cyl Merc cowlings. They were black with white stripes. If anyone knows were I might be able to find some please let me know. They must be in good shape as they are for my resto project. 1960 Supercat with two 65hp Merc's. This boat is in the process of being completely redone and the cowlings will be the final touch to make it look authentic. Thanks for any info.

[old rigger]

billy b,
a supercat? never heard of that one.
Have you ever heard of 'power cat' boats? they were in bellflower before movong to texas in 62 or somewhere around there.
i don't have a source for the cowlings but there's a cool couple of web sites that might be able to help you out, both dealing with power cats.
the first one is,
http://www.powercatboat.com/.
its mostly a site dedicated to the history of powercats, done by the son of the guy that owned them. they do have a want add page that you could post an add on, but the other site...
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PowerCatBoat/messages
is a dissucision site and i'm sure you could find what you need by posting over there. those guys are heavy duty outboard guys, a few of them anyway, and are really into the vintage stuff.
i'm not 100%, but i think a 60-1 merc cowling was all white, no black yet. there's tons of pics from those years on the first site. there's also some great pics of a 14 powercat with twin 80s, all white, from 1961 that ran just over 80 with that set up.
those things hauled ass for the times.
got some pics of your cat?

[HavasuDreamin']

One other place to try is scream and fly. They have a vintage section in their forums with lots of information.
Good Luck.

[Back To Havasu]

I raced Mercury outboards on Brendella hulls during that time, and the 4 cylinder cowling from 61-62 is indeed black with white stripes. However, the only four cylinders offered then were 44 cubic inch inline fours, in 35, 45, and 50 hp configurations. The 65 hp four cylinder Mercury debuted in 1962 when the Merc 1000 came out, and was essentially a Merc 1000 with two less cylinders. It was physically larger than the prior 4 cylinder offerings from Merc, and I don't think the cowlings were interchangeable. It sounds like you need 650 cowlings (65HP) from 1962-66 or so. You might want to check the fit before buying an older 4 cylinder cowling. Just a thought.

[old rigger]

back to havasu,
opps. I went back and looked at those old merc on that powercat and they are white and black.
Do you have any pics of your old brendella? I've seen several pictures of them from that time, 61-2, the wood ones, and they look almost exactly like my dads first flatbottm. His was called a 'catalina conquest' and built in the south bay. The guy that built them was a fireman and only built a dozen or so boats. My dads was an outboard too. There's a all wood Brendella in Huntington beach for sale, a v-drive, and that one looks the same as well. I was just wondering if there was a connection betwen the builders back then. Unfortuntly, my dad long forgot the builders name of his boat, only remembering the stories of them racing the boats in the catilina ski race's back then, hence the name. My dad ran a 75 Evinrude starflight or starfire, I can't remember which. Still my favorite boat. It went to my two uncles after my dad sold it and then I lost track of it. I wish I'd been smart enough to have kept it, if for nothing else, to use a patterns to build a new one. Of course I was only 15 or so when he sold it. I'm sure it was long ago used as a bonfire. Every now and then my brother in law, a cop, will run the numbers for me to see if it's popped up any where.
I'm trying to attach a pic of the powercat I was talking about above. Did you race against them back in the day?
http://www.powercatboat.com/7.jpg

[old rigger]

same boat on the gas..............http://www.powercatboat.com/7a.jpg

[BILLY.B]

old rigger, the Super Cat is almost a copy of the Power Cat. Mine is a 1960 16ft with a 2 step bottom. They were made in Azusa by a company called Viking Marine. I have had to put a new transom in it, and the trailer has been up dated to look nostalgic. The motors are 1963's 650's, but I thought the cowlings were interchangable so I was trying to put the same year cowlings on the engines to match the boat year. I'll have to investigate this alittle bit to see if I can do it. If not, I guess i'll just paint them to match. Thanks for your help.

[Back To Havasu]

Old Rigger...The Brendellas we raced were made by Alex Fragoso and his family in Lawndale California. They were fiberglass over wood. Irv Brendel was the retail dealer for the boats, and his place, "Sepulveda Boat Dock," was located in the San Fernando Valley. When the fiberglass boats started taking over in the early sixties, the Fragoso family made a few prototypes for Irv, and then decided not to continue. Irv went on to develop the Hondo Boats company with wife Peggy Ann.
We were part of the Brendella factory team that operated out of the Fragoso shop. We ran Western Outboard Association races once a month, and races at Pacific Lagoon in Long Beach once a month. We didn't run against the Powercats because most were twin engine and ran in the faster classes. Some of the top drivers at the time were Jack Ward, Jack Oxley, Danny Snead, Bob Kies. The top dog on the west coast was Chuck Mersereau, who lived in Norwalk. I bought a boat from him in 63 and we became friends. He was a top Mercury factory driver at the time and raced all over the world.
I have pictures of our race boat, but do not know how to operate the scanner I was just given just yet. As soon as I do, I'll post some pics. By the way our Brendella was 12 feet 2 inches down the middle, 212 pounds, flatbottom, powered by a modified Merc 45 hp engine. The largest engine in 1961 was the Merc 800, which one of our teammates with a 15 foot Brendella ran. Sorry for the long post, but I can get carried away remembering those terrific time. Still have the trophies, and the memories.

[Back To Havasu]

Old Rigger...to belatedly address your questions (sorry for the need for a second post), the powercat pictured seems to be the 15 foot model powered by twin Merc 800s. There were tons of boat builders in those times, and their boats tended to be very similar (I guess some things never change). Javlyn, Brendella, Arrowcraft, Regatta, Tweedcraft, Inferno, and Allen, to name just a few, all built fiberglass over wood small flatbottom outboards that looked similar. Over at the screamandfly website you can find in the Outboard Racing History section, many pictures of Powercats, and their website. Danny Ledger, the son of Powercat founder Ray Ledger, is very knowledgeable and posts quite often on that thread. On his website you will also find used Powercats for sale. Very cool stuff for an old guy like me.

[Rocket2003]

Try Posting over at www.screamandfly.com Or www.byuboyz.com Those are Outboard sites with a bunch of Ol' timers!