ORIGINAL: ob nut
Not a chance on sending any of my GMM pipes out. One thing about Lee, he never made two pipes the same. Collection stands at five 3.5cc, four 7.5cc, two 11cc, one 13cc (all outboard) and one 7.5 IB pipe..
I talked with Lee after he had an article published back in 91 or 92. Bought all the "right stuff" from him at the time (pipe, XXL and a titanium conrod). Made all the alterations to the ports / case he gave me.. Still have the sheet of instructions in my collections somewhere. After making those changes, it took awhile to find a boat that could handle the power. My Dumas Hot Shot Sprint (wood) was at 6.5lbs and would still blow over. First motor I heard double stage.. Love those pipes!
As for the XXL.. two each for 3.5 and 7.5... Love em' so much, I had someone create a version for my 11cc and 13cc motors.. Have yet to try those out.. Maybe this year.
Hey ob nut!
I actually bought the Gardner XXL and the Garcia pipe together from Lee when a bunch of us went to NAMBA nats in Bristol, PA in 1993...so the dates you gave are right about on. He was a great guy to talk to and even gave me a few parts out of his stash! His daughter was racing that weekend too and she was his pit girl. They had a bunch of boats that they brought with them from California, all outboards (mostly riggers) and a few outboard CalCraft monos that his dauter liked to race. One of his very fast outriggers stalled during a race and was literally cut in half (yes the cables too!) and...you guessed it...his highly modified OB went to the bottom of the lake!!! He was just sick about that! He said that the guy that hit him apologized about it, but I knew he was upset about it none the less. Also, that was the same weekend I met Remy from Aeromarine Laminates. We saw the Aeromarine banner hanging from their table, so we went up, started talking and found out that the warehouse that they were in (in N.Y.) had caught on fire earlier that year destroying most of the boat moulds and that they had just moved to Seaford, Delaware! I told them that I live in Delaware and would be thrilled to visit the new shop. I now have a few Aeromarine boats which I love (great gel coat finishes!).
Sorry that this is off topic...just wanted to blab a little to someone who appreciates the somewhat earlier outboard days...
-Kent