I had a conversation with Aeromarine today and this is what I was told. No reson was given.
Honestly why am I not real surprised to hear this. If OPS had gotten on board years ago and altered their engine mounting to match what others were using I'd bet you'd have seen more of them out there. Heck the prices were good & I've seen some fast OPS motors but that bastard bolt pattern which meant changing everything to even try them was the Achille's heel. :huh:Aeromarine is no longer a dist. of OPS Pipes and engines,
OPS stuff was never really outdated, at least as far as what they produced anyway. Other than the 67/80 drum rotor set up they got from Aeromarine the motors remained virtually unchanged for many years. :blink:
The picco EXR drum front hsg`s & drum would fit into the OPS 80. It just took a little machining for the drum & crank clearence. Ops & Picco engines were very much alike....... High Priced Nitro Enignes & a lack of Mfgers is hurting Nitro classes today. Many of the weekend boaters are gone due to the High Prices.... How Much is TOO MUCH for a Nitro Engine? I believe the Point is being pushed right Now......
Long live the PICCO !!!!
Unfortunately this type of thing happens all the time in many countries including the U.S. As long as tooling, machinery, stamps, dies, whatever is usable big brother, otherwise known as the government, considers it to have value & yes you will pay taxes on it. I have heard from three different sources, two in Europe, that Picco had destroyed the tooling a couple years ago to avoid these taxes. This is also why I get a good laugh every February when someone posts pics of the "new" Picco motors on display at the Nurnberg Toy Fair thinking that Picco is gonna make marine motors again. It's all window dressing to fill up the glass display cases and I'm sure this coming February it will happen again. I'll be the first to admit I'd love to see Picco marine engines again if anything just to give us another option but I really don't see that happening ................
You are right, the car engines is where the money is. I have not herd anything about the tooling. As Mr. Picco is still making 10cc tether car engines, which uses the same casting as the 67 marine engine. J. ODonnell
Well we do have to pay personal property tax on Business tools required to do business & inventory in the us. I would have to think the taxes on castings would be minor compared to the expense they were to have them made. Picco had a great thing going with the marine product line It was the days of the afforadable engines. If they were built today I do not know that they would not be right there with the CMB prices. Its all what the market will yield. Some of the same 2001 PICCO 45 engines that sold for $235 in 2001 will fetch $500 plus today. I`am glad I have a few extra Picco`s....
Joe; You are right about the price of the engines. Last year(2006) a 10cc Picco delivered in the USA was 504 euro at todays rate that would be $746.00 dollar. Are we getting scr---- or what ? J.ODonnellWell we do have to pay personal property tax on Business tools required to do business & inventory in the us. I would have to think the taxes on castings would be minor compared to the expense they were to have them made. Picco had a great thing going with the marine product line It was the days of the afforadable engines. If they were built today I do not know that they would not be right there with the CMB prices. Its all what the market will yield. Some of the same 2001 PICCO 45 engines that sold for $235 in 2001 will fetch $500 plus today. I`am glad I have a few extra Picco`s....
All the more reason that it is (was?) a shame that the OPS motors mount different from everyone else. The current OPS drum rotor .67 motor sells for $359 & the .80 drum motor for $369 and I'll be the first to say I've seen some of these motors run really well. Could it have been all that **** difficult to alter the casting on just the mounting ears & make the pattern the same as a CMB/MAC/Picco?? I know there probably would have been a good number of people, including myself, who would have bought some .67's & .80's and worked with them if this were the case but that #@&%$^# goofy bolt pattern stopped that idea dead in it's tracks.
When Tower quit selling OPS I quit running them, They were cheap back then too... I blew the rod out of many OPS 80`s, Frank orlic modiified some OPS 80`s that would scream.......All the more reason that it is (was?) a shame that the OPS motors mount different from everyone else. The current OPS drum rotor .67 motor sells for $359 & the .80 drum motor for $369 and I'll be the first to say I've seen some of these motors run really well. Could it have been all that **** difficult to alter the casting on just the mounting ears & make the pattern the same as a CMB/MAC/Picco?? I know there probably would have been a good number of people, including myself, who would have bought some .67's & .80's and worked with them if this were the case but that #@&%$^# goofy bolt pattern stopped that idea dead in it's tracks.
