The Story of "My Recent Discovery"!!
In 2013, I purchased a 75' Sno Twister 440 chassis from Bill Wolf in Tilton, NH. Although the seller's photos showed a neglected piece of history....I could see potential in a "unique restoration". After making some phone calls, my research revealed that this was one of many highly competitive Merc Race Sleds from the 1980's . Bill Wolf had purchased this Twister from David Lefebvre, owner of the Starting Line Speed & Custom Shop (Established in 1981) in Waterville, Maine. Although in it's present form, this sled seemed to have undergone a few changes since it had passed through the hands of it's original owner and David Lefebvre. The hood definitely had retained its original custom hand painted appeal. More research revealed the original owner was Jim Marston from Oakland Maine. Jim had been a successful local drag racer who had built this sled as a "force to reckon with" in its class. During a lengthy phone call with Jim, he shared with me the set up and many of the specific parts that were needed to bring this sled back to race form. Items mentioned were; a liquid seat, aluminum gas tank, custom handlebars, reverse cam secondary, 76' trail twister suspension re-worked 440 liquid pipes and a 340 free air engine, sleeved cylinders, liquid pistons and other specifics. Jim had the hood custom painted by a now deceased local artist who had also painted for David Lefebvre at the Starting Line Shop. Jim recalled that the sled's last race was on China Lake (China, Maine) in the 80's and that it had been undefeated in its class. During that time, Jim had purchased parts from "Team Frustration" and decided to have the hood custom painted similar to one he had seen in an early "Team Frustration" picture "with some added features".
Months have now passed and the hood has been been carefully and painstakingly cleaned and waxed. It is hardly recognizable from the neglected earlier photos!! (See a "before cleaning" hood photo below)
More restoration photos coming soon!!
For more pictures of Jim Marston's Twisters go to: Vintage Mercury snowmobiles http://www.mercurysnowmobiles.com/
Tory
Months have now passed and the hood has been been carefully and painstakingly cleaned and waxed. It is hardly recognizable from the neglected earlier photos!! (See a "before cleaning" hood photo below)
More restoration photos coming soon!!
For more pictures of Jim Marston's Twisters go to: Vintage Mercury snowmobiles http://www.mercurysnowmobiles.com/
Tory
"Before Photo" of My Recent Discovery! Tory
Team Frustration Information that I have uncovered....
"Team Frustration was favored by the factories, so they got great deals on all the hottest, latest, greatest stuff. In 76 they had Twisters (75 an 74 also I think?) and then in 77 they got Cat Z's, in 78 the RXL's. Steve Thorsen even raced his 73 Starfire with them that year."
Courtesy of 'Resto1' VintageSleds.com
"The MS-3 hood above (below) must have been made by Bob Kloiber. Below are photos of Rich Stuntebeck on the 440 with his original MS-3 hood. The next photo is a close up of the hood sitting on the sled in my shop. I have many original photos from Jerry Simison, Steve Thorsen and Rich Stuntebeck, including the original print of the Stuntebeck 76 Twister in turn 3 at Eagle River.
Rich told me he had the opportunity to buy the sled at the end of the season. It was in such poor condition, he declined. He figured it went to a scrap yard. It was pretty much beyond fixing at the end of the year. 76 was the year Rich won the points championship.
Larry may be able to pull up my article from the archives. Its got a few very good original photos from Team Frustration." As a follow up, as seen in Resto1's photo "below" in this thread, the majority of the Team Frustration Merc Skis were painted black. Some of the sleds had the unpainted skis on them, but most all original photos you'll see of them on the track have black skis. There are some photos of the sleds with unpainted skis, but not many.
"A very young Steve Thorsen on the 74 Twister in the middle, and Dean Schwarzwalder on the 73 Starfire on the right." Below in BW"If someone told me I could go back in time and have one brand new sled, still in the crate, from 76, I would pick the Sno Twister. I love the look of the Z and the RV's, but its all about the styling of the Twister to me. It has the "look" of a real performance sled. For someone that is truly a muscle sled fanatic, the 76 Twister is the pinnacle of styling and performance. When I think of 76, I think Merc. When I think of the old races and photos from back then, I picture Team Frustration Mercs lined up near the transport truck, they just do it for me and that history is all a big part of what makes us fanatical. "
'Courtesy of 'Clackinator' VintageSleds.com
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Click on any photo to enlarge
My "Team Frustration" Hood after a good cleaning!
Team Frustration
I recently had the pleasure and honor to meet Rich Stuntebeck, Steve Thorsen, Dean Schwartzwalter, and Jim Dimmerman. They were all kind enough to autograph some vintage memorabilia that is being gathered for sale to benefit Make-A-Wish. To a vintage sled fanatic these names are synonymous with racing. While talking to Steve Thorsen, he suggested that I should look up the founder of the team, Jerry Simison. As it turns out Jerry only lives about 45 minutes from my home, near Detroit Lakes Minnesota. As luck would have it Jerry was home when I called and invited me to stop over and talk sleds. My wife, daughter and I drove over on a Saturday afternoon and I was in for quite a history lesson.
Jerry began his racing career back in the late 1950s. At the age of 17, He started his racing career and won his first powerboat championship in 1965 in a class D runabout. Jerry won an unbelievable 33 national and world championships during his career. He set a world record aboard “Frustration 3” in Alexander Louisiana. His famous hull number G 86 boat went 89.55 mph. He is enshrined in the Gulf Marine Hall of Fame, is a member of Yathcing magazines All American Racing Team and is a Member of the American powerboat Association Hall of Champions. Needless to say Jerry is a legend on the water. Perhaps one of Jerry's biggest thrills and accomplishments in racing came from the fact that he was able to professionally race offshore boats for Roger Penske. This was the only boat racing team that Penske ever had.
How about on the snow? Jerry tried his hand at snowmobile racing in the early 1970s. He had moderate success but found his true talent was with mechanical tuning and engine building. His vision for organizing a race team began to fall into place in 1973. By 1975, the team was recognizable on their fleet of Mercury Sno Twisters. The team frustration early years in snowmobile racing were a collaborative effort between Jerry and the race enthusiast partner Phil Doc Wagner. Jerry and Phil were both excellent judges of young talent. Most of the time the individual drivers would do their own clutching to suit their style. Jerry would build the engines. It is no secret that Jerry was one of the best engine builders in the game, he credits his mechanical ability to a man named Walt Blankenstein. Walt was instrumental in teaching Jerry the art of building and fine-tuning engines. In the boats they're engine of choice was a Konig.
Walt was Jerry’s private mechanic and he was a master at squeezing the power from the Konig marine engines. Jerrys legendary snowmobile engine building was not limited to the Mercury engines. He built Polaris TX L engines, Arctic cat engines and many other brands. The basic principles of trying to perfect tolerances, balancing rotating assemblies and maximizing air fuel mixtures through the use of innovative port work were all weapons in his arsenal. Most Mercury snowmobile fans know of the tipster sheets that Mercury sent out to racers to help them modify their machines and win. Much of the data was born from the ingenuity, research, and application of Jerry Simison through Team Frustration.
Jerry operated with a philosophy of competing in big races. He wanted to be a small fish in a big pond. He knew the team could go to any number of small races held throughout the Midwest and win but he wanted to win the big races. He spent the vast majority of his time in testing and tuning the machines to make sure they were competitive with the major factory teams. It was a true team effort in every sense of the phrase.
Truman Thorsen, Steve's father, drove the truck and help with logistics. Besides Jerry they had other mechanics who assisted the team as well. The Stocks from Fergus Falls were excellent mechanics and contributed to the team in a variety of different ways. Todd Elmer's dad Don also took turns driving the truck for the team. The elders were from Evansville Minnesota and the family operated a bowling alley in that town. A notable addition to the race truck traveled with the team at all times. It was the team frustration egg it was meant to be good luck to the team they painted up a rock and brought it along to the races. the egg. The egg is in the snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin.
The names of the drivers that were associated with Team Frustration over the years are like a Who's Who in snowmobile racing history. There were three world championships won by drivers who were associated with Team Frustration during their careers. Steve Thorsen won back to back in 1977 and 78 aboard Polaris RXL machines and Jim Dimmerman N64 on the “Phantom:. Rick Stuntebeck won the seasons point championship and 76 aboard his Twisters and Dean Schwarzwalter was a multiple winner at many events as well. Bruce and Jean Lindholm. Jeff Westerberg, Rob Holland, Tim Benedict, Frans Rosenquist, Tim McPherson, Dennis Schultz, Rick Bartlett and Jeff Anderson were also players in Team Frustration and all had varying degrees of success in snowmobile and motocross racing. Not commonly associated with Team Frustration was Polaris cross-country racer Archie Simonson. Archie raced dirt bikes in the off-season with TF crew to keep in shape and stay sharp Archie won the big I 500 Winnipeg race in 1977 and his Polaris TXL is on display in the snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin. Also Jerry has moved on to a new phase of his life, he keeps himself in good physical condition with a large gym in the lower level of his home. His workout machines are surrounded by walls completely covered with trophies and memorabilia from a race career that spanned four decades. These days his specialty is in creating long-range target quality competition rifles. There is a waiting list for these pieces as eager competition shooters from around the world covet them for their accuracy in match competitions. His workshop is full of the most up-to-date computer-assisted machinery for rifle barrel and action production. It is all in perfect odor, clean, organized and prepared for success just like team frustration was back in the glory days of snowmobile racing.
Jerry and his wife Kathy live in the country near Detroit lakes and also enjoy a Lakefront cabin in the Detroit Lakes area. Their son Todd operates a dock and lift business along Highway 10 with a recreational salvage business near Detroit lakes as well
Thanks to Justin Clark and Vintage Snowmobile Magazine
I recently had the pleasure and honor to meet Rich Stuntebeck, Steve Thorsen, Dean Schwartzwalter, and Jim Dimmerman. They were all kind enough to autograph some vintage memorabilia that is being gathered for sale to benefit Make-A-Wish. To a vintage sled fanatic these names are synonymous with racing. While talking to Steve Thorsen, he suggested that I should look up the founder of the team, Jerry Simison. As it turns out Jerry only lives about 45 minutes from my home, near Detroit Lakes Minnesota. As luck would have it Jerry was home when I called and invited me to stop over and talk sleds. My wife, daughter and I drove over on a Saturday afternoon and I was in for quite a history lesson.
Jerry began his racing career back in the late 1950s. At the age of 17, He started his racing career and won his first powerboat championship in 1965 in a class D runabout. Jerry won an unbelievable 33 national and world championships during his career. He set a world record aboard “Frustration 3” in Alexander Louisiana. His famous hull number G 86 boat went 89.55 mph. He is enshrined in the Gulf Marine Hall of Fame, is a member of Yathcing magazines All American Racing Team and is a Member of the American powerboat Association Hall of Champions. Needless to say Jerry is a legend on the water. Perhaps one of Jerry's biggest thrills and accomplishments in racing came from the fact that he was able to professionally race offshore boats for Roger Penske. This was the only boat racing team that Penske ever had.
How about on the snow? Jerry tried his hand at snowmobile racing in the early 1970s. He had moderate success but found his true talent was with mechanical tuning and engine building. His vision for organizing a race team began to fall into place in 1973. By 1975, the team was recognizable on their fleet of Mercury Sno Twisters. The team frustration early years in snowmobile racing were a collaborative effort between Jerry and the race enthusiast partner Phil Doc Wagner. Jerry and Phil were both excellent judges of young talent. Most of the time the individual drivers would do their own clutching to suit their style. Jerry would build the engines. It is no secret that Jerry was one of the best engine builders in the game, he credits his mechanical ability to a man named Walt Blankenstein. Walt was instrumental in teaching Jerry the art of building and fine-tuning engines. In the boats they're engine of choice was a Konig.
Walt was Jerry’s private mechanic and he was a master at squeezing the power from the Konig marine engines. Jerrys legendary snowmobile engine building was not limited to the Mercury engines. He built Polaris TX L engines, Arctic cat engines and many other brands. The basic principles of trying to perfect tolerances, balancing rotating assemblies and maximizing air fuel mixtures through the use of innovative port work were all weapons in his arsenal. Most Mercury snowmobile fans know of the tipster sheets that Mercury sent out to racers to help them modify their machines and win. Much of the data was born from the ingenuity, research, and application of Jerry Simison through Team Frustration.
Jerry operated with a philosophy of competing in big races. He wanted to be a small fish in a big pond. He knew the team could go to any number of small races held throughout the Midwest and win but he wanted to win the big races. He spent the vast majority of his time in testing and tuning the machines to make sure they were competitive with the major factory teams. It was a true team effort in every sense of the phrase.
Truman Thorsen, Steve's father, drove the truck and help with logistics. Besides Jerry they had other mechanics who assisted the team as well. The Stocks from Fergus Falls were excellent mechanics and contributed to the team in a variety of different ways. Todd Elmer's dad Don also took turns driving the truck for the team. The elders were from Evansville Minnesota and the family operated a bowling alley in that town. A notable addition to the race truck traveled with the team at all times. It was the team frustration egg it was meant to be good luck to the team they painted up a rock and brought it along to the races. the egg. The egg is in the snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin.
The names of the drivers that were associated with Team Frustration over the years are like a Who's Who in snowmobile racing history. There were three world championships won by drivers who were associated with Team Frustration during their careers. Steve Thorsen won back to back in 1977 and 78 aboard Polaris RXL machines and Jim Dimmerman N64 on the “Phantom:. Rick Stuntebeck won the seasons point championship and 76 aboard his Twisters and Dean Schwarzwalter was a multiple winner at many events as well. Bruce and Jean Lindholm. Jeff Westerberg, Rob Holland, Tim Benedict, Frans Rosenquist, Tim McPherson, Dennis Schultz, Rick Bartlett and Jeff Anderson were also players in Team Frustration and all had varying degrees of success in snowmobile and motocross racing. Not commonly associated with Team Frustration was Polaris cross-country racer Archie Simonson. Archie raced dirt bikes in the off-season with TF crew to keep in shape and stay sharp Archie won the big I 500 Winnipeg race in 1977 and his Polaris TXL is on display in the snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin. Also Jerry has moved on to a new phase of his life, he keeps himself in good physical condition with a large gym in the lower level of his home. His workout machines are surrounded by walls completely covered with trophies and memorabilia from a race career that spanned four decades. These days his specialty is in creating long-range target quality competition rifles. There is a waiting list for these pieces as eager competition shooters from around the world covet them for their accuracy in match competitions. His workshop is full of the most up-to-date computer-assisted machinery for rifle barrel and action production. It is all in perfect odor, clean, organized and prepared for success just like team frustration was back in the glory days of snowmobile racing.
Jerry and his wife Kathy live in the country near Detroit lakes and also enjoy a Lakefront cabin in the Detroit Lakes area. Their son Todd operates a dock and lift business along Highway 10 with a recreational salvage business near Detroit lakes as well
Thanks to Justin Clark and Vintage Snowmobile Magazine
