Bringing Back A Legend (Rascal)
 

Just put the old girl on her new trailer and started planning out the restoration. Would appreciate Rascal photo's. Older the better.

Here's a couple to get you going.

wow
 

i remember that boat from when i was a kid.
are you going to keep the sides scalloped?
post some bulkhead and stringer pics, like to see how they did it being it's aluminum

Whats with the Cigarette logos on the back?

Yes the scalloped sides are staying. This is a process called jewling or machining. Goes way back in time.

When this boat would race the nationals in the keys the owner was friends with the guys at Cigarette and they would help prep the boat at Cigarette and put the sticker on the boat.

You better get that picture disc out. I already have these. Quit sand bagging.

My absolute favorite Lake Erie raceboat.
Will dig out more photo's for you. Are you going to restore her back to the 3 man bolster,or just to running condition?
Good luck, and can't wait to see her out again!

Perfect question. Back to the three man bolster but the more I plan the more the canopy grows on me. Being that the boat will be retired from racing and more towards poker runs and experimenting with different power and drive systems I will probably keep with the plan.

love the oldschool look,cant wait to see it finished.

Love this boat.I was excited when it showed up to race in B Class at the 2001 Cleveland APBA Offshore event.With the bracket classes of OPA continuing to grow,any chance we will see "RASCAL" on the race course in the future?

You had to ask this didnt you? Wait a second, I have to see where the wife is. No good question. I still have the fire burning in me from racing in the eights and early nineties. This boat and its former owner has been an Icon in my life thirty some years. Frank started me in the marine industry thirty years ago as a way of making a living. Growing up up river from Frank I had a choice to look at the Rascal or turn and look the other way and hope I didnt catch the offshore fever but I did. This is a fever that stays with you and follows you to your grave and I am still here. In my plans for the boat I keep trying to keep the horse power low but they keep creeping up. To make a long story short Probably!

Good luck. Restoring old race boats is a fun passion.

That is Awesome to Here!! I will always remember that boat! I will have to dig some pics also

I got a copy of the Silver cup race on VHS from Eastlake. I believe they were running neck & neck with a Chris Cat (Lipship) if my memory is correct....

Thanks J-Bonz. Picks would be great. I wonder if that is on You tube? I will have to search it.

Yes indeed! lets get the pictures rolling! Blow off the dust, crank up the scanners and lets see what we have...

Here are a few more pics.
 

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Paging ANDY BLOOM! .... THE good old Silver cup!

Here's one I found from the Cleveland race. I think this was 93/94.... The after party was at Slam Jams in the flats... I think that was back when "Bad Frog" beer was out....

Thanks J-Bonz, The Rascal looks like it's ready to Rock the Rock Capital. I spent the day in the bilge with a pressure sparyer. That six year grease, dirt, oil and dead animals takes a little work to pry from aluminum but turned out good. That was the first time that I saw Simply Green Cleaner get stopped in it's tracks. The stringers dont have drains so I had to pressure spray and then use the shop vac to suck up the grease and water. Did this about ten times. For as long as this boat raced there are not many pictures being uncovered on this forum.

Get yourself a gallon of Royal Purple at Home Depot. Simple Green is good stuff but you are taking a knife to a gun fight.

-----I stopped using the purple stuff years ago when I used it one day on a car chassis and didnt use gloves. Make sure you use protection as it can really screw you up!!!......Bill S

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In the prosess of bringing the rascal back to the seventies and eighties look I had to remove the canopy. At this point I felt like I was on the show ( Orange County Choppers ). This process used a lot of specialty tools. Cut off wheel and the old sawszall. Thanks to Andy B. I have the original wind screen to install. Next is removing the particians and gas tanks that fill the cockpit where the three man bolsters will be constructed and the new dash panel will be welded in.

Very cool looking
 

This is so cool, Andy is the Man for the job to help. I raced the Boat in the 1985 Worlds at Trump Plaza, 3rd place. She also stuffed in a Cleveland race and knocked my ass out for 20 minutes. Cool old boat, nice to see people care about the good old boats.
Scott
Putt Putt P-18 days.

Scott, Nice to hear from you. The Putt Putt is one of my favorites. That boat had a little bit of the Chagrin River mud water on its hull. I met you a couple of times in the eighties. I grew up in Jimmy V's house on the Chagrin River across from R.O.
The boat is going to have a couple mods done to it but not to drastic. I mostly want to straighten everything out and get it looking good again. Walnut shelling the decks, Replacing Rivets on deck, Feathering everything out and spraying the decks and transom metallic silver and Silver three man bolster. Liked the black decks but a little to hot. Keeping the sides scalped and rerigging.
Keep checking back. I am moving along at a good pace. Ron may

Awesome Project! I remember that boat from my days watching as a kid. Love the fact you are bringing it back to the three man set up. Good luck!

`Thanks Tom A., If I didnt have a wife and raising to young boys I would have been temped to keep the canopy. A little less work. I am taking the three man bolster a step farther. The seat area you see behind where the driver will sit is going to be a one person back jump seat and or storage. This is to have a fold back hatch that will cover it when not in use.

AWESOME!!! Would love to see her in OPA as Mark said!

Thanks J.S., I am aiming that way. After racing offshore I made the mistake of racing ATV's national for fifteen years. That with being in the marine industry for twenty eight years in and out of the bilge the nee's are getting a little tender. Might have to go with sit down seats. Screw the nee's!

My advice would be to take it to poker runs and enjoy it. They are more family fun and that will get more looks than a brand new Skater or MTI.

Have fun with the redo, can't wait to see it finished.

Good advice. thanks Tom.

i think tom has the best advice,enjoy it take it to some poker runs with the family.

trailer
 

time to move it, load of stone coming next week

In the last month I have lightened the boat up about three hundred pounds. Cut off the canopy and removed the fuel tanks from the cockpit and detailed the inside of the hull. I patterned the dash panel and getting ready to weld it in. I should be done with the cockpit this month and then to refinish the main deck and transom metalic silver. Still up in the air with power configuration. It is between a single #6 with high horsepower sc or staggered bravo's with twin 500hp.

Going to the weigh station
 

Here are some more pictures. Taking the Rascal to get weighed. Any pictures would be appreciated.

What happened to the drives off the boat? Didn't it have #5's on it? I could be totally wrong but putting a single #6 or twin Bravos seems like a really bad idea on such a big boat....

I concur. Very cool project so far!

The boat was stripped and on it's way to the crusher before I bought it. The drives where close together like a staggered set up. Then it had chain boxes deverting out to the transmissions and engines. Being as the boat is retired from racing I dont need the heavy trash from the past. Rebuilt hundreads of five four three trs's and alpha's to put food on the table for 28 years. Now I just want to enjoy the true engineered route of the #6 or the cheap run and toss Bravo route. Have a couple 1 3/4 shafts on the shelf also. Research and numbers right now.

Beautiful boat. Where was she built? Is she one of a kind?