Hot Singles ! - Pictures

[jackie wilson]

Veldon. Molinari and a Seebold-really was a mixed bag back in the day. Must have been Spalding in the Molly

[baldad45]

Willabee, will you tell us what was different about the NED powerhead ?

[GENE LANHAM]

Original members of the NED Team---anyone know who they are??

[seeroy]

Original members of the NED Team---anyone know who they are??

I doubt if it is...But on right looks like Ralph Seavy

[T2x]

I doubt if it is...But on right looks like Ralph Seavy

and some movie star(now retired in Ohio) looking directly at the camera in front.....

[willabee]

and some movie star(now retired in Ohio) looking directly at the camera in front.....

Yes, that is Ralph Seavy on the right. Tell you one other thing.....As good as that guy to the left of Seavy looks in that picture, he looks even better with a 'stash'.

[willabee]

Willabee, will you tell us what was different about the NED powerhead ?

I won't remember everything, but I do recall the first one was a Twister I, think in 71. I was just trying to find out if we could build something that performed better than the TI's we were currently building. I had no idea when they might get serious about the C6, so I thought if we could build something that improved our performance and could be easily duplicated during the interim, it would be helpful. I think both Dave Beier & Bill Allan were involved in building this powerhead.

We used an aluminum flywheel, two ring pistons and thinner reeds. I had managed to hoard a set of big tillotson carbs from some test I was involved in with Jim Meininger from Tillotson. We used them and ground the crankcase cover to match. Everything was polished. I believe we also ground the components of the exhaust log to get everything to match as well. Not sure, but believe we were able to run a much bigger jet and advanced spark.

At that time, Gary Peacock was a newer member of the Race team and had been supplied with an older marathon Molinari. He knew that the newer, faster equipment would be given to the more established guys like Hering & Stickle, so he wanted to "UP" his standing on the Team as quickly as possible. I told him about NED before a race in Dayton and explained that I had know idea of how long it might stay together. Gary opted to run it, thinking that it might help him put on a better show while it did last. Bill Sirois won that race with the only C6 entered and I think Gary finished second.

Dick Snyder, an engineer in charge of propeller development, was at this race. Turns out that he recorded the lap times of all the factory entries. He put them on a graph and presented the graph to Charles Alexander, VP of Engineering, and all of the other engineers and people in attendance at the Dayton engine inspection after the race in the Race Team engine shop. The graph showed that Sirois and the C6 had been the class of the field. However, what some people wanted to know was how Peacock, in the older Molinari, managed to run much better times than the rest of the TI powered Team!

[jackie wilson]

He only shaved it off because i said he looked like Don Ameche.

[GalaxyTunnel70]

Some people think that Mercury had the rights to the "Scat Craft", as they did to the Switzer Wing. In reality the Scat Craft tunnel hulls were predominantly Chrysler powered U & S class boats.

Bobby Soles was one of the preeminant Scat Craft drivers for Chrysler. Sometimes the Chrysler engines themselves, and also the Chrysler Factory let us down in our attempts to be record holders.

I know this because I was there in 1969 & 1970, and have the original "PROP JOB" Scat Craft tunnel boat hulls in my basement in Atlanta.

I know Jeff Titus and his wife Sally, and hold them dear to my heart for their contributions to the sport of boat racing. They have done more for this sport then most other players without benefiting personally for their efforts, but the Chysler team of the late '60's and early '70's deserve credit for the effort and ingenuity they invested in the "Scat Craft" design.

I would be interested to hear from anyone else who thinks they have the original hull from that Chrysler record setting time period in their possession.

If I could wish for an outcome for the "Scat Craft" legacy, I would wish that someone would want to use the design for an entry level class, like "SST45" to let young people enter the sport like I did in the late 60's.

[Mark75H]

Some people think that Mercury had the rights to the "Scat Craft", as they did to the Switzer Wing.

Never heard that before; the only boats I thought they showed interest in at that time were Jones and Molinari

I do recall seeing pictures of a number of Scat/Chrysler rigs

[T2x]

Never heard that before; the only boats I thought they showed interest in at that time were Jones and Molinari

I do recall seeing pictures of a number of Scat/Chrysler rigs

Never heard that either....... I think the only Scat Craft/Chrysler interest was in the Florida/Georgia area.

Mercury was into Switzer, Molinari, Miles, McCall, and Jones as well as some in house stuff like the Twister Craft. Once the sport went into tunnels, anything made in fibreglass was considered one rung lower than the custom wood stuff.

[Old fiberglass]

Some people think that Mercury had the rights to the "Scat Craft", as they did to the Switzer Wing. In reality the Scat Craft tunnel hulls were predominantly Chrysler powered U & S class boats.

Bobby Soles was one of the preeminant Scat Craft drivers for Chrysler. Sometimes the Chrysler engines themselves, and also the Chrysler Factory let us down in our attempts to be record holders.

I know this because I was there in 1969 & 1970, and have the original "PROP JOB" Scat Craft tunnel boat hulls in my basement in Atlanta.

I know Jeff Titus and his wife Sally, and hold them dear to my heart for their contributions to the sport of boat racing. They have done more for this sport then most other players without benefiting personally for their efforts, but the Chysler team of the late '60's and early '70's deserve credit for the effort and ingenuity they invested in the "Scat Craft" design.

I would be interested to hear from anyone else who thinks they have the original hull from that Chrysler record setting time period in their possession.

If I could wish for an outcome for the "Scat Craft" legacy, I would wish that someone would want to use the design for an entry level class, like "SST45" to let young people enter the sport like I did in the late 60's.

Do you have a picture of a Scat Craft ??

[willabee]

Do you have a picture of a Scat Craft ??

Check out page 3, post 40 & page 12, post 170 of this thread for pictures.....both powered by Merc

[Ronster43]

The thread titled "Vintage OPC in S Fla" has several Scat Craft pictures. I don't recall in which thread it was, but I related a story Jeff Titus told me...

Bobby Soles was running his 16' catamaran with Chryslers in Florida with success. Soles was gonna stop racing and fish. Bill Critchfield traded him a fishing boat for the hull and rights to build them. 1968?? The sponsons were true catamarans with no pads. Bill cut the sponson bottoms down and laid 2x4's in them for running pads and pulled a mold. The boat came alive. He sold them rigged for $600. To my knowledge, the Scat Craft name was Critchfield's. He used it on several models...as well as the names Sabre and Critchfield. The "picle forks" were great until power trim appeared on tunnels.

I guess its all just lore at this point!

[GalaxyTunnel70]

The 2x4 story is true. That was the original "Prop Job" that I have here in Atlanta. The original had a plywood center with a angled flat front. The pictures referenced had rounded cowls. I eventually converted "Prop Job" to a rounded cowl.
After nose-diving a couple of times as the Chrysler BP105 cut-out, it went on the trailer, eventaully I removed the wing, and the 2 hulls were shipped to Atlanta in 1981.
I will have some race-trim pictures shortly. Got to dig them out and digitize them.
I do take exception to the demise due to the advent of power trim. The main cause for demise was actually the lack of power trim. If you did not know how to corner the boat by moving your body weight around in the cockpit, the boat would literally cartwheel in the corner. Many drivers learned that lesson the hard way.