Ray, you need a pic of mandy from the transom if you can get one.
Your boat was the same shape as Mouse in the transom and that is diferent to mine.
Ross
Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
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Reklaw
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
From memory, Mandy had a large design on the deck. A skull & cross bones comes to mind but could have been something else. Decks can be changed or replaced of course.
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
Graeme Morley sent me some info about the Mandy skiffs:
For what it's worth there were 2 skiffs supplied to Hooper in a approx 12 months. The first is the one in the article mentioned and was extremely flighty , Don Preece flipped it and barrel rolled it a number of times in the first season and Hooper ordered another a little different in design.This hull was traded in on the second one and was sold to Glyn "Plugger" Graham who had it for a season but never fitted an engine, it was then purchased by John Dent and called "Diablo" and fitted with a 289 Ford. Dent also flipped it and then made a major change. The timber cav plate was cut off and a full width plate similar to an Everingham was fitted which tamed the hull and it ran very flat and fast.
The second hull was about 6" longer and had a typical small Lewis wooden cav plate fitted, as was the style of all wooden Lewis hulls.
Both hulls were black and white, the decks were painted with crossed flags same as Hoops earlier runabout. There was not clear timber finishes. The first hull had a small engraving on the deck at the bow which said " F..k SK's"
The second at one stage late in life was owned by Jim Broadley who had purchased it from Hooper when ill health forced him out of active racing.
For what it's worth there were 2 skiffs supplied to Hooper in a approx 12 months. The first is the one in the article mentioned and was extremely flighty , Don Preece flipped it and barrel rolled it a number of times in the first season and Hooper ordered another a little different in design.This hull was traded in on the second one and was sold to Glyn "Plugger" Graham who had it for a season but never fitted an engine, it was then purchased by John Dent and called "Diablo" and fitted with a 289 Ford. Dent also flipped it and then made a major change. The timber cav plate was cut off and a full width plate similar to an Everingham was fitted which tamed the hull and it ran very flat and fast.
The second hull was about 6" longer and had a typical small Lewis wooden cav plate fitted, as was the style of all wooden Lewis hulls.
Both hulls were black and white, the decks were painted with crossed flags same as Hoops earlier runabout. There was not clear timber finishes. The first hull had a small engraving on the deck at the bow which said " F..k SK's"
The second at one stage late in life was owned by Jim Broadley who had purchased it from Hooper when ill health forced him out of active racing.
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Reklaw
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
Thanks for clearing that up Greg.
I first got to know Mandy (the second as it turns out) when Broadley had it. Sometimes, when I'd go to Diablo Motors for a bit of a yarn with Jim, I'd peek under the cover and drool over the skiff hiding under there.
Jim then sold it to a guy that lived in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Heathcote I think.
I came across Mandy and the new owner at a race meeting at Kanahooka one day.
Can't remember the reason, but he wasn't up to driving it so I got to have a drive. Silly thing is, I buggered it for him. He'd used a bakelite electric light switch for the starter because the proper starter button was playing up. When he pushed me out and I went to start it, nothing happened. He called out to "wriggle the cut-out" which I did. She fired up, he'd wired the starter solenoid through the cut-out. Silly me forgot that I had to then turn the starter (electric light) switch off. I did one and a half laps before I realised what was going on. Starter motors don't like doing a zillion revs. Returned to the bank and he put it on the trailer and went home. That was the last I saw of Mandy.
John Green, AKA the Cake, was working for Broadley at the time Jim had Mandy. He knew the boat and the (then) new owner. I came across Cake at the World Titles last February and asked if he knew what had happened to Mandy. It was Cake who told me she'd been chopped & burnt.
From this, I would be surprised that Ray's boat is Mandy (2) but wouldn't it be great to find out that it was, that she'd survived.
Regarding Diablo, and I don't know if it's the same boat or not, Jim raced a skiff called Diablo and I believe he still has it. I heard recently that Jim and his wife were overseas somewhere. I'll contact him in due course to find out a bit more.
Bob
I first got to know Mandy (the second as it turns out) when Broadley had it. Sometimes, when I'd go to Diablo Motors for a bit of a yarn with Jim, I'd peek under the cover and drool over the skiff hiding under there.
Jim then sold it to a guy that lived in the southern suburbs of Sydney, Heathcote I think.
I came across Mandy and the new owner at a race meeting at Kanahooka one day.
Can't remember the reason, but he wasn't up to driving it so I got to have a drive. Silly thing is, I buggered it for him. He'd used a bakelite electric light switch for the starter because the proper starter button was playing up. When he pushed me out and I went to start it, nothing happened. He called out to "wriggle the cut-out" which I did. She fired up, he'd wired the starter solenoid through the cut-out. Silly me forgot that I had to then turn the starter (electric light) switch off. I did one and a half laps before I realised what was going on. Starter motors don't like doing a zillion revs. Returned to the bank and he put it on the trailer and went home. That was the last I saw of Mandy.
John Green, AKA the Cake, was working for Broadley at the time Jim had Mandy. He knew the boat and the (then) new owner. I came across Cake at the World Titles last February and asked if he knew what had happened to Mandy. It was Cake who told me she'd been chopped & burnt.
From this, I would be surprised that Ray's boat is Mandy (2) but wouldn't it be great to find out that it was, that she'd survived.
Regarding Diablo, and I don't know if it's the same boat or not, Jim raced a skiff called Diablo and I believe he still has it. I heard recently that Jim and his wife were overseas somewhere. I'll contact him in due course to find out a bit more.
Bob
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
Interesting reading, thanks for some history on these boats. The cav plate on the hull in my shed has been removed, i'm guessing by Brian before i bought it but i don't think it was a wooden one. I have removed some of the black paint and it is brick red underneath, which i'm guessing was the original Lewis colour. There is no deck so thats not helping with IDing it. I will try to get a few more piccies up after i turn it over, that might shed a bit more light on things.
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
hey ray, ive been told that your skiff was called woodee and raced from ballarat. I think its written on the transom somewhere aswell. when I removed the deck there was no sign of name or other info but it had been converted from a skiff to runabout years ago. the cav plate that was on the boat when I got it was a fabricated steel one so wasn't original. have you made a start on this one yet? bauchy
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
Hi Brian, long time no see (hear from). Havent started physical resto yet but am gathering bit and pieces and it's next cab off the rank so to speak. Do you have any other info regarding power plant etc. At this stage i'm putting together a Cusso y block for it. I did see Woodee on the transom but wasn't sure if that was original. How has life been treating you? Any new projects? I've been restoring a mini hydro just for a laugh but it's proving to be a right bitch to get sorted out. cheers Ray
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
hey ray, has been a while, to long!!!! sorry don't have any more info but a y block would be cool. the hydro sounds like fun and would you realy expect anything with boats to be easy?
lifes rolling on as it tends to do. I havn't been working on any of the boats lately but shortly I plan on doing some on the clinker. changing from rear mount and over transom pipes to mid mount with soft clutch into the v drive. ill stick a new deck on at the same time and get it all trimmed up nicely. hopefully it should make a nice cruiser and stop being told to take it home because of excessive noise
ive been working on my vk commodore lately. its getting a full bare metal rebuild, wheel tubs with some wide wheels, smoothed engine bay , full leather retrim inside and ive got a new 355 holden that's getting a big single turbo and methanol. hope to run mid 9's and do ok at some car shows. ill see you on the water again this summer tho
chat soon
lifes rolling on as it tends to do. I havn't been working on any of the boats lately but shortly I plan on doing some on the clinker. changing from rear mount and over transom pipes to mid mount with soft clutch into the v drive. ill stick a new deck on at the same time and get it all trimmed up nicely. hopefully it should make a nice cruiser and stop being told to take it home because of excessive noise
ive been working on my vk commodore lately. its getting a full bare metal rebuild, wheel tubs with some wide wheels, smoothed engine bay , full leather retrim inside and ive got a new 355 holden that's getting a big single turbo and methanol. hope to run mid 9's and do ok at some car shows. ill see you on the water again this summer tho
chat soon
Re: Mandy - from Australian Hot Rod Magazine 1967
This is a different boat than the article this must be the second one.
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