1955 Neal

[David_L6]

Here's something you don't see everyday. In fact, I've never seen one. I've heard of Neal boats, but this isn't what I had in mind. What is this thing? With the step in the bottom and "only" one cockpit - i.e. not a "utility" - I'd guess that it was raced as a hydroplane.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1955-Vintage-9-Mahogany-Hydroplane_W0QQitemZ220022791162QQihZ012QQcategory Z63685QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting

[Skoontz]

Honestly, it looks like a Popular Science Magazine kit boat that was either available in a step form, or shovel nose. My neighbor built a step bottom, painted it yellow and black, then hung a 10HP Johnson on the back and had fun for many summers.

[kampenracing]

I believe they were built in somewhere in Missouri. About 6-7 tears ago Joe Schultz brought one to Alex with and old C-Service engine and ran it around a couple of laps before sticking the engine.

[Jeff Lytle]

What you see here is the early form of hydroplane before the 3 point came along. Even after the 3 pointers became the hydro we know now, one would often see teams carry their step hydros with them cause' they were better in rough water.

[jrome]

Look At June 1953 Boat Sport Page 16.you Will Mr Neal in One Of His Boats.

[Mark75H]

To add to what Jeff said, for a few years after 3 pointers came along this original single step type hydro was called a "conventional" hydro by the old alky racers. Jacoby and many others made them much the same as this Neal.

This was the standard hydroplane design from the very late 1930's until the early 1950's. 1954 was the first year of the Mk20H, so there is a bit of a mismatch between the boat and motor ... but they would have probably been legal together, if not truely competitive. An old conventional single step hydro like that would be more appropriate with an older Johnson KR-50 like a hundred or more of it's sisters had hanging on their transoms.

[Tomtall]

David - That boat is extreamly rare nowadays. I had a "Neal" 3 point when I was a teenager. I kick myself for selling it. You know at the time I really didn't relize what I had. This conventional is somthing that needs restoring and put on the Vintage show tour. John Shubert has a "Neal" I believe (pictured below) that he restored to better than new condition. Maybe he'll chime in and give you some background on this rare bird you have. He also knows how to replace those pesky canvase decks with great looking results.:cool:

[David_L6]

Tom,

That's not my boat. I just stumbled upon the eBay listing this morning. I don't doubt that it's rare. I knew about the inboard step "hydros", but I didn't know that there were outboard versions too.

The boat in the picture that you posted looks more like a regular 3 point hydro than the one in the pictures I posted. Is it a 3 point or a step hydro?


About that canvas......... I replaced the canvas on a 10' 6" Sid one time.... It really wasn't that difficult of a job and it turned out great because my Dad knew how to do it and he was right there with me telling what to do during the whole process. Still, I hope that I never have to deal with that stuff again!

[Tomtall]

David - I knew your a collector, I figured it was yours. The "Neal" in the post I did is a 3 point. The one you posted is the first "Neal" conventional I have ever seen. Very cool. Thanks for posting it.

[David_L6]

David - I knew your a collector,

:D :D :D


I guess you can call what I did when I first started racing "collecting". I bought all kinds of obsolete (alky motors that were no longer competitive), illegal (for the kind of racing I do), and junk stuff. I didn't know and there were plenty of people around to take advantage of that fact.... :( I wasn't too bad about buying old boats though - just junk motors. Now I wish that I had had a place to store boats and had bought some of them before they rotted and were burned. The only old boat around here that I really wanted (a Jones cabover) is up in Canada now and being well taken care of. I just couldn't afford it when it came up for sale. (There was a local crook here trying to buy it and I couldn't outbid him.)

I robbed parts off of the motors to build legal racing motors. I even built one that wasn't legal although I didn't know it when I put it together. I used a padded crank in a C mod. A rod bolt broke (I think that's what happened) and the rod ruined the crank, block, case, and one piston before I ever got the motor to a race though. So, even though I built one illegal motor, I've never raced an illegal motor. :) I've since sold everything that I couldn't use for current mod motors that was any good and threw away the parts that weren't any good. Most of the powerheads were in pretty sad shape.... Burned piston(s).... The motors were left sitting without lubrication after running alky. The motors were stuck. The cranks and rods were all rusted (Louisiana humidity)..... Gears that were ready to go the next time the lower unit was used..... Blocks that were ported way too much to be legal in mod.... Blocks that had oversize bores that were worn out.... 4 pipe exhaust systems that had been patched and welded by blind welders ;) ..... Basically, a lot of it was just junk. I couldn't use anything from some motors except the towers, lower unit housings (some of them were pretty well trashed too), driveshafts, and flywheels.

[BBaron]

[SIZE="5"]I want to send a pic, of a Neal I had but can not get it done
for some reason :mad:

[Skoontz]

That motor escapes me....What are the plates over the cylinder heads for? Was that factory or was there a head gasket issue?

[Skoontz]

Gotcha...So they worked sorta like blower straps on a fuel car/boat. I know many a guy who lost a blower only to eat it, and get a face full of nitro, thus ending their carreer early.

[FarmerBeal]

Sold for $2,929.89