This thread is for Sears Rascal disscussions.

looking for acc. for sears rascal. 

How about voting as to what type you have so we can see some results.
And you can keep your link there.
John

I thought I did vote?   It won't let me vote now and just shows the stats  

I see 2 votes for "Late Larger Tail Box" - are these from you, buggy b?  Poll management is not very comprehensive in this forum software - we'd have to delete and recreate the poll for you to vote if you now only see the results.

Paul...

I'm pretty sure 1 is mine and the other is buggyblues II.   how come you guys don't go with the phb forums much easier to use, add pics and avatars.   WHERES ALL THE RASCALS

Hi Buggy B - I'm a perl programmer by trade so mwForum integrates into our existing environment.  I can modify it, but when the next release comes out, it takes some extra time to integrate any changes. 

We also use older versions of mwForum on Grade Saver and The Spice House.  Our sys admin hates trying to keep PHP patched also.  The mwForum software is actually pretty complete once you dig into it a bit.  It has a lot of features without a lot of flashy things that annoy me in other forum software.

So - If you see room for improvement, let me have it!  But lets move this into another area so the Sears Rascal owners don't get pissed off... Paul...

I am restoring a pickup dune buggy that has two stickers on it that says SEARS. One is on the hood & the other is on the rear. It is on a 69 full length pan.Should be done in a year or two.

not aware of any pickup truck version sold at sears got any pics  also the gliterbug I believe has a pick up truck that looks like a rascal.   bart and john will know better than me but I 've gotten just about every sears publication that I could find by the way thanks bart for your help.

Yes, But I don't know how to put them on this darn thing. Lucky I can do this.
I'll see if i can get my son to put them on.

email to me at fred@towhoward.com if you don't mind I'll post up also

OK. Had my son e-mail pic to you. Let me know where to look at them.
Thanks    

thanks like I said need interior dash and emblem pics also hopefully Bart or John can help and posting up the pics glad I could help with atleast that.  Take care

So where are the rascal owners...................Just an update I've spent the last couple of weekends taking off the engine and cleaning up everything in back of the buggy ,from spraying it black, cleaning up all the amatuer wiring,  correct size battery and tiedown for the torsion box and chroming out and cleaning up the engine.   Next is a new set of wheels and seats and mybe installing my flat side panels thou I really want some bubble pods but one step at a time first time car has been this far apart in 8 years and the weather is perfect for the buggy so gotta put it back together. 

well I don't know the link now but I should've posted it here sorry guys   there is a sears rascal listed on ebay it is not mine I posted it on another site and they removed it I guys it can only be there if it supports their site. but was a pretty nice start on a buggy

I have a sears rascal. thanks to the great guys in the forum. I know that now.

I found this gem on a google image search

Here's mine back in the 80's

the car in the picture looks like a sand flea made in oldsmar fl.

You are correct about the Sandflea Pickup.
There is an odd bit of info to add here. Years ago before we (dunebuggyarchives) found info on Sandflea we were curious if Terra Buggy made a pickup version of the Cyote. We have no info that suggests that they did, however this Pickup definitely uses the Cyote hood/dash.
Sears had several suppliers, it is obvious that this pickup ended up being sold through them resulting in the stickers, a pickup was never offered in the catalogs though.
Of interest here is - Sears didn't make bodies, they were drop shipped to you from the factory, thus the Sears stickers were put on at the factory. This would confirm the Terra Buggy orrgin of this body. However i do have ads for the sandflea pickup and it is identical in every way.

Hi Guys,

   I'm trying to figure out if my Manx clone is a late tail Sears or a Glitterbug or Terra maybe. Mine is a full length four seat uncut pan. The tail has a large box in center, though my air filter on single carb is a tight squeeze and sticks out a bit... too much to mount tag there. The left side of dash (just right of steering wheel) is about an inch bigger I suppose for more space for speedo. But there is not a passenger side dash molding for a radio. Hood has single ridge down center but there is no bump of any kind where a decal may have been. Molded in battery box under right rear seat, other side smooth. Outside it has flat bolt on side panels with a sort of mud flap molded in just behind the front tire. The original finish seems to be red paint on white fiberglass (no gelcoat or metal flake). Dash seems to have been glassed onto hood after molding.

   I have not seen a buggy that has all these ID features on the same body. Sears Rascal seems to be the closest match. Did Terra make a full size body for Sears ?

Kirt

found this catalog at a yard sale.

Holy cow, they even used a picture of Bruce Meyers!  Not only did they copy the Manx but then they used Bruce too!  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Holy cow, they even used a picture of Bruce Meyers!  Not only did they copy the Manx but then they used Bruce too!  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I believe the early Sears buggies were actually Manxes.

You're right.  The shipping of the bodies to Chicago was cost prohibitive so Sears had a local shop produce them.  Did they actually sell any Manx's through Sears before they pulled the plug?

I recall Bruce at Funfest last year say they shipped only one truckload of MANXs and it was then that Sears realized the cost of shipping and canceled the contract. How many of the actual bodies that fit on the truck I don't know.

Jay

I have only talked to 2 people in the 10 years I have had the DBA that have
100% Manx2 buggies they bought at Sears through the catalog.

Sears went back to Terra Buggy for the bodies. The pages even show the single ridge hood in the accessories and it says shipped from Crawfordsville Indiana factory.

How about a scan of page 86.
It might give me some info on my Sears engine.
John

here are the 2 pages of vw motors from the sears catalog. hope it helps.

You might enjoy this article I found in Popular Science...

http://danadkins.net/dunebuggy.aspx

Hi I think this is a Sand Flea, There is a post on here with some pics at some show.
I believe these pics are of MY old buggy.

Jim,
I have some ads of the Sand Flea pickups out of Florida.
I agree with you that it is very much like the Sand Flea if not one.

The puzzling think is the round Sears logos it had on it.
1. Sears may have also sold pickup bodies even though they never advertised them.
2. They may have made a deal with some one to produce this for them Terra Knife?
3. The OG owner may have been a DIEHARD (pun intended) Sears fan, and put the logos on himself.

"The truth is out there," as Mulder would say.

But for now this truggy remains an unknown fiberglass buggy. A UFB.
John

Ok now i'm really confused as to what kind of buggy i have. everyone keeps telling me it is a rascal, but I keep arguing with them because the rascal shown in the Buggy ID section shows the headlights mounted on the fenders,not on the small (pods for lack of a better word) on the inside of the fender. The car in that picture doesn" even have those little "pods" molded into the fenders. Then looking at the picture out of the sears catalog here all i see is a purple meyers manx. It even has the manx badge on it.No hint of the ridge in the center of the hood? Help!!!

Greg, the type 1 had light mounted on top of fender, I had a type 2 and it had the pods, allso the 2 had the larger tail box over engine, I may have got this picture from d.b.a but it is the only one I have to share with you, Ken

Sears has always had lawyers. That ad is from back before America got stupid. C'mon a lady sued McD's because her coffee was hot. And won. How did anyone born before 1970 survive childhood. We had no airbags, slept in the back window on long trips without seatbelts, and jumped bicycles off homemade ramps without helmets. Maybe thats why kids play video games instead of outside. Laws have taken the fun out of outside play.

Yea I know what you mean, born in 59 so been there done that, remember when we used to pour lighter fluid ( OR GAS ) on our model cars and burn them down, sorry about the sears thing, just had to vent a little, POWER TO THE BUGGYS !

Also born in the late 50's. When I was growing up you learned a valuble lesson when you did something stupid. You just didn't do it again! Nowadays people sue for their own stupidity and win.

And if you screwed up Mrs Johnson beat your a** then sent you on your way and called your parents. Something to that it takes a village thing.

Our principal in eleamentry school used a paddle with holes drilled in it, he kept it hanging on the wall behind his desk, they called our parents to come watch, I guess that is why the switch we cut was never big enough. well this is a sears site so I better get off it HUH Jerry, hey he hasnt been here yet so we wont tell him, 

Wow. It's been awhile since anyone added to the Rascal thread. Oh well. Better late than never. I've put it in the Registry, pretty sure based on what I have found through here that mine is an early tailed rascal. Just the body, hood and windshield frame, but I have everything else. Can't wait to get started on it. How To Build a Dune Buggy is on it's way to double check how I think I'm going to go about shortening the frame. I'm picturing myself driving down the highway in front of my house, so now have to make it happen.

I think you can go to the manx club site on the internet and look at directions on how to shorten the frame also.        Ken.......

Marty that's not like any Sears body I know of , how do you believe it was purchaced through them? Post me some better pics as I think I may be able to id it
Bart

Hi Bart.....

Thanks for taking the time to respond to me.  I could use your help.  I got this body from a guy who had owned it for many years.  It was in terrible condition.  It took me quite a while to restore it to the condition you see.  During my process of restoring, I found nothing on the body which told me anything of make or model.  He told me that it was a Rascal.  He had a copy of the 1969 Popular Mechanics magazine which features the Sears Rascal.  But every Rascal that I see here in DBA has a totally different tail to it.  Hence, my confusion as to what exactly I have.  I placed it on a reinforced '56 pan.  I have many pics of all angles.  Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Marty

Bart,

Also, I bought a pair of Manx side pods and fashioned them to the sides myself.  I like the side pod look much better than without.  I didn't want to throw you off in trying to determine the make and model.

Marty

That's the same tail Vegas Buggies has on their new bodies.  Might want to contact them to find out what make/model their molds were copied from.

Take me a pic from the passenger side so I can get a good dash view, I'll look in my database and see what I can find, seems that it could be a Fibertech Manx but I'l need that pic to compare them
Bart

Hey Bart,

Here is a pic of the dash.  I really appreciate all of your time and help on this.  Thanks.  Marty

Ok, I believe you have the Fibertech Manx, but it might be more correct to call it a Dooner Schooner (I'll check on the spelling)
RTS Enterprises manufactures these bodies for Fiber Tech (how long I am not sure) RTS had been in business for quite some time, they still make this body and here is their web site : http://funbodies.com/FUNBODIES/Dune_Buggy_Kits.html

RTS Calls it the Dooner Schooner and have it in both long and short versions, check out their company history link on their site, The bodies are a bit wider in the fender area than a Manx ( I bought a set of pods from them in the 90's - back then no one made pods for anything) Fibertech told me they wouldn't fit and at the time I didn't care lol  if you were close by I might consider swapping pods I can tell your body is wider just from the way your pods fit.

Now get off the Rascal page and make a new one for Fibertech and RTS owners !

Too funny,  was just over on the Samba and look what pops up for sale - a long body RTS body
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1136808

im thinking my meyers clone may be a sears rascal. it looks like one from what i can tell.