MY APOLOGIES TO READERS: DUE TO NEW PHOTOBUCKET THIRD-PARTY HOSTING POLICIES THE PHOTO'S ACCOMPANYING THIS THREAD ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE. WITHOUT THE PHOTO'S THE INFORMATION HERE HAS LOST MUCH OF ITS USEFULNESS SO PROCEED IF YOU WISH. GREED AND MONEY AS USUAL TRUMP EVERYTHING.
THIS PROJECT WAS NEVER FINISHED. SOLD ON 7/31/2015. THERE ARE STILL SOME THINGS TO SHARE SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, READ ON.
Seems like most people on this site are interested in their boats primarily for fishing. I recently received a 14' aluminum runabout made in the '60's that I want to fix up. I wish I could restore it to its former glory but am unable to find out anything about the boat beyond some basic info. I'm not sure whether this will be of general interest or not given that it won't be a fishing boat but It's aluminum and may be of interest to some.
So here's some history. The boat came to me by way of my partner T's dad who got it from his cousin. As I understand it, the boat has gone from Oklahoma to Colorado to Wichita where I picked it up over the weekend and now to Minneapolis. The boat is 13'-6" long and the beam is 61". It is a welded aluminum boat except for the bow deck which is fiberglass. It was manufactured by the Sportsman Boat Co., a division of Hastings Irrigation Pipe Co., Hastings, Nebraska. It's like swinada's Mirrocraft boat that was made by Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company, a cookware company. In both cases the manufacture of boats was an offshoot from a company that was already manufacturing aluminum goods. The Hastings Pipe company is still in business and I'm writing them to see if there is any information available about their boats. I am pretty sure they're not made anymore but it would be fun to get some more background on the boat.
T's dad (Mike) got the trailer ready with new tires, temporary lights and 2" hitch. He repacked the bearings and the hubs stayed absolutely cool on the trip home. The only money into the boat so far is for the trailer - to the tune of about $200. Thanks to Mike.
I am trying to figure out based on some abandoned bolts and screws how it was configured. As you will see in the pics, it's now a 2-seater with a completely open back. There are several screws that seem to have once held structural or other parts (like maybe a back seat?). The boat sat uncovered for years so the carpet, plywood and foam are all shot. On the trip home the wind from towing the open boat pulled up everything behind the seats and did a lot of work for me. Luckily the outboard was on top of some of it and the seats created an eddy or I'd have left a 600 mile trail of debris.
Here are some pics beginning with the boat.
You can see in these that the boat itself is in good shape with no dents, holes etc.
The interior...
I do have to replace the transom. I don't know what kind of job it will turn out to be but there are lots of examples on this site to look at.
And a couple of details...
Perko steering and Johnson controls
Electric start and choke
Nice original cleats and navigation light
The motor that came with it is an 18hp Johnson that was apparently converted from a tiller to remote steering. I don't know too much yet about its condition beyond what these pictures tell.
I assume the "E" in the model # is for electric start
And a surprise inside...
Here's what I want to do. This won't be a restoration so I can do what I want. That's good. What I want to do is remake the boat in the spirit of a 50's-60's era boat. I don't know exactly yet but here are some ideas. The boat is parked right off my alley so the first thing is to get the windshield and any special parts like the cleats and nav lights taken off. Obviously all the guts have to come out and then I'm going to strip all the paint inside and out. There will be work making a new transom and removing any unnecessary screws and rivets and patching the holes. I want to paint it the colors of my dad's '58 Plymouth, turquoise and soft white. The turquoise will be from the chine to the gunnel and the stripe on the bow deck. The rest will be white.
On the inside I want to create "cockpits" like some of the 30's-50's boats had. I'll use mahogany for all those details including possibly making a mahogany slat-floor and spray rails.
The 18 horse Johnson is a long shaft so I'll probably replace it with a short shaft - the transom is 15". Also, the boat is rated for 40hp. I have been looking around and I'm interested in getting a restored 50's or 60's motor like one of these from smalloutboards.com.
I guess until I get started there's not much more to tell except the current name of the boat is "Shoe" which is based on the comic strip of the same name. I've heard it's unlucky to rename a boat so for now I'm leaving that one alone.
I really looking forward to this project. My others have been with new boats but this will really be a challenge. It's going to be sweet when it's done. More to come...
THIS PROJECT WAS NEVER FINISHED. SOLD ON 7/31/2015. THERE ARE STILL SOME THINGS TO SHARE SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, READ ON.
Seems like most people on this site are interested in their boats primarily for fishing. I recently received a 14' aluminum runabout made in the '60's that I want to fix up. I wish I could restore it to its former glory but am unable to find out anything about the boat beyond some basic info. I'm not sure whether this will be of general interest or not given that it won't be a fishing boat but It's aluminum and may be of interest to some.
So here's some history. The boat came to me by way of my partner T's dad who got it from his cousin. As I understand it, the boat has gone from Oklahoma to Colorado to Wichita where I picked it up over the weekend and now to Minneapolis. The boat is 13'-6" long and the beam is 61". It is a welded aluminum boat except for the bow deck which is fiberglass. It was manufactured by the Sportsman Boat Co., a division of Hastings Irrigation Pipe Co., Hastings, Nebraska. It's like swinada's Mirrocraft boat that was made by Aluminum Goods Manufacturing Company, a cookware company. In both cases the manufacture of boats was an offshoot from a company that was already manufacturing aluminum goods. The Hastings Pipe company is still in business and I'm writing them to see if there is any information available about their boats. I am pretty sure they're not made anymore but it would be fun to get some more background on the boat.
T's dad (Mike) got the trailer ready with new tires, temporary lights and 2" hitch. He repacked the bearings and the hubs stayed absolutely cool on the trip home. The only money into the boat so far is for the trailer - to the tune of about $200. Thanks to Mike.
I am trying to figure out based on some abandoned bolts and screws how it was configured. As you will see in the pics, it's now a 2-seater with a completely open back. There are several screws that seem to have once held structural or other parts (like maybe a back seat?). The boat sat uncovered for years so the carpet, plywood and foam are all shot. On the trip home the wind from towing the open boat pulled up everything behind the seats and did a lot of work for me. Luckily the outboard was on top of some of it and the seats created an eddy or I'd have left a 600 mile trail of debris.
Here are some pics beginning with the boat.
You can see in these that the boat itself is in good shape with no dents, holes etc.
The interior...
I do have to replace the transom. I don't know what kind of job it will turn out to be but there are lots of examples on this site to look at.
And a couple of details...
Perko steering and Johnson controls
Electric start and choke
Nice original cleats and navigation light
The motor that came with it is an 18hp Johnson that was apparently converted from a tiller to remote steering. I don't know too much yet about its condition beyond what these pictures tell.
I assume the "E" in the model # is for electric start
And a surprise inside...
Here's what I want to do. This won't be a restoration so I can do what I want. That's good. What I want to do is remake the boat in the spirit of a 50's-60's era boat. I don't know exactly yet but here are some ideas. The boat is parked right off my alley so the first thing is to get the windshield and any special parts like the cleats and nav lights taken off. Obviously all the guts have to come out and then I'm going to strip all the paint inside and out. There will be work making a new transom and removing any unnecessary screws and rivets and patching the holes. I want to paint it the colors of my dad's '58 Plymouth, turquoise and soft white. The turquoise will be from the chine to the gunnel and the stripe on the bow deck. The rest will be white.
On the inside I want to create "cockpits" like some of the 30's-50's boats had. I'll use mahogany for all those details including possibly making a mahogany slat-floor and spray rails.
The 18 horse Johnson is a long shaft so I'll probably replace it with a short shaft - the transom is 15". Also, the boat is rated for 40hp. I have been looking around and I'm interested in getting a restored 50's or 60's motor like one of these from smalloutboards.com.
I guess until I get started there's not much more to tell except the current name of the boat is "Shoe" which is based on the comic strip of the same name. I've heard it's unlucky to rename a boat so for now I'm leaving that one alone.
I really looking forward to this project. My others have been with new boats but this will really be a challenge. It's going to be sweet when it's done. More to come...