TOPIC: 1957 Niagra

Hello MFG Bretheren. This weekend I purchased a 1957 Union out of a barn in Ohio. Owner is the grandson of the original purchaser and I have all of the original paperwork from the purchase reciepts for the boat, engine and trailer to the original owners $465 mortgage loan paperwork for the boat! I'm pretty excited to embark on this new project. I guess I am looking to connect to good restoration information as to how to tackle it. The boat seems really sound, no rotten wood I can see, the fiberglass hull is a bit hairy and it is time to redo the mahogany. All of the metal, horn, lights, fittings, need attention. The bill of sale notes the boat is a 1957 MFG Union with 1 Erie front seat installed and 1 center seat back installed. The boat does not have a windshield and I would like to have one so that is something additional I will need to figure out. I'm not a mechanic, I'm a woodworker so I will leave the engine to a local professional. Boat was last in the water in 2009.

Congratulations. Boat, motor, and trailer all look like good bones. There are mfg experts on here (but not me, so I will bow out) ... and there is also the MFG forum you may want to post for boat questions or of course also here for a wider audience to help you find a windshield, etc. Nice find.

Wow ! that is a real nice find. I'm glad you posted pics. I have a MFG 12 foot Cory that is a shell. Now I know what the seats look like. If you take a look under the deck on the Starboard side up high. there should be a label with the serial no. that looks similar to the attached pic.

very cool ! it's also rare that you have all the original sales receipts. best of luck.

Andreas