TOPIC: What do you think of my new 62 Marathon?

Picked up this 1962 Glasspar Marathon a couple weeks ago. Has a 1968 55hp Johnson TR-10R.
According to the seller it has been in a barn since about 1989 and was used at Lake of the Ozarks. Has the typical cracking for old fiberglass but seems to be pretty solid. There's a bad spot on the floor in front of the tub but looks like an easy enough repair. So far I have fogged the cylinders with deep creep and got the engine to turn over by hand. Seems to have good compression but haven't put the gauge to it yet. I've already purchased all of the maintenance parts and service manual for the engine, hopefully I'll get it fired up in the next month. Plan is to get it running, polish it up a little bit, and enjoy on Stockton Lake. I'll start a thread in the projects section as I get to working on it more.

I'm in need of the stern light lens is anyone knows where to find one let me know!

Nice old white and blue Glasspar!

Brings back fond memories of my Dad's '64 white & blue Avalon, with a 60hp V4 Evinrude. Did a lot of fishing with that boat. One fine day of fishing, the Fwd gear went out, and we had to go in Reverse all the way to the boat ramp!

I remember sitting on the bow with my Uncle, in an attempt to keep the wash from spilling over the transom.

Those were the days! And IIRC I was the only one that caught a fish that day!

Have Fun with your project, it'll drink a lot less fuel (and likely be much faster) than my Dad's ol' V4 did!

Beautiful potential, there!

For your stern light, not sure what diameter your lens needs to be just by the pic but start here: Kopp Glass Stern Light Lens

Best of luck with the restoration!

Thanks for the link! That looks like it could work.

I was able to find a plastic stern light lens close enough to the diameter of the original base I still had left. Sanded the two down and epoxied them together and I think it'll do!

Finally got to work with the floor repair, was lucky enough to get the call on a kidney transplant the same month I planned to take a week off work to start this project. Also got lucky with fiberglass stringers! After my research I was sure they were going to be wood.

I'll start a thread in the projects section.

That is a little beauty for sure. Could have been a late 62 given the fg stringers.



Curious what the model & s/n reads on the data plate.

Thanks,
Terry

Thanks! I'll clean up the plate and get another picture of it tonight.
Pretty hard to read right now but it might be 14X220089

Got the serial number plate cleaned up. Thought it was aluminum!

Looks like 1 14XN2 0088
Not sure on the first 1 but the rest designates it as 14 foot hull built in Nashville in 1962 and was the 88th boat off the line.

Thanks for that information! Good to know.

What years did Glasspar use fiberglass stringers?

I believe 63 was the first year for fg stringers on Sedans and G3's.

I just joined the site. I was involved with Kelly back in the '90s when he started this website. Kids and life happened and I drifted away. Anyhow, "14MV5063" is my boat's serial number! I seem to remember working with someone on decoding the Glasspar serial numbers back then, probably how mine ended up as the example.

I think the first "1" in the serial number here is a simple mis-strike. It was off out of position and so they re-adjusted and started over to the right. judging by the unevenness of the other letters and numerals, the person embossed the serial number might have been a newbie or not very skilled.

That's cool your boat is the example. Do you still have that Marathon?

Yes, I still have the same 1965 Marathon. My dad purchased it in 1966 in Richmond, Virginia from the original owner, who was called up to Vietnam. As you can see from the serial number, it was built in Petersburg, Virginia.

My dad "gave" it to me in the '90s, although he kept the title until we had him transfer it to me right before he passed away in 2018. My dad retired to a marina condo community along the Appomattox River, close to Hopewell, Virginia, and bought a used 50-ft yacht. One time I sent him to the find the address of the original Glasspar factory in Peterburg, which is near to Hopewell. He went to the local library and found the address in an old local business directory. However, when he went to see the location, the entire factory had been razed and converted to an asphalt parking lot surrounded by a chain link fence. It looked like a surprisingly small rectangular lot going back away from the street.

I used the Marathon a lot for family boating when my kids were growing up in the '90s and '00s, then in the '10s they went off to college and it sat until I pulled it out again last month. My wife passed away at 59 last spring after a three-year illness, and I'm kind of casting about for something to do with my time now. I've got a 30x60 heated / cooled pole building in which to work on it, so my idea is to overhaul all the soft / wear parts on the engine (impeller, carburetor, fuel pump, ignition, etc.) to get it shipshape & seaworthy, then hit the road to the lakes next season as a way to get out of the house and have something to look forward to week to week.

With the right prop matched to the load, the 1965 Johnson 75HP will do about 32 mph according to the "Sea Speed" speedometer at 5500 rpm. The boat was stored in a carport the first three years my dad had it, then an unheated garage for the next five years, then in a climate-controlled basement garage for the next twenty years, then in my unheated garages for the next 29 years. That should add up to 57 years, with the first year being unknown storage by the first owner. There was one summer in the early '90s where my dad put it on consignment at a boat dealer's lot and it didn't sell. That really was where most of its weathering and age occurred. It's not bad, but it's more than it would have been if he hadn't done that. The component that took the worst beating in the sun is the red Johnson Electramatic shifter knob. I've found "NOS" parts but they are not "correct". The original was a true red and the later ones are almost orange and don't look right. The newer "NOS" ones also have a mold line on the outside that's not present on the original on this boat. The upholstery in the boat is original pearl ivory except for the splash well cover that was redone in the '90s and needs re-doing again. The steering wheel is the Attwood "rope" style that originally was bright white but has since yellowed.

The Tee Nee trailer is not in good shape. My dad bent two cross members one time pulling in the boat on a makeshift riverside ramp on the Rappahannock River. The welds on one of those members broke and I re-welded it but the welds broke again. I installed two 1/2" threaded rods fore and aft of it and that has it stabilized. I'm pretty sure it's a 900 lb. model (have never found any markings on it, although recently I saw a photo showing the number plate might be on a cross member ahead of the axle). By my calculations 900 lbs. is not really adequate:

Boat Hull 460 lbs.
Engine 246 lbs.
Battery 45-50 lbs.
Fuel 20 gallons 125 lbs. (my dad installed a plastic 26 gallon tank under the splash well in the early '90s...way too big and I never put more than 20 gallons in it).
Gear 100 lbs.
Subtotal 981 lbs.

These are conservative numbers on fuel and gear, but it shows how the trailer isn't really heavy enough. Even if I restored it (not really a project I want to tackle), it would still be too light. So, I've been looking at new / newer trailers to see what might be a good fit. My idea is to frame up supports under the boat, pull out the old trailer, and roll a new one back under it.

You might notice in some of these pictures that the transom is forward of the rollers and appears unsupported. That's how it's always been since it was delivered by Glasspar, but once someone pointed that out to me on another forum, I moved the winch strap pylon sternward about 1-1/2" and that took care of the issue.

That's neat that you know all of the history. That's a great looking boat! I was wondering if there would have been a cover or something for under the splash well in '62. There's some sort of hardware on the splash well and floor but the rest of whatever goes there is missing.

I'm also the second owner of mine, the DMV even let me keep the titles from 1962 as historic documents.

I'm going to try to finish grinding the stringers and floor/wall this weekend and hopefully get started on the wood.

Also, I'm really sorry to hear about your wife.
Hopefully getting your boat going again can bring back some good memories.

Thank you about my boat and condolences about my wife. We were together for 39 years and married for 35.

When I titled it in Kentucky from Virginia, I didn't think to ask to keep the original Virginia title, but I do have pictures of it. Kentucky also would not accept the original serial number and required me to affix a HIN plate on the right side top of the transom. I will get some photos of the splash well compartment cover / hardware and post them for you.

I decided to get organized. I've been buying quite a bit of NOS components for ignition, fuel, etc. and just started having things too spread out. Now everything is in the bins and labeled.

Beautiful boat and hope the project turns out to be enjoyable and something to look forward to. Related to your trailer, you might consider your weight rating is tied to the tire technology of time of manufacture as opposed to the frame/roller/spring combination. I just completed restoration of my Holsclaw trailer. You can see from the original capacity plate, the trailer capacity noted is based on tire load ratings.



The modern version of the 5.30 - 12 made by HI RUN is 6 ply and rated at a maximum load of 1045 lbs. This potentially adds over 600 lbs of capacity to my trailer. Other Holsclaw trailer enthusiasts agree the various trailer load ratings were tied to wheel/tire combinations and the frames/spring combinations were the same thoughout the load range. I don't intend on using this extra capacity, but it will give me piece of mind when towing a boat loaded with fuel and gear.

I understand a new trailer offers you piece of mind.
You might also consider increasing the scope of your project to include restoration of the TeeNee Trailer. The boat and trailer have been paired together for 57 years after all......just a thought.

Beautiful job on your trailer! That does provide some inspiration for restoring the Tee Nee. The Tee Nee does have the advantage of being considerably shorter for storage than comparable new models, but the short tongue and tall height also mean the tow vehicle has to get closer to / into the water to launch. The original fenders / brackets cracked and had to be removed in the '90s. The only replacements I could find were a larger radius, which needed larger wheels to look right, which of course raised the height of the trailer a few more inches.

Did you remove all the hardware on your trailer and take it somewhere to be sandblasted and painted?

Looks good, nice and organized!

Thanks! Makes it a lot easier to get started when everything isn't "lost", ha ha!

Hello Airguide,

Another beautiful Glasspar survivor. That original gelcoat still shines.

The Glasspar production code I posted came from the now defunct classicglasspars website which was built by Mike McKinney.

And curious where you boat in KY?

Thanks for sharing.
Terry

Thanks, it's amazing how long a boat can last when it's not left out in the weather.

I don't think I knew Mike, or if I did maybe I only knew his username. That's a nice resource for Glasspar production codes. I do remember contributing my boat's info for the Marathon. I thought / hope other Glasspar owners would add more codes for the other plants besides Petersburg.

I'm in Northern Kentucky, so the closest large body of water here is the Ohio River. The closest decent-sized lake is William H. Harsha on East Fork near Amelia, Ohio. A little farther north is Cesar Creek Lake near Waynesville, Ohio. South of Lexington, Kentucky there are two large lakes, Cumberland and Dale Hollow. Of course the boating just gets better the further you go into Tennessee on the TVA system. To the west are two huge lakes, Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake, but I've never made the trip that far to see them. I worry a little bit if they might be big enough to develop quite a chop in the wind.

Here are some close ups of the hardware for the splashwell cover.


Open position:


Unlocked position:


Locked position:

Yes, I dissassembled the entire trailer and had it media blasted and powder coated. I kept it all original except for the addition of modern electric brakes. It's all posted over in the 70's Discofiber section. Some of the members accurately commented on my mental state as I made my way through the process. (for instance, I replated all the hardware in my basement over the winter) The trailer is currently nicer than the boat.......

Wow! That's incredible. I'll go check it out!

I just read through your trailer restoration. First of all, thanks for documenting it so thoroughly. Secondly, what dedication! You went to the limits to preserve original parts and authenticity with great results. Well done!

I appreciate the compliment and thanks for reading it all. The results have been very rewarding. Wish i was as good at matching and spraying gelcoat. It's just not going too well.....

Just took a look and found a Tee Nee trailer group on Facebook. If you want to save the trailer, I bet they could help you with original parts (fenders/wheels) and replacement consumables like bearings and rollers etc. I joined a similar group dedicated to Holsclaw trailers. Group helped me with a couple parts, decals, and proper colors. Tee Nee trailers seem to have a great reputation.

Thanks for the Facebook tip. I just sent a request to join.