TOPIC: Newport Line who knows about them? 59 14 runabout

Hello everyone,

This is my first post here. As of last Sept I am the proud owner of a 1959 Newport Line 14' runabout complete with trailer and a 9.9hp Mercury badged as a 6hp (1971). Previous owner of the boat had it in the family for more than 30 years. It was originally his fathers and used on lakes in PA. There were hp restrictions so they rigged it with the small rebadged motor. The son got fed up with it after that motor stopped working correctly and donated it. It had been stored inside and covered practically all of its life and it shows. The originally trailer was replaced that season with a brand new galvanized shorelander (towed great). Apparently the original trailer had just rotted to pieces. Additionally the original steering system was replaced with a new teleflex a few years back. I would not have minded having an original trailer and steering to tinker with but both improvements should make it more useable.

When the father first bought the boat in the 60s he did some light restoration/customization work so I am not quite sure what is original and what is not. I do see a bunch of previously filled holes in the deck. The teal color is paint that is supposedly more than 30 years old. The original gel coat on deck was red. The original upholstery was under the white material and was a black and white pleated vinyl with piping.

I went so far as to clean out the boat for storage and sourced a correct 1959 Evinrude 35HP Lark for it. It had 58 or earlier Evinrude electrics and Evinrude controls. Its possibly that the boat is earlier than a 59 (theres no serial number or builder plate on it, just an assigned number and a max 35hp rating). This jives with the 1960 boat value book that was posted on this site. That is the only mention I have found of this boat. It also stated that this is a foam core and not plywood however I have not dug that deep into it yet.

On to the crappy pictures from the PO. I have not taken my own yet nor gotten any farther on the project. I would appreciate any knowledge of Newport Line or advice! Thanks

Looks like I was right about the owner upgrades. Just found this Mercury test in the literature section here. Also looks like the transom may have been cut down compared to the picture and according to the boat value guide this had a 45hp max. I haven't started restoring the Lark yet so I could go with something different at this point. Here is the test from the section here:

Ah, the Newport. Flimsy fiberglass stringers, and it doesn't have a full wood transom ( approximately a 2'x2' patch ). My trailer punced through the hull after it sat for a while, the stringers crumbled. The floor is actually stronger than the thin hull design. I did cut it up with a sawsall, after salvaging the engine and some hardware. I actually spoke to Bob Grubb about the Newport, and he really had nothing good to say about them. They do look good though. I would look it over really good, especially at the chines.

Also, there was no foam core, just the thin fiberglass lattice.

Sorry, now that I thought about it, I didn't mean to sound negative, this was my experience with the Newport. Your boat looks very clean, I was just trying to caution you about it's flaws. Just take care of it, don't be too aggressive with it, and enjoy it!

One more pic. These pics were taken after it sat for years after it was taken out of service.

Here is a cross section of the floor/stringer/ hull combo. Very thin stringers that detatched from the hull. Note the floor is thicker than the hull and hardly a keel to speak of.

Wow! Thanks for all the pics and info. Any thoughts on a way to reinforce it? I am thinking either a few more layers of glass on the bottom and perhaps some self expanding foam in the sandwich underneath? Think that would be possible to stiffen it up? Luckily the boat had a pretty easy life with a 10hp outboard on small lakes so the hull is in pretty good shape now. But that does explain what the hull felt like after I crawled around banging it with a rubber mallet.

Here is another picture I found that I actually took of it:




Basically if it turns out to be a bad starting point I didn't even pay the equivalent of the new trailer for the whole package.

How was your boat used and how long until it fell apart? Thanks

Well another winter and another year I haven't touched the Newport Line. I'm bumping this back up to the top to see if anyone else has found one of these or has any insights.

My current plan is to drill some holes in the fiberglass floor so I can dump in some expanding foam, tip it on its end, and hopefully fill up the section between the floor and the hull. Anyone have any thoughts on this approach?

I'd say nada on the foam...have seen that tried and wherever the stringers were still attached the hull stayed and where not the hull bulged...ruined the boat and a lot of foam....6 pack abs for a hull!! john

I'm no engineer or expert, but that looks like a candidate for pulling up the floor and either designing your own short stringer system, or possibly a "cored hull"? (Several layers of balsa might strengthen things up considerably.) Just a couple thoughts.....

grfa,

WELCOME ABOARD.

yours, satx

Am I missing something here? Didn't this post start and stop over four years ago, or am I having problems with the forum dates again?
I thought that was fixed.

Don

Edit - Ah yes, I did miss something! grfa re-opened the post.

Thanks for the new input. Luckily the boat was used on small lakes with a 10hp motor for most of its life. And I expect very little use at that because it had tiller control for the motor and steering hooked up. I doubt it if it ever even got up on plane. That makes me think the fiberglass stringers might still be good.

I guess in a way I might only have one way to find out, pour some foam in and see if the hull explodes.