TOPIC: Need a Christmas Gift suggestion

Hi,
Just found this forum and was hoping yall could help me with a suggestion for a couple of Christmas present for my husband.

Background info, we bought an old cabin on a small lake in east Texas. The place had been abandoned for at least 10 years that we know of. Well, we tore the cabin down and built a new one ourselves, and we are just about finished.. My husband says that for his next project he wants to refurbish this old fiberglass boat that was on the property.

I thought it would make a good Christmas gift to try and give him something related to his upcoming project. I have read some of the threads on this forum, and have already gone to Amazon.com and bought him the "Runabout Renovation" book.

So, first question, anyone know what this boat is? It's approximate year?

Any suggestions for a couple of good gifts for me to give my husband for the project? (My daughter is getting him a cover.)

Any advice you might want me to pass on to him? When I registered for this site, I registered in his name (my email) so he can use it once he gets started.

Thanks folks.
Ginny

Well, I tried to post 2 pictures, but it only posted one. Here is the other.

Ginny
Welcome aboard and bless your heart for helping with this gift/project.
There are alot of wonderful people here that will be able to help you in every aspect.
It looks like a wonderful little project and folks her should be able to get you the info needed.
Neil

ginny, looks like a nice boat indeed. and you already have a 35 hp johnson. get more pix and post them, somebody here will chim in and let you know what you have. i would be interested in helping if your serving jack and coke. oh ya iam in minnesota. lol . lets see more pix . frog

Ok, more pics coming up.

another one

and...

G: WELCOME . Think you got a start on Husband Christmas gifts. Side
downward arrow sort of a Larson logo. Guess maybe a 56 or 57 .??
Glad you added a rear pic , & someone should ID ,, but some Toilet Bowl cleaner will work wonders on clean grime off. Maybe even dilute 1:1.?
kEEP US POSTED.

motor

Couple of bottles of TILEX will fix the moss. Spray, let sit for 5-10 minutes, scrub and rinse. Wear protective gear.

jac,if you had a set of trumpet air horns and knew what color he is going to paint it,i could restore them and paint them for him,no charge,just the return shipping(see the thread "marks airhorns are finished"),i would be happy to help you out,its christmas,if i had a set laying around i would do them for you,but i dont at the moment.
i could repaint the controls too if you dont have horns,merry christmas,john

LOL John...I have a set of horns upstairs in the shop with no plans. As I recall they came off a 50's Penn Yan and were air pump activated, not electric. I'll have to dig them out.

brian ,for your self or for her husband?either way its free,let me know,ill be happy to do them for you or her,or if anyone else wants some painting done ,and it can be shipped,i can paint it,no charge,john

Not a Larson. Can't quite place it right now. Great boat though-doesn't appear altered in any way, just neglected for many years. Looks like the gel-coat may clean up well judging by the area you cleaned. Would look much better with the mulch cleaned out too. Being an nice complete boat, I myself wouldn't add any extra non-original hardware to it. As such, I would recommend being VERY careful with the hard to replace parts such as the windshield and Johnson dash emblem.

For an ID, best thing to do would be to call up the Texas authority which handles boat registrations and look up the manufacturer from the old registration number.

For a Christmas present, if your husband is mechanically inclined, a factory parts and repair manual for the Johnson outboard might be a nice gift. A model number from the ID plate or the motor block is necessary to get the right parts manual- the repair manuals cover a range of years. If it's electric-start, model number should be something like RDE-18 (1956), RDE-19 (1957), or RDE-19C (1958). Seloc or Clymer are OK aftermarket service manuals, Ken Cook Co. sells factory service manuals and parts manuals. You can also find these on CD for a much better price.

Hi Ginny,

Runabout Renovation is a great book for your project.
The purple cleaner that you get at Walmart or Auto store will help clean that up. Also, he may be able to wetsand the fiberglass up to a nice shine - so possibly 500, 1000, 2000 wet sand paper and an orbital sander if he doesn't have one.

If you are so inclined...... A gift certificate for a bit of your time helping him on the project. DH and I LOVE working on the boats together. If you don't want to help, maybe a message-he'll need it after all that sanding!

jerri

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I will see who I contact to check on the TX registration.

I like the orbital sander idea. He does not have one of those. Any suggestions as to model, manufacturer and so forth?

I also like the idea of the offer of some hours of help.

Thanks, and keep the ideas coming.

Ginny

A prepaid card good for time at the nearest self serve car wash.
Most of that lichen and crud will come right off.

Another suggestion.
Get your Hubby a Fiberglassics calender from Ron V. He might have some extras. Your husband can enjoy it all year long.
That boat is a true Fibergassic.

John - I'll check the shop in the morning and see what lurks. I had a great set of trumpets on my Hydrodyne. And...I played trumpet for years and was damn good at it!

I played cornet and french horn. Those were the days Pep Band for basketball.
Now I play the radio and Zoomer radio Toronto AM 740

Wow, A wife supportive of a vintage boat hobby would be a Christmas present in itself! Looking ahead, getting him something that will be used with the boat in the future, would make a nice gift. How about a vintage "life cushion" that has a cool picture on it? They can be found on eBay, and at your local antique store (if you're lucky) Fair warning, they can be very expensive, but man, are they COOL!

Thanks for the suggestion to go to the Texas website.

It is a 1957 ELITE. 16'

Now, anyone know about ELITE????

Thanks
Ginny

wow is that boat cleaning up that nice?it looks good in your profile pic.
and the offer still stands for anyone wanting something painted free,if it will ship i can paint it,its christmas and i need to pay back some of the great things folks have done for me here,john

john, we have not talked back and forth but my hat is off to you, offering to do something for anybody for free. you just do'nt see that anymore. also i enjoy your posts of the quality of workmanship that you put into the projects that you do, people like you makes me proud to be a member in our club. have a wonderfull holiday season. frog

frog,boy what a fantastic complement,the offer goes to you as well,if anybody needs anything let me know if i can help,i would be very happy to help.
and frog i thank you from the bottom of my heart,john

Maybe a gift certificate/card from Jamestown Distributors. They are located in RI and have a lot of the stuff he will need to do this. They ship everywhere. www.jamestowndistributors.com .

It's nice to see a supportive partner. I took a girlfriend with me to PA to get my Tomahawk and she wouldn't speak to me for the first 3-1/2 hours on the ride back for buying that P.O.S.