TOPIC: seeking advice

hi all, been along time since i have posted here. i have tryed to get rid of my boats, and the only way i guess is to scrap them , and i will not do that. so i,am thinking of making my 1961 fleetform into a dual cockpit, buy adding a center deck. the gelcoat is aready off, due to excessive cracking and will need alot of work on the deck anyways. tell me guys how dumb am i for wanting to do this? thanks frog.

Sounds like a cool idea. It will be completely custom, one of a kind and it won't have been cut up for the dump! A saved classic, customized is better than a lost one, IMHO.

Bob

Doesn't sound to me as if you're trying real hard to get rid of any boats if you're planning a major renovation to your Fleetform.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth (and I'm not advocating one way or another) is you can either fix it up mint or French it all out like a hot rod. Either way the gains are obvious, save the cost of doing it, in that the boat will be in much better shape than when you started. If it were me I would have to then consider what the losses may be from taking a boat AWAY from being mint but I guess that answer lies in whatever kind of collector value it has. That said, we're all glad you're gonna fix it up and I'm sure we'll get to see the progress. Yahoo! Good luck.
shipster

Speaking as a guy who's garage is known as "the land of unfinished projects", I'll say if you have the time and motivation to finish it, it would be a cool idea.

thanks guys, the boat is far from being a collectable item and it is not in mint condition. i have had 2 boats for sale at 125.00 each and droped to 100.00 and no bites. i wanted to get one with fins , before i started to sink alot of cash into this boat. finned boats up here in mn are hard to come by. so i,ll customize this one and when iam into it for alot a finned boat will show up. lol. i,ll take pic,s of my progress and ask alot of questions. frog

The only time I have a 'problem' with someone modifying an old classic boat is if they have a VERY rare model, or a perfectly preserved original. Otherwise, do what you want!

I really like original boats, cars, trucks, etc... I'm not in to 'hot rodding' personally. But, I can appreciate the time and craftsmanship that goes in to it, and think that you should do what you want to do with your boat. It beats the landfill for sure!

-Andrew

Make it what you want, make it safe, shine it up and go run the daylights out of it.

Frog, what kind of finned boat are you looking for? There are plenty of Larson ThunderHawks up our way. Many are in the same shape as the boat you have and very reasonably priced.

jepstr67, i would like to have a thunderhawk jr. except the ones i have looked at have bad bottoms or all the hardware is missing. i would have to sell my 2 boats (and i have had no luck in that plan) to buy another, i have trailers so all i need is a good boat. my fleetform is solid, just needs alot of topside body work. what do you have? any fins? thanks. frog

I sold a Jr. last fall that wasn't too bad. I have a Sr. but, like you say, bad bottom. Cracked down the center bow to stern.

John Monahan in Little Falls is selling off a good share of his stuff. I know he has a few Jr. ThunderHawks that float, but need work. Between John and Lee Wangstad, you can find all the parts you need to assemble a top rate T-hawk.

thank you jepstr, i,ll give john a call. frog