TOPIC: 10 day miracle!

I wanted a "quick N' dirty" boat for the Summer. The $100 Sea King ("Hundred Dollar Boat") that I bought in May, turned to need more work than anticipated. I had purchased all the materials to fix the boat, but came to my senses before doing any work on it. Putting money into that SeaKing would have been a waste for me. 2 weeks ago I stripped the 100 dollar boat & took it to the dump! Cool - one more project out of the way!

Here is the real crazy part; I had a beautiful little 1958 Performer "Havoc" at the ranch, just waiting for some TLC. A sure sign of having too many boats is forgetting what you already have. I snatched the little rocket from the weeds and dragged it home. It had been a restoration attempt by someone before I bought it 3 years ago. I bought the boat for 300 bucks. blown Johnson 40 motor, no electrical, no conntrols, no steering, no title or registration. It did have a decent set of custom made bucket seats and a paint job that looks awesome from 10 feet away. The transom, stringers, and floor were failing. But what a sexy little boat!

Step 1 - got the boat titled and registered. I somehow got the DMV to reassign the original 1958 CF number back to the boat. COOL!

I pulled a beautiful little '57 Evinrude Lark out of the garage and put it on the transom. I had never tried to run the motor since buying it. I replaced the rotted fuel lines, and changed the lower unit oil. The seals in the lower unit were bad, so I put 140wt oil in for just the weekend I wanted to use the boat at Shasta. I removed all the throttle mechanisims and re greased them. Mounted the relay box inside the boat, installed the ignition assembly and herness that I had on hand in the shop. I had to rob the starter motor off another engine, as the one on the lark was burned out. I mounted the controls that came with the engine & hooked up the cables. I completely removed all of the old tiller cable hardware and replace all of it with good parts I had in the shop. I dug thru my stash of steering wheels and helms and found a match to the original stuff the boat was set up for. This prevented any new holes from being drilled into the dashboard. With the steering done, I dug through more of my stuff & found an aqua meter speedo & airguide pitot and equalizer pipe for the speedo. I used drip irrigation hose for the speedo line. Some tabbing under the bow had long broken away from the deck, so I did some glassing to get things back in shape for the water. I decided to reinforce the failing transom with a 4 ft. length of 1-1/2" square metal tubing I picked up for free. I drilled the tubing with 7/16" holes for the transom tow-eye bolts. I removed the tow eyes (which broke off when I tried to remove them from the transom) and replaced them with some good ones I had laying around. I used a little 5200 to seal the transom hooks before installing them. The bolt shanks passed thru the square metal tube on the inner transom face. The nuts and washers for the tow eyes were tightened down - and this drew the tubing tight against the transom wall. This simple step added much needed support to the transom - enough to make the boat safe to use. I tried to make a windshield out of some Lexan, but I ran out of time.

The boat was hauled to a near-by launch ramp to test the engine under load. With a little fresh fuel and a charged battery - the old '57 Lark sprang to life, making horrible clouds of blue smoke. After some minor carburator adjustments, then engine purred like a Bobcat. It shifted gears like a dream, and when put under a full load in forward it ran like a champ.

So, off to the lake for a weekend of fun. The little bugger ran great all weekend, and I had an absolute ball with it.

It's great to hear a "good news" story for a change Bruce, thanks for sharing. Glad to hear your weekend was saved, you'll have to share some pics with us when you get a chance, okay!?!

Bruce Gerard,

CONGRADS!

yours, satx

Thanks,

A couple PIX added - more to come. It's a little rocket. Look at the crazy turns it does...180 degree turns without cavitation. A blast to drive, even though the supports under the floor are wasted.

Sorting through parts and making a hull and an old motor work together to get out on the water. A wonderful facet of this kooky hobby. Well done Bruce. You don't have to have a million bucks to have a priceless weekend in an old classic. Hats off to ya.
Neil

Neil,

That's it exactly. I have come to find that I get the most enjoyment out of "beater" glassics. You spend a little time finding the boat, putting it together, then using it & having a blast with it. I worry less about it getting a bump or scratch. I associate having fun with the boat more than working on it. In short - the boat does for me, what it was originally intended - a form of relaxation and fun. Restoring a boat to perfection is admirable, and there is certainly a place for that. There is a lot of pride in doing a full restoration. But there is also a lot of worry, as to what might (and probably will happen) to the boat when it is used.

Congratulations on getting her on the water. Feels good to get back don't it.