TOPIC: New '58 Cutter Avon Owner

I got the entire hull sanded over the last few weeks and began some fiberglass repair. All is going well and it should receive filler very soon, then paint.

I brought the trailer home the other night so I could work on it easier without 45 minutes of drive time in the evenings. Got it completely disassembled last night, but only after I took a ton of pictures to show exactly how things go together, and some measurements. Interestingly, the front bunks weren't centered on the trailer, so the boat must have sat a little crooked. I only broke two bolts, one of which won't be a problem (held safety chains on and water drained down/rusted it), but the other will have to be drilled out.

Finally have the trailer all back and reassembled minus a few minor details. Trailer was media blasted and powder coated with as close to original colors as possible. The teal is almost dead on, but the yellow is a little more yellow. It looks good though. Wheels were powder coated black like original.

Jack and winch were wheeled and painted the original Fulton green, despite not matching the trailer.

All hardware (roller mounts, bolts, nuts, washers, bunk mounts, coupler, lights, etc.) was blasted and cad plated to prevent rusting.

Hubcaps are new stainless repops from the hubcap guy. They really set the trailer off, even though they definitely aren't cheap.

Tires are new 5.30x12 Carlisle Sport Trails. Also found these wheels have an unusually large valve stem hole. The only ones that would fit were heavy duty brass John Deere tire valves at $17 each!

Trailer lights were rewired into a standard trailer 4-wire system. Wire is 3M automotive taped to bottom of frame (original was just electrical tape banded). Original style 4 way round electrical plug retained in front (with adapter now to 4 flat). Original/close to original light bulbs worked except for one of the three. Left light is a single bulb/dual filament, right light is two bulbs.

New axle bearings/seals.

What's left is:

- Make stencil from tracing for painting name on front
- Get new bunk boards, wrap in carpet, install
- Find missing U-bolts for winch stand and install correctly
- Find missing carriage bolt for one roller mount
- Adjust bunks to boat
- New seals in taillights

I will get more pictures when I'm completely done with it, but here are a few as it is now. Going on the road with it tonight...









Oh. Boat hull is painted white now with white gel coat paint from West Marine. Rolled it on as instructed, but it did not flatten out as we expected. Will need lots of wet sanding now, hopefully it doesn't sand through. That's a work in progress yet.

Here's a much overdue update on the project. Moving along.........slowly, as I have time to work on it.

First of all, painting the hull didn't come out as great as I had hoped. By rolling it on, it created high and low spots in the paint. Even with two coats, there wasn't much paint left in the valleys. So, starting with 220 grit, we sanded down a lot of the texture to smooth it out, then finished with 600 and 1000 grit to really smooth it out. unfortunately it just can't get down to a perfect smooth gelcoat finish without somehow spraying it on, but with the hardener, that's not possible. Considering it's the bottom of the boat though, it's tolerable. A couple pics of the paint job pre-sanding:





To bring out the shine in the now dull finish, it was recommended to use Meguiar's Diamond Cut polish. So, ordered that from O'Reily's, and went to work. It did a nice job polishing it to a nice shine, hiding most of the remaining texture. We finished with a coat of wax while it was upside down.

Once the hull was finished, my dad and grandpa worked on installing the rear transom reinforcement plate we had made out of stainless steel. It was easier to use floor jacks to push up than to try to put down force on it later. It's on, barely. Dramatically improved the strength of the transom now, even though it wasn't rotten. If nothing less, it'll help distribute the weight of the engine. Right now it just has some regular hex bolts holding it, but I think they really need to be carriage bolts (and with cap nuts too, if I can find them) to make it look period.

Finally, we reconnected the homemade apparatuses for lifting/rotating the boat and picked it up off the cart with the chain lifts again. It started to creak as I was pushing it into the turn, and the back one started coming apart a little. You better believe we got that trailer rolled in there ASAP and got it down!

The chain lifts were still holding, so I was able to use that to align all the rollers and bunks on the trailer. Roller height needed to be set, as well as angle and position, and the bunks needed to be adjusted for both up/travel and down/loose positions. I was able to get it all properly aligned (and better than original) thanks to the lifts. We did have to scramble at the last minute to remove the trailer winch post because the chain lift system was right in the way, but that wasn't too bad. It was a good feeling to get the boat back on the trailer and everything aligned.



With the exception of playing with the right side taillight (the running light side bulb isn't reliable) and stenciling on the trailer name/logo, the bottom half is done.

Of course there's a lot left on top, likely starting with paint. We definitely won't go with gelcoat on top again since it was so difficult and the results are hardly respectable. I'll take it on the bottom for the durability factor, but it isn't necessary on top. The yellow color on the trailer is a little darker than the original trailer color and maybe a little more darker than the original boat color, but I think it would look good to tie in the same yellow, so I will get automotive paint with the same color code to do basecoat/clearcoat on the top yellow portion. Should blend in with the seats as well.

Since this was the first time the boat was upright since receiving the seats back, I put them in to see what they'd look like:









My only complaint about them is that the V patterns don't match up between the seat backs and bottoms, and yes, I reversed them to make sure they didn't pick the wrong bottom. Otherwise, I love the color and everything about them, so they should really compliment the boat.

In fact, I even tested them out, and you know what? They're pretty darn comfortable! High quality foam is WELL WORTH IT! It actually felt like a quality piece of furniture, not cheap patio furniture.



It'll see the water again, someday...

Great progress report Sunline Fan, thanks for sharing!

Jon,
This spring we WILL have the boats out and crusing on your lake! I am just not sure which one I will be in.

Regards,
StevieB

Looks great. I just bought a 1960 Owens 15ft. I already started a new thread. I will be following your progress and learning as much as I can.

I am in Florida now and found my 2009 notes. For reference, the original rubrail profile used on my 58 cutter was available then from Alan Cray at rubrails.com, 877-287-6707.

She's looking GREAT, nice work.

Bob

Thanks all! And Steve, you may have to tie a rope on and tow me, lol! I think it'll float, assuming the new drain plug seal works.

I really should have pulled it outside, but I realized I didn't have pics of the rear with the transom plate installed. It's custom bent out of plate stainless (I'll have to look up the thickness) and the sides are cut on a straight angle to match the V on the gas hatch door.

It does look a little wavy right now without the motor/bottom bolts in. We also removed the original drain hole sleeve and will install a new one through the plate.

Like I said earlier, I want to find some nice looking carriage bolts to replace the hex head bolts so it looks better. But this is holding it for now.

Apologize in advance for the funny shadows created by the car parts behind the boat.







For those who are wondering, the big 'ring' in the background is the coil of stainless rub rail strip...

Been a while since the last update, but it has taken a while to make some progress. I'm working on the reassembly process now, and it's quickly coming together. I painted the top with Interlux Perfection in Fighting Lady Yellow, and it went better than I thought. It's not perfect, but it's unique like the boat, and is much better than swallowing an expensive price tag for a professional paint job.

Here's a teaser for now, and the picture really doesn't do it justice:

Jon,

I just read all three pages....excellent work....she looks beautiful. Are you going to splash her this year or wait until next season?

Frederic

Been quite a while since I last updated, but the push is now on! A family friend is helping organize the annual classic car and boat show at Bay Harbor, MI this year, and he invited my dad to bring one of his cars to it. We saw him a couple weeks ago and I mentioned how excited I was to come see the restored boats to get ideas of ways to enhance mine. Well, after seeing a picture (the one just above a couple posts here actually), he's like, I want that in the show! Apparently they are wanting finned boats, not so much wood boats, and they only have one finned one registered now. I agreed, and it has been a struggle to get everything ready.

I took the boat up to the legendary Gabe Adams, per the recommendation of StevieB, and Gabe tuned the engine up for me and corrected the lower unit seal. I haven't had a chance to start it since, but he said it runs well, just needed the fuel pump fixed, which I did.

I had a list of things to finish before the show and I'm making progress, it's almost there. The show is Saturday 6/27, so the deadline is approaching!

One thing I addressed were the registration numbers. This boat originally had plastic numbers on the side, and I liked the vintage looking 3D look. I finally found a source (Hamilton Marine), and while I wasn't crazy about the white bevel at first (original didn't have that), it has really grown on me. I know most people put them down below the belt line, but these were originally up above in this location, and I'm proud to show off my early registration numbers! I'm very happy with the outcome:

I don't have a specific picture, but I also hooked up the original speedometer. The original owner welded up some sort of gizmo from hardware store parts, that basically clams onto the transom, extends down, and holds the pitot tube sensor below the water line. After being sandblasted, it looked good enough to continue to use, so I'm making it work. I like that the transom has the original wood, and I really didn't want to drill a hole back there if I didn't have to!

I bought a couple spare Cutter script emblems from someone on here parting out a Jet DeVille, with this in mind. They aren't perfect, but hey, they exist. One is pitted, and the other is broken in three places. I cut the tabs off the back of the broken one, and taped it to the dash with 3M automotive tape. I think this is just the decoration the boring dash needed.

Next was the rub rail. My grandpa did a great job working on this. It arrived LTL in a big coil, kinked at most of the screw holes. As a refresher, the original rubber rub rail was long gone, replaced with a piece of plastic pipe that looked terrible, and caused the lip to crack in a few places. I custom designed a new rubber rub rail with stainless insert on CAD, and Wefco Rubber made the rubber part happen. For the most part, it all went on perfectly and looks even better. My grandpa used a block of wood in the shape of the rear fins, with screws and curved washers, to help bend the stainless strips to the shape needed. Screwing it all in has been a challenge, but we did it! Or rather, the fin part is screwed, and most of the rest of the boat is bolted with lock washers. I think this rub rail gives the perfect amount of "bling" to the boat, to help enhance the stainless parts on there, and divide the two colors. Above all, it should really help protect the boat better than ever.

Next up: Clean the interior, run/install the engine control harness, install some teak floor sections, touch up a couple spots of paint on the motor, and put the gas tanks/battery back in. I will need to work on some decals for the motor eventually, but that will be after the show. I'm hoping to get a chance to water test it in the next week as well, since it still hasn't been!

If any of you are at the Bay Harbor show, come say hi!

She's looking good Sunline Fan, and "ggod on ya'" for getting out there and showing her off!

Thanks Mark!

This past weekend, my dad helped me design/install the teak floor sections I had in mind. Rather than buy raw teak and have to cut/finish it, I bought six teak bath mats and built a frame section to hold them together. The original appears to have extended up in the bow, but that would require a lot of cutting. This'll do the job just fine, and covers up most of the wear areas on the fiberglass from when the floors weren't in there. I need to clean the inside fiberglass yet and I'm pretty confident it'll clean up well, because I'm not planning to repaint inside.

After many difficulties, I did get the boat out on the water for the first time in 35 years! For whatever reason, it just won't stay running with the engine cover on, and it does need more adjustment yet because top speed is (barely) 12 mph. I expect a boat of this size and with this motor should hit the high 20s. Either way, it was good to return it to the water once again. It did smoke a fair amount because I think I put too much oil in the mix.

I have a long list of things to do on Friday before the show, so hopefully it's ready! The hard parts should be done, and just all the small things that will take up time as a whole are left.