Restoring old motor and boat.

[reddog]

My father in law was going to give this (family boat) boat away to the junk dealer, and I stepped in to save it. According to him,it hasnt been in the water since 1973 or so.

Its a 1959 Pipestone Fibreglass Chieftain runabout, in perfect, but faded condition. It looks like a 55 or 6 Chevy, kind of with the fins and all. I believe it to have been salmon and black in its prime, although my wife says its pink. She hated the boat as a teen and still holds it in low esteem today, 40 years later. I think its cooler than heck!

The motor is a 1960 Evinrude Super Quiet 35 horse, and is also in very, very good condition, with the exception of being old.

I would like to restore both of these pieces and want to know who I should get to do the motor work. I understand all of the mechanical things that will need to be done. I am looking for the best person to do the cosmetic restoration on the motor.

Where would I go to look for someone like that?

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I am not as good at doign any sort of cut & paste or linking things, but there was a thread in this column this summer with people's feedback on Boat mechanics. I like Hannay's, but I don't know if they deal with motors going that far back or not.

[marine_man]

You are going to have a real difficult time finding someone to work on that motor... I can't point you to anyone, but the people who are competent at working on that old of a motor are tough to come buy and not the norm.

Not trying to rain on your parade, but to temper your expectations.

Good Luck!

marine_man

[hydro]

That sounds like a very cool project, the kind that if you do it right is worthy of parades and shows.

If your motor is really in good condition, you may not have to do that much to restore it to operation. Restoring it to look new is another issue altogether and will require complete dissassembly and restoration of each piece. That is a BIG task. Do some homework to find a source for parts as a start, you'll need them.

If you just want it to run, you will need to go through the fuel system and replace all the gaskets and seals. Check the fuel tank for rust, and replace the fuel hose and the o-rings in the connectors. Be sure to have the gearcase checked and re-filled. Pull the flywheel and check the coils to be sure they are in good shape and still work, and clean & adjust the points while you're in there. Once those points are addressed it should run fine. To find a mechanic, look around for someone who worked on OMC motors back in the '70s. They should remember that motor family.

[jtroop]

There's a guy on Dresden Ave in Northfield that does old motor restoration. Look up "Boat motor repair" on the Yellowbook web site. He hasn't done any restoration for me but has fixed up my '55 Johnson and '59 Evinrude.

[Steve Bakken]

The last thing you want to do is to have the body painted. We've only done it twice to a 'glass boat in our 25 years of business, and only at the customers wishes, and it is nearly impossible to hide all of the natural flaws. The paint magnifies them and it looks anything but original. On some boats the gelcoat is as thick as 3/8ths of an inch and we've had excellent results with sanding it down and then buffing it back up. If the gelcoat isn't completely shot, I would try to go down that road first.

[Surface Tension]

Definitely wet sand and buff that boat. You'll be amazed as to what color is under there.

As far as the outboard it depends. Scratches or just dead paint. Who deals in that type stuff, a body shop of coarse.

Need decals? A search might find you those or else try a vinyl graphics shop.

[reddog]

Thanks for the replies so far, they definitly help! I'll try to post a few pictures when I get a chance. Thanks for the info about not painting it also, because I'm pretty sure that was going to be the first road I was going to try.

You think a quick application of some buffing compound would give some idea of what lies below, and how receptive it is going to be to restoration from that angle?

What about a new windshield? There is a very small crack in one corner, and I'm pretty sure it is very brittle also. Is there someone that could remake the acrylic windshield also?

[Surface Tension]

If the crack isn't ended, drill a small hole to stop it from traveling. You can polish the haze out of the window.

Got any Comet? use that with a little water in a small area to take a look at what you have underneath.

[Steve Bakken]

Start with the least invasive materials and see what happens. Worst case scenario, we've had to start with 180 grit to dig far enough down to get into good gelcoat, but believe it or not, it does buff back up.

[reddog]

Cool, Thanks, Steve!