1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

what does he do with the donors?

Well, That depends. Generally, the 'donor' boats are in VERY bad shape- And get cut up and sent off to the landfill. They are usually beyond reasonable salvage- You'd put more time and money in to them to get them back afloat than it would be worth (although some people think that about ALL my projects!)

If the hulls are OK, or potentially salvageable, I'll offer them up free or almost free on Craigslist- Usually someone will take them...

The lake N sea that I got the spare parts from has been sitting FAR too long, and some parts had already been picked off of her. As far as I know, she's still sitting at the boat yard- It was abandoned years ago, and will probably get cut up.

You can't save 'em all- So you just save what you can

-Andrew

 

[sschefer]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

I was looking around and found a few Parson's LakeNSea's going for 500.00. Most were missing parts like windsheilds, etc. I'm still looking. I think I know where one might be in the high desert that may be in fair condition. I'm going up there next weekend to have a look and fish for week while I'm at it.

 

[southkogs]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

... and a Volksboat!?! You're a machine Andrew ... BTW, your illustration is actually pretty good. I'm graphics for a living, and that's as good or better than most of what I deal with day-to-day.

I saw the post about the meets. I'll keep watch for the next one. Especially if you've got the Lake 'N Sea in for that one, I might well drop in.

In the meantime, I'm really enjoying this thread!

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Not a whole lot more done- But a little! I have been concentrating on the G-3 transom so I can get it out of the garage

I was thinking about filling the louvered area of the transom all the way- but decided against it. Instead, I filled the areas that had cracked before with thickened epoxy, figuring that they are probably the weak spots. I also filed the area where the transom eyes go through, to provide some extra 'beef' there.

Then, I put a layer of 1708 over the transom, in the area that will contact the transom once it's installed. It's tabbed into the hull as well. It's MUCH stronger than it was before!

Next I'll cut the transom... Should be easy compared to the last two, since it's flat

I also did some color 'sampling' from a photo of an 'original' pink Lake N sea that is in the process of restoration- A slightly larger "Arrowhead" Model. It's close to these-

-Andrew

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Finally got some work done today- Between bad weather, a little cold spell, and other things, I've been a little slow...

I cut the transom to shape-

I used my template to get it close, then used a grinder to fine tune it a bit. It's a pretty complicated fit, since it goes into a recess that's moulded in to the transom. Once I got the fit right, I cut the other piece, and glued 'em together with thickened epoxy-

Once it has cured, I'll grind it to it's final shape, seal it all off with epoxy, then install it.

I started to cut the fiberglass off the stringers, and I discovered something great- The wood is NOT as bad as I though- In fact, the stringers are mostly intact. They appear to be Mahogany or some other hard wood. When I cut the ends off of them to get to the stringers, I noticed that the area that I cut through was SOLID. The last 6" or so had some surface rot, but I cut that all away. There is some localized rot in the areas that screws penetrated the wood, such as where the seat hinges mounted, but it's going to be repairable.

This will save me a LOT of time- I plan to remove the glass covering from them, make sure that they are good and dry, then sand them down, and epoxy/glass them again. Any rotten areas will be removed, and replaced either by sistering in new pieces of wood, or just some filler, depending on how large they are.

Hopefully, I'll get the transom in tomorrow!

-Andrew

 

[sschefer]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Found one up here in the high desert. Your's looked restored before you started compared to this one. This one doesn't have the louvers on the back but has all the other classic features. Transom is just about ready to fall off, lol, like that would scare any of us off. I got it, motor and trailer for 100.00. I'm putting it in storage this afternoon, it'll be snowing up here pretty soon and I don't know how soon I'll be able to get back up here.

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Congrats, Steve.

Without the Louvers, it's a different model, & or a different year. The transom louvers didn't show up 'till '59, before that the boats were similar looking, but just had fins back there. They did build a model in '59 without the louvers, too...

Depending on how old yours is, it MIGHT be one of the older models built by Chris-Craft... Those are VERY rare boats. Unfortunately, there is a reason that they are very rare- They acquired the name "Leak N Sink" for a reason. When they were building those boats, they had a serious lack of understanding of how to build a fiberglass boat, and they had big problems with plywood delamination within the first years of use.

The good news- They can be fixed properly- Especially with 'modern' materials!

Do you have all the original hardware?? Is there a builders plate? If there is, It'll be somewhere in the cockpit area. It'll have a serial number that will tell you the year and which company built it for sure. I'd love to see some photos of the new toy!

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Nice project, I'll be following this one for sure!

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

I spent the morning out on the boat, so I didn't get as much done today on this project as I would have liked to... But, then again, I think that the 'brownie' points I got by taking the wife out to brunch by boat more than made up for that

It was a nice day-

Every so often, it's good to take a break and remember how much fun using these classics is... Keeps you motivated on the work part!!



The wood is in, and the clamps off-

Then, I trimmed the top of the new transom down to it's original level (based on the existing fiberglass on the transom)-

And, Glassed it all in-

I used 1708 Biaxial across the transom- But didn't extend it up in to the fin/louver areas... They aren't structural, and I used a lighter cloth there that conformed to the odd curves better.

This new transom is MUCH stronger than the original one ever was- And sealed off much better... I'm sure it's ready for another 50 or more years!

-Andrew

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Man, I AM getting old!!! The amount of work you get done and still find time to get all that nice work done. I am embarrassed.

As always, Nice work!!!

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

VERY cool looking classic boat - You are doing a great job restoring that and not just making it pretty, You are actually fixing the shortcommings that come with a 50 year old boat.

Keep up the good work and keep the pics comming.

LK

 

[archbuilder]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

nice work, by the way what are you doing with the merc in the background........you can't get enough of them once you have owned one of them, lol

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

My Wife just said NO NO NO, so I'm passing this on to you as a possible Next project. It has a Gator Super Trailer under it.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1184953

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Man, I AM getting old!!! The amount of work you get done and still find time to get all that nice work done. I am embarrassed.

Remember, we got a 4 hour boat ride in, too- Complete with a brunch buffet

You are doing a great job restoring that and not just making it pretty, You are actually fixing the shortcommings that come with a 50 year old boat.

Thanks... There are a lot of things in these older boats that could have been done better... But, this was in the very early days of fiberglass boatbuilding, and nobody had a lot of experience... These were also production boats, so a lot of things were done in the interest of saving money that probably could have been done better. I can say, however, that this particular boat is built MUCH better than many older ones- Like the all fiberglass floor. The level of craftmanship in this boat is much higher than others I've seen and worked on!

what are you doing with the merc in the background

That's a 1961 Merc 700 'Tower'... I WAS going to restore it and use it on my Custom Craft, But someone found out that I had one, and begged until I decided to sell it to them. They REALLY need it for a project, and I don't really need it now... The motor next to it is my 'baby', its a '57 Johnson Golden Javelin- Probably the most beautiful outboard ever built. It's complete, too- I've got the chrome and badging stripped off it for restoration. I've just got to find a boat for it to sit on- ALthough it's pretty enough to display in the living room!!

-Andrew

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

My Wife just said NO NO NO, so I'm passing this on to you as a possible Next project. It has a Gator Super Trailer under it.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1184953

I'd pick that baby up in a heartbeat if I had the room to store her... Plus the money to pay for the divorce. That is one seriously cool boat, I've always loved that model. I know of a guy that collects lone stars, I'll have to find his info and pass it on to him!!

 

[sschefer]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Andrew, I didn't get back over to the boat as planned yesterday. I was forced to fish until noon and spent the afternoon with my good friends here at the lake. I plan to get to it today after I come in from my morning fish hunt. I'll get some pic's and maybe together we can figure out what I have. I'll start another thread then and stop interuppting yours.

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

I was forced to fish until noon and spent the afternoon with my good friends here at the lake.

How AWFUL!

I spent the morning out on the boat, too. Can't blame you- You've got to get it in when you can!

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Sounds like a couple of SLACKERS!!!!!! to me. Doncha know it's all about grindin and itchin and glassin and paintin.

 

[andgott]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Sounds like a couple of SLACKERS!!!!!! to me. Doncha know it's all about grindin and itchin and glassin and paintin.

Yeah, But I still got my transom glassed AFTER the morning on the boat! Besides, you've got to keep the wife happy

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: 1959 Lake N' Sea Restoration

Yeah, I spent the weekend keeping her Happy in Kansas City. We celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary in the same city where we Honeymooned. She loved it, so now maybe I can get back on the boat with out so much noise.