Since the weather in Northwest Ohio has deteriorated to the point that no work outside on the Alumacraft FDR is possible at this point, other work is able to be completed in the shop.  Work on various old outboard motors that needed complete restoration.    

The first is a wonderful old 1949 Johnson TD-20 that was sent my way by the local marina who was asked to take it on trade in.  They of course laughed at the poor guy…and instead told him to call me.  I went to see the motor and it was not only not running, but was seized up.  The tank on the top of the motor was badly dented, and the lower shroud was torn.  They guy wanted 40.00 for this thing to cover his costs of a new recoil he’d just had replaced.  We “dickered” on price a bit and settled on…uh…40 bucks!     

Okay!  It’s a 30 dollar motor at the average swap meet, but oh well!    

Auto body filler is applied to the tank in several layers.

The tank will need to be sanded, filler applied and sanded several times for a smooth finished tank.

After the auto body filler is applied, sanding until the entire tank is smooth will be required.

After applying self-etching primer and Johnson Sea-Mist Green paint from NY Marine, as well as their decals, the motor looks like new.

This little beauty is ready for service. The motor is a non-shift type. It runs in ONE DIRECTION! To go in reverse, you must turn the motor 180 degrees. She looks great in the sun. The decals set is available at nymarine.ca.

Next up was a 1950 Johnson 10hp QD-11 outboard.  This was one of the first full shift versions that came from the OMC Family.  It has forward-neutral-reverse.    

This old Seahorse was purchased on Craigslist for 15 bucks from a local family here in Toledo that does restorations on boats.  They had bought this old thing hoping to restore it…or at least get it running.  The project ran out of steam though.    

Upon inspection the motor was in sad shape.    

Mice had made a condo out of the underside of the cowling. They spent their time sleeping and peeing all over the motor block and exhaust leg. YUCK!

The mouse urine really does a nice job of eating the aluminum.

Following disassembly of the motor, the power-head was soda blasted to get rid of the mouse urine.  Many other parts from under the hood also had to be soda blasted.     

Soda blasting is a very nice way to get rid of dirt and old paint without damaging the aluminum underneath.  In many cases the primer was unscathed, allowing for feathering in new self-etching primer and painting.    

The motor was reassembled after replacement of the water pump impeller and rebuilding the lower unit with new seals.The cowlings were also riddled with mouse urine. I ended up buying a new set off Ebay. They were sand-blasted and primed and painted Johnson Sea-Mist Green

After sand blasting the cowling was primed and painted.

After reassembly and re-working the ignition...paint and decals were applied and she's ready for action!

I've always thought this was a very sexy looking outboard form the Johnson Family!

Next came another Seahorse in the form of trade for services rendered.    

A friend of mine had his grandfather’s 1954 Johnson CD-11 5.5 hp with the original pressure tank, but it was not running.  He had another Johnson CD he was going to use for parts…but the project hadn’t gotten off the ground yet.    

He asked if I would look over the motor and get it running in trade for the parts I could salvage from the second motor.  SURE!    

As luck would have it, his granddad’s motor was in great shape and just needed a tune-up.  The old OMC coils form the 1950’s always crack and make running an impossibility, rebuilding the ignition, installing the new water pump impeller, and rebuilding the lower unit was all that was needed.  This little motor was humming in no time.    

Now the questions of what to do with the junk-pile that was bestowed upon me for my efforts.     

You guessed it!  When in doubt…RESTORE IT!    

The motor was completely stored away in the clamshell hood.  The motor had thrown the #2 connecting rod, for which the “CD Series” is notorious.  I visited the local scrap yard and found a new power-head for this motor.  Swapped parts from one motor block to the other since they are slightly different from year to year, and then the usual rebuild of the ignition, water pump and lower unit.    

The odd thing about this motor was cosmetic.  It was painted 1954 Seahorse Green!  I started to noticed red showing in areas as I tore the exhaust leg apart.  Then a light came on in my head.  The cowling had the oval Seahorse medallion on it.  That meant this couldn’t be a 1954 or 1955 “CD”.  Turns out is was a 1958 CD-15 according to the tag.  I started to assume it had parts swapped around over the years…but no dice.  As I sanded the parts, this motor had obviously been repainted, beautifully, with Seahorse green!    

In an effort to take the motor back to its roots, it was restored in 1958 colors.    

1958 CD-15 Johnson 5.5.Seahorse in classic Holiday Bronze, Cream, and gold lettering.

The 1959 Seahorse medallion was all there, but cracked! I glued it back together with thin viscocity "CA" glue. then it was sanded with 600 grit wet/dry paper and buffed out with Novus plastic polish. The cracks are hardly noticeable!

The next Seahorse came in a very odd and roundabout way.  Here is the story!    

I watch Craigslist for old outboards on occassion.  I saw an old 5 hp Firestone that looked to be a good prospect for restoration.  After 3 weeks it was still listed, so I called the guy.  He stated he’d just sold that motor that afternoon…but had another if I was interested.  He said it was a Martin.    

I know nothing of Martin motors, but thought I would check it out for some of the Martin Motor fans in AMOCI.    

Upon arriving at the guys house, he greeted me and showed me the Martin hanging on the back of his landscape trailer.  It was missing a lot of parts!  I asked how much.  He said “40 dollars”.    

I said “It’s missing the tiller, lower shrouds, the fuel sight glass was broken, and all the carb controls are gone.  I’ll give you 20 bucks.”  

“No way!  I’ll sell it on-line before I’d sell it that cheap!”  he said angrily.    

“Fine…I understand!” I replied.  And as I got to my truck, the guy shouts…”I will take 25 for it though!”    

So I shelled out 5 EXTRA bucks of “extortion money” for the guy without any ideal what was awaiting me.    

I went home and posted on the AMOCI forum asking for guidance as to what this Martin 200 outboard was.  Again…I have no idea at this point!    

I never got a repsonse to the thread I’d started, but I got inundated with PM’s and e-mails.  Obviously…this motor was of interest!    

While a beautiful motor, with potential...it was too much for me to spend time on.

Too many missing and high valued parts made this restoration a project for someone who loved Martin Motors.

 A friend of mine from Indianapolis sent an e-mail warning me to watch for “vultures” and he’d sold his similar motor for 1600 bucks last year.    

HOLY CRAP!    

I ended up getting a nice PM from a very nice member of the AMOCI group who was interested, and had a 1957 Johnson Javelin if I was interested.  We spoke on the phone and everything felt right about this deal!    

I also got many offers for cash, but my interest lie in finding the right home for the motor, and maybe something in return to work on restoring for myself.  One guy who kept expressing interest…a little too much maybe…and a little to forceably…was eleminated fairly quickly.    Others were very gracious, but I kept thinking about this guy in Mansfield, Ohio.

After becoming irritated by all the traffic this thing was drawing, I called the fellow with the ‘57 Javelin and told him I was on my way to Mansfield to do the deal.    

I arrived and he had a 3-ring binder with the parts manual for the ‘57 Javelin (Two copies…one for inside…one for outside.) waiting for me.  He also ran copies of the parts book for the 1957 35hp Evinrude I mentioned in our conversation.  We went to his workshop…where he had two ’57 Javelin’s waiting.  He compression tested the motors for me, let me cherry pick the chrome for the hood from both ‘57 Javelins he’d pulled for me.  He also included with the deal the all-elusive cables, solenoid box, throttle, and motor wiring harness…and a 6 gallon pressure tank.    

We talked a while and drank a soda.  I got the Martin out of my truck, and presented it to him.  He seemed happy.  I was happy!  Then I mentioned that the recoil cover for my ‘56 Johnson Javelin was broken.  He went over to a series of drawers and pulled one out and threw it in to the deal.    

What a grand experience.  He was just a great host!    A gentleman!  And pretty typical of the guys in AMOCI! 

So the next Seahorse for restoration is a 1957 Johnson Javelin.    

Here she is in all her glory. Actually...in very good shape for a 52 year old motor! I got to pick the best chrome for my cowling, but it will still need to be re-chromed at some point for the restoration process.

This motor is almost ready for action, given her condition!

The faceplate and medallion are in pretty good shape too!

Upon pulling the head on the block, I am almost certain this motor is very low hours, and has seen little use period.  The paint is in good shape with the exception of the lower unit.  I will likely do a complete tune up and cosmetic rebuild, but the rest of the motor appears to be in too good of shape to mess with.    

Aside from these old Seahorses, I also have a Firestone 3.6hp to work on and am in the process of restoring a 1949 5hp Gamble’s Hiawatha that will be featured in a latter blog.    

Thanks for dropping in, and have a great holiday season!

When we parted company last we were working to prepare our little vessel for a good buffing.  To make a nice finish, some small items must be dealt with.  Aluminum “warts”.

This is a "wart". See the little aluminum nodule at the end of the scrape? This needs to be removed.

A “wart” is formed by scraping the aluminum hull hard enough that the soft metal is dragged and reformed into a lump at the end of a scrape.  The problem is they are very unsightly, they tend to collect polishing compound and snag your wool polishing bonnets.  To get rid of these you can wet sand the area with 600 grit wet/dry sand paper.  I wanted this boat to look nice so I actually sanded the entire bottom of the hull.

Okay, some might think this is extreme…as do I.  However, this will make the hull very smooth (albeit not perfect) and allow us to actually save some time when buffing since all the little bumps or “warts” will be done away with on the front side of the buffing work.

The tools for prepping the hull. An orbital sander, a pad sander, a 7" angle grinder, fine and coarse wool bonnets, and a Cyclo orbital buffer.

To begin with the hull will be sanded with 240 grit sanding discs on the orbital sander.  Don’t obsess about the rivet heads too much as they will buff out.  However…don’t linger on the rivets too long either.  Sand the hull working in manageable areas.  For instance I work from one vertical rivet line to the next, finish sanding and buffing, then move on.

After sanding with the orbital sander and 240 grit sanding disc, the aluminum should be fairly dull and you should be able to get rid of the "warts" and other imperfections. Some folks will feather and buff out every scratch. I'm too lazy for that!

Next, using the pad sander loaded with 600 grit wet dry sand paper, sand the same area again to finish getting rid of scratches and “warts”, as well as softening the effects of the previous sanding work.

After re-sanding using 600 grit wet/dry sand paper and the pad sander, the aluminum is already showing a shine.

Here is a comparison of the cleaned aluminum (right) and the sanded aluminum (left).

After all this sanding, you may want to move to 1000 grit or even work your way toward 1500 or 2000 grit paper.  I am not going to obsess about the bottom of the hull too much.  The sides are where the money is for me.

Now lets move on to the buffing.  To begin you’ll need an angle grinder/buffer of some type.  The one I used is a relatively cheap 7 inch size.  It is a variable speed so that as we work with different compounds we can adjust the speed as needed.  We also need a coarse wool bonnet.  In fact several are a good idea since they can get loaded up with compound.  The good news is you can wash them out and reuse them.

For both the Feather Craft and the Alumacraft, 3M Heavy Duty Buffing Compound was used. It is fairly abrasive, but gets out a lot of little nicks and scrapes. It also prepares the aluminum for finer polishing compounds for the mirror finish.

A little dab will do you!  Keep this old axiom in mind.  DO NOT use too much compound as it will load up in the wool bonnet and eventually the wool will become ineffective at buffing….PERIOD.  Use a little bit at a time.  Spread it out with the pad, then turn on the buffer at the lowest possible RPM’s and work in a small area of about 12 to 16 inches by 6 inches high.

The work is slow, but good results will follow!

Now we're gettin' somewhere! The old shine is coming through. On the left is the area we just buffed as described, and the right is what we sanded earlier.

After buffing about half the length of the port side, I still found areas of scratches that were objectionable. No problem. Just sand them again, and buff as we have been. You can see in the middle and right part of the photo the area that was re-sanded.

After more buffing, we are left with a nice shiny, smooth surface.

A shot of the bow.

The side shot above shows the progress from the aluminum brightener (bottom of hull in the photo) to the buffed area. (Top of hull in the photo)

And finally a stern shot. Yes we have swirls from the coarse wool bonnet, but those can be buffed with a fine bonnet or the Cyclo orbital buffer and micro-fiber cloth. You can also get rid of a lot of those swirls by hand buffing.

Hopefully before winter gets a real hold on NW Ohio, I will be able to finish the other half of the hull.  Then in the spring time, we’ll revisit the project and work on the topsides and deck.  Then we can begin to work on adding hardware, seat, repairing the old cracked steering wheel, and getting this boat ready for boating season.

The vessel as it was when it arrived in its new home port. 50 years of dirt has accumulated on its hull. But the worst was yet to come when it was rolled over.

Using a one gallon garden sprayer full of aluminum brightener, the hull was sprayed and brushed gently, then thoroughly washed with water from a garden hose.

Let’s talk about the topic of aluminum brighteners.  I buy mine in a one gallon jug from a local vendor who sells products to car washes.  The same type of product is made under trade names such as Toon Bright, available at local marine stores.  There are others that are available from auto parts outlets.

Aluminum brightners contain phosphoric acid and other goodies…so a respirator is a must!  These brighteners should be “cut” as they are a concentrate.  The instruction on the bottle should be adheared to as well.  I “cut” my formula 3 parts water to 1 part brightener.  It can be mixed stronger as needed.

The process starts at the BOTTOM of the vessel and works its way UP to the top of the vessel.  So if your ship is upside-down on saw horses, as mine was, you will need to start at the gunwales and work your way up the hull to the keel.  Why is this? 

You must first remove all the dirt at the bottom to prevent streaking.  In other words, if you start at the keel, the aluminum brightener will run down the sides of the hull while still actively cleaning and leave streaks that can be very difficult to remove after the fact.

Starting at the gunwales spray with the garden sprayer along the length of the vessel working in two foot lengths, then using a medium or soft bristle scrub brush, gently work  along the section “massaging” the aluminum brightner.  Don’t scrub!  Let the aluminum brightner do the work.   You may need to make several passes at the area or the entire hull to make sure it is good and clean before moving on.

After you have cleaned the area with aluminum brightner, be sure to rinse thoroughly with water to stop the acidic action.  This is a must.  Then move on to the next section and repeat the process along the gunwales.  After the entire length of the hull has been cleaned, move up to the area above and repeat the process until the whole hull has been done.

The Alumacraft FDR has been completely cleaned with aluminum brightner on the sides. The worst is yet to come!

The aluminum will initially turn a light shade of white or grey following application of the aluminum brightener, but upon washing with water should return to aluminum.  Of course it will be dull or satin at this point.

Now we’ll move onto the bottom…which was a shocker!

When the boat was rolled over onto the saw horses, I was horrified to find the bottom coated in dirt and filth.  The boat must have been left in the water over the years, as it was covered with very thick growth.

A half-n-half view of the bottom of the hull. The left side shows the dirt that existed over the entire bottom of the hull. Also if you look at the far left, you can see the streaking caused by the aluminum brightener that was washed over the keel when rinsing the right half. Those same streaks are the reason we began cleaning at the gunwales, or the bottom of the hull. This eliminates the streaks running down the entire side of the hull.

After applying the aluminum brightener over the entire hull, the boat looks like new.

The inside was washed before the outside.  The reason is simply that there is aluminum brightner overspray that could louse up the work on the outside leaving white spots everywhere.  The inside also cleaned up very nicely.

You may need to repeat the steps above multiple times to be sure the hull is devoid of all dirt and grime.

At this point you will want to inspect your hull very closely.  You’ll be surprised at the number of dents and dings that you’ll find now that she is clean.  Things you never noticed will now stand out.  We’ll correct these issues in the next step as we prepare to use compounding polish to begin the buffing process.

As the old song says…”The Autumn Leaves….drift by my window…”.  Not only have they drifted, but they have landed and are at the curb waiting for pickup.

In the meantime, I’ve been spending more time practicing my trombone in the evening, and more time in the workshop working on all things boat related.  I have even made a list as to what I need to achieve before next boating season.  IE; Fix and restore 1958 Johnson CD-15 5hp, 1957 Evinrude 35hp, 1950 Johnson QD-11 (Under Way), 1950 TD-20 (completed), 1948 Gambles Hiawatha 5hp, and a 195? Firestone 3.6hp.  Also on the agenda is stripping the inside of the 1949 Thompson and getting new varnish inside her passenger area.  After all this is done, work can begin on the 1959 Alumacraft.

As mentioned, I have finished a nice little 1950 TD-20 Johnson 5hp outboard.  It came to me in a strange way.  A fellow walks in a local marine dealer…no this is not a joke, as there is no priest or rabbi involved…and wanted to trade this poor old thing in for a new motor.  He’d had the recoil replaced, and the thing would run for a while…then die.

Well the owner of the marina has done some of my motor block work and knows I like old motors.  He didn’t want the thing and gave this fellow my number.  The guy calls me up and asks me to come look at it.

Well I go to this fellows house…and not only is the motor beat up…it’s seized up.  I chuckled when he told me he just put 40 bucks in the motor for a new recoil.  Clearly this guy was frustrated…really just plain ticked.

“How much will you give me for it?!?!” the guy asked.

“Well…it might sell for 30 bucks at a swap meet in this condition.”

He says “Give me 40 bucks for it so I can recoup what I just put in the recoil, and I’ll let you have.”

Okay…I knew this was a tad high, but the guy seemed nice enough, and I had fallen in love with a TN-27 at Pokagon State Park Lodge.  The motor at least had the possibility of running again at best case, and being a nice non-running relic at worst case.  So I shelled out the 40 clams.  The guy was happy.  I wasn’t sure where I stood on the matter.

So home to tear into this thing.  As usual a consultation on the AMOCI forum was the first step.  A fellow there named Lloyd alerted me to the fact that the primer for the carb has a tendency to leak fuel due to worn out leather washers in the primer pump.  He sold the washers with instructions…so I bought them when we met at the Constantine, MI AMOCI meet.

Well I had a helluva time getting the little brass tube that holds these washer in the primer of the carb out.  Penetrating oil, PB Blaster, WD-40…nothing budged this brass tube in the Tillotson carb primer pump.  Lloyd checked in and assured me it should come right out.  If not he would assist in finding another carburetor body for me.

Now I really am thinking…what fresh hell is this motor!

Finally one day a week or two later, while picking at the tube…with a little heat from a torch and some patience…headway came about….it moved and eventually was free from 50+ years of gum  and varnish.  New leather washers were installed and the carb reassembled.  In the meantime the flywheel was pulled and the ignition cleaned up and reworked.  When I popped the flywheel…miricles of miricles…the pistons also broke free and the motor turned.  Go figure.

I did a bit of work on the lower unit to seal it up with new seals and a fresh load of Lubriplate 105, since this is a non shift outboard.  FORWARD ONLY!  And you better be pointed away from the dock.

After re-assembly, I found the motor ran erratically.  A fuel issue it appeared.  Indeed the cork float was saturated.  The carb was removed again, and the float dipped in Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer left over from the Thompson.  This penetrates into the cork and seals it better than varnish or airplane hot dope.

Reassembled the carb and the motor tuned fine now…except for a few leaks in the fuel tank.

It seems that when the tank was sandblasted by a local shop, they used “a LITTLE too much pressure” and apparently the medium of choice was railroad ballast/stone.  I patched the holes with JB Weld.  then set about filling the dents.

The dents in the tank were filled with light weight body filler.

The entire tank needed body work.

Next came sanding.  LOTS of sanding.  Sanding with a pad sander, then an orbital sander, then by hand.  And just when you think its perfect…sand some more!

Now the tank was ready for a coat of self-etching primer.

After trying some expensive self etching primer from the local paint supply house, I found it did not work well at all.  However, for 9.00 at NAPA, I found Duplicolor Self Etching primer.  This stuff seems to really work.  But we’ll see how it holds up in the water.

Paint was ordered from NY Marine at http://www.nymarine.ca/.  Peter sells paint that is a dead match for all the Johnson, Evinrude, and other popular outboards.  At first the 19.99 for a spray can was hard to swallow, but good things have been said about his paint…so I thought I’d give it a try.  It works very much like lacquer.  Very forgiving and very hard when dried completely.  The color is perfect too.  He also sells decals for this motor, so I ordered those as well.

The last issue with the motor is the recoil.  It has three tiny little springs that keep the pawls extended to grab the recoil when pulled.  Then when the motor is running, these pawls swing in due to centrifugal force.  The problem is…they were all missing.  An article was passed around the AMOCI Forum about making your own rather than buying them…so I did…using a guitar string, a screw with the head cut of and a notch cut down its middle.  The sting is wrapped around the screw…and presto!  Recoil spring!

The springs are wrapped around the little poles where the pawls pivot on top of the flywheel.

Next all old flaking paint was sanded or blasted off with a soda blaster.  Then primer and paint…and decals too.

Our little 1950 TD-20 is finished and ready for service. She is pictured hanging here on my 1959 Alumacraft FDR.

The Helmsman's controls left to right: Stop, Slow, Start, Fast. To go in reverse, turn the entire motor 360 degrees!

To protect the decals, a clear coat of automotive lacquer was applied.  Several coats later, she was shiny and new looking.

This may be a nice little motor for trolling along the Maumee River for a sunset cruise next spring.

Work is underway on the 1950 Johnson QD-11.  These are great little 10hp motors, and a blog with be forth coming on it soon.

Alumacraft is a name with which I am familiar, but only in the sense that I see a lot of these boats around, both new and old.  They seem to have a good reputation, especially the older craft. 

Alumacraft is still in business, and is known for making modern and sleek boats…primarily for fishing.  Back in the 1950’s I suspect they felt some pressure to enter the market for motorboaters who wanted to pull a waterskier, and cruise the lake while on the yearly family summer vacation.  Thus, Alumacraft outfitted their standard fishing boat with a wheel deck and steering.  The aluminum bench seats were retained and upholstered seatback and cushions were added to make the little fishing boats look more sporty and comfortable.  A windshield was also an option.

The story of the boat ending up in my backyard is one of kindness.  It is as follows.

For those who follow this blog, or more for those who don’t, my wife’s job has been cut due to budgets being cut back at all level of her work.  We decided to put some money in our pockets by shedding things that were not necessary, and that meant one of our boats had to be looked at a surplus.

There was no way I was going to part with our 1949 Thompson Cedar Strip 14 footer.  I’d sell the house first.  This meant the 1955 Feather Craft Vagabond was going ot be put on the market.  I had only finished the restoration this year, but times are tough…so up for sale it went.

The Vagabond was posted on various websites for sale, including  www.feathercraft.net.  I was contacted by a buyer from Tennessee who offered me what I was asking, and was willing to come pick the boat up.  I was relieved he and his girlfriend seemed to be thrilled with the boat, and it would have a good home port, and Captain and Crew that loved it…perhaps more than I did.

Upon listing the boat as “SOLD” on the Feather Craft forum, I got a funny call from one of the members.  He introduced himself, and stated he saw I’d sold my “ship”.  He continued…“I’ve had some shitty and tough times in my life.  I know what you’re going through, and I wanted to help out.  I have a 1959 Alumacraft boat, with trailer! I want you to come pick it up.”

I explained, I couldn’t afford to buy anything right now…but the man cut me off to continue…

“You’re not going to pay for it.  I want to do something nice for you so you and your wife will have a boat for next season.  This boat is good and straight, no dents or dings, and no leaks.  I just want you to come get it!”

I really couldn’t believe my ears!  Fortunately my wife was in the car, because she could hear the conversation from my cell phone, or she wouldn’t have believed it either!

I told the caller I’d better check with my wife.  He laughed and said “seriously?!?”  I explained that I found myself in the doghouse when I bought the Vagabond, and this would be best for all concerned.  (Refer to blog post:  Feather Craft Vagabond Part One: From the Boathouse to the Doghouse…)

My wife and I talked it over, and I called to accept the vessel with great excitement.  I couldn’t believe someone I’d never met could be so kind.  I was…and am truly dumbfounded!

Now I have a new project to work on!  I had heard Alumacraft was a great boat, but I didn’t know what kind of boat this was.  I didn’t really care though.  If it was just a fishing boat, GREAT!  I could run my smaller antique outboards on it.  But the man had mentioned rigging still being on the boat…so this means it must be a runabout of some kind, though I knew of no such boats made by Alumacraft.

We set a date for Saturday October 17th, 2009 for my road trip to Kentucky to pick up the vessel.  In the meantime I called my buddy Larry to ask him to accompany me for the trip.  Larry is a former railroader.  He is used to staying awake for long trips, staring out the window of a cab, and generally he is entertaining to spend time with as he re-lives stories of railroading.  I knew we would have plenty to talk about.

On the date specified, I picked Larry up at 7am sharp, and down I-75 we headed for Kentucky.  I was tired, and excited.  Larry was in rare form that early in the morning…dropping the “F-bomb” every four or five words in each sentence.  We rolled along re-living our lives on the railroad, cussing, and laughing, telling stories…and being MEN.  He had my sides hurting at some points from laughing.  He’s a wonderful guy…but a real character!

We got to Maysville, Kentucky at least an hour before I expected, stopped for lunch in Flemingsburg, KY, called the “boat benefactor”, and set out down the road for the 20 minute trip his home.

He greeted us, and showed us several of his beautiful boats and motors.  Then he took me to my new vessel.  I was thrilled.  (Even Larry said later that he was surprised by the boats condition.)  There sitting on it’s vintage Balko Brother’s trailer was a wonderful little 14 foot  Alumacraft “FDR”.  It had the original steering wheel, pulleys, and splash well on the transom, the bow handle, and even a nice Perko Bow light.  “This boat has real potential” I thought.

Well, everything wasn’t perfect.  Despite new wiring, and lights, the trailer light plug did not match my truck.  Larry and I hitched it up and headed back to Flemingsburg to the NAPA store down the street from the McDonald’s where we’d had lunch.  After dragging some guy from behind the counter to assist me, I found an Emergency Trailer Lighting Repair Plug”.  6.99!  It simply was a snap together plug that fit my truck.  Larry and I cut the existing plug off the trailer, put the new plug on…and down the road we went.

Now for the boat.  I had done some research about Alumacraft boats in the week and a half from the call to “Greg and Larry’s Big Adventure”.  I found a website that had an old brochure with an Alumacraft runabout.

Oh! What a great looking little boat!!

I had found that Alumacraft had indeed made a model called and “FDR”.  This was the model-”F” styled  hull, with the “D”eep hull for more freeboard than standard fishing boats, and the “R” was a designation for runabout.  I had hoped this was the boat we would be getting, but again, anything was a gift.

Indeed this “FDR” was the very boat my “boating benefactor” was bestowing upon me.

Our new 1959 Alumacraft "FDR" at her new port of call in Toledo. What a great little boat this will be!

This boat has great potential.  It is very well constructed, and appears to be tight as a drum.  Nice lines and she looks to be a great project boat!  The hull very much resembles our Thompson, so I suspect she’ll ride well, and be a FAST ship!

This lil' darlin' was outfitted with a windshield at one time. I'll start hitting the bone-yards looking for one that will fit.

The Helmsman should be nice and comfy in this roomy cockpit!

She is outfitted with the Patented "Aqueduct Transom". This is a splash-well that allows any water that comes over the transom to drain out rather than sit in the bilge.Her capacity plate is still affixed to her transom.

There is no denying her heritage. The letters "FDR" are stamped into the transom brace.

This was the 130th hull of this design model made for 1959.

 

Her transom wood is original, but likely will be replaced.

Although most work will not happen until warmer weather in the spring, I am looking forward to making this little vessel into a good representation of her original self.  New seats and upholstery for the front and back with be replicated.  New electrical will be strung.  Checks for any leaks and sealing of same will be a priority.  A windshield and additional deck hardware will be added.  Stay tuned for updates in the future.

Larry indeed did call me while in a hotel somewhere on the road.  He offered some advice, and I wanted to drop by to say hello and thank him for his kindness.  Of course Mr. O’Brien didn’t recall the conversation, and we had only met once before 10 years ago, but he was very kind, and offered to allow me to hang out backstage during his performance.

I was supposed to be working, but spoke to my boss who was gracious about letting me have the afternoon free to go see the band.  She is a wonderful person too.

So I ran home and grabbed my camera, got into a more comfortable shirt, and off to the theater.

I watched Mr. O’Brien put the band through its paces during the sound check.  He was calm and relaxed, and yet very deliberate in giving direction of how the band should be playing.  He is neither bossy, not mean, but rather very kind and respectful when issuing the directives.  He understands his musicians are people.  There was absolutely none of the “Band Leader mentality” that has been written of Benny Goodman and “The Ray” (A glare Goodman used with underperforming musicians.), or the military discipline of the orchestra’s namesake leader, Glenn Miller.

At the end of the rehearsal, Mr. O’Brien gave everyone a list of songs to pull out of the thick and overwhelming orchestra music books.  He introduced to the band an Alto Saxophone player from Detroit who was subbing for their own regular guy who had gone home sick. Last he thanked the orchestra members for their time and work.

At 2pm the band was introduced and the members piled on stage to their respective spots on the bandstand.  Larry O’ Brien entered the stage after the applause died down for the band members.  More applause for the “conductor”.  Then the band was off and running.

The saxes rise and play the Glenn Miller sounds of "Moonlight Serenade" as Larry O'Brien conducts.

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has many incarnations over the years.  Immediately following World War II, Tex Beneke, star saxophonist and vocalist lead the band until a break-up with the Miller Estate.  The band lay dormant for several years until old friend and Miller colleague, as well as the man who fronted the USAAF Orchestra following Major Glenn Miller’s disappearance over the English Channel, was tapped to lead the band.  Than man was drummer Ray McKinley.  He had perhaps one of the most swinging version of the Glenn Miller Orchestra through the years.  Ray played great time on drums, and swung like crazy.  The band followed. 

After 10 years Ray settled down, and the Baton was passed to clarinetist Buddy DeFranco on the premise of the clarinet lead, he would be a good fit.  For a while, former Miller USAAF Orchestra clarinetist Peanuts Hucko led the band, Buddy Morrow did a stint before taking the reins of the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in the late 70’s, and that brought in trombonist Larry O’Brien.

Larry has always been a top notch trombonist, working in Las Vegas with Frank Sinatra Jr., and many other headliners.  But Larry had also worked playing lead, and all the tough Tommy Dorsey trombone solo for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra directed by saxman Sam Donahue (who by the way also played trumpet, valve trombone, and all the reeds.)  Larry eventually worked for the Glenn Miller Orchestra under the direction of Ray McKinley.  This makes him uniquely qualified for his position as the current musical director.

Larry O'Brien is playing solo trombone on Johnny Mandel's "Easy to Love".

 After the opening, Larry played four full tunes before addressing the audience.  FOUR!  Unheard of for most concerts, but this set the tone for the pace and flow of the show, which the leader has mastered.  One of my favorite pieces he played was Johnny Mandel’s “Easy to Love”.  It is a piece I’d been watching trombone great Bill Watrous play on You Tube the night before.  Larry played with great sensitivity…and his full broad, lush tone ringing in the hall was phenomenal on this lovely ballad. 

Larry is in a league with the likes of the greats such as Dick Nash, Buddy Morrow, Chauncey Welsch, Lloyd Ulyate, Joe Howard, Tommy Dorsey, and yes, dare I say Bill Watrous.  His high register ballad playing is unparalleled in today’s jazz scene.  He uses taste.  Vibrato as required.  And most importantly, as with the whole band, dynamics.  Something largely lost in today’s jazz and certainly in music as a whole.

Larry is no “baton swinging leader”!  He is always a man in motion!  He beats the songs off with crisp claps of his hands, and at the perfect tempo.  Constantly swinging his hips side to side (Which nearly got Elvis thrown off the television some years ago.), Larry taps a foot, make a face, or gives a look…and the band responds.  Only one other leader was able to do this so well, Count Basie.

Mr. O’Brien rolls side to side, and plays along whenever he feels the need!

The photo shows "the man in motion" fronting the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

Larry also insists on showmanship, as did Glenn Miller.  Miller always liked the way the great Jimmy Lunceford’s band played and threw their horns in the air, twirling trumpets, and derby hats waving in front of the brass section bells.  This kind of showmanship has diminished, yet is synonymous with the Big Band Era!  The leaders were super heros, the sidemen were kept track of by fans like baseball players.  Who left whom to go to where, and is playing with what band now.

This band still does the gymnastics of old, making a Catholic Funeral Mass seem like a leisurely walk in the park!  UP! DOWN, SWING LEFT, SWING RIGHT!

Sitting in their seat, the trombone section is about to get their workout!

Upsy...daisy...gentlemen!

Look out saxes...here we come!!

The momentum of the Glenn Miller Orchestra’s presentation has never been better.  Always moving forward.  Larry still talks to the audience, but the commentary is brief, but very pertinent to the music being played.  The the next song begins…and were moving along again.

Larry at the mic, taking another solo on the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn masterpiece "Chelsea Bridge". This is a tour-de-force piece many trombonists have played through the years.

Above Larry is playing “Chelsea Bridge” from the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn songbook.  This piece has been played by many trombonists over the years.  Bill Tole with the USAF Airmen of Note, an extension of the USAAF Orchestra Glenn Miller led during WWII.  A beautiful ballad piece, Larry plays with buttery smoothness.  Duke would be so proud of his music when played by great musicians, as on this occasion.

The “Girl Singer” of the Miller Band is Julia Rich of Nashville, TN.  She has a wonderful southern draw, and a mastery of singing almost anything.  She does a wonderful job on the Miller Band, and has for a number of years.

Songbird Julia Rich solos at the mic, eliciting memories of great "Girl Singers" like Helen O'Connell, Helen Forrest, Bea Wain, Connie Haines, and Jo Stafford!

 Of late…the Glenn Miller Orchestra has been pulling out arrangements that have not been heard in many years.  On this occasion the tune was a surprise to even me.  The tune was originally played by the Will Bradley – Ray McKinley Orchestra around 1939 or so when their band was heavy into the Boogie Woogie sound with Freddie Slack’s deft piano playing.  Miller was not adverse to putting his spin on a novelty tune.  The tune was sung by Tex Beneke and the Modernairs originally.  This time sung by the Moonlight Serenaders. “Booglie Wooglie Piggy” is back in the band’s repetoir.

The Moonlight Serenaders singing "The Boogily Woogily Piggy", a great novelty tune.

During intermission Mr. O’Brien was kind enough to sign the bell of my 1950’s vintage Getzen Super Deluxe trombone, along side Buddy Morrow’s signature.  We took the photo below, and his lovely wife offered to have me sit with her near the front of the stage for the second set.

Larry and his lovely wife Judy, who travels with the band.

Well , in these tough economic times, changes and belt tightening are inevitable.  And so it goes at our household.

Due to tax revenues being greatly decreased in the state, Ohio has seen fit to cut funding to the public library system statewide, regardless of the fact that record numbers of people are going to libraries for assistance in job searches, filling out on-line resumes, etc.  My wife has been caught up in the effects of these drastic cuts by being reduced to part-time and likely will not have a job by years end.  But this is all for a separate blog…so I digress.

In an effort to keep some cash handy for necessities until she finds full-time work, we have begun to shed a few items.  The first casualty just left the driveway behind a pick-up truck heading for Tennessee.  My Feather Craft Vagabond is gone.

She was indeed a fun little vessel.  We spent time cruising the Maumee River since her completion in late may.  I was always toying with something to improve the boat.  Higher pitch prop, brass prop, aluminum prop, more trim, less trim, trim tabs.  I finally got her to the point she really was in a nice groove.  She ran well and handled well.

I spent time twisting and turning while chasing seagulls and jet skis along the Maumee.  I polished her up, and was told by a young man at the dock she looked like a silver bullet going along the water.

Alas, she has left, and I am grateful to have had some time with this eye-catcher .  She delighted all who saw her.  Now, for the winter anyway, I will get back to working on a few old outboard restorations.  Hopefully by spring we may not be wiped out, and my wife will have a full-time job.  If not, my boss always says “it’s just stuff”.

I’m not really remorseful, just glad she’ll have a good home and care takers in her new Captain and Crew.

And so it goes…

So off to life in Tennessee with a wonderful couple who will enjoy her.

So long Silver Sonic!  Thanks for the memories…

My wife and I decided to take our Thompson out for a nice evening cruise on Friday night. A beautiful day in Northwest Ohio, and we expected a nice sunset.  So we set out with our trusty little wooden vessel, and cruised to Maumee and Perrysburg, then to downtown.

I don’t really know what my wife knows about boats and outboard motors, other than she gives me a courtesy nod an smile when I speak of either.  “Hey Honey!  I just put a brass 12 pitch prop on the Thompson’s motor.  Boy does it run like crazy now!!!”

The smile and glazed look with a simple “Great?”

Then the unexpected happens.  While out on our journey, she looks over and says “The motor seems to be running hard.”

I listen and yes it sounds like the carb could use a tweak.  We slow to a stop and I tell her I’m going to the back of the boat to adjust the carb.  She asks if I would like her to drive while I’m fiddling around with it.  Seems like a plan.  She’s been through this before.  So off we go!

She runs the motor to wide open throttle, and I adjust the carb high speed needle a bit on our trusty 1956 Johnson 30 hp outboard.  Sure enough…we pick up a few hundred extra RPM’s!  We slow down, and she gets a nice idle for me, and I tweak the low speed carb needle, and everything is great.

Our 1956 Johnson RD-18 running flat out on the Maumee River.

I ask if she would like me to take over, and next thing I know…I’m displaced from the helm and left sitting in the back seat while she runs the “Fibber McGee” through its paces.  Up to full throttle.  I’m pushed back in the rear seat.  Erin is off and running.

Erin is running "Fibber McGee" like an old pro.

Now I’m not necessarily nervous, but have you ever ridden in the passenger seat of your own car?  It feels weird!  The same feeling was coming over me.  Then along comes the first boat.  I wondered how she would handle the wake coming at us.

Great!  She just turned the wheel a bit and let old “Fibber” roll right through the wake.  I’m thinking “Fantastic…she’s pretty good!”.  Then along comes a nice sized cabin cruiser “plowing” furrows of water because the “Captain” hasn’t the foggiest notion what trimming your trim tabs or outdrive might do to reduce the displacement of water and subsequent ENORMOUS WAKE YOU’RE MAKING BECAUSE YOU ARE STUPID AND UNQUALIFIED to operate any thing over 10 hp.  Money isn’t equal to smarts on the water.  Just ’cause you can buy it, doesn’t mean you should buy it!

Here comes the wake and swells.  This ought to be interesting.  The “new helmsman” showed her prowess by slowing to a reasonable speed and again just rolling right over the swells like a pro.  After the “threat” has gone, back to full throttle, and running all out down the river.  She did a great job!  I was very at ease after a few minutes and was amused slightly at how well she does handle the boat.

My wife is not someone who takes compliment gracefully.  She’s self-effacing.  When she returned control back to the “Master of the boat”…uhem…I told her she really impressed me with her skills.  Of course she just shrugged off the compliment because of her personality.  But she really did a fine job!

Then I remembered a trip a few weeks ago in our Feather Craft Vagabond.  Same scenario with the carb, but the Johnson Javelin has no tiller to steer with, so she had to steer while I adjusted the carb.  Away she went.  When we got to our destination, I asked if she wanted me to dock the boat since she never had done so.  “Nope, just tell me what to do…”

Against a cross current she turns into the dock and made a perfect landing…first try.  PERFECT.  I just sat in the backseat and told her what to do.  She’s amazingly skillful for someone who is new to this work of boating.’

We had a lovely trip, and saw a beautiful sunset and later a full moon as shown below. 

The sun setting in the west over the Mighty Maumee River. Who knew Toledo could look so beautiful.

The full moon is rising with an incredible twilight beam on the water.

A Moonlight Serenade...

The "Helmsman". A job well done.

On Saturday August 22nd, 2009, The Toledo antique and Classic Boat show was held at the new public marina on Front Street north of downtown. 

The docks and lawns were full of classic boats and autos.  Many Lyman lapstrake boats returned to the show, again being very popular since they were made over in Sandusky, Ohio.  There were also some wonderful cabin cruisers docked for viewing.

Looking like a Chris Craft and pipe organ had been placed in an atom smasher, The Miss America is a record setting vessel, and crowd favorite.

Looks like the "Battleship row" of Lyman's

This 1947 vessel was built as a work boat in Maine, and later re-fitted with a deck house and cabins for a "better use".

This Chris Craft cruiser is one of the real beauties of the Toledo area. Her lines are classic, and she was saved from a scrap yard by the owner. He used pieces of two other boats to resurrect this vessel.

This is one of the last of the lapstrake Lymans built. Vintage is 1973.

This is a wonderful Mathews 52' cruiser. The owners were kind enough to give me a tour. She has been in the owner's family since purchased from the manufacturer.

The vessel boasts 3 staterooms, a galley, parlor, and enclosed sun deck.

She is powered by two newly built power plants that were custome made for this vessel.

A real class act..."No Golf Today"...shines in the sun with her piano finish varnish.

While this may not be the prettiest boat, she's still afloat and operational.

This is a true "tin can". Built of steel drums, she is powered by an outboard, and is great for monkey-ing around.

This is one of my favorite boats in the region. A Dart with a history of rum running, then confiscation by the U.S. Coast Gaurd for chasing rum runners. She was powerful and fast. Look at the lines of the hull. Triple cockpit. I'd give anything to work her over and make her complete again.

Another fast little wooden speedster.This was a wonderful little formed plywood runabout made by Wolverine.

While this is one of my "dream boats", the owner of this Chris Craft also happens to be the man who sold me the two Johnson that are being operated on our runnabouts.

Our two vessels drew a crowd on Saturday. Our Thompson (left) was just stunning in the sunlight with her freshly varnished decks.Our 1955 Feather Craft Vagabond "Silver Sonic" drew a lot of attention. It seemed most folks had never seen any such boat. I even caught two ladies fondling our rivets...on the boat.

The Chef's of Dixieland entertained the crowd with fun, humor, jokes, and yes...music.Ragtime Rick entertains and leads his group from behind his piano.

And that's the stern...uh...end.

A member of the Antique Outboard Collectors group offered me this little gem, knowing I have a love of these old Johnson’s.  They’re easy to work on and fun to run, plenty of parts that are relatively cheap too.

This motor was behind one of the man’s two pole barns that are filled with every kind of outboard imaginable.  He just didn’t have interest in resurrecting “another old Johnson”.

I wanted to bead-blast and repaint this old girl, but not sure I’d care to now.  The motor has had all the usual stuff done for a major tune up.  IE; new coils, condensers, points, a new water pump impeller, head gasket, and the lower unit was rebuilt.

1955 Johnson RD-17 25hp outboard.

After finishing it up and testing it in a 55 gallon lake, I really wanted to sell it.  I dragged it all the way to the AMOCI meet in Constantine, MI…and never got a nibble.  Too bad such a fine motor isn’t in demand.

As it didn’t sell, she was placed on my 1955 Feather Craft Vagabond for sea trials, and performed quite well…for a while.

The carb linkage was stiff, she belched and burped at anything less than idle…regardless of how the carb needles were set, and the throttle linkage kept coming apart…leaving the motor to idle down and stop running.

After climbing over the divider of the Vagabond to get to the motor for on-the-spot repairs a dozen times, I couldn’t understand why Johnson would make a “friction fit” linkage for the throttle.  Well…it didn’t used to be that way!

Upon arriving home and consulting the manual, this linkage should have had a clip to hold the linkage parts together.  A trip to John Fisher’s Marina was in order, and sure enough an old Evinrude Big Twin was laying in the weeds and had the exact clip that was needed.  Mr. Fisher was kind enough to “donate” it to the cause.

When I arrived home and installed the clip, and looked things over, I found the cam follower roller that follows the cam on the ignition plate had been broken in half and disentigrated.  A new one was installed, and we went back out to sea.

The old girl ran great all day long!

After running down river to Toledo’s waterfront, I headed back toward Perrysburg and Maumee where I found a few jet skis who were eager to play in my wake.  The tables were turned…much to their surprise.

The Feather Craft is very agile, and with the addition of Smart Tabs from Nauticus (http://www.nauticusinc.com/smart_tabsSX.htm) the Vagabond is also very smooth in the water.  So I started chasing the jet skis.  Jumping over their wake and spinning in tight circles, following (not too closely) and generally the 3 of us performed a nice Water Ballet.  The jet ski crowd seemed surprised to see a big old aluminum boat playing with them at their own game.

I will have more to say about Nauticus Smart Tabs later, but I want to make sure I’ve got a real grasp of them.

However, back to the motor…I suppose I’ll sell it as there is too much “big iron” in our storage now.  Still, it’s very nice to see a 54 year old motor run again.  And run well.