rocketraider Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 One of my young friends picked this up a few weeks ago. 1956. He also has a 1960 Fairlane 2d sedan and a 1954 Chevy Two-Ten 4d sedan in the wings. Told him either would make a statement towing the boat but the Chevy would probably be easier to source parts. I guess its 6-cylinder could pull a fiberglass boat and trailer. The Ford has a 292. I've known him since he was 15. He and his grandfather have restored several military Jeeps and the boy (now 35, where'd the time go?) also has a decommissioned AMGeneral military Humvee. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod P Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 WOW, never seen one of those boats before. Called Glastroms. You all might know that, but not me. If anyone wants to find out more about Glastroms https://www.classicglastron.com/ What a great accessory for a 1950's/ 1960's car. Thanks Rocketraider. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Cool boat! Here's my '74 Glastron GT-150. 15 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 One of my friends dad, bought several of those 50's boats in the mid to late 70's. His mom joked that he was starting his own navy. At the time they were just ugly, old boats. Retro they are def. cool though. I would get it seaworthy and use the heck out of it. I am no further than about 5 minutes from water and there are hundreds of marinas in my area. I am sure one or two could be found sitting in the lot of deserted boats that everyone has. Will look great behind that chevy he has. Love the Live and Let Die boat. My fav. Bond movie. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod P Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 (edited) Ok, I remember the one EmTee did the stunt work with in 'Live and let Die', but those early ones, straight out of 'The Jetsons.' Well, to me anyway. Edited June 8 by Rod P spelling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelfish Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 James Bond liked his Glastrons. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Boehm Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 (edited) 10 hours ago, rocketraider said: One of my young friends picked this up a few weeks ago. 1956. He also has a 1960 Fairlane 2d sedan and a 1954 Chevy Two-Ten 4d sedan in the wings. Told him either would make a statement towing the boat but the Chevy would probably be easier to source parts. I guess its 6-cylinder could pull a fiberglass boat and trailer. The Ford has a 292. I've known him since he was 15. He and his grandfather have restored several military Jeeps and the boy (now 35, where'd the time go?) also has a decommissioned AMGeneral military Humvee. The owner of this boat needs a mid 50's Buick to pull it. Similar styling. Edited June 8 by Tom Boehm (see edit history) 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 The Glastron has a lot of 50s car styling themes. A Darrin Dip, a Fairlane Sweep, 1958 Ford Custom side spear, the heavy-lidded eyebrows from 58 Buicks and Imperials, the reverse-canted C-pillar from Lincoln and Mercury and the Packard Predicta, and I'm sure there's others. Kerry mentioned that by the 70s they were just ugly old boats. The styling was certainly dated by then as was most 50s car styling. But, cool can always come back in style, and you have to appreciate the audacity of the fiberglass boat manufacturers when they built these. Told Jess to pull the 50s/60s vibe off he'd need a pair of Wayfarers and an Aloha shirt along with cat-eye rhinestone sunglasses and a frilly one-piece swimsuit for his wife. They already dress in desert camo fatigues when they go out in the Humvee. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I restored this one a few years ago. Its for sale. Already sold the car. Gotta love old boats. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 (edited) 13 hours ago, rocketraider said: One of my young friends picked this up a few weeks ago. 1956. Do you know anything about the motor on it? Looks like a vintage in-line Mercury. I can't tell for certain whether it's a 4 or a 6, but I'm guessing maybe a 90 HP 6 cylinder. I currently have a 115 HP "Tower of Power" on the Glastron because the stator on the original 85 HP Evinrude failed. (The Merc also has power trim, which the Evinrude lacked.) I still have the original Evinrude and now have what I believe to be a good used stator. I love those old in-line Mercs - especially the 6 cylinder ones... Edited June 8 by EmTee (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 I should see Jess at Moonshiner Tickle's cruise night tonight. I'll ask him about the engine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 Jack, what brand is your boat? Looks like a fiberglass hull and a wooden deck? Classy...😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 You should post it in this thread: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldWood Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 How about a cool 1946 speed boat. That's me in the passenger seat, the guy I built it for is driving. The wives are far enough behind us that they can't be heard......... 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CChinn Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Damn! Now I want an old wooden boat 😥 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldWood Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 1 hour ago, CChinn said: Damn! Now I want an old wooden boat 😥 What you really want is a new wood boat. All of the cool and none of the rot, or maintenance. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldWood Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Pretty close to the ideal combination here. I built the truck for him a few years ago, now he wants me to build a slightly longer copy of this boat. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 9 hours ago, EmTee said: Do you know anything about the motor on it? Looks like a vintage in-line Mercury. I can't tell for certain whether it's a 4 or a 6, but I'm guessing maybe a 90 HP 6 cylinder. I currently have a 115 HP "Tower of Power" on the Glastron because the stator on the original 85 HP Evinrude failed. (The Merc also has power trim, which the Evinrude lacked.) I still have the original Evinrude and now have what I believe to be a good used stator. I love those old in-line Mercs - especially the 6 cylinder ones... Jess says to his best knowledge the engine is a 1968-1970 115hp Mercury. He told me his dad has accumulated several of these 50s boats. I know Jess can work metal. DK if he knows fiberglass but if he decides to do it, it will turn out well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 22 hours ago, rocketraider said: One of my young friends picked this up a few weeks ago. 1956. I have one similar to this one that is for sale. I will try to post pictures when I get back to my shop. It is a restoration project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bloom Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 30 minutes ago, Sanjay said: Went through the post, saw cool boats and feel ashamed of myself because mine isn’t anywhere close Keep your chin up, apologize for nothing, and stick around here.........the amount of disheveled cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, tractors,..........held by the group that hangs out here would raise the Ocean level a couple inches if we tossed all of that "less than perfect" stuff we have into the Atlantic and Pacific. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1gt Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 I had a friend that disguised a 4 stroke outboard with with a 2 stroke shell on an old boat. He had a lot of fun with the water patrol guys at lake tahoe 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 11 hours ago, rocketraider said: Jess says to his best knowledge the engine is a 1968-1970 115hp Mercury. Awesome - hopefully there's nothing seriously wrong and he can get it running. I found this video of the same motor I have on another vintage Glastron. These motors really sing when they're uncorked. Check out that flat wake - much like my GT-150... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 2 hours ago, John Bloom said: Keep your chin up, apologize for nothing, and stick around here.........the amount of disheveled cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, tractors,..........held by the group that hangs out here would raise the Ocean level a couple inches if we tossed all of that "less than perfect" stuff we have into the Atlantic and Pacific. I like that description "disheveled" 🙂. Sounds much better than "old wore-out s**t" which is what I usually hear! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootey Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 On 6/8/2024 at 4:59 AM, EmTee said: Cool boat! Here's my '74 Glastron GT-150. What lake is it? Is it near your residence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 21 hours ago, CChinn said: Damn! Now I want an old wooden boat 😥 Nothing goes thru the water like a wooden boat, But it seems like wood needs alot of maintenance. I have had a few. This boat I have is indeed fiberglass and would look great behind that Caddy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 22 hours ago, rocketraider said: Jack, what brand is your boat? Looks like a fiberglass hull and a wooden deck? Classy...😎 Well I had better tell the story to the best of my knowledge. This boat is titled as a 1957 Bristol. It is fiberglass with real wood trims. I have never seen another one anywhere close to what this one looks like. Sometime in the early seventy's (I think, coulda been the sixties) the state of Oregon created the State Marine board to be in charge of boat registrations and titles. Prior to that small boats didn't have to be registered. So, it was up to the owner to tell the new Marine Board what they had. Lots of boat owners didn't really know just what they had, and this must have been one of those. I have looked and looked for any evidence of Bristol runabouts to no avail. Bristol Yachts had never heard of a boat like this, so no relation there. I suspect the owner at the time just figured is might have been a 1957 and maybe his cats name was Bristol. (Just a guess, but you might get the drift) Back in the day I heard stories like that when I saw boats that were obviously mistitled. Put their own family names, or made one up. This one has a warmed over 3.8 Buick motor that has a marine four barrel Holly with a legal spark arrester on it and has closed cooling. Sometimes referred to as Fresh Water Cooling. (A heat exchanger so the the engine actually has anti-freeze in it that is cooled via the heat exchanger that uses lake water. It has a Velvet Drive transmission, and it goes thru a Halibrand V-Drive. Real peppy but that V-Drive is of straight cut gears and makes kind of a loud whine. It is a racing box after all. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewOldWood Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 36 minutes ago, JACK M said: Nothing goes thru the water like a wooden boat, But it seems like wood needs alot of maintenance. I have had a few. This boat I have is indeed fiberglass and would look great behind that Caddy. People who have never ridden in a wood boat tend to doubt this, but wood hulls are noticably smoother and quieter riding. Back in "the day" before fiberglass, wood boats would not hold water untill they had been wet long enough to "soak up", and varnish back in the 50s was often a twice a year thing. Boats like the ones I have pictured above are nothing like that. The hull is built to be water tight and the finish is an automotive clear coat. From a maintenance standpoint they are not much different than a glass boat. Even if you wanted to go with a spar varnish instead of clear coat, modern varnishes can hold up for quite a few years before needing a recoat. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 2 minutes ago, NewOldWood said: People who have never ridden in a wood boat tend to doubt this, but wood hulls are noticably smoother and quieter riding. Yes, this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 9 Author Share Posted June 9 22 hours ago, CChinn said: Damn! Now I want an old wooden boat 😥 Then you should have one!😃 Jordan Lake or Blewett Lake aren't that far from Pinehurst! 1 hour ago, JACK M said: This boat I have is indeed fiberglass and would look great behind that Caddy. There are transporters who deliver new boats to dealers every day. No reason a restored boat can't be transported from the PNW to Nawth Cackalacky! Then hitch the boat to the Cadillac and watch the jaws drop! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CChinn Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 Rocketraider and Jack M, my wife says you are both a BAD influence 😂😂. Actually Lake Pinehurst and Seven Lakes are not far from where I live. Of course, I would not want to end up on that other thread with photos and comments on bad towing rigs 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 9 Share Posted June 9 7 hours ago, Shootey said: What lake is it? Is it near your residence? At our camp on Oneida Lake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 On 6/8/2024 at 1:56 PM, CChinn said: Damn! Now I want an old wooden boat 😥 Make friends with someone that owns one, it will be easier in the long run! I live at the top of the Ches Bay. Very much a water oriented county. At times I feel like I am the only resident without a boat. Every couple of years I start to think, I could afford a small boat, I am sure I could squeeze in 3 weekends a summer to use it, what the heck lets look for a boat. THEN I wake up, hit my thumb with a hammer and figure that was an easier pain to deal with. 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bloom Posted June 10 Share Posted June 10 1 hour ago, TAKerry said: Make friends with someone that owns one, it will be easier in the long run! I live at the top of the Ches Bay. Very much a water oriented county. At times I feel like I am the only resident without a boat. Every couple of years I start to think, I could afford a small boat, I am sure I could squeeze in 3 weekends a summer to use it, what the heck lets look for a boat. THEN I wake up, hit my thumb with a hammer and figure that was an easier pain to deal with. Sage brilliant advice. Non boat owners would do well to heed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketraider Posted June 10 Author Share Posted June 10 "The two happiest days in a boat owner's life. The day he buys the boat, and the day he sells it." But a vintage boat, like a vintage car, is so nice to look at! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angelfish Posted June 11 Share Posted June 11 How’s the old guy get any work done? He’s always on the phone. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28 Chrysler Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 On 6/10/2024 at 7:58 AM, rocketraider said: "The two happiest days in a boat owner's life. The day he buys the boat, and the day he sells it." I picked up a few boats from people who should not be by the water let alone on the water. I was happy to pick a boat from these fine folks repair their oops and mishaps then I was happy to sell them off. I think I also did this with a bunch of cars, I was always happy when I sold one the same day for way over my cost. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now