TOPIC: New guy on the Dock with an Aristo Craft

My name is Rocky and I recently (Sat ) purchased an Aristo Craft Funliner. I've never had a boat before but the early 'glass boats always interested me and I coun't resist the price. The boat has a Mercruiser 110 I/O that runs and is complete. At this point I want to clean and straighten it up and use it this summer, doesn't look like too much work BUT........ The windshield is in decent shape with some cracks in the lower corners, no problem but it has slipped out of the frame in the upper corners and the glue is set solid. Any ideas on how to soften the glue? Glad I found the site, looks like a great place! Rocky

Welcome aboard Rocky, glad to have you with us. I would probably try a heat gun to soften the glue, just be careful not to overheat the windshield in the process. (You can put wet rags on the glass to protect it, if they start smoldering add water!)

I'd be careful with the heat on a tempered glass windshield.

Acetone will do the trick, of course you'll have to be careful to protect all your surfaces.

Boat looks great, and the hardtop is quite a find.

cc1000 wrote:

I'd be careful with the heat on a tempered glass windshield.

Acetone will do the trick, of course you'll have to be careful to protect all your surfaces.

Boat looks great, and the hardtop is quite a find.

The windshield is some kind of plastic, I'm not sure what to do

holly crab, Glass!.... whats are yea guys thinking...?

the windshield on the 7teen funliners are PLASTIC, and there called...the bubble of trouble for a reason.

first off welcome to the site and take a real deep breath, and post some pictures of the issues for we can brain storm on them before you melt it.

I would really need to see some pic of the area to refresh my mind on them, I had one of my own so, I kind of know the wasp nest you got!

now you want the good news seeing we pretty well covered the one bad thing about them...?

yea an't going to have any problems with rotten wood in her because, there is none, and seeing it is a 7teen with an I/O....holy crab sweet and rare all in the same rig you gonna want to get her buffed up and detailed for you can win some trophy's (I mean if that's your thing, if not it might become one in the future)...go ahead and get her buffed up anyways because your gonna turn some heads on the lake.

DO NOT USE ACITONE...and DO NOT use any heat guns what so ever!

if you want to get a better depth to what it can look like, get some plastic polish, I used a crayon to grid box the windshield, get your self a nice tarie cloth and some plastic polish and...wax on....wax off on squire at a time

Thanks Houston, Iworked with it tonight and made some headway, decided to take a break before I broke it worse than it is. What ever they used to seal/glue the windshield in it is as hard as a rockk! As it sits right now I could cut some off the bottom but I'd have to Chop the top too. That really don't bother me much other than the fact someone might really want the top for a restoration. I dunno........I could fab a windshield and sell what I have, I'll sleep on it. Rocky

Hi, Its cool to see someone else own Aristo Craft with hardtop. Im the owner Aristo Craft too. Its 1961 17' Funliner outboard. Not have hardtop.

Its my first speed boat owner. Replace the motor, new upholster seats. Thats all what I have done with this boat. Only I need to do is buff/wax try to get red back as shine (if its possbile). Hope some feedback will be help. The windshield only crack little on top. The sticker is cover it so make it harder to notice it.

Here a picture of my boat

Hi, Its cool to see someone else own Aristo Craft with hardtop. Im the owner Aristo Craft too. Its 1961 17' Funliner outboard. Not have hardtop.

Its my first speed boat owner. Replace the motor, new upholster seats. Thats all what I have done with this boat. Only I need to do is buff/wax try to get red back as shine (if its possbile). Hope some feedback will be help. The windshield only crack little on top. The sticker is cover it so make it harder to notice it.

Here a picture of my boat

im sorry guys. i post ad twice. I dont know why its happen.

Rocky, glad to hear you decided to sleep on it before proceeding with the windshield, and I apologize for all the confusion with the conflicting posts. The heat gun or the acetone may not be your best options, possibly someone more adept in the restoration process will eventually chime in here with a better solution to your question. We can see just a little of the sealing adhesive in one of the shots of the windshield, please post some more pics of the area you're talking about when you get a chance. I sincerely hope you opt not to cut on the windshield or the top, you have a really rare 'Glassic there, and the I/O and hardtop are "icing on the cake" IMHO.

When you do get the windshield secured back into the frame, here's a link to a detailed description of the process to bring it back. www.fiberglassics.com/restoration/fixing-a-scratched-windshield (This can also be found on the FG home page, it's written by JAG who is truly a master at the restoration of these old beauties!)

I would caution you to be very careful polishing the windshield before it is secured back into the frame, pushing on the aged plastic/plexi/whatever could make the cracks worse without the support of the frame. (I speak from experience on this, found out the hard way!)

At any rate, good luck with your wonderful project, and keep us posted with lots of pics, okay?!

rocky,i agree with both marks on this,mark(houston)used to have a funliner,and knows of the ups or downs of them,and mark s,is right the hardtop is a rare find,most funliners have lost them somewhere during their lives,so if i were you i would not chopthe windsheild.funliner hardtops are hard to come by.
and if "jag" sees this he will be able to help,hes a great restoration guy.

Thanks guys, I'll post up some pic's before I go any further. Rocky

Nice boat, didn't mind the double post! Rocky

OK, I got the glue or ???? out of one side and this should allow me to get the windshield close enough to make me happy. Man whatever they used is rock hard and I had to carefully pick it out. If I decide to keep the boat the Hot Rodder in me might chop the top allowing me to rid myself of the cracks, but for mow I'm just going to enjoy. I'm currently rebuilding the carb and had to "Soda Blast" it, worked great! Rocky

What I have done to stop cracks from going any farther is drill 1/16 hole at the end of the crack and that stops it. Cheeper than a new windshield.
Mike aka pathfinderz1

ok, lets cover why it is a rather GOOD thing to have a top on her.

to begin with, her top will keep the sun off your head....and everyone's hands off the top of the windshield when they think "out-of-habit" that the top off the windshield has a perfect angle to help lift them self's out of the seats or to get down into the seat...

more than a couple of times I had to get into my Mate, or anyone else that dared ride with me...keep your hands off the top of the windshield!

god, i can still hear it creek...

hehehe hey, yawanna know what the funlners can do if you drop off the power and wait for their long tooth bow dig in while using the motor for just a rudder...

well that the first part that is...you cut back the motor for it is neutral while on plain and crank the wheel hard to either or and hold it...

when that long tooth bow grabs and it starts to turn, ramp up the RPM's to the firewall and hold on...she will lean right over for you can drink the lake through a straw...

Now you know why nobody wanted to ride with me other than a little bitty puppy...

oh, got to thinking about your problem, for that cracked area cut off two even strips off wide clear tape...and "mask it" you could do the same thing with two Odd ball stickers also like G.I.S.D.A.S.U. badge

a what badge...?

yea a: Get-In-Sit-Down And Shut Up....I could probably make you one if new how big around you would need it.

Made a "Naked Boaters Club" for mine and my Genny wouldn't let me stick it on the boat....I just took one of those Naked lawn Mower Club stickers and changed the wording....

heres a better pic......theres a dog in there someplace.