TOPIC: 1959 Glasspar Seafair

Hi everyone! This is my first post here on this forum, so I'll provide a bit of background. I'm 25 years old, and working on finishing my masters degree, and work, and travel around the great state of NC heavily. Money and time are obviously at a bit of a premium at this point in my life, so I figured the intelligent thing to do would be add a project boat into the mix. Now obviously I know this isn't the best decision in the world, but truth be told this isn't my first boat project I've ever tackled, and also grew up around old cars (especially MGs and Triumph's), so the whole one step forward and two steps back game isn't new to me. I also grew up along the coast (as well as in the piedmont region which has plenty of inland lakes), and have watched, helped out with, and seen some pretty impressive boat projects take shape. I have very rudimentary fiberglass, wood working, metal working, and engine working under my belt as a result of all of these past experiences. However, this is the biggest boat project I have ever undertaken by myself on a personal level. I've got a stretch goal to have the boat structurally sound by next spring or summer, but that'll all depend on time and available cash along the way. I also intended to start this thread when I got the boat back in May or June, but its just slipped past me until now. With that out of the way, let's talk about the boat! It's a 1959 Glasspar Seafair; I drove with some buddies in an old 90s Land Cruiser the 16 hour round trip from middle NC to Nashville for the boat and it cost a grand sum of less than $400. This guy had bought it from an estate auction where the original owners kids were just trying to get rid of their fathers belongings that he had let deteriorate, and the boat was just a side piece to what he actually went there for (some cars and machinery). He originally thought it had fiberglass stringers and that it would be as simple as new plywood; obviously not so for a '59, and as such he wanted to dump the project. It had a first or second year Merc 1000 100hp outboard that had almost torn through the transom (me and my two friends hand lifted it off and put it in the land cruiser for towing back to NC), that I do not intend on using for this project (more on that later). The boat does not have the standard Glasspar folding door, but instead has a solid door made of tongue and grove Philippine mahogany. I'm unsure if this is original to the boat, but the guy swore up and down the original owners son said his dad never bothered to do any serious work or maintenance to the boat besides a fresh repaint in the 70s, and plexy windows after the old ones were shot out with an air rifle (the guy just pushed the Wefco rubber back onto his homemade windows); whether or not this is true at all is up for debate. The boat rides on a tandem axle roller trailer, which I originally though had to be aftermarket 1970s, but have since found an old Glasspar ad that shows an identical tandem axle trailer, so maybe it was a dealer option or just a popular aftermarket trailer at the time. I also intend to restore this trailer on a budget like I have with other old boat trailers (ie rustoleum paint and primer and a few cases of beer with friends), but the trailer is rather beat up. Currently, the boat is sitting at one of my grandmothers properties and has been blocked up on cinder blocks and supports, the floor has been torn out, the transom mostly torn out, the stringers (totally mushed out) still remain, and the veneer cabin bulkhead has been cut out. Sadly, the cabin bulkhead is in pretty good shape save for the bottom 1/8 or so which was rotted. The mahogany side boards are pretty much shot, the mahogany rub rails are salvageable (but are missing the aluminum over riders I've seen in most examples of these boats), and the upper mahogany deck trim pieces also suffer slight rot but may be salvageable. Also, in addition to the missing rub rail pieces, the two transom caps that sort of attach the transom to the topsides were missing; these seem to be a fairly common missing part? Additionally, the original seat brackets are also MIA, but instead are replaced with giant aluminum tubes that were custom made and had a stamp on the bottom with a signature and the date 1960. Again, with the Merc being a 63 it also had an engine upgrade early in its life, so it was certainly being modified and tuned to the custom tastes of the original owner at that point. The history of this boat is rather circumstantial, but it was made in Nashville TN and really never left the area at all it would appear and I suspect that the original owner either worked for Glasspar, or had connections to it or the marine industry at the time based on some of the other things the family had and sold, but that's speculation for another time. I do not intend to make this boat a show queen, but make it look presentable from 30 feet across a parking lot, and intend on using it for cruising and fishing the intracoastal waterway near Southport NC, near shore/light duty offshore, in the Cape Fear River, up to Wilmington, the sounds around the Outer banks, and various inland lakes. The next big task is putting in the new stringers, of which I've already collected most of the materials for that (old school Doug Fir timber from a lumber yard, 1.5oz CSM, 24oz Woven Roving). That's all for now, but in the next few posts I'll go more in depth to what works been done so far, more detailed plans for the boat, asks for advice and opinions, etc. Thanks for reading!