TOPIC: 1960 Glastron FireFlite has a new home!

Kind of, it's paid for, just not picked up until Wed @noon.....



Needs a floor & windshield, but is intact, has no odd/extra holes in the deck, hull or dash! Can't wait to dig in & work on it over the winter. Trying to source poly & glass out of Pittsburgh. Cleaning out a space in the garage for it tonight! Shopping online for parts & pieces. Don't tell the warden (wife )but I maybe more anxious then I was before the wedding. Of course, been together almost 20yrs, married for 9, so there were no wedding night surprises!

More pix to follow, pre-demo......

I have a 60 fireflite as well. It's a couple boats from being first to work on, but I think it's a really good looking design.

In case you need to know, the serial number is on a paper tag glassed over with clear resin on the underside of the left rear deck.

A few pix:

Nice find, especially if the PO's didn't drill it full of holes. That is a rarity. Warden wasn't happy when I brought my last one home either, are they ever? I think the term she used was "what's that POS doing in the garage". Gotta move your "stuff" to make room for more stuff.

Thanks! Looking forward to getting started, and been reading up today. I hope to find wood-free stringers & a reasonable well taken care of hull. The transom will probably need to be replaced, but we'll see. The splashwell seems to be in really good shape, so maybe.... Thanks for sharing your Herter work. Really nice thread!

I usually get the same reaction to things that 'magically' appear in our garage. The last time it was a 1966 Lincoln Continental 4dr hardtop. It actually couldn't fit in our 2 car garage, sideways, diagonally backed all the way to the wall, still a bunch of hood sticking out......

Her exact quote was something like: "What the F*** is wrong w/ you, why did you drag that POS home?" My reply was: "I didn't it was delivered!" Interior was a wreck, but the exterior & body were great. $300 delivered in northern so-cal, I couldn't resist. A year later, it & all the boxes, parts & pieces that went with it, a 462 block, engine stand & hoist, all went to another home for $350. No room at the new house in Salt Lake (no garage). The $1750 it would have taken to haul it helped get it pushed off my plate. Sorry to see it go. Only 'drove' it once, via gravity, out of my driveway & down the hill to a flat & level area to load it on a flatbed...... What a land yacht, I would have loved to have put a VW bus full sized sunroof in it & cruise to Tahoe in the spring & fall. It would have been sporty if it ever broke free on the snow & ice going up....Something like 5800lbs... But it would certainly been able to carry a huge amount of ski gear & a regular full sized cooler could ride b@tch in the back between 2 NFL lineman & had almost enough room to add a cheerleader or 2 as well....

Sweet boat man! Here are some pics of mine I finished this summer. I did modify some things to make the hull better because of some design flaws for this model. Gotta find a correct windshield for mine too. Have fun with it! Looks like a good candidate for a resto.

It will wet sand out pretty good...My 60 Starflite looked the same. pink N chalky .

Congratulations on your purchase, hope you get more enjoyment than the single coaster ride in your Lincoln.

P.S. Your wife will love the attention that you will get at the dock when it is done.

Made it home with her. Looking to have molds made & repop the deck cleats:


I looked up metal casting, & I'm not sure how to best cast these. Lost wax, sand cast, latex/silicon molds w/ plaster duplicates to make actual casting molds? ..Suggestions anyone???

Latex/Silicon mold and then make your waxes. Investment Casting (lost wax) would work well. I've worked at 5 different Investment Foundries, we did all kinds of stuff, art etc. Not cheap but it makes a very pretty casting.

The new parts will be about 3% smaller if you use the original as a pattern.

The latex/Silicon mold and wax plug I am confident I could pull off. It's It's the metal casting I'm not so sure about.....Investment Foundries, hmm let me spend some surf time......The pitting may require some attention after I get it cleaned up to keep from transferring pits to the new castings. I may start to wet sand the none matching one this weekend & see where it takes me. I'd really like to make the forward foot match the rear foot w/ 2 screw eyes too. But I guess the top through bolt keeps the torpedo on the base portion.....White 'pot' metal I figure? Spent some time researching chrome options too. May end up powder coating them, same as headers or manifolds..............

Going to clean out some floor decking today...Soft is a bit of an understatement. joy joy

Got to remember PHOTOS PHOTOS PHOTOS & measurements measurements measurements.

jb,i answered your email,im just sorry i couldnt be of much help,if i were you i would ask the questions right here on fg,lots of folks alot smarter than me,john

Get them cast in aluminum or stainless steel, the Zinc based ones are crap. Easy to die cast but not great material.

Talk to your local foundry or if you really want help with this I can steer you in the right direction. My Orthopedic Company owns an Investment Foundry in Michigan. I still know people that do artsie type stuff around Detroit.

Another option is to send them out for replating. Not cheap either. You couild always sandblast/strip and JB Weld the pitted areas. Then powdercoat or rattle can them. It depends on how bad$$ you want to look original. I'm going to JB Weld on my 1970 Starcraft clam shells, they are Zinc also, then rattle can. They have some cool paints out there that are textured.

Good luck.

John: got email, thanks for reply, timing was fine. I got it as I started removing some trim & some of the floor decking today. You didn't however comment about the pedal car project. Wish you were closer, I'd love to see some of your projects up close & pick your brain some more

Don: looks like I'll probably do my best to clean them up & have them powder coated. I've got a Singer sewing machine base for a console table (I don't even know what that means, 'cause it ain't gonna have a console tv on it.... ) I just know that's what the warden called it. So it may not be too bad to add a few odds & ends to my order, 4 slat bases to support the ends of the bows holding up the boat cover, bow light, deck cleat(s) [still hope to get another!!], Glastron logo from port & starboard stern end, and the dash plaque, . Singer base: black; Trim Chrome!

I managed to snap 1 of 2 back pins holding my Glastron dash emblem on.

Ok now the good news: floor is so rotten it almost all comes up by hand! 3-6 inch strip at hull side, 12 inches at the stern (battery & gas tank tray) corners around main seat bases (still original base, new trashed seats) and a little extra glass & resin on top of stringers, but no PLY!

It appears to all be original, no repairs, even some tabbing under the bow deck (cardboard spacers to prevent hard spots (??)) that might look like a repair, exactly matches the tabbing @ the seam between upper & lower hull 1/2's! The all aluminum rub rail is through bolted, and bolt ends & nuts are buried in glass. The really didn't want it to come apart at the hull joint. So that will be an absolutely zero fun factor!

That contrasts sharply with how aggressive a weave they left exposed on the inside across the floor & up to the gunnel. Floor deck is a smaller weave but the waffle still shows clearly under the white, gray & black deck flecking. The waffle print is also clearly visible on the exterior, but i think that may have been from sanding & or buffing the gelcoat over a long period....But it does make me think I may need to glass the interior at least once, even the chine seems to deflect easily, and it still has a little floor ribbing left attached. And the gel-coat on the topsides is toast, cracked way more then I thought, stress cracks at corners & attachments points. Photos will be shortly, let me know, maybe I am just overly concerned.

The hull joint at the transom isn't going to be a problem when I go to pull the topside off. The transom is GONE! But fiberglass skin is still intact so there shouldn't be any problems replacing transom. Just a bummer no patterns. Gotta go take a shower! Then maybe lunch, I'm hungry....

I found this number on the transom trim when I pulled the motor today. HIN??? M160102

Thanks
more pix on my Iboats thread, same title same user name: KISS ~ Keep It Simple Stupid

I forgot, do all the stress cracks in the gelcoat mean the whole deck needs to be glassed over w/ a layer of 1.5oz? 2 layers? Heavier? Most of the glass looks intact through the cracks, so 'just' grind & patch w/ CSM, feather, fair & primer?

jb,

The number on the transom trim is the hull number, although the M is interesting. MY theory on that is built in January 1960 (1 60) and is boat 102 of some production run. All of the numbers I have collected seem to fit into that pattern. Never seen a letter prefix, though.

I was lucky, the dash emblem on my 59 Seaflite was held on by screws.

I found someone who will reproduce the windshield for my boat at a good price. I am sending him the old one today and will report back when it comes in. Taylormade does make windshields and one of them might work on your boat. The issues with mine are that it is 72" wide and needs to fit exact for the hardtop.

I have to do a floor as well. We lucked out with the glass stringers.

I have a lot of cracking to take care of on the deck of my boat. I found that the cracking only extends to the first layer of fiberglass (so far) and I can get down to that with 40 or 60 grit sandpaper on an orbital sander. I would think that would be less destructive than a grinder. Easier to maintain existing shapes. Do that then fill, feather and fair.

Good luck. I'll be interested to see your progress.

I need to start another thread here and post some progress pics. I also have a project thread started on classicglastron.com

My biggest concern is maintaining all the detailing on the deck, & fixing the cracking. 1 gunnel is cracked in so many areas there may be no way to remove cracks & maintain enough reference to recreate the decks details. I guess I'll need to work it as 3 separate areas... Outer gunnel, inner gunnel & top of gunnel, fixing the top 1st & using sides for reference. Then once the top is repaired, work the inner & outer sides, pulling the lines down from the top. I am concerned that not fixing an area for inside across the top & down the other side as a single area, that the corner may not be repaired sufficiently. For now I'm working on the floor & transom & that will be enough for now......

Well finally hit her with the grinder for the first time. Got the 2 original seat boxes and most of 1 side of the deck, hull joint cut out. Need to work on the bow deck & the stern decking. Also wrestled her into the garage.

Will post photos of the interior sides of hull that are a really course roving, with a really aggressive waffle texture. Like the splatter pattern, hate the waffle texture.

Well, its going to be slow progress until after Xmas. Out of town again this week, get back 24hr before I head to Louisville for a week, early Xmas. Then a hectic week until Xmas. Hope to make some headway after Xmas, I only have to work on Wed between Xmas & New Years!

Hung the 'new' 650 Thunderbolt on her transom this week. Dang near killer me! WOW that thing is heavy! Also signed in & registered the boat in Wisconsin. Couldn't have been easier..... Should make getting registration & title easier in WV. The trailer will be easy, just want to get the boat sorted out first........

jb,it looks like its coming along nicely ,i would love to see more pics of it,john

Ok John, but only if you promise to review pix from the aforementioned CHAIR.....:)jc

Pix this weekend! Progress too, hopefully......

Well, not getting as much done as I hoped. Slowly getting the edge of the deck ground smooth at the edge @ the hull. Have most of the transom out, and have started uncovering the rubrail bolts. They are buried in fiberglass. Then I need to finish removing the 'glass covering the cap/hull joint.
Pix: