1957 LoneStar King Commander

[LoneStarBoatMan]

I was incredibly lucky enough to be gifted a 1957 LoneStar King Commander with 1970ish unknown trailer from a friend. I kayak fish often but am a boat novice so through the knowledge posted on this forum and wisdom from you helpful folks reading this, I've started the project to make this thing mine.

I have plans to strip and paint the boat, rebuild the transom, install new bench seats with hatches to access the interior for storage, and get a new 20hp to get me out to some places further than I can currently get paddling the kayak. I'm sure I'll come up with some more ideas along the way.

First pic is the day I brought it home, and the rest are from where it stands today, December 30, 2023. I have a personal goal to finish the boat and trailer by mid March, but I know how these types of projects go.. but hey, it's New Years Weekend and here's to being optimistic! Cheers y'all.

 

[Stand Up]

Welcome aboard @LoneStarBoatMan . Nice boat you have there. Thanks for joining tinboats and sharing your pictures. Have fun and enjoy the rebuilding process.

 

[airshot]

Cool looking boat, remember them from my younger days !
Looking forward to your resto, keep those pics commin, gonna be a long winter for us boaters...

 

[kdeitrick46]

Nice boat. I have a little later model that I’m working on. Transom, seats, etc. Mine has

 

[kdeitrick46]

Nice boat. I have a little later model that I’m working on. Transom, seats, etc. Mine has a lockable storage Area under the front deck and flotation foam under the seats.

 

[LDUBS]

X5 - nice boat! Those corner braces on the lower inside of the transom are interesting - I wonder if they are original. To me it looks like the transom wood has been replaced before. Looks like you might be able to do that without having to cut any welds.

I hope you keep posting pics of your progress!

 

[kdeitrick46]

I have the same corner braces, both upper and lower, on my King commander. So I assume they are original. I had to remove ( drilled out the rivets) on both the upper corner braces and the side braces to remove and replace the transom. Hope this helps.

 

[ripdmup]

How cool of your Friend...............................Nice ride!

 

[Makaw]

Congrats on the boat! Looking forward to seeing the progress!

 

[Acme54]

I was incredibly lucky enough to be gifted a 1957 LoneStar King Commander with 1970ish unknown trailer from a friend. I kayak fish often but am a boat novice so through the knowledge posted on this forum and wisdom from you helpful folks reading this, I've started the project to make this thing mine.

I have plans to strip and paint the boat, rebuild the transom, install new bench seats with hatches to access the interior for storage, and get a new 20hp to get me out to some places further than I can currently get paddling the kayak. I'm sure I'll come up with some more ideas along the way.

First pic is the day I brought it home, and the rest are from where it stands today, December 30, 2023. I have a personal goal to finish the boat and trailer by mid March, but I know how these types of projects go.. but hey, it's New Years Weekend and here's to being optimistic! Cheers y'all.

She is in great shape so it’s a project worth doing. I have a 25 hp short shaft on my Lonestar Admiral and it flies so a 20 hp should be great as well. I have a new 4 stroke though. i am a novice and learning to rivet was interesting but YouTube is a help of course. Good luck!

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

I have the same corner braces, both upper and lower, on my King commander. So I assume they are original. I had to remove ( drilled out the rivets) on both the upper corner braces and the side braces to remove and replace the transom. Hope this helps.

After unbolting I was able to remove the transom wood by just sliding it down below those braces, luckily there were no welds or rivets to deal with. It was very rotten but I don't think they even had an adhesive unless it was just all weathered away. Will probably be using Coosa board for the replacement.

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

She is in great shape so it’s a project worth doing. I have a 25 hp short shaft on my Lonestar Admiral and it flies so a 20 hp should be great as well. I have a new 4 stroke though. i am a novice and learning to rivet was interesting but YouTube is a help of course. Good luck!

Thanks for the reassurance! I was wondering if I should put a 25 but there's a 20 short shaft I'm looking at and it's only 95lbs.

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

I was incredibly lucky enough to be gifted a 1957 LoneStar King Commander with 1970ish unknown trailer from a friend. I kayak fish often but am a boat novice so through the knowledge posted on this forum and wisdom from you helpful folks reading this, I've started the project to make this thing mine.

I have plans to strip and paint the boat, rebuild the transom, install new bench seats with hatches to access the interior for storage, and get a new 20hp to get me out to some places further than I can currently get paddling the kayak. I'm sure I'll come up with some more ideas along the way.

First pic is the day I brought it home, and the rest are from where it stands today, December 30, 2023. I have a personal goal to finish the boat and trailer by mid March, but I know how these types of projects go.. but hey, it's New Years Weekend and here's to being optimistic! Cheers y'all.

Update on the year. Got through the paint and found the ID. From what I could find out, it places the boat as a 1959, not '57. And if I'm correct, it was only #82 in production that year. Can anybody confirm if "311" correlates to the King Commander?

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

How cool of

Congrats on the boat! Looking forward to seeing the progress!

Thank you! I'll keep this thread updated throughout the entire process. Have begun the paint stripping today. Wanted to keep it fairly protected from wind without being in the garage, so this the new temporary home while stripping, sealing, and painting. Was fun bringing it sideways through my gate lol

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

Thank you! I'll keep this thread updated throughout the entire process. Have begun the paint stripping today. Wanted to keep it fairly protected from wind without being in the garage, so this the new temporary home while stripping, sealing, and painting. Was fun bringing it sideways through my gate lol

Starting in the rear and working my way forward

 

[Acme54]

Thanks for the reassurance! I was wondering if I should put a 25 but there's a 20 short shaft I'm looking at and it's only 95lbs.

95 lbs is much lighter than mine. Sounds good. I have a piece of Coosa left over from my Admiral. I could send to you for shipping cost only. It’s great to work with. It is 21” x 48” x 1”thick.

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

95 lbs is much lighter than mine. Sounds good. I have a piece of Coosa left over from my Admiral. I could send to you for shipping cost only. It’s great to work with. It is 21” x 48” x 1”thick.

Just looked at your Admiral pics. That is an incredible job, what a nice looking boat. I will pm you about the Coosa, thanks!

 

[airshot]

Just noticed that clamshell drain on rhe bottom...man those things will drain a hull fast !!! Don't know why they stopped using them??

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

Just noticed that clamshell drain on rhe bottom...man those things will drain a hull fast !!! Don't know why they stopped using them??

Luckily I've still got the original drain plug as well.

 

[LoneStarBoatMan]

Making progress...I'm about 2/3rds of the way done stripping and sanding. After finishing with that, will be washing clean with degreaser soap, and sealing rivets and seams with gluvit and 5200. We'll be getting a freeze in a couple days but weather should be good again by the following weekend. Should still stay on track to get everything sealed and ready for paint by the end of the month.

Brought the 50 year old trailer to a local repair shop in town for some wisdom. Turns out it needs a bit more work than l originally anticipated. It was given the diagnosis of "Just use it til it breaks or take it out back and shoot it". So with that, I'll be looking for a replacement.