1960s lonestar boat upgrade and service.

[Rebel.R]

Hello gentleman. New to the group and boating in general. Please excuse me if I'm posting to the wrong place.

This 1960s lonestar boat has ran across my radar and I have a few questions.

The back story on the boat - Ran and operated a year ago. Got parked. Basically all I know atm....

Went and looked at her last night. Other then the wooden bench seats everything appeared soild. The guy selling it seemed like a very honest and straightforward guy - He seems by the book - won't even drive down the road without trailer lights in day light...

A attempt was made to fire off the motor last night but it would not run off the tank- he did hit it with a tad bit of starting fluid and it did run for a moment - I'm aware this can be a bad Practice being a 2 cycle engine... motor sounded like it had good compression and cranking on it showed it had plenty of kick. He is gonna pull the carb and get it cleaned up and running before I pay for it. He also said he would meet me at the water and show it does flat and run with Lil issue.... He did fire it with a adaptor that was connected to a hose at the bottom - I'm not sure what it's called but I do know it's never a good idea to fire a Marine engine outta water without the hose...

I'm not sure what questions to be asking....

I think my biggest concern would be a leaking hall or a attempt to repair that goes wrong... How are these types of boats sealed - I noticed that the Aluminum is Sectioned and Riveted together... what is inbetween the seals for sealing? Is there gaskets or seals I need to worry about going bad or replacing? I'm a car guy - I'm well beyond seasoned with tools but when it comes to the boating world I'm completely lost.... I look at the seams on this boat and can't tell if it would be sealed from the inside or the outside.... maybe both.... but I would bet on the inside....

What about transporting - highway speed and such?
What about random rough waters?
Being Aluminum with seams and such- is structur flexing and leaking a issues?
Is there anything anyone can advise me on?

The guy had this boat listed for 2500 the tags are good until 2026....
He did say the price was obo.
He said he paid 900$ for it and put a lil money in it.... I'm thinking about offering 1500...
Seem like a fair price...

I'm in love with it - i love the lines - the structure. It seems simple for a beginner...

I wanna make sure I can give this boat the best life possible- I don't wanna be the guy that buys a boat that survived 63 years and then puts it on the bottom of a lake his first day...

 

[Rebel.R]

Duplicate post

 

[LDUBS]

The things he connects the hose to are called muffs (outboard muffs).

I think riveted seams use some kind of gasket in the seams. There are products like Gluvit or Gflex that are used to address leaky seams. Loose rivets need to be replaced or re-bucked.

Things to expect with a 60+ year old boat might include rotten floors and rotten transom wood (very common). I don't know enough about motors to comment, other than how well it was maintained is important.

That is a nice boat. I think the trailer, from what I can see, is not so good and likely you will need to source another.

Here is a link to a previous thread about things to ask when purchasing a used boat:

https://www.tinboats.net/threads/questions-to-ask-when-purchasing-a-boat.41454/post-419546

 

[Rebel.R]

Hello gentleman. New to the group and boating in general. Please excuse me if I'm posting to the wrong place.

This 1960s lonestar boat has ran across my radar and I have a few questions.

The back story on the boat - Ran and operated a year ago. Got parked. Basically all I know atm....

Went and looked at her last night. Other then the wooden bench seats everything appeared soild. The guy selling it seemed like a very honest and straightforward guy - He seems by the book - won't even drive down the road without trailer lights in day light...

A attempt was made to fire off the motor last night but it would not run off the tank- he did hit it with a tad bit of starting fluid and it did run for a moment - I'm aware this can be a bad Practice being a 2 cycle engine... motor sounded like it had good compression and cranking on it showed it had plenty of kick. He is gonna pull the carb and get it cleaned up and running before I pay for it. He also said he would meet me at the water and show it does flat and run with Lil issue.... He did fire it with a adaptor that was connected to a hose at the bottom - I'm not sure what it's called but I do know it's never a good idea to fire a Marine engine outta water without the hose...

I'm not sure what questions to be asking....

I think my biggest concern would be a leaking hall or a attempt to repair that goes wrong... How are these types of boats sealed - I noticed that the Aluminum is Sectioned and Riveted together... what is inbetween the seals for sealing? Is there gaskets or seals I need to worry about going bad or replacing? I'm a car guy - I'm well beyond seasoned with tools but when it comes to the boating world I'm completely lost.... I look at the seams on this boat and can't tell if it would be sealed from the inside or the outside.... maybe both.... but I would bet on the inside....

What about transporting - highway speed and such?
What about random rough waters?
Being Aluminum with seams and such- is structur flexing and leaking a issues?
Is there anything anyone can advise me on?

The guy had this boat listed for 2500 the tags are good until 2026....
He did say the price was obo.
He said he paid 900$ for it and put a lil money in it.... I'm thinking about offering 1500...
Seem like a fair price...

I'm in love with it - i love the lines - the structure. It seems simple for a beginner...

I wanna make sure I can give this boat the best life possible- I don't wanna be the guy that buys a boat that survived 63 years and then puts it on the bottom of a lake his first day...

The things he connects the hose to are called muffs (outboard muffs).

I think riveted seams use some kind of gasket in the seams. There are products like Gluvit or Gflex that are used to address leaky seams. Loose rivets need to be replaced or re-bucked.

Things to expect with a 60+ year old boat might include rotten floors and rotten transom wood (very common). I don't know enough about motors to comment, other than how well it was maintained is important.

That is a nice boat. I think the trailer, from what I can see, is not so good and likely you will need to source another.

Here is a link to a previous thread about things to ask when purchasing a used boat:

https://www.tinboats.net/threads/questions-to-ask-when-purchasing-a-boat.41454/post-419546

Thank you sir! I appreciate your time and will check out the link Immediately.

 

[MrGiggles]

The biggest thing you will want to look for on the hull is patches, cracks holes, and any areas that have been gooped up by previous owners to repair a leak. People usually attempt to fix a leak with sealant, but replacing or bucking the suspect rivets in the area will often take care of it for a very long time.

Grab the lower unit and give the motor a shake. The transom should not bounce or deflect very much at all. If it's soft, you'll need to pull the motor and replace it. A bit tedious, but not expensive or insurmountable at all.

There is a pop rivet shown in the hull of one of your pictures. That is almost surely going to leak unless it is the specialty type that has a closed shank.

I would think that $2500 is definitely on the steeper side. I'd really want to get it closer to $1200. The trailer is a bit of a dinosaur. It's certainly a very cool boat, but I still don't think they are worth very much, most people seem to be interested in bass boats these days.

Start adding up the costs to fix up the trailer, new tires, bearings, lights, bunks/carpet, wiring. Then add the cost of materials for the transom, likely a couple hundred bucks. Add the bare minimum tune up parts for the outboard, another couple hundred. There will be many incidentals as well, you can see how it can get pretty expensive.

 

[airshot]

Cool old boat...if you up to the task of refinishing the boat, it will make a neat project !! If the motor matches the year of the boat, then a cool resto project. In my area, top would be a thousand if the motor ran well, much less if it doesn't...Boat will be lots of labor, but that motor could be lots of $ trying to rebuild if needed.

 

[1pc@atime]

I wouldn't hesitate to buy a boat like that, those old boats had lot of style that newer boats lack.
By the look of it it'll need what I would call just basic maintenance done. The one odd rivet is something someone replaced, if its a blind rivet, (no through hole in the middle, its likely just fine, but I'd likely drill that out and bang in a proper buck rivet for merely for cosmetic reasons. The rotted seats can be rebuilt, most of the time those older seats are just foam padding and plywood covered in vinyl.
For minor seepage and leaks there's Gluvit, a thin epoxy which you brush on over seams and rivets which soaks in and seals any tiny gaps and sealing any leaks. It comes in quart cans and one can will do a boat that size with ease. You apply it, then paint right over it since epoxy cannot tolerate sunlight or UV rays.
The transom has a wooden core, chances are that's due for some new wood, but in most cases it just a matter of some new plywood cut to to fit and maybe a few rivets that need to be drilled and replaced.
The end result can be a boat that'll last the rest of your life if properly cared for.
There's generally no 'gasket' in between riveted seams, most are just metal on metal tightly riveted. Some brands use a rubber strip between the transom panel to hull seam but in most cases, simply fixing any bad rivets and a coating with Gluvit will be more than enough to seal it up for good. I've got a 16ft hull that leaked profusely when I got it back in 1986, it was full of miss-aligned rivets, a few had their heads torn off, and about 12 lower transom panel rivets were ground off from what looked like contact with the ramp or road. I replaced all the suspect rivets, cleaned out the inside of the hull and coated all the seams and rivets with two coats of Gluvit. I then painted the inside of the hull with Awl Grip non skid paint. Its never leaked since and that was 38 years ago now.