I have no idea as to the manufacturer of this boat, or the year made. There is no hull plate, although I believe there used to be one. I have filled the holes with rivets where I think the plate used to be. I picked up the boat, trailer, two paddles, three anchors, trolling motor, and battery for $500. The guy from whom I bought it purchased it from a pawn shop. All of those facts lead me to believe the boat was at some time stolen, or simply recovered after a storm or sinking somewhere. I believe it is a late 50's model, but no proof. It has endured a sloppy transom replacement, having rivets on the bench seats replaced with plain zinc coated bolts (which, of course, are rusted out), and having the entire outside of the hull coated with rattle can bed liner. WTF!!
Originally, I was simply going to move the rear bench seat up a few inches, to allow operation of the trolling motor without hitting the clamp on swivel seats that were included with the purchase. However, as I got into it, I realized that it was in serious need of some tlc, and could use a live well, some decks, real swivel seats, etc. I have begun the process of stripping down to bare metal, so I can repair/replace/rebuck rivets. After finishing all of the repairs, will build a floor in the rear, and replace the bench seat that came with the boat with a pedestal based seat.
One of the coatings (closest to the bare metal) was an orangish red elastic coating of some sort - very hard to strip off. But, I am getting there. I can't tell for sure, but think the coating was under the original top coat, which was some shade of green. Boat might be a Desoto, or something else. Any one with ideas, please let me know your thoughts about its identity.
Originally, I was simply going to move the rear bench seat up a few inches, to allow operation of the trolling motor without hitting the clamp on swivel seats that were included with the purchase. However, as I got into it, I realized that it was in serious need of some tlc, and could use a live well, some decks, real swivel seats, etc. I have begun the process of stripping down to bare metal, so I can repair/replace/rebuck rivets. After finishing all of the repairs, will build a floor in the rear, and replace the bench seat that came with the boat with a pedestal based seat.
One of the coatings (closest to the bare metal) was an orangish red elastic coating of some sort - very hard to strip off. But, I am getting there. I can't tell for sure, but think the coating was under the original top coat, which was some shade of green. Boat might be a Desoto, or something else. Any one with ideas, please let me know your thoughts about its identity.
