TOPIC: 1959 Glasspar Seafair Sedan (long term restoration

And so it begins. (Barely.)

After about 7 months of searching for a Seafair Sedan, I finally found one that fit the bill. This page will be used to display the progress made toward restoring this lovely old first-year Seafair. But as a caveat, I must say that it's going to be a loooong restoration. You see, I am currently restoring the 1874 Victorian era house I call home and until I am finished with the house, the boat will largely remain untouched. I do hope to perform certain bits of restoration here and there when I have downtime from the house, though, and I will post any completed work, purchases, and questions here for other Seafair aficionados. So without further ado, let me show you the starting point.

This is how the boat arrived to my backyard in New Jersey. I purchased it, along with the original 1959 trailer and Evinrude Starflite II 75 horsepower v4 from a gentleman in Indiana. Before his ownership the boat spent it's life on the Missouri River.


The one truly unique feature that I have never seen on another Seafair are the docking lights. According to Eddie Grijalva who worked for Glasspar, these would have likely been a dealer installed option and not from the factory. They are a quality, professional installation which lends more weight to them having been installed when the boat was fitted out by the original selling dealer. I love them and they will be kept in situ.


This boat satisfied one of my biggest must-haves...bow rails! In my admittedly warped mind no cabin cruiser of this era is right unless it has bow rails. The boat also comes complete with some great Ship-N-Shore twin trumpet air horns and a Merriman Nautalite remote controllable spotlight, both original to the era. Plus that lovely roof-mounted bow light.


At the back hanging off the badly bowing transom is the 1960 Evindude Starflite II. It is original to the boat, so I figure the first owner bought this hull either in late 1959 or 1960 when the Starflite II arrived. It is remarkably complete and decidedly NOT frozen. The powerhead is free and the inside looks relatively clean. It should hopefully make an excellent restoration candidate.


Up at the helm there is an original 1959 Vollrath Viking wheel and an Aitguide Gauge Plate. The Wheel is super cracked and in terrible shape when removed but I've got it about 80% back to proper condition. The boat also has the original collapsible, swivel base helm chairs.



After finding out my speedometer was a later version than what the boat would have come with I decided to grab the right one. Took it fully apart, cleaned, polished, and reassembled. Not bad for $35.


I also scored a NOS OMC ammeter to replace the current one.


And with the body of my old speedometer and bezel, I swapped the guts from a broken Airguide barometer in so I will have this guy inside the cabin on the bulkhead.


My other acquisition has been a fuel tank. Mine was missing, and it had obviously had a 12 gallon rectangular tank in the splashwell...the tank straps are still present. Well, as luck would have it I came across this sweet Nautalloy that is period correct and fits the straps perfectly.


It has a really neat gauge but I believe I would prefer one at the dash so I purchased a bosch gauge and sending unit (more on that later). I'd like to keep the gauge perhaps for a fresh water tank in the future.


So that's the update for now...and also. I am constantly on the hunt for a 1959-1960 PORT SIDE transom piece like my starboard side shown here: Any leads, please let me know.


Thanks for stopping by!
Eric

So, I had a little fun with photoshop. I bought a Bosch gauge and sending unit for the fuel tank and decided to make my own Airguide fuel gauge. I just need to buff out the bezel to bring up some more shine out of the aluminum.



I also managed to score an original Wilcox Crittenden head that came out of another Seafair. I pulled it all apart today to begin polishing out the bronze, and I did manage to find a NOS repair kit. I may end up bypassing the pump, though and having it hook up behind to an electric pump/macerator. We shall see.


My favorite thing I did today was to see how aluminum trim parts can polish up. I took the cabin roof rails and went through 4 different sanding grits, then two polishes on the bench polisher. What an amazing before and after!

Excellent!

Bob

love the custom gauge!
any chance that you would share a high res file of the airguide letter logo? I have been thinking of making a sign for the barn with logo and then "marine instruments" where you have fuel meter.
thx

Eric,
Yes, i do have a pretty good file of an Airguide speedometer face. I'm happy to send it to you! I'd attach it here but I can't reduce the size of the file enough, so if you can give me an email, I'll send the large one. Caveat: I've had zero luck getting PM's to work on this site.
Eric

Eric,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
is it a PNG that can be blown up without distortion?
did you print a decal for the fuel gauge?
I have the "sea speed" style speedo, tach and compass in the lake n sea and will be installing the 651 black n white style tach and speedo in the custom craft.

Thank you!

email sent, Eric. Yeah, the face is printed on a waterslide decal paper. I found the adhesive isn't strong enough so I cleaned the adhesive off and used a proper spray adhesive but the only issue I have is that it isn't glass smooth...you can see some texture in the light. Oh, to have silk screen capabilities. But it looks good enough for me, even better now that I polished the bezel today. It looks like chrome now.

Here you go. Black logo with no background so you guys can drop on your own background.
I started playing with a sign design as well.

One more very small task done, but a welcome change. Evinrude POWER badge restored. More difficult than I thought.
Jeremy Clarkson would be proud.

Fantastic start on your restoration project. I picked up a 1965 Seafair Sedan to restore as well.

Thanks and congratulations on the '65. Start a thread and post some pics!

Acquired a couple more needed items for the Seafair. The original Airguide model 87 gimbal compass that came on the boat was totally cracked and weathered and empty of liquid from 62 years of sun and elements. I managed to find a minty clean one still filled to the top:


I also lucked out in finding an original instructional plaque for using the Wilcox Crittenden head. Super happy to find one.


Now if only I could find that darn rear corner piece for the transom! That's probably going to take years.

Cheers!
Eric

FINALLY! I found the last of my missing parts! Gentleman who was parting out a 1960 had all the remaining pieces of trim I need to complete my list of necessary items. I got the 1959-1960 only port side transom bracket, the two missing transom-to-deck joint pieces, two original footrest brackets to replace the modern shelf brackets on my one side, and for good measure the two pieces near the upper windshield that have the receiver for the bimini top frame (someone royally screwed mine up with drilling in eye bolts for something). I'm happy as a clam. Here's to the power of daily searching across multiple platforms!

Outstanding!!!!!!!!!

Bob

In my recent haul of salvaged Seafair parts not shown above was this: The trim piece that covers the cabin door threshold. It had gone missing on ours. I love seeing how a piece of aluminum most would consider junk off a boat destined for the scrap heap can be returned to glory. It's small, but today, the boat got just a teeny bit better.

Very nice!

Looks great! Did you get that result from a buffing wheel and some sort of compound?

This piece was heavily scratched up and very oxidized. I began with a belt sander to level and remove most of the heavy gouges, then moved on to a random orbital sander with 100 grit. Then just hand sanded with progressive grits from 180,320,400, 800, and then wet sanded with 1500 and 2500. Then used brown polish on the buffing wheel and finally white polish on the fine buffing wheel. It honestly looks like chrome now.

Thanks for the compliments!

It certainly does look like chrome... it looks amazing. Thanks for the steps... shows me sometimes there is just no shortcut to great work and great results!

So this week I scored a vintage OMC Prestolite power tilt unit for the Evinrude, and also a NOS switch plate for it for up at the helm. It'll be a great period correct addition!

Great job scoring so many NOS and period correct bits and bobs. How are you doing that? Is it mostly eBay? I just purchased a 1959 Crosby and would love to find more Crosby-specific hardware.

Thanks Brujitoforlan, Yes, mostly Eday but some from folks parting out other seafairs. I search pretty much daily for the things I need and eventually they turn up. Be patient. Good luck with your boat!

So I've long wanted the Seafair to be a period appropriate seafoamy minty green color. I like the original blue but the green makes me weak in the knees. Recently I've been playing around with samples and finally found one I thing may fit the bill. It's a Sherwin Willliams color called "vegan". What do you guys think?

The green looks great.

So I got a few more items to show...First, NOS Airguide tach. This has the 654 battery ignition sender but I have located a magneto sender for my 1960 Evinrude.


This is the original Airguide gauge plate that came with the Seafair, but with both a tach and speedo I needed to find the twin large gauge plate. After much searching Ebay turned one up. So this one for a speedo and either ammeter or fuel gauge is likely up for sale.


Here's the Ebay sourced plate with my gauges fitted. I also temporarily fit the ignition....


And, the HOT light! It fit almost perfect. just had to notch the plate a bit for the hot light locator pin.


In order for this to work I needed to source a 1961+ V4 head with the well for the temp sensor, and the corresponding water jacket cover. Ebay also turned up this NOS unit. In addition, I got an original OMC warning buzzer that will be mounted under the helm to alert me to any overheating condition should I miss the HOT light.


Thanks Ed MC for all your assistance!
Cheers,
Eric

Finally got the Evinrude off the Seafair...will you take a look at the severity of that bow in the transom? Yikes. At least the weight is off now and the Fiberglass should be okay and straighten out once a new core is in place.
The engine is now on the stand I built in my basement where it can stay protected and get worked on as time allows.

Well, some more goodies came in the mail. First, I needed a new bulb housing for my stern light which had a broken bulb holder / lens, and was looking for an upgrade....found this for 5 bucks on Ebay, made by Hella, no less. Strange, never knew they made marine products. It will need re-chroming along with the original base and pole but the best part is the lens is glass. Cool.



I also managed to score just about every replaceable part for the Prestolite power tilt! Marineengine.com even had several of the original wiring harnesses in stock for cheap!


And speaking of wires, I dug into the pockets a bit and got full new internal/external engine wiring harnesses for the Evinrude from nymarine.ca. They are very well made and frankly I'm amazed that even one human on this planet still goes through the trouble of making them. Thanks, Peter! I'll feel much better knowing the engine wiring is 100% new.


I love collecting the parts I'll need!

Great looking stuff. They just don't make stern lights like that anymore.
I've also had good luck with Marineengine.com. I've been able to find NLA Quicksliver/Mercruiser parts there. They must be good at find old dealerships and acquiring their obsolete inventory.

Love your boat! Ive got a '59 as well. I did a decent restore a few years ago and am in the process of re-gelcoating the hull, installing the proper dimension gunnel board(my initial depth was wrong and made. the trim incompatible), and . We live on the Puget Sound, and the boat usage. steered me away from the 50hp evinrude that was on there when i got it. I have an '88 Merc 115 that has been great! I redid the stringers, floor and transom, repainted the topdeck. I've added a newer splashwell and installed a 20G gas-tank under it. Got rid of the head, reupholstered the cuddy cushions, and added a headliner with lights.

I love all the attention to detail with your boat! Can't wait to see it finished!

Ian

Curious to know where, besides EBAY, you are looking for spare parts. I am looking for the starboard side bottom rear trim piece. I have the port piece.

Ian,

Thanks for the kind words about this '59. It will be a loooong project, I assure you. Many things to do to the house and such before I can get on to this restoration. Years, likely.

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier, as I have the trim pieces you were looking for, but small world, my wife is on FB and she posts on the Glasspar site and she is the one who you dealt with about the '59 rear trim piece that you offered. She says you already found the pieces you needed. Thank you for the transom piece!

As for parts, I mostly scour ebay but that's for all the non-Glasspar related stuff. There's really nothing for Seafairs on ebay...I've had some luck with Craigslist, found one guy who was willing to part out his 1960 and managed to score some good parts that way. Just keep looking!

You should have a build album over here too. Would love to see more pics.

The Summer Swelter finds me working solely on the house, residing my 1874 Victorian with new wood and painting, restoring windows and whatnot. So, as stated previously, the boat sits in waiting.

However! Here ye Here ye, I have made some decisions, discoveries and purchases!

First is the ongoing search for the correct gel coat color to turn this first year Seafair into the "Glasspar Green" I want it to be. I have a massive color deck from INEOS composites, and with the help of my wife and her Facebook, She managed to track down a gentleman with a real beauty of a 1960 in original green gel coat.

He agreed to try to match the color deck to his boat, in specific an area of color that had been covered by trim so it wasn't faded. And thus we found a color as close to original as we're ever likely to get.

This is under the rub rail end cap, where the OG color is most true. N052 is clearly a winner.

Note how you almost totally miss the color N052, it looks like there are three color cards but in reality n052 blends so well it kind of disappears into the deck making it look like there are two cards on the left of the cleat.
So it would appear that I have the correct color pinned down. Nice!

Next step I went nuts looking for some marine vinyl that would be a good match for the cabin bunk cushions and some accent panels on otherwise solid white helm chairs. It took a long time, but I did find a really good match and bought five yards which is more than enough.


So exterior and interior color decisions made, I also stumbled across a NOS early OMC fuel gauge that matches the face of my NOS Ammeter. Now I had gone about creating my own "Airguide" fuel gauge as seen in posts above but I am not happy with the quality of the face and seeing two gauges match is far more desirable in my mind, so I'm going with OMC.


My plan for the helm is a very simple, clean and minimalist setup yet with a full accompaniment of gauges...the tach and speedo in their gauge plate dead center in the helm, with the fuel and amp gauges on either side in the fiberglass for balance.

I love that green. I have a Sea Fair project coming up and I've been looking for color options in old brochures and such.

Eric...what a great stroke of fortune for you and your wife to connect with the green Seafair owner. I entirely appreciate your need to get the house work done. Still, it's great that you continue to collect the pieces you need so when you get time to work on the boat, you'll have everything you need. I agree the green will look great...seems to be a rare color for the Sedans. I've mostly seen blue ones.

The gauges you continue to collect are like pieces of art. Not sure how/where you found the vinyl, but you have amazing sourcing skills!

I like the vision you have for your boat.

Eric...what a great stroke of fortune for you and your wife to connect with the green Seafair owner. I entirely appreciate your need to get the house work done. Still, it's great that you continue to collect the pieces you need so when you get time to work on the boat, you'll have everything you need. I agree the green will look great...seems to be a rare color for the Sedans. I've mostly seen blue ones.

The gauges you continue to collect are like pieces of art. Not sure how/where you found the vinyl, but you have amazing sourcing skills!

I like the vision you have for your boat.

Almost forgot....I also got a burgee The pole fits into the front connector of the bow rail.

Hey Eric things look like they're coming along nicely. I think the colors look great. The pole and burgee are an awesome addition!

Bob

Hello Eric. This is Randy in Indiana. You bought the boat from me. I've been following your progress and it looks great. When you are finished, I'll buy it back. Hope you are well.

Hey Randy! Thanks for finding me over here. At the moment I'm afraid I have nothing new to add though as the house still keeps me busy. One thing at a time, you know? Lots of good progress being made, though. The outside (minus porches front and rear) will be fully redone just in time for it's 150th year in 2024.


Eric

You're house project is looking great. It will be quite a showpiece when you are finished.