Hatty, I bought a new-to-me boat!

[SwampYankee]

It's limited production and it's aluminum...




...but a little lower on the scale.


Got a 12' 1950 runabout made in Manchester, CT. Neat little boat. Deep bow, aircraft-style riveting, dual cockpit, typical 50's runabout styling midship through the transom. I've never seen one before, despite spending my life 10 miles away from where they were manufactured. There is precious little info about them on the web. I found an iBoat page where a guy is in the process of resto-modding one but other than that not much. It's had some "fins" added at somepoint, I'm guessing as spray rails. They don't look bad but are affixed with self-tapping screws. I might take them off and see how wet it gets. If it's not bad, I'll have the holes filled and run without them. If it's sloppy, I'll figure out a way to attach them more attractively.

I didn't want the motor (long shaft 6hp) but the guy gave it to me anyway so I'll throw it on our rowboat up in ME, I'm leaning towards a 4 stoke 15 hp. New marine-grade ply transom with stainless cap. I'm thinking polished hull, red racing stripe, red vinyl cushions and probably need a shark mouth on the bow. It'll be a fun little boat up on the lake and running around on the CT River.

On it's ride home.



Manufacturer's plate.


View of the foredeck and aircraft-style riveting.


Rear view (need another piece of 2x on each bunk and it'll sit level).

[E150GT]

Thats a cool boat.

[P.C.]

There might be room for a small block Chevy if you want to power it up a bit...

[TheDon]

That is pretty sweet

[kerry]

That is a very cool looking boat.

[SwampYankee]

Thanks, guys. I thought it was pretty neat. The aircraft riveting is unique to me. I've seen lots of vintage aluminum with the standard rivet heads. Looks like I've really got to scrounge to find some info on it. The location of the manufacturer now has houses on it. The town does a big cruise night every August, I'll have to see if I can get an exception for a boat.

Originally Posted by P.C.

There might be room for a small block Chevy if you want to power it up a bit...

I've done lots of foolish things, it's hereditary on my father's side, and if I didn't want to keep it mostly original I might be all over that. My favorite toy through h.s. and college was a 13' Whaler with a 70 hp Johnson (with 40 hp decals-I thought it was cool at the time ) that I bought with 2 summers of landscaping money. That got pretty hairy at WOT. Of course a 50 Merc probably could have taken me. One of those things I wish I hadn't let get away.

[panZZer]

Dude, please put a period correct motoer on that thing,,,
vintage outboard motor in eBay Motors | eBay

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by panZZer

Dude, please put a period correct motoer on that thing,,,
vintage outboard motor in eBay Motors | eBay

Actually, the long term plan is to retrofit the 4 stroke powerhead to a seized '57 Sea Horse that's sitting in my garage. There's a lot of room under those old covers. Going to rebuild the lower unit and fab up an adapter. I want clean and reliable in addition to vintage looks. Those old 2 strokes can be reliable but they sure aren't clean.

[Hatterasguy]

Very cool boat! Paint it up like a Corsair!

You can just have a vintage cover made for any new outboard. I see it in FL at the wooden boat shows all the time. That way you get a modern motor but when the boat is floating it will look like an old smokey OMC or POS Merc.

I'd recommend finding a lightly used 2 stroke since they are so much lighter and have more power.

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Hatterasguy

Very cool boat! Paint it up like a Corsair!

You can just have a vintage cover made for any new outboard. I see it in FL at the wooden boat shows all the time. That way you get a modern motor but when the boat is floating it will look like an old smokey OMC or POS Merc.

I'd recommend finding a lightly used 2 stroke since they are so much lighter and have more power.

I'll have to check into those covers. That's definitely a easier option!

I'll take it under advisement.

[engatwork]

Nice looking boat.

[tbomachines]

Very cool, I love it! My great uncle used to build boats like that back in those days, got excited for a second but it's a different company. Looks much bigger than 12', can't imagine it weighs a whole lot?

[elchivito]

Very cool boat. Very cool. Please update with pics.

[Fulcrum525]

Does it float?

[SwampYankee]

Originally Posted by Fulcrum525

Does it float?

Well, I can't be 100% sure that it will float until I back it down the ramp. But I did fill it up with water to see if there were any leaks outward and it holds water. That's no 100% guarantee of seaworthiness but it's a pretty fair indicator.