1961 Larson All-American 14'

[tcindie]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

What are your plans for the boat -restoration or modernize it a bit? What motor?

Probably a little of both, as you've done with yours. It's got a 75HP Johnson, which I believe is also from around '61. Haven't been able to fire her up yet as she was sitting in the guys back yard when I went to look yesterday, but apparently it just had some engine work done and was out on the lake in June without issues...

Here's the only photo I have at the moment:

 

[lundungurl]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Hi Steve,
First, this is an awesome restore, great looking boat! I had a question about your seats. You said you used 1/4" plywood, and upholstered to that? Did you glue the padding to the plywood, then upholster the whole thing? And how did you attach the seats to the boat afterward? I've got a '57 Larson thunderhawk jr I'm in the process of restoring and I have no seat bases to work with to make a pattern, so I'm going to use the "construction" paper to get a pattern. I dont have back to back seats either. I am thinking of a paint scheme already so I can match it to the interior. It will be mostly white, but I can't decide on dark blue and grey or dark blue and yellow... hmph! Anyway, great boat!

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I had a question about your seats. You said you used 1/4" plywood, and upholstered to that? Did you glue the padding to the plywood, then upholster the whole thing? And how did you attach the seats to the boat afterward?

The seats were really easy. I didn't glue the foam, it's held in place by the vinyl. I sewed a few pleats in the seat to make it look nice, and then stretched it taut behind the wood and stapled the vinyl to the plywood. I have 4 bolts on each seat back/bottom that mount through the fiberglass. If you do it this way, just make sure to drill the holes for the bolts and place them in the wood before you cover with vinyl. Sometimes I forget little details like that.

 

[tcindie]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I think the ideal thing to do would be to use some T-Nuts...

 

[JeffSmith]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Awesome!!! You have some skills! That is a nice inspiration for my project. Great job!

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I think the ideal thing to do would be to use some T-Nuts...

Yup - you're right.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Awesome!!! You have some skills! That is a nice inspiration for my project. Great job!

I don't know about skills, but I do like to tinker. I have fun with it.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I noticed a stress crack that followed the lapstrake on my hull. I flipped the boat over to get to the hull. I ground out the bad area, applied epoxy with fillers / glass / epoxy with fillers / glass / epoxy with fillers. I'm confident that will be an end to that problem.

Yes, it was a bit unnerving flipping the boat over like that.

Since I had the boat off the trailer, I decided to paint the trailer too. I got a wire wheel and scuffed up the paint, and chewed off the rusted areas. I then applied Herculiner to the trailer. I hope it holds up as well as I've heard. Regardless, the trailer sure looks so much better in black than the faded/rusted yellow it was.

Herculined!

FWIW - I picked up those 1 ton shop cranes (foldable) from HF for $114 each. They're marked down and I had a 10% coupon on top of that. I bought two to flip the boat, and it sure comes in handy pulling that motor.

 

[jp89bayliner]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Dude you are a stud.

 

[douglee25]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Nothing like a homemade rotisserie in the garage!

Nice work.

Doug

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

From the producers of “Flip that House”, this seasons new surprise hit “Flip that Boat”, staring Wasserdamon in the role of "Happy Puppy".

Nice work Steve!

 

[mike64]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I'm sorry it took me so long to respond to this.

I'm not real sure about the paint yet. I think it's losing some of its gloss. The paint isn't as hard as some of the others out there. I will probably repaint it using Perfection paint next time. I've heard Perfection was a really nice paint.

Hey, no problem-- between the boardin, flippin and fixin you've been up to, it's no wonder you don't get much time on the computer. Thanks for the tip about perfection paint, I'll look into it.

 

[snowbird3]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Nein.

I think Wasserdamon means "Happy Puppy" in German right?

I just checked with a German friend and...are you ready for this,

Wasserdamon means "Water Demon!" How cool is that. Very nice job on you boat. You have inspired me and I am scanning the local auctions and EBay to atempt something similar.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I just checked with a German friend and...are you ready for this,

Wasserdamon means "Water Demon!"

Shhh! Not so loud!

No it doesn't. Repeat after me, it means “Happy Puppy”

 

[EricR]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Why you be flippin' dat boat???

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Why you be flippin' dat boat???

Happy Puppies wakeboard girlz were having so much fun, it was the only way to get them all out of the boat!

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

EricR - I saw some small stress cracks on the lapstrakes so I flipped it and ground the bad stuff out - put good stuff in - and now it's all groovy.

SnappingTurtle - I like your answer better. I just moved to Austin area so now I'm searching for new wakeboarding buddies. I'm going to miss the river - long stretches of slick water. Now I'm blessed with round lakes with too many boats. *sigh*

 

[EricR]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Where did you live before Steve? Those canals looked a lot like the flood control canals in south Florida where I used to live, that was where we had to board at. Now I am sure they are all either no boating or idle speed only.

One would think that Ft.Lauderdale would be this awesome area to boat in, but the inland waters are so lined with docks wall to wall that is is nearly 100% no wake zone plus Manatee protection areas. If you ventured into the ocean you may accelerate past an idle. So basically you had a long trip to find anywhere to go play.

I love the Savannah area for the boating opportunities- if I wish to go into fresh water, I go west up river, if I want salt marsh, I go towards the beach. And there are so many zillions of creeks and tidal rivers, you can usually find somewhere less crowded or in the lee of an island to find resonably flat waters.

However my wife does not/will not drive the boat and I have two children under the age of four which makes it at times difficult to get any time on the end of the tow rope, I have a friend I taught to pull me last week but when I fell he just slowed and stopped and sat there, asked my wife "What am I supposed to do?" I forgot to TELL him to come back, lol!

Anyhow Steve I hope the fishing boat project goes ok and with that cool old boat you'll find new boarding buddies, they may not look as good as the last ones, but hopefully "Wasserdamon" will find love again!

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

I just checked with a German friend and...are you ready for this,

Wasserdamon means "Water Demon!" How cool is that. Very nice job on you boat. You have inspired me and I am scanning the local auctions and EBay to atempt something similar.

I was close.

My boat is no lady, so she gets no fluffy name. If she's in the water, she's pulling someone. I figured Water Demon was fitting.

I would highly recommend Craigslist in your area too. There are many gems that pop up on there. I've seen a few on Ebay, but for these old boat many people will list them on Craigslist instead.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Where did you live before Steve? Those canals looked a lot like the flood control canals in south Florida where I used to live, that was where we had to board at. Now I am sure they are all either no boating or idle speed only.

I lived just south of Houston, but the river is the San Bernard River which is about an hour south of Houston. There is about 25 miles of river that is wonderful for watersports. I'm in the process of trying to locate a place near Austin that doesn't have a lot of boat traffic. I never go boating to be seen, it's always to seek the glass water.

Funny story about the friend driving the boat. I've often failed to tell people to let go of the rope when they fall. I would think that would be a given, but some people have surprised me.