Possible Glastron Fireflite Project- A few questions

[Luke000]

Hello, me again! Long story short is I have an extra trailer in storage that has no boat on it at the moment, is quite a nice trailer to just sit there. So I was on Craigslist and noticed a 1959 Glastron Fireflite for sale. It's in pretty rough shape but nothing beyond the usual, would need a complete restoration, including floor and transom.

I love the lines of the boat and it looks more or less complete minus the interior upholstery. The windshield is in good restorable condition, all hardware is there and claimed of no cracks or damage to the fiberglass. I think it would make a fun little unique ski boat all fixed up.

My question is what are the quality of Glastron boats in their early years? Should this be something worth saving? And how hard is this boat to split the hull/cap compared to other similar boats? I've wanted to get a cool retro fiberglass boat with fins and cool lines and this seems to fit the bill. Price is reasonable @less than $200 for the hull. There is also a period Merc that could be a package deal.

Thanks in advance!

PS- Taking the Lone*Star out of storage this weekend!

 

[jbcurt00]

No wood in the hollow stringers, so thats a plus, but there maybe some delamination of the stringers frim the hull. Its common in 50+yr old glass boats, Glastron or not.

Dont know if a 59 is mostly the same as a 1960, but the hull joint is glass covered on the inside on a 60. Including burying the rubrail thru bolts and nuts in glass, so removing the rubrail is a challenge.....

The contoured stern and splashwell on many 50s-60s boats makes seperating the stern joint a challenge as well.

Does it have the Glastron embossed step pads and torpedo cleats?

Good luck, I like the 59 FireFlite

 

[Luke000]

No Title

No wood in the hollow stringers, so thats a plus, but there maybe some delamination of the stringers frim the hull. Its common in 50+yr old glass boats, Glastron or not.

Dont know if a 59 is mostly the same as a 1960, but the hull joint is glass covered on the inside on a 60. Including burying the rubrail thru bolts and nuts in glass, so removing the rubrail is a challenge.....

The contoured stern and splashwell on many 50s-60s boats makes seperating the stern joint a challenge as well.

Does it have the Glastron embossed step pads and torpedo cleats?

Good luck, I like the 59 FireFlite

Just the kind of information I wanted to hear! Is there a way to check for delamination of the stringers with the floor still in it, ie if I go look at it. And unless it's an impossible job, I'm accepting I will do some stringer work/replacement. Assuming the transom is shot, is it possible to replace without removing the rubrail? If not you said it's difficult, but not impossible?

From what I can see in the pictures there are step pads up near the front bench and two torpedo snapped cleats on the bow.

 

[Luke000]

No Title

Here is a picture of the inside too- rough

 

[sphelps]

Well it sure is cool ! And if it turns out as good as the LS ya might be up for another award !
Yep I remember waaayyy back John had a lot of fun separating the hull and cap on his FF ...
btw John if you ever decide to downsize the fleet gimme a shout ... :watermelon:

 

[hvymtl939]

What a sweet looking hull!!

 

[jbcurt00]

Glastron torpedo cleats

Good luck w your project

 

[Corjen1]

Having a weakness for the Glastrons, I would say heck yea its worth saving!!

 

[Luke000]

Well... after looking up the specs for the hull, seeing it is rated for a 70Hp motor and realizing that not only do I have a trailer with no boat on it, I also have an extra Evinrude 70 Triple motor that I forgot about sitting in my garage with no boat. It started last fall and I have some ideas to make it look a little more period to the Glastron. Between that and you guys nudging me towards it, I set up an appointment friday afternoon to go see it and possibly pick it up. It will be a few years before I get to it, but I like the boat and want to save it.

I am looking forward to learning all about fiberglass work and I cant think of a better project to cut my teeth on haha. Looking closer at the pictures, it does have the step pads and Torpedo cleats on the bow! Any more input is appreciated and I will most definitely be posting some updates over the next few days.

Jbcurt00, I looked at your thread and admire your hard work! If all goes to plan, I will be needing your expertise!

 

[jbcurt00]

Be sure to look Fri, but as best I can tell, it has slightly similar, but different bow cleats then the 1 I posted.

Yeah, theres a Glastron in the garage w its top cap cut loose.... :facepalm:

 

[Luke000]

I looked at the boat yesterday, and unfortunately it did not come home with me, I decided to hold off for the moment and re-evaluate with the iboats community.

The biggest cause for concern for me was the incredible amount of Crazing going on in the blue gelcoat. There is not a square millimeter without tons of crazing. Might be the worst gelcoat I've ever seen and would most definitely have to come completely off down to Bare fiberglass from what I can tell. What is the concenious here? Am I right for this to be of concern? I clearly planned on doing extensive work such as pulling the cap off and gutting the interior. How hard or impossible would it be to strip all of the gelcoat off the cap without damaging the fiberglass? The white gelcoat is actually in very good condition.

There were not really any other areas of concern for me, one area of damaged fiberglas by the factory hole in the middle of the splash well, but that could fixed I assume. Also as suspected the floor, transom, and seat areas are shot. The clears are not the Gaston branded ones, And the step pads although in good shape are not the glastron branded ones either.

Good news! The rub rail is not solid aluminum and has a rubber insert, as well as all the bolts are accessable from the inside! They are not glassed over, the seam is glassed though lightly. The fiberglass is in relatively good shape and the hull bottom is nearly pristine.

I'm going to upload pictures that I took in just a moment.

 

[Luke000]

The boat:





The Crazing:






The rub rail bolts:


Transom: Notice cracked area in the middle of splash well and area where skin is pulling away near the middle where the transom meets splashwell


Other pictures:

 

[Luke000]

 

[kcassells]

Heck....I buy that thing! The lines are too too cool not to bring back from the graveyard. Total rehab. Awesome boat.

 

[Woodonglass]

YUP, If she was close to me...I'd be all over her.

 

[Luke000]

Okay that's one for buying it! Any other inputs?

I know not a lot about fiberglass or gel coat. So I'm relying on the experts here to steer me in the right direction. I'm young and I really want to learn about fiberglass work on boats so I'm not afraid of learning the hard work and especially not buying tools.

I think at this point I'm looking for you guys to talk me into buying it

So tell me the destroyed gelcoat doesn't make this boat Beyond help (within reason) and I'll call up the guy and get it

 

[Luke000]

All right that's two!
Guess who just bought themselves another project?!
Called the guy, made a deal, it's mine for $150, I'll pick it up in a few weeks.

 

[Big Gee]

Awesome!!

Can't wait to see it brought back. :thumb:

 

[chevymaher]

That will be a awsome boat. It already is a great boat. I love older styles. The styling and chrome.

 

[Corjen1]

Congrats on your addiction!! Im sure she will be sweet when your done!!!