Well here goes!! 1962 Traveler Polaris is getting a new life!!

[Far2hip]

I was over at this woman's house picking up an old vintage Singer sewing machine (I have a heavy materials sewing shop and on the side I restore these old vintage domestic sewing machines). After getting the sewing machine transaction finished she asks me if I like old boats. "Sure!" Comes blurting out of my mouth. "Well, there is an old boat sitting up there in the woods that I haven't been able to do anything with for about 25 years. If you want it, you can have it. Just get it out of here." So I walk up in back and there is the front nose of an old fiberglass boat poking out from under a few mangled tarps completely covered in moss and dirt. But, when I started to peel back some of the mess, this was a very cool looking old boat!! After getting stung by a few angry bees for intruding on their home and getting those old tires filled with air (yes, I was stupid enough to just fill them and snag the thing home, lol. Don't lie, you have done this kind of stupid thing before, lol.) I got the thing home. When I pulled off the the cowl cover of that cool looking Evinrude Lark III motor, I find that it was obviously home to generations of a mouse family and it was completely encased with their careful construction of a mouse condo complex. As I pulled away the wads of stuffing all over this thing and take a look into the motor, there was the tenant of the dwelling staring right at me from under the flywheel cover, lol. He has since been relocated.

The emblem on the side said Traveler and after a bit of research I discovered that it is a 1962 Traveler and the model is the Polaris. After cleaning it up and cleaning out all of the moss and dirt that had accumulated over these past 25 years, this is one very cool looking little runabout is surprisingly great shape!! I love the design and proportions of it better than most of the older vintage runabouts I have seen so this thing is definitely worthy of a full on restoration! The old Lark III is a bit far gone for my talents in the motor dept. so I have purchased a nice 1989 Mercury Classic 50 for a steal at $500 and it runs absolutely perfect! Coolant pump impeller was just done at the end of last season and the carbs were just recently rebuilt. The previous owner simply replaced it with a larger motor for his pontoon boat and from what I can tell he was a freak with maintenance so good for me!! Got that all,polished up and mounted in place and the new decals are on the way!! There is a pretty sizable crack in the windshield but not in my field of view but otherwise in decent shape. It will be replaced at some point but for now it will work just fine.

And on that point, I was recommended to try a product called Plexus on the windshield from a buddy of mine that does a lot of flying his planes. Have you ever tried this stuff on plexiglass???? Absolutely AWESOME!!! I have NEVER seen a product work THAT good on plexiglass!!!! EVER!!! I was thinking that I would HAVE to change that windshield before I used the boat as there would be hell to pay if I was heading into the sun. This Plexus stuff made the dang windshield crystal clear with the exception of the heavier crazing that is visible on the sides of the windshield. I am a product development guy and this is one of those products I would dream of having come up with. VERY highly recommended. Rick says that you do need to reapply it from time to time because it will wear of but who the hell cares!! It took about 10 mins to do the whole windshield inside and out and I was so damn impressed I called the place where I have been buying my parts to tell them to make sure they get this on the shelf! (End of free sales pitch for Plexus, lol)

The new trailer is coming on Monday and as far as the interior goes, that will be the easy part here. I already have all the sewing machines and facility to make all that stuff thank God. So wish me luck!! This thing is going to come out awesome!!

 

[Far2hip]

And here is a funny coincidence, I picked this boat up on the 4th of July. Take a look at the name of the vintage wooden water skis that came with the boat.

 

[PS94]

That's a neat little boat, and parts are still avail for the old lark motor....but since you're not using it; I wish I could take her off your hands! I have a lil 67 Traveller Polaris, in Blue!

 

[Far2hip]

PS94, I am going to list that motor in the sales section after I read up a bit on how to do it (new here). But feel free to PM me if you would like to know more about it. I am basically giving it away if I don't restore the thing. It's a bit far gone that's for sure. I really wish it was in a little better shape motor wise. It is a VERY cool looking motor!!!

 

[gm280]

Far2hip, why are you swapping out trailers. Is the old one that bad? From the pictures it looks like in really only needs some TLC and it would work well... :noidea:

 

[veebus52]

That's a very cool looking old boat! I'll be watching this thread.

 

[Far2hip]

So, I have decided that I want to have some time on the water this season with this cool old runabout. This winter it will get the FULL treatment but for this season over the past few weeks I have cleaned her up spick and span, found a really sweet running Mercury Classic 50 with 45hp that I touched up and re decaled, gutted all the electrical and rewired everything, bought a couple sets of back to back seats which I ripped off the hardware and made my own solid mounts, and added a few cool quick options so as to not loose any storage space being only a 14 foot boat. I measured out the base boxes to fit nicely under the seats and sourced a couple air supports and hinged the front of the whole seat assembly. The whole thing has come out excellent!! Attaching the Bimini top today and swapping it onto the new trailer and I am water bound!! Next year I will have the full restoration done but for now, I wanna go play!!