1961 Larson All-American 14'

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Steve do you have any detailed pictures of your wakeboard mounts? Great idea I would like to barrow.
I also like to way you mound the bimini top. Much better than laying on the deck.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Hi All:

Here's a small page I threw together for the bimini:

http://www.stevewolverton.net/bimini.html

I hope it helps. I haven't checked for spelling/grammar/gremlins yet, but it should give a good idea of how I built mine.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

4everphotos - I placed a link to a small bimini how-to I just made in the post above. Please let me know if this helps, or if you have any other questions. I appreciate your comments.

TheWoodCrafter - I'm very happy with my wakeboard/kneeboard racks and the mount. I went back and forth for days trying to figure out a way to do it. It then occurred to me to mount them to the deck - it would be the strongest mount, and I think they look nice where they are. The biggest benefit is it opens up the inside of my boat. A 14' boat is cramped to begin with, then add some wakeboards and it gets really bad.

I found the wakeboard/kneeboard racks on ebay. I can send you the link to them directly if you'd like. I mounted them upside down (when compared to a tower mount) as the angles came up to about perfect for my boat. Keep the toys on the outside, and the people inside.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

you got bar1 and bar2 and then there are the bars that hold the back of the bimini top. Where did those come from are those part of the construction you have on that instruction page? Im about to order from harbor freight the bender! Thanks so much!!!

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

you got bar1 and bar2 and then there are the bars that hold the back of the bimini top. Where did those come from are those part of the construction you have on that instruction page? Im about to order from harbor freight the bender! Thanks so much!!!

Ah - good point. I included the end caps and stuff for them, but I didn't list any info. They measure 20" long. They're 1/2" emt conduit that I cut from my practice pieces. The cool thing about those is you can make them shorter to tilt the entire bimini back, or have longer ones to lower the bimini front. The best thing is to have the bimini tied back while trailering so you don't have to worry about scuffing paint.

 

[TheWoodCrafter]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Thanks for the pictures Steve.
I thought the rack was removeable, but it looks like they are bolted on.
Good idea, I like it. I think I will add rack to my boat in the same place.
Looked on e-bay, found lots of racks but it looks like all bolt to a pole.
Could modify that.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Thanks for the pictures Steve.
I thought the rack was removeable, but it looks like they are bolted on.
Good idea, I like it. I think I will add rack to my boat in the same place.
Looked on e-bay, found lots of racks but it looks like all bolt to a pole.
Could modify that.

Yup - that was the problem I ran in to - they're all made for pole/tower mounts. The one I bought was for a flat mount. Indeed, mine are bolted on.

As soon as I got mine bolted on, I ran across an ad for a Mastercraft fishing boat. It has board racks mounted like this too.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Excellent post. Thanks for posting the work you did and especially the bimini making. That will come in handy.

 

[fishie]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

All I can say is WOW! I've got a 14' MirroCraft that I'm doing a resto on and I've been going back and forth on whether or not to have a closed bow or more of an open deck area... As soon as I saw your boat I knew exactly what I wanted! What's the height from the floor to the bottom of your dash? I am about to lay mine and I want to give myself plenty of room between the two. Once again beautiful job!!
Thanks-Ryan

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Hay Steve , great thread , hope mine turned out have as nice !!! I got a one for you , on the stereo , i have read in the merc form that the older models dont put out a lot of amps, did you do anything to the motor to push that system ?? I got a 100 hp 1962 merc,
Great boat love the wake board rack and rhe top think i will do the same thanks for the post !!!!! john

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

fishie - Thanks. The bottom of the center dash to the top of the floor measures 19.5". I've always like closed bow boats. I even prefer an open bow boat with a bow cover on it. It's a personal preference thing.

jcsercsa - I believe my motor ('83 70hp Johnson) puts out 6amp while under way. That's not a lot and it won't keep the battery topped off if rocking the system hard. I have the radio pulling + two amplifiers. I usually don't listen to the system loudly while driving, but my friend loves to rock it very loud when she pulls me. I can actually hear the song she's listening to while boarding.

I put the boat on a charger an hour or so before going out to top it off.

 

[fishie]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Thanks so much! That will help me decide were to place my floor, I could definately use a few more pointers if you get the chance check out my thread, "Mirrocraft Resto. Need Help!"
Thanks Again!
Ryan

 

[UTgws]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

That is a nice job. Question about the location of the board racks. How does having them in that location effect your sight lines while under way? My little VIP doe not have much interior space for skis, knee boards, wake boards, etc, and to have racks like that would be nice but my concern would be how it effect visibility for the driver of objects and or people in the water.

Again, that is a nice job.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Question about the location of the board racks. How does having them in that location effect your sight lines while under way?

The racks don't affect my vision at all while under way. 99.5% of the time I'm facing forward or glancing in my rearview watching my boarder. The only time it's even noticed is when I'm turning around a downed rider. I can look above the boards, or below them to see the rider, but it's really not a problem at all. I've had 3 other drivers (all women, novice boat handlers, and 5'3 or less) operate my boat and they haven't had any complaints either.

I was concerned with it being a safety issue at first, but I have no regrets. You could always mount them further aft, but that may affect your ability to board your boat, and I think they'd look a little funny mounted aft.

Thanks for the kudos on my boat.

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

6 months ago when I split my deck I used epoxy in the little seam to epoxy it back together. I should have glassed the underside at that time, but I was in a hurry to get the boat back on the water. Last weekend I noticed a small crack where I had joined the deck seam. By the time I was finished boarding, I knew I needed to fix it correctly.

The above photo shows the deck after I took the grinder to it to remove a lot of the orginal glass so I could add an epoxy fillet. These old Larsons used a lot of glass in the deck!

The above photo shows thickened epoxy applied the area I ground. You can see a small clamp holding the deck lined up while the epoxy sets. I let this epoxy dry for 24 hours before doing anymore work.

The above photo shows me fairing the repair. I used polyester resin (bondo) over the epoxy because it dries faster, and it's so much easier to sand than epoxy. I love the strength of epoxy, but I hate sanding that stuff.

The above photo shows the area being masked off for paint.

The above photo shows the completed repair. I'm very happy with the results. Black shows every little imperfection. I cannot tell where the repair was made, and that's looking at it from different angles - not just straight on.

I sanded the epoxy with 80 grit. I sanded the polyester resin with 100 grit, and finished everything with 220 before applying the paint.

I also used 6 layers of 4oz. fiberglass tape on the underside of the repair. I imagine it's just as strong, or stronger than the original deck now.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

really love the boat and the proj.....


the last repair pictured above is really clean ...nice peice of work....


it is true that epoxy is harder to sand than poly....but unfourtunately...poly does not stick to epoxy.......you might be doing that repair again.....i hope you dont have to....it looks great

cheers
oops

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

but unfourtunately...poly does not stick to epoxy.......you might be doing that repair again.....i hope you dont have to....it looks great

What!?

I thought epoxy/poly bonds would work fine? I used epoxy resin for my stringers, transom, etc. to the original hull.

 

[fuzzeywiggler]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

What!?

I thought epoxy/poly bonds would work fine? I used epoxy resin for my stringers, transom, etc. to the original hull.

Don't worry, Epoxy bonds to poly but poly dosent bond to epoxy so the recent patch you did might not stay

Fuzzey

 

[stevewolverton]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

Don't worry, Epoxy bonds to poly but poly dosent bond to epoxy so the recent patch you did might not stay

LOL. Ok, I'm really confused. You're saying epoxy bonds to poly, but poly doesn't bond to epoxy?

Isn't that like saying peanut butter bonds to bread, but bread doesn't bond to peanut butter?

The patch was made using epoxy. The skim coat was poly. If anything fails, it will be the skim coat - correct? Worst case, I'll mix some epoxy/glass bubbles and fair that.

Thanks.

 

[oops!]

Re: 1961 Larson All-American 14'

LOL. Ok, I'm really confused. You're saying epoxy bonds to poly, but poly doesn't bond to epoxy?

Isn't that like saying peanut butter bonds to bread, but bread doesn't bond to peanut butter?

yes this statment is correct


The patch was made using epoxy. The skim coat was poly. If anything fails, it will be the skim coat - correct? Worst case, I'll mix some epoxy/glass bubbles and fair that.

Thanks.

yes this statment is totally correct also...

the only thing that might fail is the skim coat....but that is also held in place by the paint

if the skim coat does fail....it is just cosmetic because you did such a good job underneath