Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Here's another seat update.

The back bench seat is in and looking fantastic. Check it out. Now that the seat is in, I can see how much leg room there will be between the front and back seats. Hmmm. Might have to think about a center area to put an upholstered cooler.

I'm not a short guy by any means, but when I got in and sat down, I could fully extend my legs with room to spare! Awesome. Now I can really start to get an idea of what the layout of this boat will be like.

Front seats are next, can't wait to see that. I knew that my dad would do a great job fitting these suckers in. Now the cushion maker? I may have to have a talk with her. Ha! Mom's idea of a joke I'm guessing.

Stay tuned!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Well, after spending a couple of weeks at in my parent's garage, my dad has got the Red Fish hooked up with seats. Some really, really nice seats I might add. I knew that he would do a great job on them and he was true to form.

The next step with the seats is to break them down and seal them up from the elements, then put them back so that the foam and vinyl can go on. We decided mid-way through the seats that it would be best to have a solid framework for the seats and do the foam and vinyl on separate pieces of wood and attached them to the frame. That way if we need to repair or replace a cushion, we can take just that part off without having to tear into the whole seat.

So with the seat framework done, I hooked up the Red Fish and made the 5 mile drive back to my place for some miscellaneous work before the winter. Thanks Dad for the great work on the seats!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Back at my place I took some more pictures of the seats. Once they're upholstered they're going to look FANTASTIC!

While work was going on with the seats, I was busy cleaning up the cowling for the motor. I gave it a good going-over, removing the nameplates and things, gave it a thorough sanding and sprayed on about 8 coats of high gloss white, 8 coats of orange and followed all of that by 5 coats of clear coat. The orange on the bottom of the cowling is the same orange that will be going on the boat... should look pretty cool when it's done. Oh and we were able almost perfectly match some vinyl for the seats to that orange paint color as well. I plan on painting the lower parts of the motor but that will now wait for the spring as it's gotten too cold to paint.

I'll be messing with the motor to see if I can get the thing running before we put it away, the P.O. said that it ran... my fingers are crossed. I need to know if it runs or not, so that if it doesn't I can have someone work on it over the winter.

Now.... I think it's time to order some foam and vinyl. WoooHooo!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Here's more seat pictures for your viewing pleasure.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Looking great. Although I certainly hope that you did you get black paint anywhere near a Johnson/Evinrude product!!!!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Ha. That black paint on the motor was already there... I plan to get as much of that off as I can and go back to the original Johnson color.

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Well iboaters, it's been a while since my last post. The weather here in northeast Ohio had gotten colder so the restoration took a break for the winter. I do have updates to report though.

All the materials for the seats has finally arrived. It's a long winded story to say the least with wrong material numbers from manufactures, 3 shipments of wrong materials, on and on. The first order was placed in September, that vinyl just came.

But, now that all the vinyl and the foam is here, work can begin on the upholstery. We put the seats in the boat to make sure that everything will fit properly and then took them back out to upholster. Stay tuned for updates as this will be done in my dad's basement over the winter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

cool looking project, first time I ever saw the thread, and it was good reading

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Hello once again iboaters! Boy, after a long absence from the forums, I'm so glad to say that the Red Fish restoration is once again happening. Unfortunately I've been away from the old girl for longer than I'd like. Not because of anything bad or anything like that... it's just finding the time to work on it. Everything else seems to get in the way.

We're at a good place with the Red Fish though. The final glassing of the interior is on the list along with getting the seats sewn. Those are the first two things that will happen now that we're back on the project.

I'm happy to say that today, I'm going to look at a new "old" motor. I found a 1957 35hp Johnson for sale. I'm hoping that this motor is a diamond in the rough and turns out to be a Javelin... that would be a bonus. The current owner says it runs and runs well. He said the only downside to it is that someone had painted it all black. To me, that doesn't sound like a problem at all.

So stay tuned gang. The Red Fish is back on track! I'll post pictures of the motor once I've gotten it home.

 

[andgott]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Very cool boat... I want a red fish some day, too You got a good deal on it...

I'd imagine you've probably already found this, but in case you haven't, there is a lot of info on red fish boats here-

http://www.fiberglassics.com/library/Red_Fish

You are working FAST on that restore, too- She'll be floating in NO TIME!

-Andrew

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Very cool boat... I want a red fish some day, too You got a good deal on it...

I'd imagine you've probably already found this, but in case you haven't, there is a lot of info on red fish boats here-

http://www.fiberglassics.com/library/Red_Fish

You are working FAST on that restore, too- She'll be floating in NO TIME!

-Andrew

Andrew... just when I think I've seen and found all that I can about the Red Fish, something new comes up. Thanks so much for the link. I'd not seen that site. I'm going to take a good hard look at as I have a couple of unknowns regarding the boat. I'll be finishing the glass work on the interior over the weekend. I'll be sure to keep posting photos of the progress. Thanks again!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

As promised... I bring you photos of my recently purchased 1957 Johnson 35hp Electric Start. Yup. It's black. Not sure why someone would want to do that, but hey... it's only paint right? For $200 I got the pressurized tank, controls and the motor along with a guarantee that it runs by the P.O. or my money back.

Yes, I'll need to do some rewiring and cosmetic things but all in all I really like the motor. Here's my problem though... in my excitement to find this motor, I didn't even think about the shaft length and as you can see by the photo, I need a short shaft and this is a long.

As soon as I put that on the boat I could have kicked myself. I've read and asked questions about conversions, I'm not afraid to take on something like that, I've got a good mechanical friend that will help me and another friend that says he may have all the necessary parts needed. So...

But the beat goes on. I will be finishing up glass work over the weekend.

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Hey all. Over the weekend I started restoring the '57 Johnson. I decided to start with the cowling by tackling the nasty black paint. Oh... the black paint. I do have to say that whoever painted it, did a nice job. There wasn't any signs of cracking or peeling and it was applied very evenly. So I decided rather than strip it down to the metal, I would take the sheen off the black, touch areas that needed it and start with the real colors.

I tapped it off very carefully and started to paint. After removing the painters tape, I couldn't be happier with the result. It looks fantastic! Now I can't wait to get decals on it. Once I have those on, I will apply several coats of clear coat to protect all my hard work.

I'm waiting on a shipment of some parts, wiring, etc. Once I have that, I will convert it to a short shaft and go from there. Decals and the emblem for the front are next to be ordered.

As far as the Red Fish goes... the last of the glass cloth was also applied to the interior this weekend. All that remains now are a couple coats of resin to even things out before we paint the floor. We also prepped the seat structures to be sealed against the elements. I'll be spending the evenings this week to get those finished up so that we can put the vinyl on.

So we're moving along... again!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

At long last the sewing of the seats has begun. Took the off yesterday and headed over to my parent's basement. First surprise we got when we rolled out the vinyl, the guy that I bought the orange vinyl from, only shipped me 2 yards instead of the 3 that I had ordered.... wouldn't you know it, he's out of business now. Oh well, what's a guy to do. At any rate, we cut all the pieces and began the process of sewing. My dad had been itching to try out is his great find from the Goodwill store. He happened to be in a local store looking for something else and saw this sewing machine being readied to be put on the shelf for sale. He quickly asked about it and the guy working there said that it is in fact for sale. So $8 and some elbow grease later, he's got a perfectly working heavy duty machine, perfect for sewing vinyl. As you can see in the pictures, we were able to get the bottom of the front seat done, the two backs are next, then we'll move onto the bench seat in the back. I think it surprised all of us at just how well it came out.

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Here are a couple more shots of the seat sewing. We'll probably be back into it again next weekend. Hopefully finishing them up.

 

[The Hammer]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Hard to imagine when I was a kid I used to waterski behind one of those 35 johnsons just like that one. It had no electric start or it didnt work we had to pull the rope to start.

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Onward! We're making small steps to this year's goal. Last weekend I got up enough nerve to try and tackle converting my '57 long shaft Johnson into a short shaft. My wife and I went out and tore into it. It was much easier that we could have ever imagined. I'm not real mechanically inclined when it comes to motors, but I thought why not. I had a friend lined up to help me do it any way, if I messed it up too bad, maybe he could get us back on track. As it turns out, by taking our time and watching what we were doing... it was a breeze. I took out the shaft and the shift connecting rod and will be trading my stuff for another iboaters short shaft parts. I know that this isn't the place to talk motors and all, but this is part of my boat restore so I'm including it here. I would not have thought this possible without all the help I've been getting from people on this site. What a great asset this is. Thank you all for all the help you given thus far and for all the help in the future! AWESOME! Oh, I have the cowling for the motor already restored and I have it covered, not to keep people from seeing it, but to keep our over active birds from leaving their mark on it... if you get my drift.

 

[RobbyA]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Just so you know, when you are finished with your boat I am borrowing your dad and his $8.00 sewing machine to sew my seats! They look really good.

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

Thanks Robby. He puts a lot of pride into all the things that he does. He's a keeper for sure. I can't wait to get that boat done so that I can take my parents for a cruise around the local lakes. I'm sure if beer is included in the signing bonus to work on your boat... a serious consideration would be made by my dad. Ha!

 

[joza]

Re: Joza's 1957(?) Red Fish Restoration

During the process of this restoration I've learned one very important thing. Even a small victory is a big victory when placed within the context of a boat restoration.

Over the weekend, my wife and I finished up our long-shaft to short-shaft conversion. I met and traded my long-shaft goodies for another iboaters short-shaft goodies... thanks Bill! Now I can begin to restore the rest of the motor and get it looking good. Small victory... but a good one.

Yesterday, I wanted to start to lay in some rough wiring into the Red Fish, running wires where they should go and switches and things. I got wires run to all the places where the major things will be located and I thought that I'd call it a day, BUT, I couldn't help myself I had to hook up the bow light and check it out. Oh, I turned that thing on and got all giddy. It just looks so cool. I can't wait to have it re-chromed and reinstalled.

So as I was saying... it's little victories that make me feel really good about this project. Seeing that bow light glow was a sneak peek to the finish line. There are still a ton of things that need happen, but the list is getting smaller.