American Eagle/ Jolly Roger/ Apollo Starfire hull, seating restoration

[wglarson]

Hi all!

Our family has had an American Eagle in some form or another since they were made here in Spokane in the 70's. I'm starting to think about putting some effort into a full restore of the current one.

Has anyone swapped the front seats in these to ones captains chairs that might be able to swivel adjust? Is the floor under the carpet fiberglass or wood? Is there wood in the hull that I might want to check for rot?

Needless to say, I haven't made much of an effort to take the boat apart yet. It runs great but is showing some age cosmetically. I'm trying to decide between doing some cosmetic spruce-ups like new interior and clear coat restoration or going all out for new paint, interior, captains chairs, carpet, and possibly stringers.

Any experience you all have in making this decision or doing various restorations on these boats will be very helpful!

 

[tango13]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum. I have a 78 American, while my uncle has a '79 (which used to be my dads). On our 79, our original seats had swivels on them. Dad said he had them fitted when he had it restored in the 90's. I think you can install swivels very easily if you have the seats out, the only difference between the original seats on my '78 and the swivels on the '79 is that you obviously lose that storage hole under them. Not sure how to do it but it can be done!