14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

[jfl1960]

Hello all, I recently was given a small boat by my uncle, it has some badges and labels identifying it as a Traveler Comet and is 14' long, has a 50 HP Evenrude motor included. This was another uncles boat that passed away 12 years ago and the boat was left to the uncle who gave it to me, it has sat in his back yard for that time and never saw water except for rain for 12 years, anyway a yard clean up was in order and I was the labor force, thus I got the boat for free. The floor is soft under the seat area and in the aft platform behind the seats, I will have to do some fiberglass work and replace some wood panels, hopefully the stringers are not bad but if they are I will replace them too. Always wanted a small boat so I am willing to put in the hours and work to have one, hope to have it ready for next summer. Here is a pic of the boat as it sits on the trailer in my driveway, will get more as I clean it out and see what needs repairing. Is there any way to tell the year of this unit from the ID badge attached to the transom, I would like to know as much about this boat as possible, thanks for any help, info or advice you are willing to provide.

PS it's raining the day I took the pic, the actual finish on the top of the boat is really dull and oxidized from the weather, the rain gives it a nice appearance and a good indication of what it should look like when finished.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Super cool looking hull. That will flat out fly with a 50! You've already found Micks' thread which is one of the best on here and shows exactly how this boat is constructed. Your biggest challenge will be finding or fabricating a suitable windshield for it.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Welcome to the Dry Dock,

Nice looking clean up job. That is a prime example of you can't judge a book by it's cover..LOL. If you have soft spots you're looking at a full restore, especially if she's been in the weather for 12 years...you can rest assured its going to need the whole 9 yards...deck, stringers and transom.

But that's fine, we can get you thru from start to finish. I'd suggest doing some reading here before you tear into it, as some upfront knowledge always helps. Good luck with her.

CW

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Super cool looking hull. That will flat out fly with a 50! You've already found Micks' thread which is one of the best on here and shows exactly how this boat is constructed. Your biggest challenge will be finding or fabricating a suitable windshield for it.

I have the windshield frame and the old windshield as basic template for curves, it's broken in three pieces partly due to weather and partly due to local kids playing captain hook in the boat over the years. I have worked with lexan before making side and rear windows for my pro street ford ranger and windscreen for a friends Harley, a little heat some forms in the right shape and lots of patience and I was able to make some very nice curved panels, so I have decided to make a low profile windscreen for it about half the original height, saw this on other Traveler's on the net and looks real slick. Here are some pics of the low profile vs the original windscreen, I think the lower one looks better. I have included one without a windshield which I kinda like the look of but I expect I would miss the protection if I didn't have one.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

A low profile one with smoked "glass" would look awesome.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Welcome to the Dry Dock,

Nice looking clean up job. That is a prime example of you can't judge a book by it's cover..LOL. If you have soft spots you're looking at a full restore, especially if she's been in the weather for 12 years...you can rest assured its going to need the whole 9 yards...deck, stringers and transom.

But that's fine, we can get you thru from start to finish. I'd suggest doing some reading here before you tear into it, as some upfront knowledge always helps. Good luck with her.

CW

Hey Cadwelder, I have been restoring cars, truck and motorcycles for years, this has taught me to expect the worst when getting into any project and that way you do not get blind sided by surprises that may jeopardize the completion of the project, that's where this forum comes in and especially Micks' thread on restoring his 1962 Arkanbsas Traveler, I cannot believe how lucky I am to find such a well documented restoration with pics, video and a wealth of knowledge basically tailored to suit my upcoming task. His thread has given me a complete "Bill of materials" to source for availability and price so I can gauge my progress as my budget will allow.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

A low profile one with smoked "glass" would look awesome.

Low profile and smoked hmmm, now we're talking.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Been doing a lot of searching and reading and found some great info on this site and others for ideas and suggestions, found this youtube vid, this is what I saw in my minds eye when I decided to take on this project, color is almost exactly the one I was thinking to use on top section, but the 100 HP outboard is a bit overkill (think Tim Taylor might have been involved in that decision, hahaha), the tag on mine says 40HP max and I am using a 50HP so think I will stay with that. Take a look.

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Oh he** yes the 100 HP is WAY overkill, stick with the 50 which is techincally over the rating but I think you're okay. Insurance is somtimes an issue when boats are over the nameplate rating, but I've seen plenty insuranced that where a bit over. The 50 should push that hull down the water very nicely and won't suck up near the fuel of a 100.

I like the Tim Taylor comment....loved that show.

CW

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Cool old boat. Good to see another Arkansas Traveler too. I have a '59 DUT-14 runabout (I think), v-hull, tinny converted to a fishing boat. After 50 years of use she's still dry as a bone and solid as a rock. She's no looker, but she gets me there and back again every time. Cheers on the new toy!

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

can anyone help me in identifying exactly what year my boat is (see pic in sig and in first post at top of thread), any suggestions are appreciated

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Think I have answered my own question, I found one identical to mine on car domain at:

hxxp://www.cardomain.com/ride/2566015/1987-mercury-cougar/page-5

replaced the http with hxxp just in case active links are not allowed in these forums. Just sub tt for the xx in the url and you're good to go.

Anyway only dif is I have white hull and his is all blue, says 1963.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

OK finally got some time to work on the boat, started with the motor, got it out of storage, remember it hasn't run in almost 12 years. Was sprayed with storage oil and cylinders were filled with oil before she was laid up. Motor turns over easily by hand so that's a good sign, missing the silencer cover (part #1 in the parts pic below), which is an obsolete part for this motor, maybe I can make one out of aluminum. anyway here it is a 50 HP 1971 Evinrude Lark model number 50172s, I am told these would give a 75 hp 4 stroke a run for it's money back in the day, well we will see if I can get her running properly. Any suggestion on what to do before I put gas and spark to this motor?

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Took this video last November of the floor before I put the boat away for winter, I started ripping up the floor yesterday, man she is still wet and it been stored out of rain and weather for almost 9 months or so, also the stringers are just mush and need replacing. The entire floor is rotted from bottom side, funny thing is manufacturer did not cover bottom of plywood with fiberglass or even resin, just topside of deck. I suspect the transom will need replacing also, anyway here is the vid it's in two parts because I had a delivery I had to receive during the taping. Pics of the floor removal will follow soon. All videos are taken with my Android phone, sorry it blurry sometimes but it's convenient.

 

[Howard Sterndrive]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

cool - my first boat was a 14' Traveler Comet (yellow). Bought it in 1980. It had a 50HP Merc on it (short shaft - blue stripe gas guzzler). boat was rated for 40HP as I recall.
It handled nice and was a good ski boat. I had some fun in it for sure - thanks for the pics -a trip down memory lane there...

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

part 2 of initial inspection video from last November.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

cool - my first boat was a 14' Traveler Comet (yellow). Bought it in 1980. It had a 50HP Merc on it (short shaft - blue stripe gas guzzler). boat was rated for 40HP as I recall.
It handled nice and was a good ski boat. I had some fun in it for sure - thanks for the pics -a trip down memory lane there...

Thanks for comment, keep and eye on this thread, will be doing lots of work, any suggestions are appreciated, by the way do you have any pics of that boat.

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

A good view of the rotten floor

 

[jfl1960]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

More video on the rotted floor. I intend to use pressure treated exterior grade douglas fir plywood for my deck core, any suggestions on thickness? The plywood I tore out seemed rather thin, like 3/8 or possibly 1/2", I see people using 3/4" but is that overkill?? Don't want to go too thick and increase the weight of the boat if I can help it, also what type of wood should I use for the stringers?? Spruce, pine or a hardwood?? Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 14' Arkansas Traveler Comet Project

Nice boat, might need to convert the boat trailer back into a boat trailer

After you use the flatbed for hauling off debris from the demo

Welcome & good luck...