dcollicott
Cadet
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2009
- Messages
- 18
It's not a restoration, as it's in pretty decent condition, and it's hardly a "project" compared to what some of you folks are involved in, but I was recently given responsibility for my Father-in-law's 1959 MFG Celeron and am working to clean it up for regular use with my family.
One picture is attached below; more pictures are on Flikr.
So far I have been using it out on Northport Bay, which is off of Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, and on Lake Leelanau, which are both in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, near Traverse City. However, I will be bringing it down to southern Michigan this fall for some fun closer to home.
Some of its finer points are:
So far, I have done this work:
This work still remains:
One picture is attached below; more pictures are on Flikr.
So far I have been using it out on Northport Bay, which is off of Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay, and on Lake Leelanau, which are both in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, near Traverse City. However, I will be bringing it down to southern Michigan this fall for some fun closer to home.
Some of its finer points are:
- Many of the optional extras offered by MFG at the time, including floor boards, windshield, folding rear seat back and vinyl seat and seat-back cushions.
- Original steering and Johnson Ship Master controls.
- Original 1959 Johnson Super Sea Horse 35 HP motor that still starts the first time.
- Replacement windshield that is very close to the original (I can see the original windshield's shape on the deck). It was made by Taylor, as the original was, and even has the slight bubble shape.
- Rub rail, transom, fiberglass hull and seats are all in great condition.
So far, I have done this work:
- Cleaned out the remains of mouse nests from under the bow deck. This includes replacing the urine-saturated flotation and scrubbing the insides down with ammonia.
- Cleaned out years of dirt and grime from the floor of the hull by removing floorboards and giving it a good scrubbing.
- Organized and re-mounted electrical wiring and returned the lights to working condition.
- Removed the cushions and stored them in a safe place, to be brought out for display uses only.
This work still remains:
- Strip and refinish the bow deck, as the urine from the mouse nests has stripped part of it down to bare wood.
- Give the motor a good tune-up and inspection, inside and out.
- Strip and refinish all other wood. Other than the bow deck, the wood is doing fine and this will be the bottom on the priority list.