Falls Flyer Restoration Started

[bham-rick]

stringers and patches

Got two of the new stringers glassed in from the bottom and made a patch for the glove box hole. I'm going to move the steering from the port side to the starboard and going to fill all the holes except the Speedometer hole and start over. When I get the stringers in place I will sand them down so they blend in then put a layer of glass over the whole bottom. That Piece that holds the seat up that was broken in 3 places I had to patch and when the bottom is finished I will connect the entire piece back in place. Nice to have a little warm weather since I'm working outside.

[bham-rick]

Homelight too wide !

I've been in contact with Del and he sent me some very nice pictures. That Falls flyer he did is one made out of wood with a canvas covered top that's in a whole different league than mine. I'm just going to put a new skin of fiber on the inside floor and up the sides ,besides the spider cracks the hull is in great shape. He restored the exact same Tee Nee trailer that I have under the boat and I'm buying some parts from him that should be here next week. He has fender extensions with tail lights and also the rubber step pads for the fenders. He does reproduction parts . Del is a real nice guy and also set me up with John Monahan who is Mr. Falls Flyer . He lives in Little Falls Minn. and has over 300 flyers (Talk about a boat farm) I talked to him and he does not do internet and only deals with pictures and that he has anything I would need ?? I sent him pictures last week. It seems like I'm getting info from all the right people so far. I also had Union Foundry cast me some Larson Transom plates out of Aluminum (Middle one is the original) and they came out looking good. These are straight from the foundry with no clean up done yet. Now I just have to see if a short shaft Homelight will fit on the back. Bill says he has one with the Jetson looking cover so I guess I have to get with Melanie to see if hers will fit. There's not alot of room in the back for a thick motor. She lives in B'ham

Anybody have a spare Goose neck bow ornament they don't want ????

Homelight is 15" wide and I only have 12" in the transom !!

[slo-mo]

Really cool B'ham, with all of the work you are putting in what's a little cut and paste to get the transom ready for the Homelite?

Are your new transom plates wide enough?

Bravo!

[bham-rick]

Big Fins

Really cool B'ham, with all of the work you are putting in what's a little cut and paste to get the transom ready for the Homelite?

Are your new transom plates wide enough?

Bravo!

That would change the looks a lot in the stern or I could cut the boat in half length wise and make it wider ? Little more work than I want to take on . Transom plates fit all I had the foundry do was cast some new ones from the original out of Aluminum instead of pot metal. They did it to see how they would come out. Well ,back at it going get as much as I can done while the weather holds -

[Helmar]

Boy, that is sure coming along. Good Job !!!

Might be time to look at those little white 50 Merc's to hang on the back.

Too bad the Homelite won't fit but yes, they do have a wide base...

[slo-mo]

Man, that would look great with an inboard jet conversion, might need to get me one of those soon! What is your alternative power, aren't you on a 4-stroke lake in Bellingham?

BTW: love the Ralphie shot, what were you driving

[bham-rick]

2 stroke Ban

Man, that would look great with an inboard jet conversion, might need to get me one of those soon! What is your alternative power, aren't you on a 4-stroke lake in Bellingham?

BTW: love the Ralphie shot, what were you driving

That's the bummer ! I live about 5 minutes from the city boat launch at Lake Whatcom.

That Ralphie shot is from the Rumble seat in Dick Dows 1939 Inboard Barrel cruiser. I'm not sure what its actually called but it a very cool boat !!

[bham-rick]

Vintage Merc

Boy, that is sure coming along. Good Job !!!

Might be time to look at those little white 50 Merc's to hang on the back.

Too bad the Homelite won't fit but yes, they do have a wide base...

Frankenmerc has a line on a 1959 40 h.p. Merc. but I'm tossed because of the 2 stroke ban on Lake Whatcom . So I may have to suck it up and get a 4 stroke ?? I wish that the outboard companies would make a line of Retro looking 4 Strokes ,I think they would sell a bunch of them with more and more lakes with Bans ?? Maybe I'll write a letter to Merc.

[bham-rick]

Stringers glassed in

I got all the stringers in that needed to be re-placed , they are all glassed in and I only have a little faring to do and a couple more strips to lay down. I also laid a mat up in the bow and I'm going to seal that lower part off and fill it with Foam. After I get the deck layered I will lay a large mat across the bottom and that should smoothen the floor out . Going pretty good with my make shift heated garage. I put a small heater in the boat and covered it with a blue tarp and a couple moving blankets. Took all my Xmas timer buttons off and put them on one timer so the heat comes on every two hours for 1 hour. That glass kicks real good overnight. Things will slow down a bit now that I'm back to work !!

[Lootas1]

Hey Rick,
Mighty impressive!
Jerry

[bham-rick]

Thanks Jerry ! Flyer probably won't see alot of Salt Water ! Hope to see you out in the Sound this Spring. I've been out getting the Dorsett ready for some warm weather. That will be the Salt Boat.

[Lootas1]

Look at Rosario every day and can't wait for the docks to go in for easy launching. Don't want to beach the boat after launching. Have a line on a loaner dinghy so I could launch, anchor and bring Becky out in dinghy. They don't put our docks in until May. Hey, I'm ready to go now! Guess for $50 I could haul it in to Bellingham to put in.

[Tim McCrain]

Nice progress Rick. Congratulations on your new job, glad you're sticking around the area!

[bham-rick]

Bow support Foam next ?

Got the brace built for the bow support. This should help to stiffen the boat a bit. There wasn't much there before. I'm going to glass this up a bit more then seal it off with a piece of Mahogany then foam the void underneath. Just about ready for the last couple sheets of glass to finish the bottom then start re-building the seats and interior.

[bham-rick]

Moving along a bit slower.

Got most of the fiberglass done on the inside. Re-enforced the supports under the bow and added glass to the gunnel's to add some strength and support. Next step will be to make a plywood template for the void in the bow and fill it with foam . After its set I will remove the template and make a Mahogany piece to cover that area. I'm starting to fit the supports for the front and rear seats then I will fasten and glass them to the boat and start the rebuilding of the inside. Most of the spider cracks have been ground out and filled. When I get the inside semi complete I'm going to roll the boat over and re-do the bottom and let the glass inside cure real good . Goal is paint at the end of March ??