late 50's Bryant 22' cruiser restoration

[landlocked charlie]

I'm a new member to the club, and also a bit of a computer dunce, so am trying to familiarize myself with how to operate this site. Hope I'm in the right place!

I am currently restoring a late 50's 22' Bryant cruiser. This is my first classic boat restoration. After pulling all the floor boards and doing some restorative structural work on the fore to aft battens, I am now waiting warmer weather to go after a good sanding, fairing, and repainting of the exterior hull.

While I wait for warmer weather, I am going through the accessories wiring, electric start connections for the 1960 Johnson 75 hp V4S, and also the steering connections.

The boat came with the original Vollrath Vi-matic steering system (single push/pull cable). However, I do not have any of the mounting hardware for the cable (transom mount?) nor whatever linkage is necessary between the end of the steering cable and the outboard. Can anyone let me know where I might find the necessary parts here? I did find one old ad for the Vi-matic steering system which lead me to believe that the cable might have originally been hooked up running fore to aft (parallel with the keel) and connected to the side of the motor. However, this does not seem possible. Most of the older pictures I've seen show steering cables operating side to side (perpendicular to the keel) with various forms of linkage required.

The motor checks out good, though I did have most of the seals and several bearings replaced. The electric start wiring harness is also in good shape, but I do need to find a new keyed ignition switch for the dashboard. Any suggestions here for finding this part?

Thank you. Looking forward to new acquaintences through this site.
Charlie McCrum

[Helmar]

Hi Charlie and Welcome to the group.

As far as the linkage hookups, try and get a picture of it to post and post it with your question....Seems to work best.
Most of us like pictures and, Yes, your doing fine :BigHappy1:

[Bflaherty]

Hi Charlie and Welcome to the group.

As far as the linkage hookups, try and get a picture of it to post and post it with your question....Seems to work best.
Most of us like pictures and, Yes, your doing fine :BigHappy1:

Agreed! Charlie, if you can post some photos I am sure one of us in the group can help you find any missing components or at least help you determine correct setup.

Welcome to the club!

[landlocked charlie]

It's been a while since I followed up on this thread. I couldn't get any decent pictures until I got the boat out from under it's winter 'tent', and unfortunately this has been the wettest, coldest Spring up here on record.

Attached I am sending a profile of the '58 Bryant I have been working on over the winter. I'm done with the necessary structural work inside and have recently repaired, refaired, and repainted the hull's exterior. Now I am ready to get the steering, ignition, and shift controls hooked up.

The engine is original to the boat. It's 75 hp Johnson purchased for the boat in 1960. The boat has a Vollrath push/pull single cable steering in place, all in good working order. My question is how do I make the connection from steering cable end to the motor. I do not have any of those parts. I've seen some older OMC parts pictures, and I think I need some sort of mounting bracket to bolt to the inside of the transom with a threaded rod that extends through that mounting bracket. Also, the steering cable seems to want to extend beyond the center of the motor (though the cable is somewhat adjustable from side to side), so it appears that I must require some sort of return link from the cable end back to the center of the motor. Also, there must be some sort of mounting plate to go on the front motor bracket to receive any such linkage. Please advise. I'm sure many of you are much more familiar with these old motors/steering systems than I am, as this is my first restoration project attempt.

Thanks, and any advice will be greatly appreciated. Also, do any of you have a good source for parts such as those required here?

Hope you're all having a great summer.
Charlie McCrum