TOPIC: MFG boat from the family. A few questions.

Hi all I’m trying to research and possibly restore this MFG boat that has been sitting at the summer house for years and years. My Father tells me it is a 1958 but I’m having trouble finding what model or any information on it from the internet or from the boat itself. I’m wondering if any of you boat pros have any idea on what direction to steer me towards restore or any information about the boat. I find all kinds of mfg boat pictures online but none of them look similar to this boat. I know the plywood floor and motor controls are in the shed. I am just sick of seeing this boat just sitting their collecting dirt. Would love to get it back on the water for my Dad to enjoy! Please any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Welcome aboard!

What you have shown here is a 1960 Corry Carefree. This was the first year the Corry hull was available with a fiberglass deck, rather than the wood deck for 1958 and 1959. It's definitely a 1960, since it has the faint outline of the oval-style MFG stickers on each side near the stern, My dad had one of these (with a green deck) for a couple of years with a 1961 18hp Evinrude in the mid-60's.

I am well familiar with MFGs as my dad had four of them over the years, and I currently have two. They are great boats in the style of a Lyman, but in fiberglass. The Corry model was made from 1958-1963, with the 1961-1963 renamed the Carefree DeLuxe. The sales brochure for 1960 with info is at:

www.fiberglassics.com/library/index.php?title=File:Mfgb60005.jpg

and an ad for it at:

www.fiberglassics.com/library/index.php?title=File:Mfga60001.jpg

There is also a "hidden" side of this website with MFG information from the old Jim Coffman MFG website at:

forums.fiberglassics.com/mfg/

I've researched MFGs to death and have lots of information, but most of it is in my head.

Ask away!

Dave! Thank you very much for the information. I did a little digging and was guessing that it was a corry carefree. I can’t seem to find many pictures of it on the internet though. Thanks for identifying it! Would it be worth restoring. I am a newbie to old boats. Would a rotting transom be a problem for this boat or is it all fiberglass? Is there wood under the fiberglass? I know the windshield is cracked. My father told me there was a 30 hp evinrude with different speed settings. One day they showed up to the boat at the dock and even with a anti theft rig someone stole the motor off the boat. Ever since then it had been sitting. I would love to get it back on the water with all the seats available today that shouldn't be a problem. Would there be any hidden problems that I should look for making it not worth the restoration? Thank you for the warm welcome!

Transom is wood underneath the two fiberglass skins. You will need to probe, but more than likely the wood is rotted to mulch, or even peat moss.

To replace, the best way is to use a poured transom, using Seacast, or a newer material, Carbon-Core CarbonBond. I used the latter for my Edinboro. (It was restored professionally - way beyond my skill to do it myself.) My brother used the former on our dad's last boat, an Edinboro. Both work. There is an article on how to do Seacast (CarbonBond is similar) in the Jim Coffman area.

Finding a used motor is not hard. That boat was rated for up to 30hp, and uses a short (15') shaft motor. The Antique Outboard Motor club members are always buying and selling motors.

You can restore it, but it will take a lot of time. My Edinboro took almost three years, and that was done professionally, but I had them work slowly to spread out the cost. It's a lot cheaper to do it yourself, but plan on at least a couple years to get it in order.

There will be lots of decisions to make - paint vs. gel-coat, what seats to put in (the ad shows a front bench seat with backs, and the second seat was just a simple thwart seat) and lots of other stuff.. My dad's Corry seats were upholstered in gray and white vinyl.

The only wood is in the transom, the seats, and a piece behind the dash, plus the plywood floor boards.. The keelson is aluminum and the little fiberglass ribs are glued on at the factory after making the hull.

Look at each of the brochures to get an idea of the seating layout, etc. (Later models just had the front seat standard).

My Niagara is original and unrestored - took 2 years to find it. The Edinboro is restored, but I specifically wanted one with a red deck with Sun 'n Fun seats, and this is the only one I've ever seen that had red and white seats rather than copper and white vinyl.

Professionally done, you will spend way more than it is worth, to get it done right. If you do it yourself, plan on lots of time.

There are some books out there in restoration, plus dig through the forum postings. You will find a wealth of information on restoration here. It's just scattered and in pieces.

The best book I've found is:

www.amazon.com/Runabout-Renovation-Find-Fiberglass-Speedboat/dp/0071580085

This is a start.

Thank you for the explanation of everything. Although a full restoration would be nice I think I would just go with getting it on the water not really worrying about paint or gelcoat just yet. I mean obviously I’ll try to shine it up and as for the seata I think I would just Bolton captain seats or whatever Cabela’s has bolted up to a mount. I don’t think I want to spend way too much money on it but enough to get it Lake worthy . I have a friend that works at a marina he mentioned that they sell plates for the transom if a transom happens to be rotted out they have some kind of plates that you can mount I’m not too sure about them though ? I have the floor in the shed that isn't rotted. I guess the major problem or obstacle would be the transom?

Yes, the thing to tackle first is the transom. Check it thoroughly.

Those plates really don't do much. If the wood is rotted, a plate may buy a year or two, but it's like building a house on a bad foundation. Once in a while, the transom breaks off the rest of the hull and no plate is going to stop that from happening, particularly if the transom flexes too much after hitting a big wave, and breaks off on either side. The boat then is swamped and may sink.

The transom for a boat, particularly an outboard-powered one, needs to be solid, and solidly attached to the rest of the hull.

Okay. Thanks for information. Yeah that makes sense about the plates not working if the wood is rotted obviously. I will have to go have a look at the boat. I have a small outboard I can attach and see if there is flex when moving it. Is it hard to get the cap off where the wood would be exposed?

It's a different cap on that model and I have no experience with it. Part is covered with the deck on each side of the top and that deck would need to be pried up then refastened when done. The Corry Carefree was a 1 1/2 generation boat, as was the Oxford. Both originally had wood decks only.

The cap on the larger second generation boats I do have more experience with have an anodized aluminum cap that is easy to remove.

Okay. I’ll have to check it out. Was just checking some videos. Is it easier to pour the transom or replace the wood? I guess with the wood it involves cutting the wood and resin it. I guess people have their ways and ideas on whats easier?

About the same. ALL the wood between the fiberglass skins must be removed before doing either, and then the fiberglass repaired as needed before putting in new transom material. With a poured transom, you'll never have to do a poured one again, while the wood will just eventually rot again. I had mine tabbed from the inside, the wood removed, then reattached with fiberglass repairs made. See pictures below.

Almost all new boats have stopped using wood, except for some Bayliner boats and a few others. Many have poured transoms now. Some use a composite board material.

You're welcome on the info. The point of this hobby is to have fun, so just take it a step at a time. Enjoy!

Hey. Those guys did nice work. I’m at the boat now. Took a look at the transom. There is no wood left. I stuck a 12 inch long piece of antenna down and to the side. I hit no wood at all. I guess this boat needs transom work. I will have alot of research to do .

Got a look at the wood ...

Got a good amount of the wood out of the transom. Will have to look into what the next step would be !

Try to get the rest of the wood sticking to the fiberglass skins inside.

Next step would be to repair the fiberglass skins in and out. Include all holes - new ones can be drilled after completion for hardware. I would go with a poured transom.

Decide if you are going to paint or gel-coat the fiberglass outside once the transom is repaired. Paint is easier. The inside was painted. Gel-coat requires a lot of post-coating finishing - it sprays like mud and leaves an orange-peel surface without sanding and polishing.

So far, looks good!

Thanks for the response. Been looking and researching how to fiberglass. I have never done it before but looking forward to working with it. I will get the inside all clean of the wood. Got most of the wood out. Theres some pieces under the cap that I could not get. Hopefully it will dry out now and I’ll be able to get the rest of the wood out.

What has to be prepped before the pour? The skins will need attention? I guess fill in the holes with fiberglass and sand it smooth? Get new hardware and a drain sleeve? Sorry if some of the questions are dumb. I have never done any work to boat bodies before. Is that book you mentioned worth buying? Any good information in there I would be able to use? As for the gel coat or paint. iI will go with paint. My grandfather has painted it before in the past. According to my Dad the boat was bought green and my grandfather painted it blue.

Thanks Dave.

You have it right. Fill the holes, and if the hardware is still in good shape, reuse it. I reused all I could in my Edinboro restoration.

Paint is fine - my personal preference is gel-coat, but most fiberglass boats end up using paint when re-worked.

As for that book, try getting it from your local library first (they might have to get it transferred from another library to get it), and see if it meet your needs, then go from there.

Lets us know how it is progressing. We all love pictures.

There is another product that I just used over the summer for my 1960(?) Edinboro called Arjay 6011. SeaCast was very expensive, and the quantities seemed to only favor multiples of 5gal, but the Arjay can be found on Amazon and Ebay from Polymer Planet. $54/gal at full retail - and expect a few gallons more than you think, you can return the extra. WORKS GREAT!!! I'm so happy I went that route instead of a new wood transom with trying to figure out how to fiberglass on something as important as the transom proper. Instead, I was only left with needing some fiberglass putty along the top and sides to smooth everything back out where I pulled the cap off, and some actual fiberglass mat to cover the hole I drilled on the top to pour down the risers. This thing is SOLID now. It used to have ants and moss growing out of it, but now if I try to flex the skins, the whole boat moves!

Nice job!
What tool(s) are you using to remove all wood inside the fiberglass skins all the way to the bottom?

Mine was pretty much garbage - a skinny crevice tool, plus the adapter from small to standard size shop vac hose got 80% of what was in there...just vacuumed right out!

After that, I was surprised how strong the skins are! I got a 3pc set of drill bits about a mile long (joking) from harbor freight, and just let it get spinning in the cavity, then ran it side to side along the inside of the skin, and really cleaned it up, without chipping into the skin at all. Once all the loose stuff was out, I poured some acetone on a rag that was rubber banded around the previously mentioned shop vac attachment and ran it around in there. Came back the next day, and it was even more dried out, and vacuumed right out again.

That looks pretty good. The best way to to remove the inner skin, leaving a tab, but you did a great job getting the wood out as shown. It's certainly a lot easier for a do-it-yourself project. That's similar to what my brother did with it in 2004 with Seacast on the family's old 1965 Edinboro, and when he sold it last spring, it was still holding up fine.

Congrats!

Awesome! Your transom came out great! Thats what I have in mind doing. Have put off the project though. Its a bummer the boat is nowhere near where I live so getting there to work on it is a chore. Have to get back to it and get all the wood off the skins though. Thanks for all the input from you guys!