TOPIC: 1970 Glastron Carlson Challenger

I finally brought my Challenger home from Texas. It is going to need a transom. I took off the rub rail and find the shoe-box seam glassed together from the inside, SO...looking under the deck it sure looks little under there, I am trying to decide whether I want to try to cut the glass from the inside to release the deck from the hull, or just take a sawzall to it, cut the joint and glass it back together afterward. I'm a little concerned with hull distortion once the deck is off if I just cut it apart.

Opinions? (Not looking forward to cutting the glass under the deck to release the shoe box joint...I've inhaled too much fiberglass dust already...)

Bernie

Oldskier, I had a contender,same boat 2' shorter. I dug the old transum out from inside,cut just the cap off where the splashwell was and laminated 1/4 ply and pushed it in&up from the inside, I even added 1.5" for height. Wish I would have kept it. That boat had a core floor and nothing else wood excpt the transom. I am goint to do the same thing on this GW Torpedo tunnel.

I did a Switzer Shooting Star, very similar boats. I left the deck on to help keep the shape of the boat. It was a fiddle getting all the junk wood out particularly section of stringers under the deck. No easier to reinstal fresh but, it came out real good, stong and straight.
Randy

Well its been a while....

First off, I was wrong, this boat was a Contender, not a Challenger. I was able to rebuild it and get it back on the water. I was pretty stoked about the BP mid it came with but it was really just noisy. Turned out looking pretty cool though, Here are before and after pics.



I really didnt like the flat bottom and sold it off to some guy who came through town for the NHRA drags and he took it back to Indianapolis. I put a jack plate on it before I sold it. I never really got it dialed in for speed, but IT COULD'A BEEN A CONTENDER!

Great to see you back on the board Bernie, and thank you for sharing the pics and report!

I gave some serious thought to a Contender that was for sale recently, but the boat sold before I could get with the seller. Probably just as well, my old bones probably wouldn't care for the flat bottom = rough ride either.

Hey Bernie! Glad to seya here! Damn, I sure do like the looks that Merc! Robby

Thanks guys. I really should have kept the motor and saved it for a future project. I would love to build a G3....

The motor was a small block (89 cu.in.) so it was never going to be a real fire breather.

I really rebuilt that boat because of all the naysayers on another website saying you could not install a new transom from the outside and get it to hold together. I know it is not the RIGHT way ( I bought the boat after the transom had been hacked out of it...) but I rebuilt it with the best quality plain polyester resin I could get (from Mertons) and made sure it was layed up right, everything well saturated, and it worked just fine, even after I accidentally let the motor drop from full up tilt BANG!.... down to full down. It hurt ME worse than it hurt the boat. Cracked the paint in the splash well but no structural damage.

I wish I had gotten some pics on the water.

Bernie

I had a 1969 Contender around the early 70's tha i regellcoated and put together a 100 merc with offshore midsection. I sold the boat to a friend that lived in the Dallas - Tyler ( Hideaway Lake ) Texas area.

Where did you find this boat?

Could this be my old Glastron Carlson Contender?

Thanks for posting the photos.

Jollyfolly, Yes I believe this is definitely your old boat. I found out about this boat from another member of the Powercat Boat group that I am a member of who happens to be in Greenville Tx. He had mentioned it in a post on the Powercat website wondering if it was worth anything. I called him and told him that the motor itself was likely worth something and that I had been interested in the boat since I was a kid. He bought it and stored it for me for 6 months till I could make a 1400 mile marathon round trip from east Tennessee to east Texas and back to pick it up.

The boat had a faded plain blue top coat on it, over an original blue metalflake gel coat. The motor was an 89 cu.in. block, which concurs with it being a 100 HP motor. I can't tell from your pic but in mine you can see a block off plate on the rear of the midsection that I put on to cover up a pair of 2 in. holes in it. This became the subject of a lot of discussion on the Scream and Fly hot boat website because most of them said that the holes were not factory, although they look as if they were cast. Do you know if they were in there when you had it?

It's a small world ain't it?

Bernie

Wow...another question I NEVER thought I might get an answer to. How did this apparently stock block and stock lower unit end up on a factory race midsection? Do you know what became of the original block and especially the BP lower unit?

Nice boat! Way nice tow vehicle!!!

I am glad to hear you are brining the host back to it's glory.

The midsection was a factory racing intermediate. It had the holes when I purchased the piece. It was bought from a well known Mercury Dealer in Ft. lauderdale that was a offshore and Mercury Racing hot spot.

It came off of a. Offshore racing Mercury motor. I had to locate the lower unit and put the package together.

When I purchased the motor the lower unit and intermediate housing was trashed and could not be rebuilt.

The blue color was gelcoat and applied over the metal flake because it was in bad shape and not worth the expense to repair. This was also the early 70's and re metal flake was not readily available.

This is a phot of the boat before it was restored.

Another photo of the Carlson in my grandmother lake in Ft. lauderdale.

Well thanks for the info.
Few derelicts ever get a second chance, seems like this one had 3. Thanks for the back story. Interesting, I lived in Miramar Fl. from 1975-1979 so I was likely just a few miles from the boat when you had it.
You had some nice wheels too, the Challenger and the MG Midget (or is is a small Healy?) I have had an MGB for 20 years.

Bernie

That answers the question why we are passionate about boats. I would visit Thunderboat Row at 188th Street all the time. I got the bug at a young age and continue to be all about boats to this day.

It is great that we were in the same part of the world and the boat has been lucky to have crossed our paths.

Enjoy the boat and best of luck with the restoration,