64 Hallet Restore

DragDad · Mar 16, 2011

Just picked this up. 1964 Hallett long nose flatty. Less engine. It's in darned good shape, with all running gear and gauges. $1400 delivered from Vegas to Bakersfield.
WOOOT!
One pic to share at this time....

Gelcoater · Mar 16, 2011

What a deal:thumbsup

What are you planning to use for power?

DragDad · Mar 17, 2011

Leaning big block with a twin carb tunnel ram.. simple Bassetts... 2-speed power glide.
Not really ready to fund a hemi... danged parts are so freakin' expensive. I wanna use the old finned valve covers and a finned Enderle scoop. It's just for momma to hammer down anyways.. doesnt need to be 100 mph.
Then there's always the 327 Corvette motor option.. still with a PG. Thinking maybe even the old bench seats scenario like early sixties boats (instead of fiberglass buckets)

Gelcoater said:
What a deal:thumbsup

What are you planning to use for power?

Kylemenz1 · Mar 17, 2011

Killer price!!

That will be a fun project.

Wayne Zighter · Mar 18, 2011

Nice!

DragDad · Mar 28, 2011

Ok.. I started Sunday on the Hallett. I found delamination throughout the passenger side floor, so I grabbed my trusty 4? Makita grinder and started cutting through the ?? fibleglass in sections. I was fearing the worst, and was certain that water had gotten to the plywood. Come to find out that it was still sealed and that water had indeed NOT gotten to the wood. Major relief! I stripped the hardware from the right side stringer and tore up most of the floor. I can tell you that these old flatbottoms are built to last. Although check-cracked extensively, the fiberglass was still very water tight. I spent all day Sunday tearing into it, and now I have motivation to get the inside bare ASAP. Looks like I got good weather for the rest of the week too.

rivermobster · Mar 28, 2011

Dang. Lotsa work ahead of you there. Gonna be a real fun project! :thumbsup

DragDad · Mar 28, 2011

I had to grind the bolt heads off of the motor rails to get them out. These were so corroded that they were almost "welded" by the corrosion to the aluminum rails.

DragDad · Mar 31, 2011

Ok... made the decision. My first flatty was a '62 BuckSmith with a 327 Corvette motor ... 2 speed powerglide. Im going to do it again. I'm not looking for a rocket, and I found exhaust that isnt going to break my budget... so gonna get some of these and one of these...

Then find a couple of AFB's or Edelbrock 500's... Polished water logs and thru-transoms.

Going straight nostalgia.

DragDad · Apr 20, 2011

I picked up a 1974 Hondo project and I am going to complete it instead.

Sigh... so at the urging of the wife, I'm selling the Hallett. If Momma aint happy... aint nobody happy.
This project is officially ON HOLD, until I decide which to sell. I believe at this point that I am keeping the HONDO... and selling the HALLETT....
I wish I could do both.

If anyone's interested int he Hallett, PM ME for details.

Dale

DragDad · Apr 29, 2011

LOL... read my last post.... and now I may be craw-fishin on it. The Hallett has so much more character than the Hondo. So few long nose Halletts in the world. Was talking to Jerry Barron about it, and he was really interested to see it come to completion.
I may be changing my mind and getting back on this project real soon.
The Hondo's trailer is better, and I can sell all the hardware for more than I paid for the hull and trailer. I can give the hull away or sell it cheap after I glass the deck back to the hull.....

I think too much.

DragDad · May 20, 2011

The Hondo made the decision for me. Being a light layup boat and home to a million gel cracks, I decided to finish the Hallet. I started back last night and got the prop shaft, v-drive, and pedals out of it. Everything was rusted and corroded, so my cutting wheel got a lot of use. The inside is almost completely stripped of hardware now. Working on getting the strut and fins out... then the existing steering and gauges.

Lookin4curves · Jan 23, 2012

DragDad,

Do You have recent photo's of your Hondo?

Did You sell Your 64 Hallett?

Thxs.
Lookin4curves

DragDad · May 10, 2012

Curves, I dumped the cracked up Hondo and kept the trailer for the Hallett. Im restoring the Hallett currently. Here's where I'm at on it.

Stripped out the delam on the passenger side floor and sanded down the plywood. It's all still good, but I wanted to get it nice and flat for new hardwood venner. I added a sheet of 1/8" plywood to flatten it out. I laid it in with resin.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

I cut the luan plywood with snips and sanded it to the right shape to fit in the passenger side area. I resined this in place. I plan to glass in the new hardwood veneer (mahogany possibly) after patching stringer holes gelcoating the stringers black. After glassing int he hardwood, the whole thing will get a layer of cloth and resin, then Duratec.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

I flattened low spots with fibertech, and then resined each plywood piece into place, weighting it and letting it sit overnight.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

Shot of the floor as it went in. This plywood is just to get the floor back to the same height as the center and driver side floors. This will get final hardwood veneer and glass.

I sanded it after resin. During this time, I stripped the rest of the metal parts off the boat.

This is the floor as it sits. Next, I will complete prepping the existing glass floor and lay in the new hardwood.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

Last weekend, I tore out the driver's side fuel tank and pulled any last remaining metal items off the hull. I have some grinding to do still on the interior sides to remove the remnants of the tanks, then I will be buying glass products for the floor placement. In re-rigging, I am using a 12 deg casale v-drive, so the prop channel location will change a little. I have to repair the existing hole and cut a new one. I plan to have the floors in, the pre-rrigging done, and take it to the glass guys to re-gel the boat by mid-summer. During that time, I will be building the big block and tranny set-up.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

I started sanding the painted deck as well, and I found some pretty cool old Hallett graphics in the original gel. I like this little treasure hunt.

DragDad · May 10, 2012

The boat is at a pretty fun point in the resto. As soon as I finalize the interior surfaces in the boat, I will buy some black gel coat for the interior sides and bulkhead. Once I get that in, I can lay the new hardwood veneer, glass over the whole interior, then send the boat to the gelcoaters for re-gel.

I'm pumped for good weather to get some of this stuff done.

On another note... If any of you are fiction mystery readers, check out "The Carpenter and the Caretaker" and the sequel, "Cahuilla Wind" on Amazon. They are my first two novels, and seem to be receiving good reviews. I'm in the process of publishing my third, "The Mist of the Morning Star". Should be out mid-june.

Classic Daycruiser · May 13, 2012

Looking good. I have found if you work on it every week, the motivation continues, and you don't spend so much time trying to remember where you left off.

Keeping us updated once a month with motivate you too

DragDad · May 14, 2012

Good point. The sanding is killing me... I swear, the old paint is really hard to get off.
Slow going... but I got the transom done friday evening.

DragDad · Jul 9, 2012

When I come in to add pics to my album, my album is missing. I know it's there, because these pics are still up. Not sure whats going on.

DragDad · Jul 9, 2012

Got some additional pics. I started patching and re-glassing the stringers before gel coating the interior.

I patched the existing holes with fibre-tech, then I sanded the stringer smooth and re-glassed it before adding gel coat. (later)