by Bruce Hurst member of Heartland Classics chapter
I basically purchased the boat as a project from one of our Heartland Chapter members. He had bought it sight unseen from a guy in Ohio, he kept it for quite a few years but never put it in the water, when we went to look at the boat it was very sad looking but had new bottom paint. That seemed strange, I decided it would be a good project and a deal was made.
When I got it back home I tried to start the motor –Nothing-!! Batteries dead, so I tried jumper cables, starter groans but would not turn. OK – removed starter and generator and took them to an old-time repair shop and had both rebuilt. With a new battery and rebuilt starter and generator the engine came to life but did not run very well. I pulled the gas tank and had it cleaned, I found a kit for the carburetor and fuel pump and rebuilt both I also found OEM Delco Points and condenser. The compression was good and even on all six cylinders so I installed new spark plugs fired the engine again and now it runs great.
Time for sea trials, We launched the boat in Lake Keystone in Oklahoma and it ran very well & I decided to take it to Table rock Lake In Missouri the following weekend for the Classic Cruising event. The boat ran very well but it leaked a lot. We were stopped by the Lake Patrol as the boat had 10 year old Ohio registration, luckily the gentleman I bought the boat from had contacted the Missouri Lake Patrol Office and explained to them that he bought the boat in Ohio and never registered the boat in Tennessee and that I was trying it out, thinking of buying it. He was a smooth talking old man.
The bilge pumps ran almost continually the whole weekend, the old timers said it’s a Lyman it’s supposed to leak. When we pulled the boat out of the water the bottom looked like it had hair hanging off it, what in fact it was, the previous owner (In Ohio) had gone down every seam on the bottom with bath tub caulk, hence the new bottom paint. The gentleman I bought the boat from was astonished and wanted to give me a refund, I told him not to worry I was needing a job any way.
Back home I removed all the interior woodwork none of it was in very good shape, I stripped all the varnish and sanded the pieces of the seats then doweled and glued everything back together sanding each piece and laying them aside till later. The windshield frame was split in several places so I decided to try my hand at building a new one, I started with Sapele lumber and managed to replicate the original quite nicely, I very much enjoyed that project.
Back home I removed all the interior woodwork none of it was in very good shape, I stripped all the varnish and sanded the pieces of the seats then doweled and glued everything back together sanding each piece and laying them aside till later. The windshield frame was split in several places so I decided to try my hand at building a new one, I started with Sapele lumber and managed to replicate the original quite nicely, I very much enjoyed that project.
I had no way to turn the boat over so I jacked it up on its trailer and did most of the bottom work laying on my back, I stripped the inside and outside of the hull and deck to bare wood then applied 4 coats of CPES inside and out before applying 2 coats of epoxy primer and bottom paint on the hull, setting it back on the trailer when the paint dried. Several coats of Interlux Satin white on the sides made the old boat look quite respectable. The inside got 3 coats of grey bilge paint leaving the top half of the inside to varnish later. I stripped the paint and varnish on the transom, there were some places beginning to show signs of rot so I decided to replace it. I purchased enough ¾” Sapele boards for the job. I redid both edges of each board and glued them together with West Systems G flex. I cut out a pattern from the back of the boat then cut the new transom to fit, then glued it in place with 5200. Everything on the boat is now ready for stain and varnish, I started with the foredeck I sprayed on 10 coats of Epithane over several days with a very expensive gun I had bought years ago when I was into Mustangs, It produces no overspray and lays varnish on really well.
I put a couple of coats of varnish on the top half of the interior before I reinstalled the dash, seats and the engine box after they were all stained and varnished. I built a step for each side of the boat for easy access for old folks like me and installed them between the rear seat and the engine box.
After two years of messing around the boat was ready to go boating, we first took it to the Heartland Chapter event on Lake Hamilton at Hot Springs Arkansas, a typical Heartland event with lots of eating and cruising plus more eating. Next we returned to Table Rock Lake for a very fun 4 days of cruising, this time we didn’t get in trouble with the lake patrol. I loaded up a bunch of my sailing buddies on my home lake, Keystone and took them for a tour of the lake In a Classic Lyman, they each took turns at the helm and I think everyone had a great time.