Trixie, Our Friend's 57 Glasspar

Mike is my friend with a boat problem... last Summer after I had lost a prop I stopped Mike on the sidewalk and asked him for some advice. I knew Mike would be the right person to ask because at the end of his dock sat three boats. One of them "Gumby", a vintage Glasspar, was of a similar age as our Dorsett. But how I knew Mike was the right person to ask was the fact that he was also renting another dock down the street to keep yet another boat in his collection. He's a guy with a boat "problem".

Mike, Linda and Karen riding in Whisky Tango

From this chance encounter we developed a friendship this summer. Last month Mike sold one of his boats (a sexy 18' vintage Donzi) and as part of the sale he took in trade a 57 Glasspar.

1957 Glasspar at home docked behind Schotzi.

Mike and Linda (and friends) doing a flyby.

This Glasspar is an all white boat and features a very distinctive split windshield. Mike and Linda told us they think the boat needs a name and a pop of color.

My suggestion is to add a little color while tying in the existing white exterior and grey interior and silver motor colors. With a nod to the 55 Chevy, my thought is to create a 50's-ish side panel using the silver from the motor and trim it with a bold colored arrow stripe that follows the side lines of the hull. The finishing touch would be to customize the motor with a matching side panel graphic and stripe. This would give the boat a little extra visual flair and could all be done with vinyl.

Inspired by this... only it floats.

A friend of Mike's suggested the name Trixie. So using that as a working title, here's my take on a color scheme.

Speed Racer's Trixie... girl power!

 How about a Atomic Age theme? It matches the motor.

Joe Cool? The sunglasses match!

It'll be fun to see what they end up doing but no matter what, it's a really cool boat!

 Mike and I at the helm. Trixie is a hot rod, see the dash?

Obligatory harbor cruise sunset picture.

Check out the film Glasspar Zombies with the 1957 Avalon.

Hailing Port Balboa, CA

We added our hailing port lettering to the transom of the Dorsett. The lettering comes from the sign on the old Balboa Market which is sadly now a parking lot.

What I Actually Do...

Karen says no "fixing" the boat until after summer...

Keep it Turning

Earlier this year a seller on Ebay was parting out a running 1959 McCulloch Flying Scott and I bought the starter immediately. (You can never have enough starter parts for your Scott.) So I now have 4 starters.

1. The original Starter that came with the motor. (Currently lost at my friends shop but it'll show up.)
2. My first replacement starter bought on Ebay from Zorkos.com. ($189)
3. The starter that came on my 1959 Flying Scott "parts" motor bought on Craigs List. ($50)
4. The second replacement starter bought on Ebay ($45) from a private seller parting out a running motor.

When I first bought the boat the starter #1 was the problem (or so I thought). When I brought the #2 starter to Advanced Marine they said it was also bad. So when we first put the boat in the water, the #3 starter was the production starter on the motor.

The #3 starter was used all summer with the exception of failing once when the return spring broke. This failure allowed the starter gear to stay engaged on the flywheel even after the power to the starter was stopped. This was fixed by replacing the spring with parts from the #2 starter.

This Spring I bought #4 so I put #4 on the boat. (The newest one is always the best right?) I ran this starter until mid-July when it failed. The starter turns just fine but the gear won't "spool" up to engage the flywheel. So I pulled the starter and put #3 back on.

So to get #2 and #4 back in service it need parts and look what I found...

API Marine in Florida has Delco-Remy 10 tooth gears with return springs. This kit should fix the problem with both starters. I'm going to order 3 kits. One each for the starters and 1 spare. Hopefully soon I will have an army of working Flying Scott 60 Hp starters.

Next year I'm going to test a theory I have about the #2 starter bought from Zorkos. This starter is like new and should be great once I replace the stolen parts. I originally thought it was "too tight" and that's why it wouldn't turn the motor over so I was using the "loose" #3 starter. Later I figured out my battery cables were too small and I was starving the starter of the Amps. The light gauge cables allowed the worn #3 starter to turn just enough to fire the motor and the new battery cables allowed #3 to work great. My theory is the #2 starter with the heavy cables will be the best setup. But I promised my wife I wouldn't "fix something that's not broke" (aka "Upgrade") the motor until after the summer boating season is over.

HEARTBREAK UPDATE

"We scrapped those." — API Marine

"We don't even show that number in our system.
Where did you see it?" — Go 2 Marine

Let me Google that for you it folks, its your web site not mine... Click Here 

What a Workout!

Last week we were the "pace car" for a motivated Stand-Up-Paddleboarder. We were cruising around the harbor at our normal 3.5 mph and passed him at the south end of Balboa Island near the Balboa Yacht club.

I think he liked our speed so he sped up and stayed on our tail the entire way around the harbor. The cruise took us from Balboa Island past Mariners Mile up to the PCH bridge at and then back under the Lido bridge past Lido Isle and the shipyard back down the peninsula past the Newport Yacht Club around Bay Isle until I was exhausted watching him paddle and we docked back at home near the Fun Zone. What a workout!

Ready to leave the dock at the Newport Dunes

Who's driving this thing? I forgot to put down the speedo pickup.

I feel like I'm being followed.

Back home at the dock. A perfect first day of Summer!

Robert Paxton McCulloch

Anybody wanna go fast? McCulloch was a racer at heart and the Flying Scott was the last in the line of his go fast goodies. This is an excerpt from hemmings.com on Robert Paxton McCulloch:

In 1946, McCulloch moved his company to California, changed its name to McCulloch Motors, and changed its focus to lightweight two-cycle chainsaws. He did some development work for Kaiser-Frazer at the time, but didn't return to the automotive field until 1953, when he launched the VS57 supercharger, the result of those earlier patents. As with his earlier supercharger, the VS57 initially was produced in kit form for Fords, but soon was available for a wide range of cars and engines.

Kaiser became the first manufacturer to install the VS57 on its cars from the factory, starting with the 1954 Manhattan. Studebaker followed on the Golden Hawk and on the Packard Clipper in 1957, the same year Ford famously offered the supercharger as an option on the Thunderbird.

By then, McCulloch had set up a separate division within the company to produce the superchargers under the Paxton name. McCulloch also had developed two other superchargers: One, used on the Novi cars at Indianapolis, helped their V-8s produce 650hp. The other, the VR57, used a variable ratio and featured numerous improvements over the VS57, not the least of which was the use of engine oil to cool and lubricate the supercharger.

In 1958, McCulloch sold the Paxton division to Andy Granatelli, again changed the name of his company (to McCulloch Corporation), and changed focus once more--to outboard motors. To test those motors, he bought 26 acres at Lake Havasu in Arizona, where he eventually founded Lake Havasu City.

Paxton was again vaulted into the automotive limelight when Carroll Shelby teamed up with the company on a blown 1965 289 Shelby Mustang. The Paxton supercharger option was produced in limited quantities for the Shelby GT-350 Mustang, from 1966 to 1968. This set-up was also available as an over-the counter dealer installed option on standard small-block V8 Mustangs from 1965-‘72.

Watch out for the 75HP Head Gasket!

Previously UN-beknownst to me but the 60HP power head gasket and 75HP power head gasket are different. The Only difference is the location of the cooling hole that allows the water to circulate up into the motor. Imagine my surprise and chagrin when I fired up the Scott and the motor started overheating.

After a complete re-tear down, I found the culprit. Here is the the 75 HP gasket on my 60Hp base see the hole location in the gasket? The second pic shows the base.

 I ordered a new gasket and they were kind enough to verify I got the correct one this time!

Since I had the motor off I also changed the lower main seal. Mine had a chunk missing. (in the pic below right upper). Laings Outboards had one in stock that was a functional replacement.

The cap is held on with 4 bolts and is fitted into a machined area of the block. It has a small rubber ring to seal it. To remove the cap, remove the bolts and tap the cap to rotate it in the machined area. Then you will expose the bolt holes and you can use a dental pick to lift the cap a little bit at a time. I worked my way around 3 or 4 times lifting a fraction of an inch at a time. Once it's lifted a 1/4" you can gently pry it out.

The new main seal (in the pic above on the right lower) just presses into the cap. Then you can reassemble it and go boating!