We found our first Crestliner, a 1958 Flying Crest in Toledo, Ohio. She had been painted olive drab green - what we refer to as a "duck hunter special". The guy had even painted all the chrome and the registration numbers (aaargh!). As with many, I really wish we had "before" pictures, but I think you get the idea! The good news was that the interior was still in good shape with most parts being original.

Now, before I go farther, we are not in any way "true" restoration people. We generally go for "original-ish", but functional. It is our opinion that some original things just simply either weren't functional, or can be replaced with current better made items.

We took all the chrome off and removed the o.d. green paint with zip-strip (nasty stuff), and got it to a nice shiny chrome again. Sanded the paint to a smooth finish, but did not take it down to the aluminum (we did that with another boat, our 1959 Crestliner Wildwind 19). We used Petite brand Interlux marine paint in white and red.

It was like painting with milk! We don't have an inside area to paint, so we did it all in our back yard. (I'm sure some of you are choking about nowÖ) We used a very thin nap roller and followed with a brush to smooth it. Each coat took a full 2 days to dry. The Petite brand worked well, but when rolling and brushing, you really have to watch for runs and sagging; and don't screw around too long, as it becomes tacky pretty quick - and watch those rivets! They always cause a drip!!

The original stripe on the sides was long gone, so we got creative, and winged it! We found this site right after buying her, and the catalogues came in right handy! We basically guessed on the size, placement and attributes of the stripe by just looking at the photos of the '58 Flying Crest. We did not use the original color scheme, mostly because we didn't know, plus we had already bought the red paint and it matched the red top she came with. We used painters tape, and hand taped it off, then painted it in with the red. Again, it took two days between coats to dry. Peeled the tape off, and "wa-la"! Pretty. We have intentions of getting a vinyl decal made of the Flying Crest logo that goes on both sides, but we haven't gotten to that as yet.

She also needed a new transom, as the one that was there was quite rotten. The motor that we bought with the boat is a 1986 Evinrude 28 Special with a 20" shaft, so the transom also either needed raised, or we had to shorten the shaft, to the tune of around $300Ö, so we chose to raise the transom. We weren't sure how it would look, but it seems to look just fine (runs great, too.)

For the transom, we removed the old one and used it as a pattern. We couldn't get the marine plywood in 1", so we used the 3/4" marine plywood for both the inside and the outer transom wood. Due to the motor only weighing 100 lbs., it appears to be plenty strong. We sanded, primed and painted all the wood, three coats on both sides (overkill?) and pre-drilled the holes, using the old transom as a template. Lining up the holes on the boat afterwards was a bit of a pain, but it did work out. Only a few swear words were used!

Her interior seats got re-vinyled with white marine vinyl, the brand name eludes me right now. Yes, it was not originally all-white vinyl interior, but when you boat as much as we do (almost daily from April through October), white is important, long-lasting is important, and heavy-duty marine grade is important. Like I said, we are not "true" restorersÖ

The rest of the interior has its original black-fleck paint, and the front bench had its original rails and seat backs. The top that is on her is a red Sunbrella brand that came with the boat. It has the side zip-outs and aft mooring curtain. It is like brand new, and in very good shape, so that will not get replaced for a while. When we do replace it, we really haven't decided yet whether to do solid red again, or go for a more "original" red and black check patternÖ

We did remove the bow gas tank, as it had not been used in years and had a lovely turpentine goo in it that was quite noxious. The tank itself was metal and rusted, so we removed it and have decided not to put a new bow tank back in.

Her windshield also needs replaced, as it is scratched-up pretty bad and foggy. A local glass shop has quoted us $250-$300 for a new Lexan windshield with all the trimmings. We're getting that done this winter, so we'll see how that goes.

She runs great, with our 28hp motor and our family of 5 weighing-in at about 600 lbs., she has a cruising speed of about 20mph. With just one person, she does a little over 25mph. We aren't "speed demons", so that is just fine for us. She also does a fine job taking the kids tubing!

After we started working on her, we found 2 other Crestliners that we also cleaned-up (Notice I did not say "restored"). We also have a 1959 Flying Crest 17, and a 1959 Wildwind 19. And just recently, we have acquired two more Crestliners, a Jetstreak and a Voyager. Yes, we have "collectoritis". They are just too cool and too much fun to drive not to have lots and lots!!

Give us a holler if you're ever in our neck of the river - that's Port Clinton, Ohio on the Portage River, just minutes from Lake Erie.

Nick and Kristin Stoner
(419) 732-6875
kristin.stoner2@verizon.net

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