On Jan 24, 5:41*am, Jim Willemin
wrote:
I find myself the proud new owner of a 1959 Lone Star runabout, complete
with a '59 Mercury Mark 55 motor. *Now, I really got the thing for the
trailer, because I need a trailer for the new rowboat I am building in the
garage, and the whole package came to about half the cost of a new jonboat
trailer. *It looks like the boat and motor are restorable, from what I
could tell under a foot of snow (it'll be a good six weeks before melt-out
around here) - the motor needs a new distributor, at least, and the boat
wants a fair bit of TLC, but things look sound (i.e. the hull is whole, and
the motor isn't seized or anything). *Money's a little tight for the time
being. *I figure I have several options - try to restore it, try to find
someone who *really* wants to restore it as a boat/motor unit, try to find
some antique outboard fancier who wants the motor and trade the Merc for a
newer motor that runs, donate the whole kit and caboodle (sans trailer -
that is mine) to some good cause, or use it as a planter. *What would you
guys do?

I would thing that an distributor may be hard to come by, not counting
various other parts for a 50 yr. old engine.

Restoring can be quite an undertaking, even though the boat to some
may be a "classic" but it sounds to me like you're going to end up
putting lots of money into something with little value. Those old Lone
Stars are cool, but I don't think they're really sought after. Ebay is
a good barometer on what ancient runabouts bring.

I'd say keep the trailer and ditch the rest.

Of course, that's my opinion.