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?

On Jan 24, 6:41*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?

Wrong group...this is a NG that only talks about off-topic garbage.
Just read and see.

wrote:
On Jan 24, 6:41 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?

Wrong group...this is a NG that only talks about off-topic garbage.
Just read and see.

This is a question for Clams. Wonder if he is still around.

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.

About 20 years ago, my son hauled home a small boat with a Merc. Mark
55 engine. As I recall, they were rated at 40 HP. It was an electic
start model, but the starter was missing some parts. He called the
local Merc dealer about restoring the engine and after the dealer
stopped laughing, we decided that the motor wasn't worth putting any
money into it. However, I recall going out on a friends boat , a 14
footer with the Mark 55 and it was a fast little boat and could pull 2
skiers with no problem. I think you'd be wise to take the advice of
another poster and just take the trailer and dump the rest.