The original OMC boat. Sold by OMC in 1962 and 1963 (OMC 17, OMC 17 Dual Deluxe, OMC 17 Custom, OMC 17 Seasport and OMC 17 Deluxe) and from 1964 thru 1966 under the Johnson name (in "Tawny Beige", "Bimini Blue" and "Gulf Green").
Mike and Lisa Spangler's 1965 Johnson Deluxe Runabout "Bat Boat"
Clermont Chain of Lakes, Clermont Florida, May 1998!
[added 9/6/1998]
Information on a famous BatBoat.
Johnson SeaSport sighted by Jim Waley, Sept 1998. Crown Point NY. Owner "might sell it".
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I came upon your OMC page a while back, its great! It brought back many memories of the 1964 Johnson my family owned while I was growing up. It had the windshield over the helm only. I learned to drive in that boat. It was powered by a V4, 88 horsepower motor. It was slow, 30 mph tops, and rode very hard in choppy water. But as a child it was great to sit in the front! As I remember it had a bad habit of stripping gears in the outdrive (that is what put it permanently on the trailer). We sold the boat in 1981 and I've never seen another like it since. I often wonder where that boat is today.
Doug Kershner
Adams Island
Allentown, PA
[added 2/21/1999]
Here is my 1966 (That's whats on the registration) OMC 17' Dual Deluxe. This baby has 2, countem' 2- 88 horse V4 2 stroke I/O's. I have researched Ken Cook, OMC, Johnson, the web, and have not been able to find any other information on this beauty. The ID plates give the engines as the DU-11C and DU-11R but the manual I got for them show an external oiling system. These have no such system. I found it sitting next to a auto repair garage, it said make an offer on the windsheild, it was filled with beer cans, had trees growing in it, but when he accepted $100 for it, on the trailer, I just had to have it. AND it will be on the water this year (2001).
Mike and Diana Masters
Buffalo NY 14227
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Timouthy Young's 1962 Meteor SPEEDBOAT; "A unique 17-foot fiberglas hull designed to provide maximum performance without sacrificing comfort or stability. The unusual three-keeled hull employs a thin center fin hull between the two main hull sections, which are stepped like a racing hydroplane. The design, developed by the OMC design section, is the product of over two years' research, during which over 40 hulls were built, tested and rejected."
17' Johnson Tri-hull with a 90 horse Johnson Meteor Electramatic outboard.
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Saved these photos from
from www.timouth.com in 1999.
[added 7/20/2001]
I have had this for 3 years, I found it in a farm in surrey, UK. I am about to take some time off and hope to change the Rover 3.5 to a 302 chev and see how she goes then. We use her in the English Channel and as for as i know is the only one around, as we always get asked about the maker from all the onlookers!
Ian in England
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[updated 1/13/2003]
We recently acquired a 1963, 17ft. OMC 'Deluxe', and would like to share some pictures for your website (great website!). Being antique (wooden) boat advocates, we gave some serious thought over this very unique boat. We spotted her alongside a road just outside of Peterborough, Ontario (where we live), in June of this year.
After many visits, website searching, and discussions we now own our first "Fibre-classic." It was re-powered at some point with a 140 - 4 cyl, which is not original. The story we get from some ex-Outboard Marine Company employees (which was in Peterborough, Ont), is that some of these boats were brought back into the plant and re-powered with 140's at the factory for company executives. We believe this could be one of those boats. At this point, we're undecided whether or not to attempt to restore this motor, or to replace with a Merc stern-drive. As for the rest of the boat, she will need a full restoration, new canvas, upholstery, repairs to the fibre-glass and painting, etc. There is evidence of osmosis on the bottom, cracks in the gel-coat - so she will be a major project, but one thing is for sure - she is going to be a beauty when complete!
We also have it featured on the website of our local Antique Boat Club - it's a first "Antique Fibreglas" for us, the third one for our boat club! (see http://www.TrentSevernAntiqueBoats.com) Any advice, tips, comments or contacts would be greatly appreciated.
Love your website - keep up the good work!
Regards,
John and Cindy Hendren
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8/27/2004: My name is Brian Nelson and I just bought the boat pictured. I am the guy on the right.
The boat is a 1964 OMC 17' deluxe with a v4 130 HP engine. The boat has sat outdoors for about 6 years so it needs a little help. The engine and strendrive seem pretty solid. The seats need new bases but the vinyl is in good shape and there is the one hole in the hull which you can see in the picture. I am planning on replacing the roof next season.
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6/28/2005: Well I finally got the OMC 17' Deluxe on the water and it was a "not bad" experience. I mainly wanted to get it out and test the motor, the drive and see how it was getting it on and off the trailer. The trailering was pretty smooth and she started right up and ran pretty well, I had to adjust the timing a few times as I have not set it with the light and dwell meter. The fun part was I realized that the steering was set up backwards. Anyway as most of you know the first time in the water after a long project is pretty fulfilling and the sense of accomplishment is very rewarding. I am looking forward to a fun summer.
Thanks mostly to Lee Shuster and to all the rest of you that have offered suggestions and support. Link to my post on the fiberglassics site.
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I've had it in the water one time, ran great. What a stable platform. I didn't run it too hard as I knew that I would be replaceing the transom. The boat had a lot of nics and dings on both the deck and the hull. The process so far has been a long, yet fun learning curve.
The first thing that happened, was while we were putting the boat onto blocks, the trailer fell apart. Lucky that we only tried to put it into the water once.
I then removed all of the hardware (I have since had it all sandblasted. I plan to putty and then paint all of the cleats/hardware with 60' era Johnson outboard motor white paint)
I removed the old rotten floor boards and then started chipping away at the firm, yet soaked foam. Most of the foam was in good condition, the reason that I removed it all, was that there were several holes in the hull and I needed to see what the real damage was. Here is a hint --- don't use a sawzall on the foam. You may just cut all the way through the bottom of the hull like I did!
I purchased two 5 gallon buckets of liquid foam from a company in Tacoma. It is a two part system, measured out equally. When poured together, you only have about 1 minute to mix it and pour it in place before it starts expanding. I dosen't go in very evenly. I ended up useing a had saw and an electric sander to even it out. One thing that worked alittle, was to tape wax paper onto a board and then place the board over the foam as it raised. This seamed to even the foam out somewhat.
I then cut and placed the front 3/4 of the floor boards back into the boat, and fiberglass taped the edges. Then I cut most of the splash well out and was lucky to get all of the wooden transom out in one piece. I used it as a template and made a new fiberglass sandwich out of (4) 1/4 inch a/c plywood (not many voids) that was painted with preservitive, 3 layers of fiberglass cloth and lots of screws.
Put the transom back in, along with the rest of the floor and then put down a layer of fiberglass cloth and two coats of resin on the floor.
Now, I am to the point of filling in cosmetic dents, holes and scratches. I do need to fix this strut problem. Today, I thought about just cutting off the strut at the base and then reattaching it to a new piece of fiberglassed wood and drilling a hole through the problem area of the hull to inject resin.
I would like some input on painting. What have others done. I would like to keep the 1960' era blue.
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Photos of work replacing the transom:
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In Alberta, Canada:
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Love the site. I just picked up a Deluxe 16 1964 v-6 Johnson. I have the original owner's manual, and bought the boat from the 2nd owner. The original owner stopped by to confirm one day when he saw it sitting in the driveway.
She has been garage kept for the last 42 years! All original seats, interior panels, even canvass. To make sure she was ready to go I had the stern drive re-sealed (which it needed) the carb re-built, (which it needed), the fuel delivery system cleaned out (also needed) and lastly the fuel tank got an acid bath to clean it out (which it really needed). A Marine Survey confirmed my feelings about buying her as soon as I saw her. She has a good bill of health, and I will be trying to get her back to "as new" condition. I just need a port side nav light!
The windshield still operates, horn is good, and the original canvass is old but still works well. Rides like a dream and handles well. We spent 7 hours on her yesterday tubing and skiing. She is a really fun boat, so I figured I would send in some pictures.
Joe Wittman
Middletown, Ohio
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Model name: OMC 1700 Outboard Runabout (with 1969 Johnson 85HP outboard)
Model year: 1964
Model number: 101301E
Serial number: 2034
Her name: Sundreamer
Home port: Tucson, Arizona (drydock)
Photo date & location: 9/11/2008 as I saw her first in Tucson, Az. How you got the boat: Found it on craigslist. Was listed for $800. I talked him down to $500...what a steal!
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