Wash and clean the control lever balls, and then use some metal polish (like Flitz or Simichrome) or even some rubbing compound - that should get them nice and shiny. If you have a buffing wheel that will probably work too, but be careful to start lightly so it doesn't burn the surface of the ball.
I was thinking I was going to try wet-sanding them, or at least the red one in order to take it from brown back to red, and then polish.
I got the seats installed. I'm not sure I'm happy with the position. Pics later.
Re: Seats
So, obligatory
Now, I'm not sure if the seating feels weird to me because I'm a couple inches shy of being a sasquatch, or if its actually weird. I feel like it could drop down 2-3 inches and move back six? The control box will also be right at my hip, which feels like it might be weird.
Also, note how much the boat is flexing. Part of that is just me, part of it is being tied down in the rear and having the front be loose.
As a separate matter. The boat has a few fiberglass patches. Most of them are solid, but this one on the rear leaks. I think that the previous owner had a battery go bad and it ate through the fiberglass. I'm not sure how to fix it. I'm thinking I'll pry up the crappy repair around it, then maybe do a quick patch.
The leak is at the top right here.
I think I'm happy with this. She's not perfect, and might need a little light wet-sanding and such, but since I abandoned the quest for perfection I was never going for more than a 10-footer
Looks Great !
When is dat baby going in da water?
In reply to boulder_dweeb :
Oh hell man, I don't know. I should have the outboard completely together and in a testing barrel by the end of the month.
For the boat itself, I have a small laundry list I need to knock out:
So, if I don't end up getting hired anywhere I've put in applications, I should be able to keep working on it and maybe have it in the water by the 4th of July?
I need to dig through my paperwork and find the title so I can go register it as well.
The flex in that little boat is amazing. What could fix that? A cowl at the steering wheel area that would tie the dash area to the sides of the boat? If it was a car you could put a cage in it. What do you do to strengthen a flimsy boat?
Perhaps find some way to tie all those aluminum bits together inside the hull and let the fiberglass be the skin it is supposed to be?
Just noodling.
And just because, you need decals of this on your engine.
Scott
Well the seats are loosely bolted in, so that's part of it, if they were bolted in completely it would help eliminate some of that. I was thinking about tying in more aluminum supports at some point (part of the point of the aluminum side beams,) or when I finally patch the hull properly I could add more fabric in such a way that it would help stiffen it.
A large part of it is that the back is tied down and nothing else is, even my aluminum boat flexes horrifically in that position. Imagine it in the water, there's going to be no fixed support, it will just kind of heel over a little bit and I'll need a passenger to even it out. There's also room for me to scoot to the middle of the seat and reach over to throttle down.
As for ole Evinrude the dragonfly, due to my first name I was called Evinrude by a couple cousins when I was a young'un. I was thinking of a decal of him for the windshield whenever I get it fabbed up properly.
I don't recall the whole hull twisting, but the bottom of my dad's Duofoil Flying Fish would flex quite a bit when running at speed in rough water. Nothing ever came of it, and I suppose it helped make the ride a little more comfortable. I wouldn't worry about it too much on your boat. I think it was just a characteristic of the chrome fiberglass construction Herters used. 
Mr_Asa said:berkeley.
I'm gonna go drink while I think about next steps.
Damnit.
Finally got ahold of one of the guys that parts out outboards in the area with a positive result. "Yeah, I've got a 25HP here, come grab it and pull what you need and we'll settle up later"
I had a StarCraft aluminum boat that got a little floppy when the plywood floor was out. Don't rememnber if yours had a floor or not.
I was thinking that one of these might be modified as a center for your steering wheel for cheap.
In reply to CJ (FS) :
That's not a bad idea. I was thinking of 3D printing a mold and then cold-casting something.
Ladies and Gents, I'd like to present (in it's almost complete configuration) Deferred.
Still a whole helluva lot to do, but... damn.
As I said, lots left to do, as you can see here.
Looking Good! One of the reasons we named our boat Dragonfly was the fact it has an Evinrude on the transom. I may steal te sticker idea too since someone was nice enough to post a high res image.
Most of the time flex like that is held in check by the flooring, or the bench seats if you don't have a floor. Boats in that era were just more flexy too, nature of the beast. So is the weird seating position. I'm fairly certain the average human is much bigger now than in 1960, and I don't JUST mean our waistlines. I'm a big guy and I had to change the seating and steering position on my '73 to be close to being comfortable. I moved the seat back about 4" and added an angled bas to the steering wheel so it was pointed up a little instead of vertical. No one had heard of ergonomics when these were built lol.
Its probably a good thing that I like to pick at things while I'm working on other stuff, but damn it gets annoying sometimes.
I noticed that with the recent rain a leaf had gotten trapped under one corner of that bad patch next to my most recent repair, so I kind of picked at it. Then I went and got some tools.
And. Well. This happened...
So I chased it and drilled the holes at the edges of the cracks. Guess its a good thing I wasn't done futzing with my earlier fiberglass repair.
That motor looks too long. The cavitation plate should be even or slightly above a straight edge extending the bottom of the boat. I don't know if you can mount the motor higher, but it might be worth trying.
In reply to maj75 (Forum Supporter) :
It is, a bit. Typical of motors and boats of this era, to an extent. I know the transom is dead on 15", and the motor is a short shaft. Unfortunately that means that the top of the lower unit is even with the transom, not the cavitation plate. I think the cav plate is 18" from the transom?
Unfortunately the highest water intake for the pump is about an inch above the cav plate.
Its all a giant balancing act, which is ok for me. If I wanted to be the fastest on the water I wouldn't have a boat and motor designed when my parents were in short pants.
Mr_Asa said:
. If I wanted to be the fastest on the water I wouldn't have a boat and motor designed when my parents were in short pants.
Its ok, sonny; Some of us old farts like it that some of you young whippersnappers still like the old timey stuff.
Was sanding to prep for laying down gelcoat on the interior, mainly to prevent any sort of fibers from sticking to bare skin.
Started picking at this... whatever it is. Bondo, probably. Tried to sand it smooth, and then rinsed it out.
Aaaaand I noticed that water was dripping out of the outside. So I have another berkeleying patch to do. There's literally going to be one existing patch of this berkeleying boat that I haven't had to redo. I'm debating doing that one as well, the only reason I'm not already grinding it down is that its way up front under the bow cap.
I know that the previous owner of this boat has shuffled off this mortal coil, but gods above and below I want to dig him up and give him a kick in the fork for his "work"
berkeley, boys! I'd have a shot!
Remember, we're not going for perfect right now. Wife helped me though and she's adamant that "not perfect" can include doing the top portion of the hull. I just wanted to make sure I didn't get fiberglass in my back while running steering and electrical stuff.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
5 years ago we bought anew pontoon boat. I just was out for an evening cruise. The hour meter is at 53.5 hours.
That a little over 10 hours a year.
We live on a lake so boating amounts to walking down to the dock and casting off the lines.
Whenever we feel like it. On a great big lake with lots of bays and inlets. Islands and water passageways. Restaurants, bars, and places to go.
I notice we boat more than most of our neighbors. Oh the new people last year probably boated more than we did but they have 6 teenage kids. 
In reply to frenchyd :
I just don't f'ing get people that live on or near the water and don't go out on a boat.
In a four mile radius, my sister and brother in law have half a dozen boat launches. Several on the Wakulla River. Every weekend they're out there and its great every time. They've noticed that there are only half a dozen houses that have people regularly out on the end of the dock enjoying the water or putting in a boat, the rest of them just don't f'ing get on the water from their million dollar plus homes.
I don't get it.
In reply to Mr_Asa :
See how many hours you put on your boat when you've had it 5 years or more?
I think because it's easy and accessible there is no pressing urge to do it. A little too hot or cold? Rain or just cloudy? Weekends when the lake is filled with rude and ignorant boaters?
Today I watched a drunk go to the bathroom off the stern of his boat while the rest of his guests and family ignored his actions
Now not all boaters are like that many are happy and polite, wave back when I wave at them.
As far as million dollar homes? Many of those homes are owned by successful retired people who like myself have other priorities, interests. My wife's bladder limits her to relatively short periods.
The big cruiser we use for family/social events has a head ( toilet ) on it so she can spend longer time on the lake. But it's hard for her to climb aboard.
My Cruiser I've owned for 43 years I doubt has much over 10 hours a year. The first year I used it several times a week. Waterskiing, tubing, cruising, entertaining. I used the heck out of it. Then it gradually spent more and more time on the dock unused. Filling a 100 gallon gas tank or paying to pump the head. Got expensive.
It costs us nearly $900 to have the dock put in and the same to pull it out again in the fall. Plus my neighbors with boat lifts add another $500 in and out. Plus a couple hundred for canopies in and out. Storage and wintering adds another significant chunk of cost. So boating is an expensive proposition. At 10 hours per year your tittle most expensive boat may be modest.
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