February 19, 2011; Surprise find at the Detroit Boat Show!

Almost two months ago I was at a boat show and happened upon a restored Glastron 1968 Jetflite. It is the only model of boat that had the seats I've been looking for. The same used in the original '66 Batboat! This particular year of boat was in red.

Had I known a Jetflite would be at the Detroit Boat Show I would have brought a ruler with me. lol


This is owned by Wilson Marine, a boat dealership here in Michigan. Will contact them later on and see if I take measurements in the future. :)

It is most likely on display in one of their large showrooms along with their other stuff.






They did a great job restoring this boat. This is the first restored Glastron I've ever seen.








The aluminum around the outer windshield measures 3/4 inch. The base is slightly thicker. I suspect the same trim was used on the Batboat. At least it looks like it to me. Will see if they will let me get a measurement later on.


Sorry for the lopsided photos. :/

Batboat-Style Steering Wheel Is Now Available.

The steering wheel I mentioned a while back [http://batboat.blogspot.com/2010/08/good-news-batboat-style-steering-wheels.html] that is similar to the one used in the 1966 Batboat is available now from Mooneyes. http://www.mooneyesusa.com/california-metal-flake-4hole-spoke-steering-wheels-p-2357.html

What makes it different in appearance from the Covico wheel used in the original Batboat is the spokes are not symmetrically spaced and there are four holes in each spoke instead of three. However, as far as I have found, this is as close you'll currently get to it in a new wheel.

The New Wheel

An original Covico steering wheel offered by Glastron. They listed it as an option only in their 1966 catalog.

Here are details I turned up a while back on the steering wheel used in the original Batboat.
http://batboat.blogspot.com/2010/04/steering-wheel-identified.html


As of this writing, this new wheel is available as 15 inch width. To my eyes it looks about the same size used in the original Batboat. Covico steering wheels were available in 5 sizes ranging between 12 to 17 inches so who knows for sure.

I found a couple more photos clearly showing the Batboat steering wheel and will scan them later.

Batboat Rebuild: trailer and fiberglass cloth, November 11, 2009

Those following this blog know there are problems with the Batboat's trailer. I now suspect that at one point it was in a fender bender evidenced by the bent coupler and several small twists and dents in the frame.

Its getting too cold to do fiberglassing and woodwork outside so I will put the focus on making the trailer safe. It WILL be boring to most of you but I hope that those who are working on their own Batboat will find time saving information here.

On this day I took off the coupler and safety chains. The work lasted less than an hour.

The old chains were zinc plated and mostly rusted plus I never trusted their hook connectors. A new set enroute from iboats.com are made of stainless steel and have better connectors.

click this link to view --> SeaSense Stainless Steel Trailer Safety Chains for 2000 lb loads.

Above is the coupler. It connects to the car's trailer hitch. The yellow lines represent the correct level position of the trailer. As you can see this thing is bent out of wack!

It was welded to the tongue (the forward beam tip of the trailer) in three spots and I freed it off with the grinder and a hand vice clamp.

Two spots were cut through...



... and the coupler was bent and twisted off.

The rest of the attached coupler and welding was smoothed out with a grinder flapper disc. I wacked the beam back into shape with a hammer and coated the bare metal with spray primer to help prevent rust.

I'll get a new coupler after the chains get here.

Sundown was arriving meaning it was time to cut the lawn before it became too dark. When I opened the shed there was a nice surprise waiting for me. The rolls of remaining 1.5 Chopped Strand Mat and 6 oz Hexel fiberglass cloth fell from where they were shelved, unrolled on the floor and absorbed at least a month's worth of rain water, mud and all were well spotted with mildew! Totally ruined!


I kept these rolls and all of the scraps for nothing. About 2 yards combined of uncut cloth and a bunch of odd pieces were worthless. Oh well, at least the really expensive stuff, the 1708 biaxial, seemed okay. I'll check for mildew tomorrow! (checked it and it's fine but moved to the dry basement now.)

Can't use this for fiberglassing because the dirt and mold will promote rot! >:(

Batboat Rebuild: Seat Mystery Solved Part 2

The 1966 Glastron fiberglass boat catalog that I mentioned here three weeks ago came in the mail a while back. (I paid $13.89 for mine and another recently sold for $26, he he he.)

The pointed seat design shown in a '66 Jetflite V-143 Super Sport appears, from the back, to be a closer match for the ones used in the original Batboat than the '67 Jetflite V-143 mentioned in another blog post.

'66 Jetflite V-143 Super Sport

1966 Batboat

'67 Jetflite V-143 Super Sport

It looks like when it comes to having my own seats made I'll need to get hold of one of those and interpolate the dimensions of the Batboat's to base a new pattern on.

The Jetflites are the only boats built by Glastron with those pointed, turned up seating and are unique to that model.

Catalogs show Jetflite hulls had the seat bases molded into the deck from 1965 to 1970. From '66 to 69 pointed seats were used but not in 1970. The model was discontinued 1971.


The Batboat's seats were specially made and upholstered in glitter blue vinyl, as shown above. This is one of the scant close up glimpses of the original seat. It doesn't get much better than this, sadly.

The 1966 Jetflite V-143 Super Sport

The '66 catalog also shows the same type of metallic blue steering wheel used in the original Batboat.

As a side note, the model Glastron based the Batboat on is on the '66 catalog cover; Dark Jade Crestflite Stern Drive V-174 Super Sport. According to the back page specifications, it was only available as Dark Jade and White in 1966 but the photos show blue, also shown below.

Batboat Rebuild: Seat Mystery Solved.

Color Photo From The 1967 Glastron Boats Brochure

Researching how the original 1966 Batboat was built is sometimes kind of tough. It was one of the least used Bat-vehicles in the show (once in the movie and twice breifly on the show. The show appearances were filmed during the movie) and there are only a scant 2 or 4 original photos showing detail.

Sorry for the bad screen capture! One of the rare shots of the interior.

One of the last items that had left me stumped were the seats. There are maybe two or three photos that show them clearly but from behind. The BATMAN movie dvd shows them from above but for a split second.

I posted a quirey with images at the Classic Glastron Owners Association forum and one of the historians, 69 JETFLITE, came up with the answer the next day.

It is possible they are the seats used in Glastron's Jetflite models. I looked through my 1967 Glastron brochure and sure enough, there they are!

The Classic Glastron Owners Association site has a scan of the 1966 brochure showing the top of the seats and they are better dead ringers for those in the Batboat. A 1966 brochure is on the way here from eBay so I can take a better look.

Above: 1967 Jetflite Super Sport V-143
Below: The Batboat In 1966 Before Delivery To Hollywood.

The post '66 Jetflite chairs seem to have the same turned up/ pointed appearance on the top but are narrower in the middle pleated area. The above photo shows a reupolstered pair.

The 1966 Batboat had both tops and bottoms pointed, however. If I can get a pattern off a top, the bottoms can be made the same way. Just need to find a junker '66 seat. That will have to wait for next year, delivery of the '66 brochure and more photos to verify. :)

Glastron forum member FergusonPooleInc says the 1967 seats were blue metallic, the 1968 red metallic, and the 1969 were gold metallic.

Cool.