Farmer hull that is being restored at Larry Lauterbach's shop.
 
 

The new "outer" bow stem being laminated on original Farmer WD form. 
This is only the second one made on this form as the Wanton Duchess is the first and only of Will Farmer's new design, 145. 
(He gave up building boats and started a machine shop with Will, Jr.)
 

Notice the new "outer" stem on the hull at this stage.
 

View from starboard stern.
The wide transom of Will Farmer's new design is apparent in this photo.
 

A close-up of the "mini-tunnel", which allows the 7 degree shaft angle and lower profile of the hull.
 
 

Wanton Duchess gets new sponsons
 
 

Starboard sponson, as seen from stern
 
 

Port sponson
 
 

Starboard sponson awaits final sanding and several coats of finish. 
The beauty of the grain, only faintly visible at this stage, will become visible once the finish is applied.
 
 

Port sponson, like the starboard, awaits final sanding and application of finish coating.
 
 

Bottom of Wanton Duchess awaiting final sanding and application of finish.
 

Larry Lauterbach polished the original skid fin mounting brackets and installed them, along with the newly refinished, 
but not polished fin. Once this was done, he proceeded to "close" the top of the sponson.
With both sponsons now closed, he will begin work on the decking.
 
Graceful lines of Wanton Duchess are evident in this photo.
She awaits interior finish and internal steering hardware.
 

Restored transom pulleys - new sheaves and all polished.
 

Restored and primed dash
 

Restored rudder assembly
New speedometer pitot assembly; new bushings and zerk fittings. . . awaiting final polishing.
 

Restored strut and shaft log - new bushings. Polish, anyone?
 

Close-up of shaft log.  Note the new bushing and zerk fitting.
 

Rebuilt/restored Autolite 1101 series carburetor.
Pony Carburetors in New Mexico, which specializes in carbs for early Mustangs and Falcons did a super job.
It looks better than when Autolite delivered them to the Ford assembly plant. 
And it will perform better because Pony Carburetors identified original issues and developed fixes for them.
 

Close-up of dash/steering installation.
 
 

The old fuel tank all spruced up, painted and installed.
 

Dash and steering installed.  Awaiting decking.
 

View of rudder - starboard side
 

Close-up of rudder installation.  Those polished bronze pulleys look good.
 

All decked out, waiting for finish coating, seat, engine and cowlings.
 

New seat, all epoxy coated and awaiting the upholsterer
 

Let's check the fit of the seat.  Nice job, Larry!
 

Checking the fit of the tail fin.
 

Decking installed; tail fin check fitted... looking good! 
Look closely at the calendar at top of photo, above steering wheel.  It's Henry's Tenth.
 

Wanton Duchess with stable mate, Henry's Tenth.

My engine man promised me a short block by next Wednesday. 
However, I know he can't finish the engine until Jimmy Shane modifies my oil pan.... and he has three ahead of mine.
The next item will be the headers.  I need to have them made to fit the boat. 
So I am holding off until the engine is fully assembled and installed. 
Then there is the speedometer.  I am having a Keller custom built from NOS (New Old Stock) parts.


Decking sanded, and engine cowling installed
 

Profile - Hull is nearing completion
 
 

Will Farmer, how do you like this view!? 
Larry Lauterbach has done a super job on your baby.  W.D. looks fast, just sitting there. 
All we need is the engine and we are ready to rock and roll.
 
 

I love the low profile
 

Here is a shot of Lauterbach's Custom Boats shop. 
In the foreground is Henry's Tenth, with Rum Runner, my vintage Jersey Speed Skiff, and Wanton Duchess in the background.
 

Name and Letter painted
 

Oil pan fabricated. Waiting for engine.
 

Larry Lauterbach returns Wanton Duchess to the Farmer shop, where she was built.
Will, Sr. and Will, Jr. look on as Larry and Will, Jr.'s two sons unload some original forms used in the restoration process.
 

Larry, Will, Jr.'s wife, Donna, Will, Sr.  and Will Jr. pose for photographs in front of the shop where Wanton Duchess was built.
 

Will Farmer, Jr. signing Wanton Duchess February 24, 2006.
 
 

The pen, please.  Will Farmer, Sr. prepares to autograph Wanton Duchess.
 
 

Will Farmer applies his signature to Wanton Duchess February 24, 2006.
 

Dave Wagoner, the "Farmer boys" and Wanton Duchess pose in front of the Farmer Boat Shop.
 

Mr & Mrs Wilson (Will) Farmer pose for photos with Wanton Duchess and Cha Cha the family dog.
 
 

Having been polished, rudder, skid-fin and motor mounts await re-installation. 
Photo does not correctly capture highly polished surfaces.
 

Final finish - stern view
 

Water pickup hose and deck fitting installed. Waiting for speedometer pickup hose.
 

Wanton Duchess with final finish coating.  Shine, shine, shine. Waiting for engine and seat.
 

The clear coat finish brings out the signatures of Will Farmer, Sr. and Will Farmer, Jr.
 

Port side close-up of final, clear finish. Larry Lauterbach has done a beautiful restoration.
The boat looks like a piece of furniture. . . First Class!!!



In this photo, Larry has cleaned-up the edges the propeller, removing some rust and reinstalled it.
Since there is no time remaining to re-chrome it, this task will be done at a later date, after Wanton Duchess' debut at Mt. Dora.
 

Engine delivery day!  Having had many setbacks (a story unto itself), 
Ron was finally able to deliver the little Falcon engine on a sunny Sunday.
 
 

Here is a fun photo.  It was taken shortly after Ron delivered the engine. 
Note the oil on Ron's shirt; it's from priming the engine oil system. 
Here, Robert is teasing Ron for taking so long to rebuild the motor. 
Larry added, "I restored the whole boat in the time you took to rebuild the engine." 
Some good natured ribbing.
 

Here is a photo of my brother, Robert, working on Wanton Duchess' original trailer.
He and I rewired the lights, repacked the wheel bearings and installed new, aluminum "diamond plate".
 
 

While the trailer was being prepared, Larry added all the necessary engine accessories.
 
 

More engine accessories await installation.
 
 

Before the accessories were added, Larry installed the engine, added the throttle brackets and installed cooling system hoses.
 
 

Having removed the engine for working room, Larry installed the instruments. 
The tachometer is an original.
The Keller speedometer was assembled by the good folks at Portage Bay Systems, Inc. with NOS (New Old Stock) parts originally manufactured in 1972.
Steve Greaves and his partner, Allen, have done a great job. They were very helpful with this portion of restoration project. Thank you, gentlemen.
 

Once the instrument were wired, and the engine re-installed, the boat was placed on the trailer and taken to my friendly Meineke muffler shop. 
Here Mike is removing the throttle bracket and header flange.
 

Form, Fit and File.  Shop owner, Tom Campbell, did all the forming and fitting, along with some filing.
 Thanks fellow!
 

This one is for Will Farmer and Will, Jr.

© David Wagoner

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