Category: Chris Craft 17 ft. Runabout

1949 Chris Craft 17 ft. Deluxe Runabout

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Engine Compartment Blower: New Safety Feature

An engine compartment is an easy-to-install, essential safety feature for your boat.
An engine compartment is an easy-to-install, essential safety feature for your boat.

Although most classic boats were built without them, I would not consider restoring one without adding an ignition protected blower to the engine compartment.  For a gasoline-powered boat, this is a necessary piece of safety equipment that can keep you from accidentally blowing up your boat.  Originally you were advised to open the engine compartment hatch and let it air out for about 5 minutes prior to starting the engine.  This might sound like it would work, but when you consider that gasoline vapors are heavier than air, it stands to reason they will just lay in the bottom of the bilge waiting for a stray spark to ignite them.

This blower will have an intake hose that pulls air from the bilge below the engine, and blows it out one of the vent ports on the afterdeck of the boat.  Ignition protected bilge blowers are required equipment on any gasoline powered inboard craft built today.  It’s not hard to add one.  Why wouldn’t you?

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Finishing the Dashboard

It’s easier to populate the dash and do preliminary wiring on the bench than in the boat. I’m all about easier!
It’s easier to populate the dash and do preliminary wiring on the bench than in the boat. I’m all about easier!

We talked about patching some rotten wood in the dashboard of a 1949 Chris Craft 17 ft. Deluxe Runabout in an earlier post here.  Once we got the staining done, the next step was to lay on a bunch of varnish.  In our case, it took about 5 coats of Interlux Schooner 96 to seal in the stain.  Then we added about 8 coats of AwlWood MA urethane on top of that to get a really nice, deep gloss.  This is the scheme I plan to use for finishing the topsides of the boat as well.  The AwlWood is a new product for the U.S.  It’s been available in New Zealand for a few seasons, and has held up well there. Continue reading “Finishing the Dashboard”

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Bilge Pump: Adding a Safety Feature

The bilge pump is located in the lowest part of the bilge as the boat would float at the dock. Note electrical connections are made up above normal bilge water level.
The bilge pump is located in the lowest part of the bilge as the boat would float at the dock. Note electrical connections are routed up above normal bilge water level.

Many classic boat builders did not include a bilge pump from the factory.  I would never restore a boat without including this basic safety feature.  As the story goes, “More boats have sunk at the dock, flooded with rainwater, than ever sank at sea.”  I’m sure that’s true.  I’m also of the opinion that judges should never mark you down for having a bilge pump on your boat, whether the factory installed them originally or not. Continue reading “Bilge Pump: Adding a Safety Feature”

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Installing a New Fuel Tank

New aluminum 20 gallon cylindrical tank
New aluminum 20 gallon cylindrical tank

The first question is: Can you use your old fuel tank, or do you need a new one?  That depends.  What material is your old fuel tank made of?  If it’s steel, or galvanized steel, I don’t think I’d entertain the notion of reusing one older than 5-10 years.  And I’d check it thoroughly for corrosion and pinholes even then.  It’s a pretty simple procedure to leak test a tank–fill it up and see if it leaks.  An even better test is a pressure test–something that all plumbers do for any new plumbing they install.  Simply plug it up and put a gauge on it.  Then pressurize it with 5-10 psi to see if it leaks down over time. Continue reading “Installing a New Fuel Tank”

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Lapping the Prop to the Shaft

The dull gray band about the width of the key is evidence this shaft has been lapped to its propeller.
The dull gray band about the width of the key is evidence this shaft has been lapped to its propeller.

A propeller shaft has a tapered end that should exactly match the taper in the propeller bore.  Any time you get a new shaft or propeller, you need the “lap” the two to get a tight fit between them.  This fit is essential to minimize vibration and ensure the best transfer of power from the engine to the prop. Lapping is accomplished with lapping compound (Of course it is, right?).  Lapping compound is just a finely regulated gritty substance that machinists use to make metal joints fit–like intake and exhaust valves in engines, or propellers on shafts.  There’s no magic to it.  Just slather the stuff on the taper of the shaft, and then rotate the prop around the shaft in a back and forth motion.  Do this until you get a good, evenly dulled surface all around the shaft and inside the prop bore.  If you’re unsure where the high spots are, you can paint a blue chemical dye called DYKEM on the shaft.  Then scrub the prop back and forth and see where the dye transfers. Continue reading “Lapping the Prop to the Shaft”

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Fixing the Dash

The evil staple rot again! We've got to fix this before our new upholstery staples will hold in the edge of the dashboard.
The evil staple rot again! We’ve got to fix this before our new upholstery staples will hold in the edge of the dashboard.

We’ve referred to the evils of steel staples and the rot they produce in wood over time in a previous post here.  Well, that staple rot exists in the top of the dashboard too, since the crash pad was stapled to it as well.  We can either rebuild the dashboard, or restore it.  In this case, cutting out the offending strip, and gluing in a “Dutchman” will fit the bill. Continue reading “Fixing the Dash”

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How Do You Enlarge a Hole?

How to make a large hole larger? Don't run for your rasp or round file.
How to make a large hole larger? Don’t run for your rasp or round file.

The engine compartment ventilation holes needed enlarging.  For whatever reason, they were seriously undersized according to the plans, and my calculations of what is necessary for that size space.

So, if you already have a hole in the boat, how do you make it bigger?  How do you get your hole saw, or your drill bit to center itself on the hole, when there’s nothing there for the pilot bit to bite into? Continue reading “How Do You Enlarge a Hole?”

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New Ceiling Planks

New ceiling planks have to be fitted, then taken back out of the boat for staining and finishing.
New ceiling planks have to be fitted, then taken back out of the boat for staining and finishing.

Boat vocabulary can be crazy and frustrating.  For example, what do you call the planks that line the inside of the cockpit, and give it that beautiful, rich look?  Why the ceiling planks, of course.  And you thought that word meant an overhead surface, didn’t you?

New ceiling, port and starboard.
New ceiling, port and starboard.

Oh well, I didn’t really like the look of the old ceiling planks I took out.  And it was a simple matter to use the old ones as patterns and make new.  Actually it was easier to make new than to strip and refinish the old ones.  Not to mention the risk that one of the old, brittle planks might break when putting them back in.

How to hold the pieces in place while you fit them requires some creative solutions.
How to hold the pieces in place while you fit them requires some creative solutions.

 

 

The challenge was how to clamp the new planks in when fitting them.  That is often the case.  Boatbuilders as a group are some of the most creative clampers I know.

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New Interior Parts

Some of the interior parts new bilge paint.
Interior parts get a coat of bilge paint.

With the major project of fixing the staple rot out of the way (see earlier post here), it’s time to start re-assembling the interior of the boat.  Some of the old parts could be re-used, but many had to be made anew.   New fuel tank saddles, engine beds, seat supports, etc., etc.  If there was a doubt about whether new part would last another 60 years, it was re-made. The picture above is just a fraction of the parts that had to be made, painted and assembled to get this baby back in the water.

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Fixing Cockpit Staple Rot

The steel staples used to hold the upholstery around the edge of the cockpit have rotted the planking around the perimeter.
The steel staples used to hold the upholstery around the edge of the cockpit have rotted the planking around the perimeter.

Anytime you have ferrous metal and water, you’re going to get oxidation.  This oxidation causes rot in wood.  In our case, the ferrous metal is the staples used to hold the upholstered “crash pad” around the perimeter of the cockpit.  In the picture above you can see that the planking around the edge of the cockpit has turned black and is crumbling.

You can see the upholstered crash pad in this early post before I disassembled the boat.

Closeup of the evil staple rot
Closeup of the evil staple rot

There’s no way that it would hold new staples for the new upholstery we’ll order soon.  Take a look at the detail picture here. So how do you go about fixing something like this?  Cut out the bad and put back new!  It’s really that simple.  But it’s a rather involved process.   I decided to make a template of the cockpit opening, and using a template guide for my trim router, I was able to cut away the rotten wood so that I had good wood to glue new pieces to. Continue reading “Fixing Cockpit Staple Rot”