Boat Repair, Restoration, Building
The final step in the upholstery phase is to install the crashpad. Crashpad is the 1/2 round closed cell foam rubber padding applied to the edge of the cockpit. It is best left for after the varnish work and deck seams are complete. So now’s the time. Continue reading “Installing the Crashpad”
After the varnish is laid on, but before the final coat, it’s time to caulk the deck seams. Most of them (2 out of 3) are false seams–only there for show. But every third one is live. It is essential to get a good seal with the seam caulking to prevent leaks and rot. Continue reading “Caulking the Deck Seams”
Staining is just preparation for varnishing. We talked about staining recently here. Now it’s time for a bit of strategizing. We’re anticipating about 6 coats of conventional varnish (Interlux Schooner 96) and then about 8-10 coats of AwlWood MA Gloss over that. When you’re talking about that many coats, spraying is the way to go. Continue reading “Varnishing the 1949 Chris Craft 17 ft Deluxe Runabout”
With all the interior work finished, it’s time to focus on the pretty part. It’s time to finish stripping the hull, repair holes and dings, and stain the hull. All this precedes the varnishing phase. I use the most aggressive chemical stripper I can find (Jasco brand) and let it do the work for me. I slap it on liberally and let it sit there awhile and eat away the old varnish. You can actually hear and see it doing this if you watch closely. Continue reading “Staining the boat”
It was finally time to put the engine back in to this boat. Check out the post on rebuilding it and running it. Also, Chris Craft didn’t install oil filters on these engines. Can you believe it? Well we did, and here’s our discussion of it. Continue reading “Installing the K Engine”
In 1949 Chris Craft did not, as a routine, install several safety features that are today considered standard equipment. We’ve already discussed installing a bilge pump and an engine compartment blower. Now I’d like to show you the fuse block I installed for this 1949 Chris Craft 17 ft. Deluxe Runabout. No electrical system, marine or otherwise, should ever be contemplated without some form of circuit protection. Circuit protections is just that—it’s there to protect the circuit from electrical overload. That means the conductors (wires) as well as the appliances. Continue reading “Fuse block: New Safety Measure”
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?
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”
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”
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”