Tag: antique boat repair

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Restoring a Strip Planked Canoe

An old strip planked canoe is a good restoration project
An old strip planked canoe is a good restoration project

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about a recent project–restoring a strip planked canoe.  These canoes are built by nailing thin wooden strips to a set of forms, and glueing the edges of the strips together.  Once all the strips are in place, a layer of fiberglass is glued to the outside of the built up canoe.  Then the forms are removed and fiberglass is glued to the inside of the boat.  This creates a rigid, light structure that one person can easily carry by themselves.  And they’re beautiful too! Continue reading “Restoring a Strip Planked Canoe”

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Installing the K Engine

Here's the engine ready to be lowered away to its new home.
Here’s the engine ready to be lowered away to its new home.

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”

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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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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”