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Restoring a '62 Chris Craft Sea Skiff

14483 Views 139 Replies 24 Participants Last post by  Kenh3497, 
Kudzu
4
Busy restoring a 1962 Chris Craft Seas Skiff. Almost have the boats hull sealed but had to take a break from laying on my back replacing, repairing and swearing at wood screws. You can replace a 100 screws, stand back and look and get ZERO feeling of accomplishment. It just doesn't show. You know you worked hard because you shoulders and neck ache so bad, but it just not satisfying work.


I have to stop sometimes and do something that 'feels good" when you stand back and look. I am going to paint the inside of the boat and needed to get at least one coat of varnish on the bright work in case there is any over spray. It is SO much easier to strip a little varnish off of bare wood than paint is. So I always put at least a couple of coats of varnish on before painting anything adjacent to it.

First I have to remove all the gauges and switches.




Stripping the bulkhead was no picnick either. Need to sand with 220 and then it will be ready for a good cleaning and some varnish.


Next is filler stain and then Varnish.
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John Smith_inFL
wow - Messing About with old wooden boats is my favorite project in the whole world !!
I bought a "vintage" CC cruiser in 1979 and refurbished most of the interior with fresh mahogany.
knowing nothing about electronics back then, I took all the inoperative Chris-Craft gauges and tossed them in the trash and built a new helm station with all new gauges (automotive) from JC Whitney. it looked really sharp !!
yeah - you learn not to do stuff like this 40 years later.
looking forward to following your project.
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John Smith_inFL
Jeff - if you reach the point of "just can't do it no more"; there is always someone out there that can.
it's looking awesome so far !! is this your winter to finish it up ?
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John Smith_inFL
"varnish" ~ the inquiring minds would like to know which varnish will adorn a Chis-Craft.
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John Smith_inFL
okee dokee - I've used Rust-O Spar on small items and it was okay for what I was doing.
I am making some boat bench seats out of cypress for my runabout and will use Pettit 2067 Ultra-Clear.
it is a bit thicker than Rust-O and brushes well. 10 coats of Pettit and 5 coats of Epifanes on top of that.
brushing varnish is for those that have the patience and fortitude of Job.
hang tough - you'll get there.
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John Smith_inFL
wow - great find on the knives !!
your stars are now aligned - go out and do great things.
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John Smith_inFL
looking really good !!
did you get the gauges refurbished or do you think they will function as they are.
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John Smith_inFL
yeah, Jeff - it might be time to rename the thread to be more in tune to what you are doing.
you are probably missing out on a lot of traffic that would be truly interested in your project.
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John Smith_inFL
very good !! and thanks for the additional photos.
that is a massive undertaking on an awesome project.
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