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Restoring a '62 Chris Craft Sea Skiff

14634 Views 140 Replies 24 Participants Last post by  Kudzu, 
Kudzu
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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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T
Neat project and way over my patience. I'm just starting a Glen L Zip , cutting out patterns from tracing with carbon paper over the prints.
A hell of a lot less work ( and smaller) than yours , but yours is authentic.

Are you finding genuine mahogany (South American) hard to find period and at a decent price ?
Had to drive 5 hrs to find a mill with enough on hand and a fair price.
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Kudzu said:
Friday Update (on Saturday)

One of those weeks with lots of sore muscles and hours of work and it barely shows. You about have to look at last weeks photo compared to this weeks to see any progress.




I spent the week sanding. I found I could do about an hour and then had to stop and do something else. I have this side of the boat about 95% done. It is ready to applying the filler and fairing compound to even out all the flaws.

Then guess what? MORE sanding. But that is just part of it. Can't be as bad as sanding inside the boat was!

This morning I am reading Facebook and drinking my coffee and this thought pops in my head.

I have spent the last couple of weeks looking for MDO or real Marine Grade ply for the decks. I just couldn't find anything within a 3 hour drive of me. I can have it shipped but I was getting prices of $500 just for crate and shipping. Then $500 for the plywood. So ball park $1,000.

So, I plugged in Marine Plywood in Market place and first ad was an hours drive away and he had 3-1/2 sheets of Okume, marine plywood for $225. Exactly the size and amount I need.

Okume Marine Grade Plywood (New), 3.5 sheets that are 9 mm thick and 1 sheet that is 6 mm thick.
This is a top grade marine plywood that is 4'x8' size, $225 or $200 if picked up by 5/17/22. ​

Two hours latter I was trying not to break his hand stuffing the money in it!

Next week I will most likely start putting the decking on the boat. Then I can roll it over and spend the month sanding.
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Ha Ha What a great find/bargain ! Have you ever looked at Hydrotek ..a little cheaper ( over Okume buying new) and the stuff I looked at ( and bought) was even more flawless than Okume.
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Kudzu said:
Took a couple of weeks off after that hull refinishing marathon. I never stop but I worked much less and I worked on small things. Touch-ups, small repairs. Nothing worth showing because they really didn't show.

Pulled the decks off and finished up some things under the deck. Then put them on for good. I bet there are well over a 200 screws in that deck!


Hoisted her up and slide the trailer underneath.






She is outside now.

I need the shop space so I can spread out my tools. I need to make a few pieces and I have LOTS of sanding and varnishing ahead of me. Need a spot out of weather to work and there just isn't much room in there the boat.

Need to get a lean-too off the side of the shed to store her under really soon.
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Looking good.
Silicone Bronze screws right? I looked into Stainless Steel to save money until I read about crevis corrosion.
I spent about 15 years aligned with the fastener industry and never heard of it .
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T
I'm curious what the estimated value of your boat will be when finished , I'm sure quite a lot.
Just a staggering amount of work that goes into them.

I was a a small manufacturing outfit by lake Geneva,Wi.the other day looking at wood boats for fun.
(Lake Geneva is where the multimillionaires from Chicago have there summer castles and fancy boats)
Used started at 80k (42 yr old boat) , several 23' used newer were 150k +and they were building 2 at the time.
One they were building will have 2 Chrysler 440 engines with V drives is 26' and will go for a half million.

Got to talk with there two shipwrights extensively and wish I was 30 years younger ,
what a fun niche skilled trade to have.
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