1960 Cruisers Inc Seafarer Milestone: She’s Ready For Paint!

1960 cruisers seafarer ready for paint

What a major milestone we see fading into our wake! The 1960 Cruisers Inc. Seafarer is ready for paint on the topsides and bottom, and CPES and varnish on the transom.

After applying 3M Premium Filler three times, and sanding it fair between each application and after the last one, finally, all the countersinks and declivities are filled and sanded fair.

We began sanding with 40 grit, graduated to 60 grit and finally to 80 grit using our inline longboard sanders until the surface – strakes, plywood garboards and filler – was silky smooth.

Following Danenberg, we applied the first two coats of CPES one right after the other, waited 24 hours and then applied the final coat. We will allow the CPES to cure for four days, until next Monday, before we tape off what will be an Interlux Brightside fire red boot stripe and begin priming below and above the bottom line.

Below the waterline will receive three coats of Pettier Tie Coat Primer, followed by three coats of Pettit Hard Racing Bronze Enamel.

The topsides will receive three coats of Interlux Pre-Kote followed by multiple coats of semi-gloss white Interlux Premium Yacht Enamel.

We will block sand both surfaces by hand between coats using 100 grit followed by 120 grit.

We also sanded the transom fair and stained it with brown mahogany Interlux Interstain Filler Stain, which we will allow to cure for several days until we apply three coats of CPES to it.

1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 5200 Bottom & Transom Framing Update

1946 chris craft brightside-u22-5200 bottom transom framing

As promised two videos above, here are both an up-close view of the finished product following installing the first sheet of Aquatek Marine plywood, and the resulting issue with the bottom transom plank being too tall.

You cannot be too detail oriented in cleaning the excess 5200 from everywhere, and this includes sending RJ under the boat to confirm we have no ribbons of squeeze-out hanging from the frames in the bilge.

As is clear in the clip, before we removed the hog, the center of the bottom transom plank was at a good ¾” taller than it will be once we trim it flush with the plywood. The bottom planking will pass over this plank and terminate flush with the transom’s exterior surface.

The excess height shrinks to less than ¼” at the chines, which tells us that our “friend” jacked the center of the transom up, well, down once she is upright, which was the major contributing factor in the genesis of the hog.

My goodness………..

1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Transom Planking & Bottom Milestones

1946 chris craft brightside u22 transom planking bottom

Launching the True 5200 Bottom assembly is upon us … finally!

But first John and I must address a major issue we discovered when we began re-installing the bottom two transom planks, a discovery that also informed the “why/how” of the hog the hull was suffering when she arrived.

I will follow up with more detail once we have installed the first sheet of Aquatek Marine plywood on the bottom – two videos hence, but here is the gist of the discovery. When we tried to set it in place, post-reframing and re-shaping the transom to remove the hog, John exclaimed, “Oh my God! This plank is almost ¾” too tall in the center, and about ¼” tall at the chines!”

Yep! Old Mr. Butt Joint was here as well. Remember all the open joints we found in the transom framing before we rebuilt it? Well, Mr. Butt Joint was also Mr. Sloppy Joint, and the transom grew in height by almost ¾” in the process. (I now understand why the chine he installed was so ill-fitting. He had to goof around with it so that it fit between the bottom chine plank and the bottom planking.)

We will address the situation, and trim this plank, but not until the inner plywood bottom layer is fastened. Then we can scribe a line and trim the bottom transom plank accurately using our Fein Multimaster tool.

The happy news is that John and RJ finished fabricating, sealing and coating the components of the True 5200 Bottom’s inner plywood skin with Sandusky Chris-Craft Bilge Paint while I was tracing endless woodies in Tavares, FL.

We are ready to begin fastening the plywood. The finished True 5200 Bottom cannot be far behind!

1960 16′ Cruisers Seafarer Topside Stripped Fasteners Being Tightened

1960 cruisers seafarer topside-stripped fasteners tightened

The 1960 Cruisers Inc. Seafarer’s topsides are stripped. That everything but loose fasteners throughout is in excellent shape is good news indeed. No structural work will be needed from this point forward.

The caulked countersinks and the fasteners therein are another story, however. Testing with my awl told me that the caulk has failed throughout the topsides. A tiny pick with the probe ejects almost all of the caulk out of each countersink as a perfectly round cylinder. Additionally, and especially below and in the first two strakes above the waterline, many of the fastener heads had turned green, which indicates water infiltration. The adhesion between the wood and the caulk has failed throughout.

The good news here is that, with a blast from the air chuck, most of the fastener heads are exposed and clean enough to screw back in place using a handheld Phillips screwdriver. Why not a mechanical screw gun? Controlling the force will be difficult and risk spinning the wood screws sunk into the ribs and force me to engage a time consuming toothpicking exercise. I have complete control with the handheld tool.

The intermediate fasteners secure the strake edges to one another with a combination of machine threads backed by flat washers and hex nuts. I am able to tighten a full turn, and even up to three turns so far. The few intermediate fasteners that spin will be secured by RJ turning a deep well socket on the inside while I secure the screw from the outside.

Next comes the 3M Premium Filler, sanding and fairing and sealing with multiple coats of CPES on the bottom and topsides.

The bottom will be primed with three coats of Pettit Tie Coat Primer, followed by two coats of Pettit hard Racing Bronze bottom paint.

The boot stripe will be done in fire red Interlux Brightside Polyurethane.

The topsides will receive three coats of Interlux PreKote, followed by at least three, and more likely four coats of semi-gloss white Interlux Premium Yacht enamel.

The transom and stem will be stained with brown mahogany Interlux Interstain, sealed and finished bright.

1959 Chris Craft Sportsman Replacing Loose Fasteners and Wood Bungs

1959 chris craft sportsman replacing loose fasteners wood bungs

Why Attention to Details is Critical

Details, details, details. Dismiss them at your peril, as we were reminded today as we considered next steps on the 1959 Chris-Craft Sportsman preservation project.

We decided together that, other than the two rub rails, which were loose and rotted in several places each, the balance of the topside planks appeared ready for longboard sanding, bleaching, staining and sealing. Then John said, “No. Look at these seams and the fact that that several of the topside planks were standing proud along their edges.”

A series of strikes using a rubber mallet confirmed John’s suspicion that the fasteners in these areas had backed out a bit, lost their bite into the underlying frames or battens, or simply broken.

Even more mystifying was the fact that the bungs lacked the telltale black rings that signal adhesion failure, but when he touched them with an awl, they simply released completely, falling on the floor.

Note to selves: Pay closer attention to bungs and how the planks are lying relative to one another.

As the clip details, and we have now addressed, the fasteners had failed or broken across entire sections wherever the planks stood proud or the bungs popped in response to a gentle probe on port, and we will repeat the testing and same process on starboard next week.

Additionally, as we reported some time ago, the port side requires old fairing compound “fixes” to be repaired properly with Dutchman patches.

RJ and I will be proceeding with the final sanding and one more coat of CPES this coming week. Priming with fife coats of Interlux 2000E Epoxy barrier coat primer comes next, followed by applying two coats of Pettit Hard Racing Bronze bottom paint.

Why only two coats of bottom paint? Applying more coats actually degrades adhesion. Apply two coats not, and then inspect the bottom after next fall’s haul-out, and apply a freshening coat then depending upon what your inspection tells you.

All that said, our message here, both to you and us, is, “Paying attention to the minutia returns huge dividends. Not doing so risks disaster.”

1960 Cruisers Seafarer Bottom Refastened & Countersinks Filled

1960 cruisers seafarer bottom-refastened countersinks filled

Bottom fastened! Well, almost. RJ and I still must team as we tighten the tiny hex nuts on every machine thread screw that secures the strakes to one another between the ribs.

But at least refastening the plywood skin and below-waterline strakes is behind us!

RJ and I have also filled the fasteners countersinks with three applications of 3M Premium Marine Filler, and begun sanding them fair.

We have also stripped and bleached the transom, and will be staining it with brown mahogany (042) Interlux Interstain Wood Filler Stain, and then sealing it with CPES.

Stripping the topsides and stem will follow, after which I already know from inspecting them that we will face another round of refastening strakes and filling and fairing the countersinks with 3M Premium Marine Filler.

1960 Cruisers Seafarer How to Fill Fasteners Holes With Toothpicks

1960 cruisers seafarer how to fill fastener holes with toothpicks

Refastening the 1960 Cruisers Seafarer bottom has launched in earnest.

Here I share the how and why of filling fastener holes with hardwood (maple) toothpicks and glue. Doing so gives us fresh wood into which we will drill pilot holes and new countersinks. Not doing so risks having screws spin out, or worse, never bite into the wood.

Tomorrow I will use a Japanese cabinet maker’s saw and trim off the protruding material flush to the surface.

We will also replace the original #8 x 3/4” silicon bronze screws with #8 x 1”. Given that the sheathing is half-inch thick, the longer screw will be driven about 5/8” into the ribs thereby assuring stronger fastening.

1938 Chris Craft Runabout Special: How to Seal Bottom Plank Seams

1938 chris craft sealing bottom plank seams

We continue racing against the March 21, 2017, deadline, the day I begin towing my 1938 19’ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout to Tavares, FL, and the Sunnyland ACBS Show.

We have applies the first five of an eventual twenty coats of Pettit Hi-Build Varnish have begun the process of varnishing her above the waterline.

Mickey Dupuis, Custom Metal Restoration in Holyoke, MA, is about half-way to preserving all of the hardware, including Flyin’ By’s long cutwater.

Her original bottom has our attention now. We tested about 50 fasteners, finding all of them rock solid tight. The red enamel, not bottom paint, yielded to the Circa 1850 Heavy Body Paint & Varnish Remover quite easily. Removing her original copper bronze paint was another matter, but, finally, we reached our goal, bare wood from stem to stern and chine to keel.

The planking, which is original to the boat, is in near perfect condition. No splits or cracks could be found. The inevitable dings and gouges have been addressed using 3M Premium Marine Filler.

This morning, and what is the topic of this video, we are focused on sealing her bottom seams using Interlux Seam Compound for Underwater Seams.

Seam Sealer must only be applied to wood that has been primed. The three coats of CPES also acts as an excellent primer for this purpose.

Filling each seam completely is the goal. Reaching that goal will likely involve at least two applications of Seam Sealer, done 24 – 48 hours apart.

The tools for this task are simple: an about 5’ x 8” piece of thin wood of some sort, a flexible putty knife, Interlux 216 Special Thinner as the solvent, and a quart of Interlux brown seam sealer. We have “only” 80+ feet of seams to fill… What fun!

1960 16′ Cruisers Seafarer M 202 Releasing Bottom Fasteners

1960 cruisers seafarer 202 releasing bottom fasteners

With the keel and the bottom stripped to bare wood, we are very pleased that the half-inch marine plywood bottom is in excellent shape. Nowhere can we find evidence of delamination, gouges, or other signs of degradation or damage.

The fasteners are a different matter, however. Cruisers Inc. used two-inch smooth-shank nails driven through the plywood along the stem, keel and transom during the initial hull assembly. Drilling pilot hole and sinking #10 x 2” Frearson-head, silicon bronze wood screws through the plywood and into the transom followed. #8 x ¾” screws were sunk into through the plywood and into the ribs elsewhere.

I began releasing these fasteners this morning, using an awl to pop the caulking out of the countersinks and for cleaning the drive slots in the screw heads. At the first one and every one that followed so far, and whether it was the long screws drive into the transom or the short screws driven into the ribs, I can spin them out with the tip of the awl. Yes, they are that loose!
And the nails just pop free when levered ever so slightly using the tip of the awl, something I do not recommend and will not continue doing, lest I snap the awl’s tip.

We must toothpick these holes. In the typical situation we are toothpicking holes in unsheathed ribs, frames or transoms. Here the sheathing is and will remain in place, so we must take care that the Gorilla glue does not spread between the sheathing and the ribs or transom, which will render achieving a watertight seam all but impossible.

To that end, we will execute a stepwise process that involves sinking a #8 x 1” screw in one hole of every course and toothpicking the others. Yes, it will be tedious, but doing so guarantees a tight seam.
Finally, we will actually release the sheathing along the transom’s edge so that we can clean the surfaces, seal them with CPES and pay in 3M5200 before we drive the new silicon bronze fasteners in place.

1960 Cruisers Inc 16′ Seafarer Model 202 Preservation Launches

1960 cruisers inc seafarer model 202

Her owners hail from Lake Placid, NY and scored quite a find when they purchased this 16’ 1960 Cruisers Inc. Seafarer Model 202 last year. RJ and I inspected every inch of her and can find no evidence that she’s ever been hurt, rotted anywhere or been worked on, including having been painted since she left the factory in 1960. Even the varnish appears to be “factory.”

My sense is that she’s seen scant use over the last 57 years. But time does take its toll on fasteners and finishes. We have released the keel, splash and rub rails bow eye and transom eyes. As of late yesterday, RJ and I have stripped her to bare wood below the waterline.

What we found there is a literal sea of failed fasteners, both silicon bronze screws and smooth shank nails. Very few are broken. However, most are standing proud of the surface as they are just no longer biting, or are completely loose.

What surprised us is that Cruisers specified 6 x ¾” wood screws, even though the plywood sheathing is a full half-inch thick. Since none of the countersinks is more than a sixteenth inch” deep, at best the last quarter inch of each screw was sunk into the ribs. It’s little wonder that they have lost their bite and backed out over the decades.

We will release and replace every screw and nail with 8 x 1” or 8 x 1-1/4” wood screw, which also means driving toothpicks and Gorilla glue into every screw and nail hole.

(Yes, for those who have so requested, we will shoot and upload a video of the toothpicking process.)

For now the project involves reaching for gallons of Circa 1850 Heavy Bodied Paint and Varnish Remover, our Sandvik scrapers and our stainless pot scrubbers.

Way too much fun for one and all to be sure!