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1947 Chris Craft U22 Sportsman in the Shop

1947 chris craft whiteside U22

Her owners were following their usual and customary route from their cottage to the broad lake, traveling along at a good speed when suddenly and abruptly, she slammed to a stop, nearly ejecting her occupants.

Her lake’s level had dropped significantly and rocks and ledge that had always been well below the surface over the season and in prior years was now just beneath the surface. The crash destroyed her prop, prop shaft, strut, rudder and rudder shaft log.

The force of the crash also destroyed the athwart bottom framing, the keel and the keelson in from the transom to at least two feet forward.

Topside plank fasteners failed under the stress visited upon them, popping rows of bungs in the process.

Two of the Chrysler Crown engine’s mounts failed completely, and a third was severely ripped under the impact. While we cannot diagnose engine issues unless and until the engine is torn down, that RPMs were driven from 2000 +/- to zero instantaneously cannot be good for it.

We will not really know the full extent of the damage until we empty and flip the hull over. The good news is that other than wanting a comprehensive cosmetic do-over, this U22 is in excellent shape, with nary a bit of rot discovered up to this point.

We will strip her completely inside and out and then proceed with refinishing all surfaces.

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1947 Chris Craft U22 Engine Leak Down & Compression Tests

1947 chris craft U22 engine leak down compression tests

Using our Abn Cylinder Leak Detector & Engine Compression Tester Kit we performed leak down and compression tests on our 1947 Chris-Craft U22’s original Chrysler Crown flathead six engine. It failed both of them miserably.

While we only taped leak down testing of the number four cylinder, which scored the worst of the six, all six were tested and scored very poorly. After using a wood dowel to confirm that the piston was at TDC, we adjusted the tester and then put 90 PSI pressure to it. The result was 95% leakage. With readings ranging from about 50 PSI to 65 PSI, he compression tests on all six cylinders returned similarly failing scores.

According to Robert Henkel, Peter Henkel Inc., “The Chrysler Crown is the best, strongest and most reliable of all flathead six marine engines built from WWII on, but all of them wear out.

“This one has served its owners for many decades without being rebuilt. Based on your leak down and compression tests, it’s just tired, worn out. It’s time to tear it down and rebuild it. It could be a failed head gasket, but with numbers as low as your results, I am guessing, but will not know for certain until we tear it down, that it’s reached the end of its useful life.”

He also reminded us that this engine went through a bottoming that destroyed its running gear. “It’s likely we will also find major damage to the lower end of the engine, especially the crank shaft, bearings and connecting rods.”

Crating and shipping it to him next week is our only option.

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1947 Chris Craft Cedar Plank U22 Hull Damage

1947 chris craft whiteside U22 hull damage

As introduced in her last video, this 1947 cedar-planked U22 ran hard aground last fall. We have now finished deconstructing everything in and on her hull, and finally can get a good look at and begin to understand the resulting damage to her hull and running gear.

Save for the last two athwart bottom frames, the rudder log installation plank, the final 3 – 4 feet of keelson and keel and the center transom frame, the hull ahead of the prop shaft log escaped damage. Indeed, structurally, this U22’s hull is as sound as any we’ve worked on to date.

That said, encountering the ledge and stones on the bottom visited major damage from the prop shaft log aft. Save for that shaft log, all of the running gear was destroyed. Indeed, we will not even be able to release the rudder shaft log unless and until we release at least the bottom transom plank, but it was distorted beyond repair as well.

Later today I will strip the transom, release the bottom plank and probably the next one up in an effort to expose the rudder shaft log enough so we can release it.

At the very least, we must replace sections of the keel, the keelson, the last two athwart bottom frames, and the center transom frame, which means also releasing significant sections of the bottom. (We cannot really understand the full extent of the hull damage before she is flipped, her bottom is stripped and we begin releasing bottom planks.)

The good news is that I have been able to source all of the running gear components, save for the strut, which will be cast anew in bronze in Michigan, thanks to Robert Henkel and Peter Henkel Inc.

Yes, this video is long and detailed, so I will allow it to speak for her rather than asking you to read endlessly here.