The mystery gets curiouser and curiouser! Why in God’s name would anyone choose to slather up to an inch-and-a-half thick layer of Bondo over what presents as perfectly sound planking and equally sound stem?
I sanded and sanded yesterday, and the progress I made working in from the perimeter is apparent in yesterday’s clip.
However, if you review it, look for the part where I discover that it the Bondo appears to be floating above, not adhering to the wood beneath it.
Early this morning, Rick went back at it using 80 grit and an inline sander. He was making good progress, but then he noticed an open crack in the Bondo’s surface, so he reached for a wood chisel.
Inserting it in the crack and then prying produced the chunk you see in my hand early in this clip, as well as a growing pile on the ground as chunks (platelets?) of Bondo fell away as he continued inserting and driving the chisel into the interface between wood and Bondo.
And now? Songbird’s bow is bereft of Bondo. Yes, there is an old gouge on port aft of the bow, but at 1.5” x 2.2” at its largest area, and barely 3/16” deep at its deepest, we can repair the gouge with a Dutchman.
Back to stripping hideous stain varnish off the topsides ….
We’ve continued focusing on Songbird’s bottom planking, all of which is no released and none of which can be reused, examining and evaluating her framing, and beginning the task of stripping truly terrible stain varnish and even more odious auto Bondo of her topsides. Rather than try to summarize 17 minutes of video, I will allow it and my narration convey the content.
After receiving ten coats of Pettit Flagship Varnish and then being sanded absolutely flat using 500 grit, Winnie will go to Joanie Alden’s lettering shop, Vital Signs and Silk Painting, in Colchester, VT for her transom and registration lettering.
All is good with Winnie, so much so that she might even be home for Thanksgiving.
Would that we can be equally excited for Songbird, who we flipped yesterday and began releasing bottom planks today.
Before us is a truly sad, sad antique runabout, one that is incredibly rare and truly iconic. I apologize for my rude language, but, as the clip chronicles, she has been raped in every way a wooden hull can be assaulted.
Folks! Automotive products have their place and can produce magical results …. On cars and trucks, NOT, NOT, NOT on boats of any sort, wooden, fiberglass, steel, aluminum or even Titanium.
And the worst of the worst other than cheap, Chinese engine parts – automotive fuel pumps, solenoids, oil filters and on and on – is BONDO!
Sure, some hack going the cheap route might get away with a little “repairing rot” using automotive Bondo for a little while.
However, automotive Bondo absorbs and retains moisture. Use it in place of a marine filler or fairing compound like 3M Marine Premium Filler, and all you are “achieving” is sounding the death knell of your wooden boat.
OK, what do I know? I’m not sure, but I have eyes. You have eyes. Pay attention to the destruction that using cantaloupe-sized gobs of Bondo has visited on this poor hull.
The Bondo plus gallons and gallons of leaking oil has created a perfect storm for destroying virtually every piece of structural wood from the waterline down to and including the keel.
The Bondo’s most aggressive destruction has occurred in the stem, gripe and keel where some complete buffoon thought she/he could glob in huge gobs of Bondo in place of wood.
Pay attention! In an earlier clip, I wondered at the line of about 7/16”-diameter circles along the stem that secured the screws driven through the cutwater. Hello?
After shooting the video, where we again wondered about these plugs again, Joe and I went at one of them with an awl. You got it …. Bondo! In fact, vast areas of the stem and what is left of the forward ends of the topside planks – particularly on starboard – are nothing but Bondo that is surrounded by rotting wood.
Can we save her? Yes. Just think of what we call our skeleton project, the 1950 18’ RIV that arrived in pieces, but now is sporting an almost-finished True 5200 bottom.
Yes, we can save her, but, other than the bilge stringers, virtually all the framing and planking below the waterline must be replaced. It looks to us now that the stem, gripe and keel must be replaced along with the transom framing at and below the waterline.
However, working on the stem requires that all of the topside planks’ forward extremities, at least back to the third or fourth hullside frame must be released. Releasing them means stripping varnish to bare wood.
But we also face the reality that most of the hullside frames’ lower extremities are rotted and floating, which is in part the result of some fool “sistering” the knees with random chunks of hard and soft wood, all of which is now oil-sodden and no longer attached to anything.
My final lament. Folks!!!!!! DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER use anything but silicon bronze, Forstner, flathead screws in a wooden hull! This bottom was “fastened” with a random mixture of sheet rock, stainless, common steel, and, yes, a few original brass screws here and there.Thank God Don Danenberg just published what I consider to be the seminal article on repairing below-waterline framing in the November/December issue of Classic Boating, which I have scanned and printed, and insisted that I, Joe and Rick digest completely. Several copies are in the shop, and I’ll like be reaching out to Don as we try to save Songbird.
Our 1957 15-Ft Lyman Runabout is progressing nicely. Joe and Rick have stripped the hull and transom from the gunwales down. Her clench nails have been, well, clenched anew. The one bit of rot discovered in the transom has received one of Joe’s trademark Dutchman repairs. The transom is in the process of being bleached ahead of staining, sealing and varnishing.
With the strakes sanded initially fair and having received two initial coats of Smith’s CPES, Joe and Rick are now paying every strake with multiple applications of 3M Marine Premium Filler and sanding between coats.
Once the final coat has cured, Joe will sand the entire bottom truly fair, ensuring sharp edges along each and every strake.
We will then apply three more coats of CPES, allowing it to cure for several days ahead of applying multiple coats of Pettit Tie Coat Primer, followed by three coats of Lyman copper bronze antifouling bottom paint.
Our 1950 18’ Chris-Craft Riviera’s new True 5200 bottom has passed a major milestone with the preliminary fitting and installation of its inner plywood skin.
We use Aquatek Meranti marine plywood, 7/16” thick for the inner skin.
Once we have dry fitted the skin’s components, they receive 4 – 5 coats of Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer followed by three coats of Sandusky Paint Company’s Chris-Craft Mahogany Bilge Paint.
Each frame is then buttered with an 1/8” thick layer of 3M5200, and the skin’s components are laid in place and secured with a combination of #6×1-1/4 silicon bronze flathead wood screws and 1” copper ring-shank nails.
We then allow for 7-8 days of cure time before we complete sanding the edges in place.
Our 1950 18-foot Chris-Craft Riviera is well on her way to having a new True 5200 bottom.
We achieve that goal by using 6mm Aquatek Meranti Maring Plywood for the inner skin, after which we fabricate exterior planks patterned on her original planks using 3/8-inch Meranti FAS grade mahogany.
The ply is first is sealed with three coats of CPES, inside and out and then painted with three coats of Chris-Craft red Sandusky paint Company bilge paint, and then installed using mahogany 5200 bedding on the frames and the battens.
The exterior planks are sealed with three coats of CPES and then bedded in a uniform, approximately 1/8-inch-thick bed of white 5200, save for the outermost plank, that is bedded in mahogany 5200 where is sweeps above the waterline. They are installed using #8 x 1-1/2 flathead silicon bronze screws.
The final result is a rock-hard, super-stiff bottom.
We then apply three more coats of CPES to the bottom planking before priming it using five coats of Interlux Tow-Part 2000E Barrier Coat Epoxy Primer, alternating between gray and white as we build coats.
Finally, her bottom will receive three coats of Pettit Hard Racing Bronze bottom paint, and we will then resume focusing above the waterline.
Ahhh…. The beginning of the end of preserving our 1959 16.5-foot Lyman runabout is just barely beginning to peek over the horizon.
Rick first wet sanded the varnished exterior and interior through six grits, starting with 600 and finishing with 1500.
Buffing using our go-to suite of Presta cremes followed. The result? Pure glass. While he was buffing, Joe was busy in our clean room transforming the sea of parts into a forest with each suspended from the ceiling. The result? More glass and no dust.
The suspended parts have yet to be final varnished on the reverse sides of what you see in the clip.
It has been almost exactly one year since we shot her intake video, and now, final assembly of all wooden components cannot be far off.
These 16.5’ Lyman runabouts from the 1950s are truly iconic, and this example is not exception.
She spent time in Ohio before being in Florida for many years, and arrived needing significant structural and cosmetic preservation.
Finally, however, we are applying the final coats of Pettit Flagship varnish to her hull and windshield, and to a seemingly endless sea of components – no pun intended.
Since much of it was just wrong, we still face the challenge of sourcing period correct hardware items like chocks and cleats, etc.
For us, reassembly is the absolutely most enjoyable element of the preservation process.
What for so long presented as piles of wood in odd shapes begins coming together organically, and her absolute beauty reemerges.
Yes, it is Memorial Day, but we have a boat needing a new bottom, so have dropped all else to make some real progress, but also to discover what is or is not lurking beneath that plywood. Our 1959 Chris-Craft Ski Boat must get back to her owner ASAP, so we are on task.
The good news is that, save fore one of them, her frames are sound; yes, grease-sodden, but solid. Joe was able to sister the one port side forward frame that had broken.
We will not attempt applying bilge paint to the frames as the grease and oil has penetrated to the point it would not adhere. We will scrape and then sand all of the plywood inner skin landings on the frames.
Remember my endless comments about how these venerable ladies keep secrets beneath their skirts? Well, this lady’s secret is that what we have been removing is anything but her original bottom. Indeed, independent of what the owner was told then, whoever is the villain of this piece should be dragged and quartered.
Why? Just imagine using 3/8” A/C construction plywood for the bottom of a wood boat! It has delaminated everywhere. Once again, thank the Lord that she and her owner did not find the bottom!
At this point we are “porcupining,” which involves filling every empty screw hole with three to four hardwood toothpicks and waterproof Gorilla glue. Once all of them have been inserted, Joe and Rick will spray the bottom lightly with water. Doing so accelerates curing while strengthening the bond formed between the oak frames and hardwood toothpicks.
Remember, you can access all the materials we use and their sources by navigating to our Materials and Sources page.
Next, we will use our Fein MultiMaster tools to skim off the toothpicks, at which time the landings will be ruthlessly scraped, sanded and treated with three full coats of Smith’s – and only Smith’s Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer.
Following will be fitting the Meranti Aquatek Marine plywood bottom panels, sealing them with CPES and applying three coats of Sandusky Paint Company Chris-Craft Mahogany Bilge Paint.
None of the bottom planks, several of which just might be other than mahogany, can be saved. While the 5200 in which the plywood panels are bedded cures, we will be using the released planks as patterns and then sending them to the transfer station for recycling.
As always, you can delve much, much deeper into the what and how of a True 5200 Bottom by navigating to our True 5200 Bottom page.
She will be roaring across her home lake well before our promised July 4 delivery.
Our 1956 Chris-Craft Capri Runabout blew past a major milestone today. Her decks and gunwales been sanded fair, Joe has replaced rotted perimeter wood along the margins of her cockpit, bleached with Daly’s A & B Wood Bleach, and stained using Lake Oswego Boat Co. J’eld stain – Post-War Chris-Craft
Next she will be sealed with multiple coats of Smith’s CPES, followed by scuff sanding using medium Scotch Brite pads, clean the entire surface with Acetone-dampened shop towels and begin applying Pettit Flagship High-Build varnish.
The blonde king plank will not be stained as we continue following the original Chris-Craft practice of simple varnishing it with an amber varnish, which will impart a honey-blonde hue.
After applying about 15 coats, and because they will be painted white, we will fill the deck seams using mahogany Sikaflex, paint them white using Interlux Boottop and Striping Enamel and then apply the final five or so coats using Pettit Z-Spar Captain’s Ultra Clear varnish, thereby adding UV protection to the paint.
