Vintage Boat Preservation How-To
Don Danenberg is a champion of the True 5200 Bottom, which he has memorialized in several books, but also an excellent and seminal article, “What is a True 5200 Bottom?,” Classic Boating, September / October 2014 (click here to view the article).
This section’s content offers a visual and written textbook aimed at answering Danenberg’s question.
Remove Bottom Section
1956 Chris Craft Capri Bottom & Stripping
Our 1956 19-ft. Chris-Craft Capri has had a tough life, what with being assaulted by inept and worse “restorers” a ...
How To Remove Bottom Fasteners in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris Craft Custom Runabout
That Flyin’ By’s bottom was original to the boat is absolutely certain. How do we know for sure? After stripping ...
How to Open Countersinks and Remove Fasteners from the bottom of a 1938 19’ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout
We clean fastener countersinks using a Blair Equipment 11090N Rotabroach Cutter Kit, which is available from Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Blair-Equipmen...)Yes, even if ...
1953 Shepherd Sportsman Removing Bottom Plank Fasteners
There is no glory in removing fasteners from the bottom of my 1953 Shepherd Sportsman. It is all about being ...
1959 Chris Craft Sportsman Porcupined
Yes, it is Memorial Day, but we have a boat needing a new bottom, so have dropped all else to ...
Install Diagonal Planked Inner Skin
1950 Shepherd Runabout 5200 Bottom Hullsides Update
While waiting for the Meranti mahogany planking that we will mill into bottom planks so ...
1940 Chris Craft Barrelback 5200 Bottom Planking
Priscilla, our 1940 17-foot Barrelback became our lab rat today as we tested what we ...
1940 17 Chris Craft Barrelback 5200 Bottom Planking Update
Priscilla, our 1940 17-foot Barrelback “lab rat” experiment is progressing rapidly now that we finally ...
Install Bottom Planks
How to Install Bottom Planks in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris Craft Custom Runabout
Installing the bottom planks can be tedious and is fraught with all manner of challenges ...
1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22: How to Plank Bedded in 5200
Bedding the bottom planking in a 1/8” thick layer of 3M5200 without making a huge ...
1946 Chris Craft Mahogany U22 Bottom Planking Fabrication
Our 1946 Chris-Craft Mahogany (Brightside) U22 project enters the bottom planking fabrication stage today.We will ...
1959 Chris Craft: How to Install Bottom Planking When Fabricating a 5200 Bottom
I have had several requests for a video showing our crew installing the bottom planks ...
1953 Shepherd Sportsman: How much 3M 5200 is enough when doing a True 5200 bottom?
One more milestone is disappearing in the rear view mirror. My ’53 22’ Shepherd’s port-side ...
How to Install Bottom Battens in a True 5200 Bottom – 1938 19′ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout
As is typical of all Chris-Craft utilities and runabouts, this 1938 19’ Chris-Craft Custom Runabout, ...
Pre-Soaking, Priming & Painting the Bottom
1948 Truscott Barrelback Runabout True 5200 Bottom
Our 1948 Truscott Barrelback Runabout has almost blasted through her True 5200 Bottom milestone! Her ...
1948 Truscott Barrelback Runabout Danenberg Pre-Soaking Experiment
The extensive write-up accompanying our July 8, 2022, update on my pair of 1948 Truscotts ...
1948 Truscott Barrelback Runabout Danenberg Pre-Soaking Results
Our 1948 19.5-foot Truscott barrelback deluxe runabout survived Don Danenberg’s “Pre-Soaking” step in the process ...
1930 Dodge Runabout Barriercoating the True 3M5200 Bottom
Our “True 5200 Bottom” project on the 1930 Dodge Runabout, the Minnow, has reached the ...
1940 Chris Craft Barrelback True 5200 Bottom Milestone
Priscilla, our 1940 seventeen-foot Chris-Craft Runabout has blasted through her True 5200 Bottom milestone! After ...
1953 Shepherd Model 110 S Sportsman True 5200 Bottom Update
The July 9 ACBS show in Gravenhurst, Ontario is racing at us. We are committed ...
1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22: How to Paint Bottom
Paint! I could claim that it seems like only yesterday when we launched the preservation ...
1946 Chris Craft Brightside U22 Bottom Paint!
Since the last update video, we have applied five coats of Interlux 2000E two-part primer, ...
1956 Chris Craft Sportsman 5200 Bottom
We are just two coats of Pettit Old Salem Copper Bronze Hard Racing Enamel away ...
1948 Truscott Barrelback Runabout True 5200 Bottom Update
Our 1948 20’ Truscott Barrelback Runabout “graduated” from Danenberg pre-soaking with flying colors. We, well, ...
1950 Shepherd Runabout True 5200 Bottom Complete
Yes! Our 1950 22-foot Shepherd’s True 5200 Bottom has been fully fabricated, installed, filled-and-faired, and ...
1947 Higgins Speedster Primed True 5200 Bottom
Finally, this 1947 Higgins Speedster has a solid, sound, and rock-solid True 5200 Bottom that ...
1947 Higgins Speedster True 5200 Bottom Milestone
Our 1947 17’ Higgins Speedster finally has proper bottom framing with a doubling of the ...
1950 Chris Craft Riviera 5200 Bottom Update
Our 1950 18-foot Chris-Craft Riviera is well on her way to having a new True ...
Excerpted from “What is a True 5200 Bottom?,” Classic Boating, September / October 2014:
Danenberg_True_5200_bottom