We just trailered our 23' Lancer to Cabrillo Beach (near Los Angeles), launched there, and ran the 23 mi. over to Avalon on Catalina Island. Spent a week cruising the island. What a nice reward for our couple years of work bringing "Cheers" back from the leaf-infested hulk it was when we bought her ...

We've done a little investigating on having parts re-chromed and we got some very costly quotes back here on the West Coast. For instance, the original chrome bronze bases for the bow rail were going to be about $80 each. Needless to say, we bought brand new stainless steel ones for about $8 to $15 ...

As part of the process of epoxying our crazed deck, we decided the 40 year old monkey fur had to go. We purchased an off-white ivory carpet-like hull liner from Sailrite. It has a little stretch to it so goes around the curves of the overhead where the glove box is. We put it on with 3m 77 spray adh...

Here's another item we want to replace. The saltwater sure does it's work on these chrome-plated things on our boat.

Thanks, Jim, for the links. There is a Red/Green Attwood light of polished stainless that we will probably have to go with.

bowlightsmall.jpg Since we run our boat in saltwater we need a light that won't corrode like the currently offered "chrome zinc" fittings that we are replacing. Here is a photo of the light that needs replacing. It is about 7" long and 3" tall. Anybody know where we could find either a chrome bronz...

I found a couple other magazine articles and ads. I love the title of the one in the May 1939 "Yachting". It is "Oh boy - now dad can afford a Chris-Craft. If anyone wants high-res copies of these let me know. Susie http://s21.postimage.org/m7yniwfeb/Rudder_Feb19350001.jpg http://s21.postimage.org/q...

I have a wonderful volunteer job helping in the library at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito, CA. It is so tempting to thumb through magazines as I am archiving and shelving the magnificent collection that Myron Spaulding kept from 1930 onward thru the '80's. Just for fun I scanned 3 ads...

Here's a couple photos of the old steering clamp. It virtually disintegrated getting it out of the boat. We have purchased a Teleflex ($70) clamp that we're going to be able to make work.

Ours broke yesterday while powering along at 20+ knots. We thought the rudder might have fallen off. Anyway, turned out the steering clamp had broken and we were able to fix it with wire, duct tape, a stick of wood and limp on home. Looking at Teleflex and Morse clamps online they are made to bolt t...

It looks like your seats might be savable. Ours were beige and orange, and I found a spray paint made by Sem that is specifically for painting leather and vinyl. We sprayed our seats with this paint using an off-white color following their directions exactly and you can't tell they have been painted...

Gorgeous!!!
Is that the original wind screen? Ours is so corroded and possibly has a couple deck leaks. What's the trick to taking it off without breaking it?

Cheers,
Susie & Lon

The deck on "Cheers" has really suffered through the years. The original white gelcoat is crazed wherever the deck can flex. The right way to fix it would be to grind off all the gelcoat, reinforce from underneath where necessary, and do an extensive fairing with epoxy primer coats and gelcoat. We w...

Here's a link. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/boa/3076077915.html

It's a 1972 with V8 straight inboard, looks very clean in the pics.

I just saw this listed at the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center in Sausalito where I volunteer. Maybe somebody here knows a potential buyer. Here's a link to the listing for it. http://www.spauldingcenter.org/boatfinder/2012/03/04/my-loss-may-be-your-perfect-solution/ http://s16.postimage.org/aq8ngx3r5/H...

I'm hoping someone in this wise group has found a source to replace the round labels on the switches: bilge pump, blower, wiper, horn, anchor, etc. Ours are just barely legible after almost 40 years.

Thanks,
Lon & Susie

Our batteries are in the back under the hatch below the rear seat on a raised platform. Here's a photo:


Do you have the original lovely orange and white upholstery? We're just changing ours to white with some blue accent stripes.

Susie

We use Whink. It works great on rust stains on fiberglass, paint, cloth, etc. It is powerful. I have bought it at Ace Hardware and other places that carry cleaning supplies. It comes in a small, plastic brown bottle, not very expensive. Your boat looks almost as bad as ours did when we got it last y...

Ron, you are a gem! Yesterday, before I got this msg I mailed the broken parts to Bill Randall and he was going to see what he could do to make new ones. So this morning I called Carquest in Cadillac, MI (231-775-9772) and Ralph, their horn guy, had 16 of these repair kits for the dual trumpets! The...

Don't know if this horn was original on our '74 23' Lancer or not. It works, but the plastic diaghram has small tears in it and also the plastic covers over the diaghram are cracked. Thus the sound is not very loud. Can these parts be found or is a new horn on the horizon? Thanks, Susie http://s4.po...

http://annapolis.craigslist.org/boa/2496161169.html What a sad story. Hopefully, when the shrinkwrap is removed and the shock has worn off, the damage can be assessed and there is new hope for the boat. What a shame! http://s4.postimage.org/2vg3vb0ro/lancerannapolis.jpg http://s4.postimage.org/2vj1p...

We're having such fun putting our 1974 Lancer back into shape and this forum is a wealth of knowledge. So glad we found it. The fish tub, or ice chest that is installed on the aft deck with the teak covered hatch is a bit of a problem. Rain water can enter this tub, but no drain was ever installed. ...

Keyston Bros. carries a pleated vinyl called Cutlass Soft. It comes in white as well as colors. Not sure about the camel grain you mention, but they have quite a few to choose from with various textures.

Nice looking Lancer on eBay with straight inboard. New York location. Nice trailer.

http://bit.ly/i9mkGa

Interesting what you say about the fiberglass construction in the bilges and storage areas and the women "lammers". Every time I reach my hand in beyond the stringers to pull out handfulls of leaves and crud, it comes back bloody.

We are on our quest to bring this old beauty back to life. Just had the hull awl-gripped oyster white, added a swim platform, replaced the banged up rubrail, repaired all the hull damage below the waterline, and are now turning to the interior. We don't think the bilge has been touched in 40 years. ...

Our 1974 23' Lancer needs a new Shield emblem on the hull sides. We're getting the topsides repainted next week (goodbye Rally Orange) and would like to find a source for the emblem - either in metal or a graphics file so we could have a vinyl emblem made at a sign shop. The Lancer image I have atta...

Thanks for all the recommendations. I've contacted them all. Wayne Kraft can do the job in December, John Freeman and Turner are going to call us back, the others weren't available. Has anyone used All Coasts Transport out of Southern California? They are a truck broker, and seem to have good online...

Hi, We just purchased a 1974 23' Lancer on Long Island and are now looking for a trucker to bring it to California. It's trailer won't make the trip - too old, rusty and bad tires. So we need a trucker that can load the boat and trailer onto a flatbed and make the long haul, possibly with another sm...