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Another new Skiff owner..

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nlevonius
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Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:36 pm

Hello All,

Long time lurker - first time owner as of 10/31/2014. I just purchased a 1963 38' Corinthian Custom Cruiser.

She's a turn key boat with twin 283's needing only (so far) minor maintenance, tune up, and a deep cleaning. I'm sure I'll be asking many questions in the near future.

I'm thinking about restoring the original paint / color scheme of Charcoal Blue... thoughts, opinions, ideas?

Here are a few pictures or her as-is today:

Image

Image

Image

boat_art
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by boat_art » Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:24 pm

Welcom to the world of cruisers! Great pics and a great boat. Ask away with questions EXCEPT anything to do with color choice! My wife claims I have the world's worst sense of color.
Congratulations!
Tom
http://www.boatartgallery.com
1956 CC Connie 47'
1959 Caulkins bartender
1965 Cheoy Lee Frisco Flyer
1953 Chris Craft Holiday
1941 Chris Craft Deluxe
Plus 8-12 customer boats at any time
God don't count the days spent messing around in wood boats.

joanroy
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by joanroy » Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:05 am

Beautiful! Looks like you found a nice unmolested original. I'm sure she would look great in the charcoal blue, but darker colors are a bit harder to maintain than white. If you change color take the time to prep it correctly and use good paint. Good Luck.

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 7:24 pm

I'm a long time skiff owner and skiff lover. My family had a '63 34ft Corinthian. Your's looks a lot like our Corinthian. I don't recall there being a 38 ft in '63. I'll have to do some research. I think I have some pictures of our Corinthian in its original colors. What I recall most is the fiberglass cabin side cracking at the windshield post. We never got that fixed right. Charcoal blue was a great hull color. I used that on my '58 30 ft skiff express cruiser. Beware, in '62 and later, CC used a paper covered plywood on the hullside streaks. If you sand the hull to aggressively you'll burn through the paper and you won't be able to get the smooth finish.
Jim Evans

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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by jfrprops » Sat Nov 22, 2014 12:20 pm

Welcome to the cruiser world.....what we call "crusin for a bruseing"....but very rewarding...I just spent the night on mine!

Do follow Jim Evans advice on the sanding.....years ago a yard guy sanded through mine....not terrible...but not great either...leave the paper coating it is resin impregnated etc etc.

John in Va.
1980 Fairchild Scout 30
19?? custom Argentine Runabout 16'
1954 Whirlwind deluxe dual ckpt 16'
1921 Old Town Charles River 17' (founding Captain, James River Batteau Festival)

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:15 pm

I'm amazed. There was a 38ft 1963 Sea Skiff. I had to check the Essential Guide. I didn't look to see how many were built. I always like the '65 - 67 38 ft Skiff. The low cabin line on that one was really nice. It didn't have much more room than the 35 though, just a little more room in the fore cabin and a separate entrance into the head.

I'd like to see some picture of your cabin interior.

You might have one of the rarest Sea Skiff cruisers.
Jim Evans

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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by jfrprops » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:22 pm

man, that is one pretty skiff...for sure...

John in Va.
1980 Fairchild Scout 30
19?? custom Argentine Runabout 16'
1954 Whirlwind deluxe dual ckpt 16'
1921 Old Town Charles River 17' (founding Captain, James River Batteau Festival)

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Wed Nov 26, 2014 11:37 am

The hull color might also have been "Midnight Blue". Its a very deep close to black.
Jim Evans

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:21 am

evansjw44 wrote:The hull color might also have been "Midnight Blue". Its a very deep close to black.
I have the hull card, but it doesn't indicate. The mariners museum 1963 color spec sheet suggests "charcoal" was standard - is there any way to find out for sure?

Also, I have a few questions on the hull card - is there a key to some of the acronyms used?

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:22 am

evansjw44 wrote:I'm amazed. There was a 38ft 1963 Sea Skiff. I had to check the Essential Guide. I didn't look to see how many were built. I always like the '65 - 67 38 ft Skiff. The low cabin line on that one was really nice. It didn't have much more room than the 35 though, just a little more room in the fore cabin and a separate entrance into the head.

I'd like to see some picture of your cabin interior.

You might have one of the rarest Sea Skiff cruisers.
According to the Mariners Museum, there were 35 built that year. I'll post some of the current interior pictures later this week.

-Niel

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Thu Nov 27, 2014 11:30 am

Hull color? if your boat hasn't been wooded (fat chance) you might be able to sand through the paint and find the original color.
Jim Evans

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:49 pm

evansjw44 wrote:Hull color? if your boat hasn't been wooded (fat chance) you might be able to sand through the paint and find the original color.
I found a small spot of dock rash (not my doing) - there appears to be charcoal blue under the existing white paint. I'll run with that as the final answer.

A couple more questions:

On the hull card, what is B.S.O. ?

Also, Is there a way to have the original cabin lock re-keyed? Is it possible to have a new key made based on the hull card type number?

Here are a few interior pictures. Currently in the process of budgeting and planning to re upholster everything.

Image

Can somebody provide me with a picture of how the bunk beds are supposed to be setup? I think the mechanism has been removed (no hinges, ect..). I would like to restore its functionality.

Image

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:53 am

Any good locksmith can make you a new key. As for the bunk beds, the back of the couch is hinged and there should be two straps behind it that go under the couch back as you swing it up into a horizontal position and the straps hook into fittings screwed into the cabin top ribs.
Jim Evans

rgmxk22
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by rgmxk22 » Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:25 am

Congrats on buying this Sea Skiff. My dad owned a 1963 31' Sea Skiff that would have been a lil sister to yours. We unfortunately sold her back in the spring of 2013. But we knew this boat from the day it was new since dad was friends with both previous owners. I grew up on that boat and can probably answer a few questions for you if you'd like.

As for the original hull color, dad's came charcoal blue from CC and it was always painted that color. In fact, we contacted a paint company in Algonac, MI that said they made the paint for CC parts department. After CC closed their parts dept., they would sell direct to us using the original color formulas. If you'd like, I could probably dig up an old receipt from them and get you that info.

Good Luck with your 38'

Ron Michael
Ohio
1972 CC XK22

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Wed Dec 03, 2014 6:03 pm

Ron, it would be awesome to get a copy of the old receipt so I know how to order the proper color formulas.

Cheers!

-Niel
rgmxk22 wrote: As for the original hull color, dad's came charcoal blue from CC and it was always painted that color. In fact, we contacted a paint company in Algonac, MI that said they made the paint for CC parts department. After CC closed their parts dept., they would sell direct to us using the original color formulas. If you'd like, I could probably dig up an old receipt from them and get you that info.

rgmxk22
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by rgmxk22 » Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:17 am

I can do that Niel and I just sent you an email to discuss it. I was also wondering, what engines does she have? 283's or 430's?

Ron Michael
XK22
Ohio

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Dec 04, 2014 4:04 pm

Thanks Ron, I received your email and will respond shortly.

She has (from what I can tell) are the original 283s. It looks like the exhaust risers may have been replaced at some point so the original engine placards are missing. I'll get the engine block numbers this weekend and verify.

-Niel
rgmxk22 wrote:I can do that Niel and I just sent you an email to discuss it. I was also wondering, what engines does she have? 283's or 430's?

Ron Michael
XK22
Ohio

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Thu Dec 04, 2014 4:11 pm

Here's another picture I snapped on Sunday evening (near dusk) grabbing dinner at a local watering hole in the Sacramento Delta overlooking Franks Tract.

I still need to dispose of the couch left on the aft deck from the previous owner.
1963SeaSkiffSmall.jpg

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Fri Dec 05, 2014 7:38 pm

In 1963 CC 283s didn't have exhaust risers.
Jim Evans

nlevonius
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by nlevonius » Mon Dec 08, 2014 4:52 pm

evansjw44 wrote:In 1963 CC 283s didn't have exhaust risers.
I misspoke, I'm a Chris Craft & 283 rookie. The exhaust manifold thing-a-mi-jigs that lead to the exhaust pipes are painted a different color - leading me to believe they have been replaced. I'm very happy and fortunate to have found this group of like minded enthusiasts.

This past weekend I replaced all of the rubber exhaust pipe fittings and elbows from the manifold on - they were badly deteriorated and starting to leak during high RPMs. The original 2.5 copper exhaust pipes are still in good serviceable condition.

This upcoming weekend will be focused on tune up - plugs, distributor rotor & cap for both engines. I'm debating replacing the points with electronic ignition from Pertronix. Most people appear to be very positive on the conversion. Opinions? Do it or keep the points?

I'm also debating whether or not to replace the automatic choke on both Carter AFBs to electric choke. Any feedback one way or the other? Both carburators need fine tuning - I have adjusted the idles to _600rpm - they're running good but I need to fine tune them a bit more. I believe I'm running a tad too rich with the choke fully open right now.

Cheers,

-Niel

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evansjw44
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Re: Another new Skiff owner..

Post by evansjw44 » Mon Dec 08, 2014 7:49 pm

I converted the chokes to electric some time ago. At least they can be depended on to kick off the fast idle. I haven't converted to Pertronix. They won't fire with low battery voltage. Setting the idle takes some fiddling. I have found that you can't get it right unless you've been out running fairly hard. There is some retained heat in the engine room that affects the idle mixture. Hot the idle setting is leaner than warming at the dock.

My 327s tend to stall going from fwd to rev when making forward headway. That can be dicey in tight quarters. I turn 20x23 props with a 2.5 reduction. The 327 just doesn't have the torque at low idle to make that transition. I set the idle at 1000rpm.

When you do tune-up don't forget to lash the valves. I changed cams years ago to hydraulic. Lashing valves is a pain. I used to do it hot, running. I didn't have the oil deflectors the hot rodders use to clip on to the push rods to keep from spraying oil all over. I don't miss doing that at all.
Jim Evans

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