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French barnfind : a 1974 xk 22

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brett francis
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French barnfind : a 1974 xk 22

Post by brett francis » Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:53 pm

Hello dear friend, as i am starting the restoration of my commander 19 i am still in searching parts for my boat, so everyday i am looking on internet about chris craft sales on french ads site.... And 2 weeks ago, i found an ads wich announced the sale of a chris craft boat without mutch information (like for my commander last year) but i regonized a xk 22... I was the first who phone after some times and mail we fall ok about the price... I am going to bring it to my home this weekend... The boat is in good original condition but the engine must be remade after 15 years without runing !...
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Brett

Cc commander 19 SS 1971 ORAV 19 6035 Z
Cc xk 19 1970 ORAV 19 2013

rgmxk22
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Post by rgmxk22 » Thu Mar 03, 2011 10:21 pm

Nice find on that XK22!! Reminds me a lot of how mind looked when I brought her home. Except some critter had made a home inside mine while it sat in the storage yard for three years and decided to eat a bunch of the interior.

From what I can see in your pics, you have a fairly complete and unchanged XK22 on your hands. Even the engine looks to be pretty much a correct 350FLV.

Good luck bringing her back in shape someday.

Ron Michael
72 CC XK22
Akron, OH

brett francis
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Location: Nantes - france
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Post by brett francis » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:59 pm

Return @ home, very happy the boat us in good original condition, but the engine needs some great work, exaust need To be change !!! I will see with the reparaitor.... But I am very happy to have find such a boat in this state !! (for this price!!)
Brett

Cc commander 19 SS 1971 ORAV 19 6035 Z
Cc xk 19 1970 ORAV 19 2013

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Don Ayers
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Post by Don Ayers » Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:37 pm

Brett;

Great find. Keep us posted on your plans.

If you need parts we are all here to help you!
Don Ayers
1959 Riva Ariston
www.RivaForum.org
www.barrelback.com

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Paul P
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Post by Paul P » Tue Jun 21, 2011 11:43 am

Hello great find on both accounts, these are great hulls and should be able to be recycled for another 40 years.

I noted the serial number of the 19 and it is an XK boat from the Corsair Div ision and not a Commander, technically, but they are in essence the same boat but with a different badge and marketing plan for the years of production. The 19' Commander was built during only one year and that was 1969, and 101 hulls were built. The remainder of the 19' hulls were built in 1970 through 1975 and 276 of those were built. The 1969 19' Commander SS and the XK-19 boats that followed, were all built under the same roof in Cortland, New York. However, I do not have records for this hull as it was produced in Europe, nor do I have the records for the 23' Inboard Monte Carlo (which was actually a continuation of the 23' Lancer Premiere/Custom Super Sport of 1970, which was in itself, a rebadged 23 Commander only produced in 1968 and 1969). The 23 Lancer/Commander hulls are the same wetted hull used on the XK-22.

I looked at the serial number of your XK 22 out of curiousity to see if it might be an Italian built boat, from the Chris Craft plant Herb Pocklington built (and ran). That serial number (as well as the 19) is an American-built boat, and that certainly means both hulls have an extended history about how they eventually made their way to France.

I am aware of several other CC restoration projects in France, and all of those are regarding Italian built hulls. Congratulations on your acquisition of each of these boats, it looks like you have some fun in your future!

Regards,

Paul
1956 17' CC Sportsman, 300-hp
1957 17' CC Sportsman, 95-hp
1966 20' CC fiberglass Sea Skiff, 210-hp+
1973 23' CC Lancer inboard project, 427/375-hp.
1966 38' CC Commander Express, 427/300-hp(2)

So many boats.........so little time.....but what a way to go!!

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mfine
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Post by mfine » Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:30 pm

brett francis wrote: but the engine needs some great work, exaust need To be change !!
It looks like the intake manifold and carberator are in worse shape than the exhaust. They seem to be completely missing. The good news is all of the parts you need to rebuild that engine are available here in the US so I am sure you can get them in France as well, even if you have to pay a bit more for shipping.

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Paul P
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Post by Paul P » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:51 am

Guys,

I think the 350 FLV is basically an F series small block with higher compression, hotter cam, and a performance intake. Am I wrong? If I am right then this motor will be a lot easier to find parts for in France (or anywhere else) as opposed to the "Quirks" found in the Q series small block.

The F series is about as simple and straight forward as you can get in a SBC. :-)

Paul
1956 17' CC Sportsman, 300-hp
1957 17' CC Sportsman, 95-hp
1966 20' CC fiberglass Sea Skiff, 210-hp+
1973 23' CC Lancer inboard project, 427/375-hp.
1966 38' CC Commander Express, 427/300-hp(2)

So many boats.........so little time.....but what a way to go!!

rgmxk22
Posts: 164
Joined: Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:49 pm
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Post by rgmxk22 » Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:26 am

Paul,

You are basically correct that the 350FLVs are very similar to the "F" series engines. The engine Brett shows in his pics looks the same as the 350FLV that is in my XK22. CC did bump up the compression and went with a hotter cam.

The cooling system was lifted off of the "F" series V-8s along with most of the accesories, mounts and such. But what I was told by a fellow that worked at the CC parts division (Joe Morrison), was that when CC put these early FLVs together, it was a process of a little of this and a little of that off the shelves and they created the engine.

Joe and I got into this discussion when I was looking for a parts book that covered my engine. He told me that CC never printed one for these early 350 FLVs. And what I needed was either a 283FLV or 327FLV manual for the basic parts info.

But the later 350 FLVs, (serial number 620,001 up I believe) are a little different. I have the parts book for those engines and many things like the cooling system and accessories are very different from the older "F" series of V-8s. So there are kind of two versions of the 350FLV in my mind, early and late style.

Again, from what I can see, Brett's engine is the early style. So with basic Chevy parts and the necessary piece for an "F" series enigne, he should be able to bring her back to life.

Ron Michael
72 CC XK22
Ohio

brett francis
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Location: Nantes - france
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Post by brett francis » Wed Jul 06, 2011 2:24 pm

Hello dear friend, thanks for your interrest and your help, i think i will need some other help in the futur... My boat is in the hand of a friend wich had work at GM few year ago... The engine will be out this weekend and he will list all the part we need to repaire it... I have a list of the missing parts that the old owner have not still send to me like the manifod intake and the distributor... The carburator is not good, the exaust manifold are dead... But i really want to restore the original engine... I will take you informed !....
Brett

Cc commander 19 SS 1971 ORAV 19 6035 Z
Cc xk 19 1970 ORAV 19 2013

brett francis
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:31 pm
Location: Nantes - france
Contact:

Post by brett francis » Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:31 pm

Bad news from my friend today, the engine had been stripped out today... The two head are dead... Block, cranck, piston and camshaft are good... Lot of parts have to be found... Do you think i can use head from chevy motor we can foud in france... Hoe you can help me !. Cheers, brett
Brett

Cc commander 19 SS 1971 ORAV 19 6035 Z
Cc xk 19 1970 ORAV 19 2013

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mfine
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Joined: Sun Jun 06, 2010 8:16 pm
Location: Pittsford and Penn Yan NY

Post by mfine » Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:27 pm

You can buy brand new heads that are better than the old ones since they have hardened valve seats and are ready for modern unleaded gas (petrol). A good supplier in the US is Summit Racing, the heads on my new engine came from them. If you can not get them in Europe I am sure you can get them shipped from the US.

The Small Block Chevy was and still is a very popular engine in the US for cars, trucks boats and other uses, and you can get multiple versions of every part you need to build or rebuild one brand new or used.

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