1953 Special Sportsman Ut. flooring/paint?

[dmar73]

I have recently purchase a sweet 53 Special Sportsman Utility (Graced) check it out in hull reg. I am trying to find out if the white paint on the inside of the hull is correct?(I don't think so) and if the flooring is correct, it has smooth gray vy. Any help to this newbie purist would be great. Thanks

Dave P

[steve bunda]

Hi Dave, That is a really nice find you have there. I posted a pic of the white paint in the bow area of a 54 Rocket. Looking at the frame and paint bleeds on the batten leads me to belive the white paint color is correct to this series. I will check into the flooring and get back to you if I find an answer. please post a engine shot,and a full boat shot, thanks,steve

[dmar73]

Thanks Steve, I like the white, and am glad to hear that it could be correct. I look forward to hearing back on the flooring. I have since done over the trailer CC blue.

Dave

[tom king]

Interesting, I didn't realize this boat was ever painted white on the inside. I always thought they were stained and varnished. Pretty sure your rear view mirror is not original though.

[steve bunda]

Hi Dave , The 54 Rocket that I am working on had a brownish color matting. I donot know if it is correct or not,maybe someone else has an original boat with correct flooring. I like your power plant, steve

[dmar73]

Thanks for the compilments, my Dad had a 53 in 53 when he was a teenager and one of the first things he said to me other than "nice boat" and that the mirror was't stock, but it looked nice. As far as the flooring goes, is the brown mat similiar to the white pyramid offered on earlier CC's? and how long was the white pyramid mat used for?
Thanks Dave

[Commodore_Don]

I was curious as to what "Chris-Craft, the Essential Guide" had to say about this boat.

The Illustration does not match either the photo of his boat or the description in the book either.

From the B&W photo, one would get the impression that the boat had a very wide white boot stripe. You can't see any copper bronze, which on all the other photos appears much darker gray.

The inside of the hull planks and the battens are painted, but do not appear as the dark red Chris used in most models. It is a medium gray in the B&W, so who knows what color it actually was, but most certainly it was not white.

Also, the upholstery in the B&W does not appear to be red Tolex or red Naugahyde as the book claims.....compare the gray color in this illustration to the upholstery color in the illustration of the 20 Riviera on the facing page, which is red Tolex. Note, also, that the color of the sides of the motor box are not the same as the top cover or the seats.

Some months ago I posted questions on this forum regarding the boot stripe and other matters with my 1951 17ft. Special Runabout. The best piece of information I got was that there do not exist any factory production memos for this period of time in Chris-Crafts history, thus making it virtually impossible to make definative judgments as to exactly what certain things were or should be. Apparently these memos do exist for most of the pre-war boats, however, so determining facts about them is much easier than the post-war boats.

These comments will be of no help to the owner of this nice-looking 20 ft. 1953 Special Sportsman, but may help him understand why it is sometimes impossible to determine just exactly what is "correct" when restoring these boats. I still have no answers to some of my questions.





































Also

[steve bunda]

C. Don, I looked at my copy of the guide today at the shop, I see that the color of the 17 foot sportsman inside hull sides is not white.I belive Chris Craft also painted the inside hull in green on some boats.Turn the page and see the Rocket as it is the same hull decked over. thanks,steve. ps. anyone ever seen a Rocket with the Plad uphostery?

[dmar73]

Thanks for everybodies thoughts on the paint, I guess at the end of the day if it looks nice and you like it that's what matters. Anybody have any thoughts on floor covering? As I said my Dad had one but can't recall what it was, hey it was 50 + years ago I can't blame him.
Thanks Dave


1955 Sportsman Special 17.6 131 hp KBL.
Long Beach Island, NJ

[Chad Durren]

My '52 Sportsman had grey linoleum installed at the factory. I'm replacing it with a marmoleum with a slightly different pattern and color.

[dz2gtc]

I too have a 1953 17ft special sportsman with white inter and bilge paint colour. It sure looks like the original.
Ron

[Greg Wallace]

C. Don, I looked at my copy of the guide today at the shop, I see that the color of the 17 foot sportsman inside hull sides is not white.I belive Chris Craft also painted the inside hull in green on some boats.Turn the page and see the Rocket as it is the same hull decked over. thanks,steve. ps. anyone ever seen a Rocket with the Plad uphostery?

Yes, we had a customer with one when I was a youngster.

[WoodenRookie]

I've got a friend witha 20'er and his is stained and varnished

[steve bunda]

Hi Greg, I see you have a rare 22 footer , we own 22063 , I belive yours has the newer deck before CC came out with the 23 foot barrell



. What do you think is the chance of finding a 27 footer in project condition, series 27000 1932 to 27061 1941? thanks,steve

[WoodenRookie]

his bilges look that grey/bluish color

[jfyoung]

Dave, I just joined the club today and noticed your post. I have a '53 17 foot
Special Sportsman I acquired in 1994. The bilge paint was original and was light green in color but the visible surfaces (topside planking, frames, seat back, front foot board) had been painted over with a medium gray which I think, but can't guarantee was also original. The floor had blue indoor/outdoor carpeting on it when I got it, which of course wasn't original, but underneath was just the green bilge paint which doesn't seem right either. I think there must have been some other covering originally over the floor boards but I don't know what. I would be curious to know if you, or anyone else, has an answer. There are pictures of my boat when I got it in the hull registry. The hull number is CC-17-182. Hope this is helpful.

John Y

[Greg Wallace]

Hi Greg, I see you have a rare 22 footer , we own 22063 , I belive yours has the newer deck before CC came out with the 23 foot barrell



. What do you think is the chance of finding a 27 footer in project condition, series 27000 1932 to 27061 1941? thanks,steve

Hi Steve,
The first 1940 23 Barrel was hull#22138 and the last was 22169. Ours is 22166 and among the last batch before the changes in 1941.

I'm not aware of any 27 projects out there beyond the one I've seen listed on one of the broker web links here. I can't recall which one though. I know of three under restoration but unfortunately, not for sale. These don't seem to change hands much. I'll be glad to let you know if I hear of any.

[dreed]

I own a 53 Riviera, and several years ago I decided to replace the original floor mats. The reason I bring this up is the original floor mats were the brown color that Steve showed in the picture near the top of this string. All the research says the floor mats should be white pyramid which is what I replaced it with.

Is it possible that the brown floor mats were a one time (one roll) thing in 1953? (April to be exact)

[Sparkit]

I have SS 20 140 and in replacing the wood for the seats, the original color on the seat wood was white. I am certain that what I uncovered was the original. It had three layers of replacement covering over the original. I also have a good representation piece of the original Naugahyde red if anyone needs a color match. This was specified on the hull card.

[cuckter]

Hi. I have a 1954 17" Sportsman utility that has original grayish interior paint on both the inside and the bulge which I was told was original to the boat in 1954. This was not the Deluxe edition which has linoleum on the floor.