1950 Express Cruiser Restoration

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Mon May 24, 2010 10:20 pm

If anyone is interested, I have a thread going in a woodenboat.com forum covering my restoration of my boat. http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?t=112986

campjer · Post by **campjer** » Tue May 25, 2010 9:34 am

Thanks Chuck - you just killed the first hour of my day

! She's looking good... and you're getting some sound advice on avoiding project burn out. I'm going through similar resto's on my '50 41' DCFB which is also a Bullnose. Keep up the great work!

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Tue May 25, 2010 1:38 pm

Thanks Jeremy--good luck to you too. So far I am okay on burnout but I really am tired of frame repair and anxious to move on to the next thing.

tom king · Post by **tom king** » Tue May 25, 2010 8:05 pm

Looking good Chuck. Only advise is don't burn yourself out. Step back every once in a awhile to evaluate not only where you are in the process but your sanity as well. Keep the pics coming.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Tue May 25, 2010 11:38 pm

As a side to our ACBS Chapter we have a group that gets together weekly to work on projects and members' boats. Here's our sign and our motto;

It's What We Do

campjer · Post by **campjer** » Wed May 26, 2010 8:14 am

That's great Al! Does your group ever travel up to Detroit/Windsor area for hull sanding parties? haha

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed May 26, 2010 8:59 am

We do put the show on the road occasionally but just around here. A few weeks ago the guys met at a marina to freshen up the bottom paint on a member's 44' Steel Roamer that wouldn't quite fit in the shop. With many helping hands the job was done in no time a all.

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Wed May 26, 2010 10:39 am

That's a great concept Al, we need to get that going around here!

John in Va.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Wed May 26, 2010 9:28 pm

John,

Our Ole' Boys Boat Club started with just 4 or 5 of us and has grown to 20 plus over the 30 or so months that we've been doing it. We are fortunate to have a member with a very nice shop. It's a 4-bay garage, it's heated and air conditioned and is well equipped. Parking is the biggest problem for us when everyone shows up.

With the combined knowledge and experience of the group there's not much we can't do. We have mechanics, welders, electricians, a painter, electrical, mechanical, civil and chemical engineers, a lawyer and most of all, we have camaraderie and a spirit to get things done. It's rather amazing.

Al

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Thu May 27, 2010 7:39 am

Al, and others,

Great shop! Great Group!

thanks for the pix,

John in Va.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu May 27, 2010 10:12 am

Chuck, my apologies for borrowing your thread for a while. Thanks for the "link" to your restoration project on the WoodenBoat Forum. Lookin' good!

The idea behind our Ole' Boys group was to avoid the "burn-out" syndrome by supporting each other and "Restoring Sanity" among us. It works great so far.

Keep plugging away, but step back and enjoy the ride. When she's done you'll enjoy her even more knowing that "You did it".

Al

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:22 pm

Thanks Al--Such a group would help. Too bad ya'll are so far away

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:28 am

Here is where I am right now. Laminated and installed my new keel. Will be checking to insure all my frames are fair next then installing the new bottom.

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:13 pm

Now I am working on putting the new plywood bottom on. Three layers of 6mm Meranti epoxied together with West Systems products.

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 8:45 pm

Wow!! post more pix, tell about that plywood....

Bet you could glue that to an existing bottom?

John in Va.

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:22 pm

Thanks. My understanding is that you should only do a plywood epoxied bottom if you are pretty much going to take all the old bottom off and are going to seal up all your framing with epoxy too. I f you leave a way for water to easily get into the wood, the epoxy may make rot worse by trapping the moisture above it. so I think you are better off repairing using traditional methods unless you are redoing your entire bottom. I had to replace allmost all my framing so this route made sense to me. Lots of pictures here: http://s571.photobucket.com/home/cmeke0870/index

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:26 pm

This is what most people would call a "West System" bottom. Although I've heard of lots of things people call west system bottoms and they really aren;t. Lots of controversy here.

Meranti is a high-quality marine plywood with no voids and no repairs. Another high quality plywood is Okoume. Meranti is a bit denser and less flexible than Okoume.

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:36 pm

I have spent the past week on the railway at Gwynn's Island Va. Crawling around in the muck....making good progress...appreciate all the effort shown in your great pix.

John in Va.

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:14 am

Good luck John. Hope its not as hot up there as it is here--Sounds like your hands are full too

jfrprops · Post by **jfrprops** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:44 am

Chuck,

near or over 100 every day I have been on the railway, luckily it is cool laying scrunched up under her....and sometimes the tide is so far up that you lay in the water....not all bad.

I am removing some bungless but otherwise still intact original screws and drilling out and replacing with sil bronz carriage bolts bedded in 5200 0r boatlife....that ought to hold her.

good luck,

John in Va.

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:46 am

I seem to have lost a number of posts. For anyone interested, I have a blog going here:
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread. ... estoration

I recently finished all the bottom work and repainted the bottom. Currenty, I am replacing the cabin top and foredeck canvas and changing out the engine mounts and resintalling the shaft logs, prop shafts, props, and rudders.

A couple of recent pictures.

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RRGadow · Post by **RRGadow** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 1:58 pm

Shes looking great! I cant wait to get mine that far along!

cmeke0870 · Post by **cmeke0870** » Fri Feb 11, 2011 2:48 pm

Ryan--If I can ever be of assistance, let me know. I might like to see your project sometime. I get up to the Durham area every once in a while. Let me know if you need to find local vendors. I've had to scratch some out as my neeeds arose.

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