seat frame for '38 Chris Craft DR 17'

[mhaefele]

Finally got room to work on the Chris again, so am attempting to piece the interior back together. It was in pieces when I bought the boat, so don't have pix to refer to. Have been looking at the forum for interior shots but don't see the actual seat supports and framing. Seems like there should be supports at each end of the seats, but I don't have anything that fits the bill in my pile of parts. Does anyone have photos of the cockpit seat supports? Seems like there should be 4 for each seat, not counting the backrests. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. This site has been a great help so far.

Matt

[Don Vogt]

Most of my pictures of the restoration of my '38 Deluxe are pre digital but I have one of the back seat. Mike of Lake Oswego Boats is in the process of redoing a 37 Deluxe, i believe, so he may have some good pictures for you.

What is your hull number? And engine? Do post pictures of your restoration progress. good luck

[mhaefele]

Thanks for the pic Don. I suspected as much, but since I only had a couple of the wedge shaped risers,wasn't sure. Are your seats covered half and half, with loose cushions on top? Mine have been redone and completely covered without the loose cushions. Want to do it right.

Also, is your floor covering original style, with the ribs running athwarts instead of fore and aft? I usually see the flooring running front to back.

I also have questions about what is the original hardware, if it's okay to change the subject a little. Would love to see some pix of your deck hardware. I found 3 sets of hatch handles with this boat, but I believe the originals were small, almost look like oversized fender cleats. And there were no obvious mounting holes for any other docking or fender cleats, either on the bow or stern. Unless they hung their fenders off the windshield brackets and hatch handles, I don't see anywhere else they could have had them.

My hull # is 71428, but I don't have the original "B" engine. Have a "K" rebuilt to go in her when I'm done with all the wiring, upholstery, covering boards, etc. You know the drill. The good news is (I think) most of the original decking and planking is usable. There are some splits and imperfections for sure, but I think I will try to keep as much original wood as I can.

Will try to add some pix of mine. Just tried to piece things together this week to see whats salvageable and whats not.

Thanks again for your help.
Matt

p.s. nice ceiling panels, eh?

[Don Vogt]

Matt, Lots to respond to here for you. The rubber flooring is the old Packard style horizontal stripe material. this is correct. Both seats have a separate full length set of box springs, with kapok,etc. covered by russaloid and then canvas toward the back. Each had three loose cushions on top of that filled with kapock. I will send some pictures. In '38 the standard was maroon russaloid. It is no longer made. the closest match is macatawa bay boat co. pre war chris craft spanish grain maroon leather. Be prepared for sticker shock.

Don Ayres has a cd that fully documents the seats in this model. I am sure he would send you a copy.

You might want to see my article on the 37-39 deluxe series about a year ago in the Brass Bell.

The B is too little power so you will find the K better for the boat. As long as you are not original, I suggest you think about trying to re-use damaged wood. You may be much better off using new in those cases.

Hardware is pretty standard for the period. Hatch handles were similar to cleats in design. 2 cleats on each side of the boat. Your hatch handles are correct.

[Don Vogt]

Matt, some general pictures for you.




You might also want to look at pre war dash and gauge panel research entry in research related on the buzz. Lots of good info applicable to this model. Are you sure yours is a '38? The last '39 was jeff rogers 71528. they made a little under 200 each model year. The '39s would have started sometime around july-sept. of '38 (like car model years) so even if it has a '38 delivery date, it most likely is a '39 model. There were some minor changes in '39, as mentioned in my article, so if you want to be correct, you may want to check on those details.

[mhaefele]

Don,
Thanks so much for those shots. Your boat looks awesome. Hope mine turns out half as nice.

After searching back through the forum, I see that lots of the boats of the period may not have had the fender cleats and chocks installed by the factory, but rather, left it for the dealerships. Mine may have been in that category, since I cannot find any screw holes in the covering boards for them. I also purchased the ventilated flagpole socket (with beehive style globe) years ago after being informed they were the standard. On closer inspection of what's left of the king plank, looks like the hole for the flag pole wouldn't fit the larger socket required for the ventilated base. There was a smaller all metal flag pole in the part bin though. Could they have cut corners or perhaps not had enough of the ventilated sockets in stock for the little '17'er? Would like to be as close to original as I can but they sure do look nice, don't they?

Thanks again Don,

Matt

[Brian Robinson]

Matt,

Please post your hull card.

Cleats and chocks were standard prewar. Not the case postwar.

The exceptions you mention are highly unlikely. These were production boats and accounted for down to the hundredth of a penny.

What may appear original to you now may just be old.

[Don Vogt]

thank, Matt. Credit,however, goes to NW Classic Boats in Auburn, Ca. They are at the top of the professional restoration community. Rudy (Greg Rudloff) wrote a great varnish article in the recent Brass Bell that is well worth reading.

Brian, how about some pictures of your '37 19' custom, too? That is a neat model, and very much like the 37-39 deluxe, only longer.

[mhaefele]

Hey Don,

You were correct as for the hull #. I transposed two digits. It is actually #71248, as you can see by the hull card, and most likely was delivered in '38, although I don't know any first hand history. Sorry about that.

I did look over the posts on the gage panel. After some research, looks like those panels are restored by inserting a separate engine turned panel into the existing one,( barring finding one that is in pristine shape). Mine is dinged a bit and scratched too much to reuse as is.

The hull card also shows that no chocks were installed, but the small cleats were. Will have to look closer as they must have been installed with one small screw. Or maybe the covering boards were replaced at some point in time, although I doubt that. The undersides of the covering boards look original to me.

Thanks again for all your input.

Matt

[Don Vogt]

Yes, it was a 38 model. Interesting, that year they experimented with aluminum heads. Your BA had an aluminum head, and the KA, which i have, also has an aluminum head which gave is ten more horsepower over the 37 K, which was only 85 hp.

Your starter button would most likely have had a 2" square stainless steel surround, rather than the later starter button with the "beehive" trim.

Instrument restorers can often fix the stewart warner gauge panel, if it is not in too bad of shape, including the engine turned facing. Also I think al schinnerer of calif. classic boats makes reproductions, if needed.

Rear chocks were standard and should have been on your boat when it left the factory. The small cleat has two screws, i believe.

Please post your restoration photos as you proceed. Good luck.