1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I know how you feel I have been working on mine since last summer and it seems like every time I finished one thing then I would find another. This is my first boat so it was all a learning experience for me but the important thing is that I want a safe boat for my family. I would have never checked the keel if it wasn't for that old patch. I am glad it is repaired and solid now and I don't have to depend on some old rotted wood to keep things together.

 

[yanks21]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I have been watching you two work on those vessels for almost a year. Don't loose heart now!
I may have to tear into mine this year, and you guys have paved the way...

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Hey yanks ...... It's good to hear from you. I am going to try and paint mine on Weds. then all I have to do is put it back together. What is wrong with yours that you have to tear into it?

 

[*EdC*]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Talk about taking time! I've been at mine for a couple of years... Not by choice mind you. I been laid off twice in 3 years and when that happenes the toys just have to wait. Still out of work, but I do believe she'll get wet this year! Fingers crossed!

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Hang in there and git er done!

 

[keelbolts]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Jon Sob,
I didn't know there was wood in the keel. Is it located under the aluminum shoe on the bottom?

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

The weather has turned cool and blustery once again in PA. Actual hull work has ceased for now.

I'm spending my time varnishing my seat boxes and learning about spray painting. I still need to sand my primer and get it ready to be sprayed. I'm accumulating masking tape, masking paper, spray gun, paint thinner and all the "stuff" I'll need to spray.

I've chosen Rustoleum White Outdoor Enamel with a satin finish for the topsides. For this boat I prefer the hull not be super shiny. A more matte finish calls less attention to dings and donks. Traditional wood boats of this style were usually a flatter finish from what I hear.

A flatter finish will, I think, make the lapstrake form more visible, which is what makes these boats so pretty!

The deck will be a color with a gloss finish however.

Below you can see the beginnings of some finish paint. The blue anti-fouling was placed where it is because it is not easy to pressure wash there on the trailer. Most of the visible underwater surface will be painted a medium brown with Porch and Deck enamel. The reason being is that in my area the water tends to stain white boats rather quickly. If it's going to get brown anyway, why not paint it a shade I like?

The paint pattern on the bottom is what it is until the boat can be floated fully reassembled and a proper waterline can be established. At least this way I can easily do the finish painting on the trailer.

The hull sides as shown here are still the Pettit UnEpoxy White Undercoater (primer) that was brushed on. Excellent paint for minor filling. Sands nice. Excellent holdout.

My period COX trailer sits to the right.

 

[sphelps]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Wow Steve the hull looks great! Your doing a terrific job!

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Jon Sob,
I didn't know there was wood in the keel. Is it located under the aluminum shoe on the bottom?

Keelbolts ... it was encased in fiberglass and the main metal stringer was bolted to it.

This is after I cleaned out all the bad wood.

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Hey Steve ..... your sure are doing a great job planning everything out. I like that you said if it is going to be stained brown you might as well paint it brown .... lol. Do you have experience with a spray gun? I rolled my paint because I didn't have anywhere to spray it without the fumes and over spray causing a problem and I have never used a spray gun before. My garage is attached so the paint fumes would go right into the house. It's looking good .... keep up the good work.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Thanks for all the positive comments ... it helps to keep me going!

I have the same painting issues as you do Jon. I plan to spray the upside down hull outdoors. I know it's an "iffy" proposition. If there is no wind, no bugs, no pollen, no birds and on and on...

Once flipped and back on the trailer It will go into my attached garage. Having already done the bottom I'll have a good idea about the overspray issue and will have figured a way to deal with it. The easiest of course would be to spray outdoors then roll inside to cure.

Not sure if I'm that lucky!

I have practically no spraying experience. I rented an HVLP sprayer and painted my house shutters years ago. I do have plenty of experience with "roll and tip" on smooth hulls & decks. I see the "laps" as a much bigger challenge using that method. That's the reason I went to the extra effort to get the boat upside down. I felt spraying the lapstrake this way would yield a nicer, more consistent finish. (Considering my own personal painting skills.)

Sure hope I'm right!

I now have my own HVLP gun ($40 at Lowes), water separator, my old Coleman compressor with barely enough guts to spray and lots of extra paint. I plan to do some testing when the weather warms back up again.

If I have to rent a more powerful compressor I will.

Meantime I'm watching paint spraying videos on YouTube!!

Despite this odd looking URL, here is a link to some good spray painting info.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/spray-technique.htm

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Saw this photo ... and it leads me to something I've been wondering about for awhile ...

What do you all think is the "engineering function" of these transom stringer "tabs'??? (Besides putting 9 potentially problematic holes in an otherwise beautifully restored transom??)

Do they keep they bottom stringers from pushing up at the transom ? Are they supposed to carry load weight from the engine ? To me they seem not to do very much!!

I debated whether to put them back in ... Is there a better way to accomplish the intended engineering purpose??

Gee, I really hate to drill those nine holes !! At the least I'm thinking of using big S/S screws on the inside into my my new, solid plywood core rather than thru-bolting them. Such ugliness .. and just another place to weep water into the transom core.

Any thoughts?? Comments appreciated.

 

[bhammatt]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

No answer to your question but one that has me puzzled as well. Not seeing the real need I plan to just screw them in to the transom. Your photo also shows another puzzler: the drain whole at the bottom of the transom but no limber holes to let bilge water drain fully to the stern. There will always be pockets of water caught by each of the glass ribs so the bilge will almost never be dry except from evaporation. I'm planning to forgo the transom drain (which I suspect is the culprit in the "case of the rotten transom core" in most boats) and put a port in the floor boards for a pump. Not original but a reasonable compromise.

As I have dissected my boat and continue to find what in my mind are strange construction methods the first thought is that this was early in the "plastic" boat era and they just didn't know how the glass would perform over time. More recently I've come to believe that a major problem was that they jest had no boat building experience -- they were moulders of fiberglass parts trying make some of their parts into boats. In my mind the advantage of glass boats was that the hull was water tight vs a wood boat of the era that always leaked at least some if not a lot. But then the watertightness was compromised by all those bolt holes in the bottom holding the stringer in place. Any thoughts?

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I "defeated" my three drain hole problems ... the bottom one and the two for the splash tray by drilling the proper hole, slathering it with epoxy resin and then inserting a short section of plastic household water pipe to act as a liner. Upon cure, sanded flush. Worked great, looks great and will not migrate water. Went to ACE Hardware and got a stopper to fit the water pipe. IMHO a real good solution.

I'm a big believer in the KISS principle. So my focus is to prevent water from getting in so I don't have to get it out. I have no plans for a bilge pump at this point. If the boat were to stay in a slip or mooring that would be different. Mine will live on its trailer with a cover.

I have to think ten times before I drill a hole in a boat! I hate to do so! I just ain't right!!

After my post on the the transom "tabs" I think I figured it out. Imagine a boat being propelled forward up and over a 3 ft wave. Think of this construction and what those forces would mean to the bottom of the boat. As the boat reached its center point on the crest of the wave, the boats own weight would tend to flex the bottom placing a lot of force on the metal stringers in the floor. The "tabs" may be meant to prevent the stringers from "working", meaning flexing up and down at the stern end with the varying loads of forward motion in an equally variable seaway.

Make any sense to you?

Yes, ... through bolting was definitely a bad idea. I'm leaning towards screws or possibly a "Starboard" gusset or clamp to do the same job. I REALLY don't want those holes if I can help it!

I agree the the builders were "testing the waters" (no pun intended) with this new construction method. One need only look at the progression of techniques from the early '57 boats into the early '60s and beyond. It was a learning experience for them then, just as it is for all of us now!!

 

[bhammatt]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Jon, Steve et al
Jon's '61(?) had the center skeg glasses over. My '60 had no indication that this was ever done. Just the wood skeg bedded and bolted though. Do you think that the glassed in skeg was a factory job or done later to cure leaking bolt holes? What about later boats? Was this an improvement by MFG or a one time fix by an owner?

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

I can only say about my own boat.

I did not attempt to remove the aluminum "keel runner" on the outside hull of my boat. I could easily see the the large S/S machine screws going into the hull and that it is bedded into some sort of black, flexible bedding compound. It feels solid and tight so decided not to mess with it.

I think it would have been foolish for MFG to put wood under there. By 1961 (my year) MFG should have figured out the fiberglass business. The fact is that by this time the decks were fiberglass, and most wood parts had disappeared (sadly). My belief is the my '61 keel runner is bolted to a raised fiberglass keel "bump" or seat. Only disassembly could tell for sure if in fact there was any wood underneath.

I believe also that my boat was substantially apart at some point in its life. The damage to the bottom and its repair as well as the floor replacement and evidence of some more modern fastenings make me think so. I doubt the seats I got were original and probably date to the floor replacement and bottom damage.

What the construction is in the older models will have to be answered by others. I just don't know.

Not sure of Jons model but a '61 Oxford would look like this. Note the fiberglass deck, dash and raised gunnel caps.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

It's a rainy day in PA ... so I'm doing a bit of testing with my spray gun and compressor. This is a small gun. Not for painting barns. I'm confident that it will paint my little 15 footer with no problem.

It seems to be made pretty nice for a relatively cheap gun. Better than the one I returned to Harbor Freight.

I'm only testing with water onto a piece of building paper to play with the controls and see if the compressor can keep up sufficient air delivery. Seems like it's going to be OK. When it dries up outside we'll try some real paint.

Here is a link to the paint I'm testing: http://www.lowes.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&cId=SEARCH&productId=3223783&cm_mmc=SCE_gps-_-gps-_-gps-_-Rust-Oleum%2032%20Oz.%20Interior/Exterior%20Satin%20Standard%20Paint&CAWELAID=1023838037

 

[*EdC*]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Nice tool Steve. Once you get the hang of it, you'll find all kinds of uses for it!

 

[Jon Sob]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

No answer to your question but one that has me puzzled as well. Not seeing the real need I plan to just screw them in to the transom. Your photo also shows another puzzler: the drain whole at the bottom of the transom but no limber holes to let bilge water drain fully to the stern. There will always be pockets of water caught by each of the glass ribs so the bilge will almost never be dry except from evaporation. I'm planning to forgo the transom drain (which I suspect is the culprit in the "case of the rotten transom core" in most boats) and put a port in the floor boards for a pump. Not original but a reasonable compromise.

When I replaced the bolts thru the transom I used a ton of 5200 so I would be surprised if I have any water penetration into the transom. For whatever reason the engineers came up with the thru transom design I kind of figured that it has worked for 50 + years on my boat without the sealant so why would I change it now ..... lol

My boat is a 1960 and I knew the PO personally and know for a fact that it did not have any work done to it so everything on it is from the factory including the glass encased keel. My boat did not come with a bilge box as you can see in this photo.

The ribs are fiberglass and the stringers are aluminum so if a little water is trapped by the ribs then it will eventually evaporate or go out thru the drain when I park the boat at home with the bow up. There are no wooden stringers to rot. I also added floatation to the hull very similar to what you see here so I don't anticipate a whole lot of water under there:

I am going to add a bilge pump as well and hope to never use it. I figured if I have a hull failure out on the lake and I am taking on water then I can run the pump and hopefully that will buy me enough time to get to shore.

 

[SteveMFG_Oxford]

Re: 1961 MFG Oxford Deluxe - Beginning a New Life

Will you be gluing all that foam together Jon ? It's certainly a great way to add floatation but I wonder ... will all that styrofoam "squeak" as the boat "works" or racks a bit? I guess over the engine noise you won't notice it?

A tube of cheap construction adhesive would silence it. ???