Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

[tmbna66]

I have a chance to purchase a 1957 Cruisers Inc, 16 footer. Thanks to my Dad, I've been on the water all my life. He had three wood boats and then moved on to low maintenance fiberglass bass boats and pontoon boats. Is there a place to find old boat manuals for data and specs? The current owner told me there was a bench seat that was removed and thrown in the burn pile. Where can I look for parts (if any)? I see no visual rot on it. What should I look for? It has a 67 Johnson out board on it that sounds good. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[82rude]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

pay particular attention to the keel.if its soft or rotten your in for some work.is that the boat in ebay ?better be cheap.cruisers is thompson boats, very popular at one time.do you know anybody thats really familar with wood boats that can check it over for you?if in the long run you buy it anyways remember unless its been epoxyied on the bottom to the water line you have to presoak the boat so the wood swells.theres 2 ways to do this .first is fill up to water line in driveway and let it sit till it stops leaking.second is if you have a camp with a shallow dock area you pull the plug and let her fill up .remember you dont want to completly sink it just a couple of feet in boat.then you wait a few days and pump it out.up here they take 14 to 16 foot cedarstips up north by rail in the winter and drag them across the snow to the lodges and tie the off to a tree or such and when the ice melts they sink and then later they raise them and your good to go.mine i used epoxy resin and good glass and did the bottom till the waterline and then painted it.it does not leak one drop and is trailered.heres a pic of mine painted and pre put together.

 

[82rude]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

check here, nice boat info.Thompson Boat |

 

[tmbna66]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

Thank you. Yes, it is the one on Ebay. He also has it listed on Craig's list. That's where I found it, then after talking to the owner I started looking for information and found it on Ebay for $1,475.00 cheaper. I am driving over to see it Saturday. He said it was restored in 88. Not sure what that means but I plan on going over it closely. I have asked some of my neighbors if they are familiar with wood boats, many have ridden in them, but none really have any experience. Just another one of those times I wish my Dad was still alive. Dad had two different Thompson boats. The last one I remember had an old Scott on it. Remember the Scott well, watched it drag me all over the lake learning how to sky.

 

[tmbna66]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

Can the keel be viewed some what easily or will part of the floor need to be removed?

 

[82rude]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

remove the floor .check the keel from inside and outside.also when the floors out you can look at the ribs and see if any are rotted or broken.just be careful wood boats are great but not that many people repair them anymore .internet is good for reading up on boatbuilding and how too,s.good luck.

 

[tmbna66]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

I have the experience of building a wooden canoe and restoring/refinishing furniture. I'm hoping the keel/ribs are solid. I think I can tackle repairing/fabricating a rib or two, just hoping not to. I noticed he has taken it off of Ebay this morning. Thank you again for your input.

 

[Ned L]

Re: Looking for information on a 1957 Cruisers Inc., 16 foot

It will be plywood lapstrake construction - it will not swell up as much as a dimensionally planked lapstrake boat. Plywood lapstrake needs to be pretty much tight when it goes in the water. If there has been epoxy applied to the hull that would make me tend to walk away from it.
As has been said, check below the floor boards (not "floor" this boat has no "floors"), the keel batten, ribs (usually crack at the turn of the bilge), bottom of the transom, and sight along the bottom of the keel on the outside to see that she hasn't hogged (the keel should be nice and straight as you look along the bottom of the boat. If the keel goes up a bit as it moves forward from the transom, and then back down again a couple of feet forward (sort of concave), - probably at a trailer roller- that is "hogging" and it could / would cause a performance problem at higher speeds. It will tend to push the stem down and can make for squirrely handling.) Also check the hood ends of the planks where they fasten to the stem and transom. At the stem the planks should be seated nicely in the rabbet and not raised or sticking up. At the transom the plank ends should end nice and cleanly, there should be no 'goo' or sealent showing or sticking out of any seams. When looking her over look for discoloration under any varnish (darkening indicates water staining under the varnish and should be checked out), and lifting paint similarly can indicate water got under there and should be checked out.)
"Cruisers" and "Thompson" were two separate companies (added) they were closely related by family, but they were separate.