swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

[tashasdaddy]

ok, i have a chance to buy a 1956 Chris Craft 22' Continental with the rare hardtop. the engine part i know. but, i know nothing about swelling a stripped wooden hull, that has been on the trailer for over 12 years, since the restore. NO! i won't tell you where it is, sorry, it's going to be mine.

 

[ziggy]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

when i was a kid, wood fishin boats is what granddad had. i would recokon there's more to it than what i know and a crisscraft if far from the larson fishing boats i learned on, but from memory, we'd just put em in the water. they leak, and ya sop the water out of em. in some amount of time they slowly stop leaking real bad as the wood would swell up and seal it up. better seal anyways, they still always leaked to a certain degree. i was the boat sopper for granddad at about age 6 or 7 or 8......payoff was gettin to drive the boat...with oars.....

congrats on yer find. and yer safe from me wantin it. even a crisscraft. i sopped enough water in wood boats thankyou..........good luck with yer new adventure.......

 

[Dhadley]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

My old boss had an old wooden CC and he used to put water in it with a garden hose the day before he went out. Let it sit overnight and go boating. He had the original motor but he had a twin turbo small block in it. He out ran a "70 mph" jet boat one day. Mr Jet was not happy.

 

[MikDee]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Make sure it's caulked well, if need be, and make sure you have a good bilge pump, with an auxilary hand pump. The boats I've had years ago Thompson (lapstake), took a few days to swell, then going out in the Bay doing some pounding, would loosen them up some, and they'd take on some water, for a day or so afterward, then swell up again. They continually took on a little water, but that's the nature of the beast. The garden hose wetting don't sound like a bad idea.

By the way, we will be dogsitting a Husky (Zoey), along with a Jack Russel terrier (Savanah) this wknd, as my son's coming to visit from NC, then Saturday going to NYCity for a ball game, and a show. I feel bad because she was recently diagnosed diabetic, and now has cataracts too. I heard it's common with this breed? When I see your avatar I think of her, at least it's a lot cooler up here now then NC, so she should enjoy that.

 

[BillP]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Set it in the water and let the wood swell on it's own. 12 yrs out of the water will be so dry expect it to take a week or so. Flood the bilge if you want to do it out of the water with a garden hose. Double planked ChrisCrafts were built without caulking and depend on the wood swelling to stop leaks. Caulking of any type isn't recommended by the antique restoration pros on them because it warps, splits or breaks the bottom up when the wood swells...it's a slow death. First signs are usually buckled planks which can be seen from the inside or a bulging chine. Get your hands on Classic Boating magazine and it will tell you how to restore and maintain these boats.

I looked in Jerry Conrad's book on ChrisCrafts. He shows a 20' Continental from 1955-1957 and a 21' from 1957-1959. The later one has 57 Chevy type fins and the earlier looks conventional.

B.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

it looks just like this one, only with a single engine. and already restored.

http://www.sierraboat.com/boats/245.html

 

[MikDee]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Wow! Now that's what I call a Classic!

This is similar to a dual cockpit boat my friend had, that I rode in when I was a teenager, but it had either a Chrysler, or Greymarine 6cyl in it? It was pretty fast at the time, and rode mostly bow high.

http://www.sierraboat.com/boats/248.html

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

now you know why i would tell where it is.

 

[BillP]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Yeah baby!!!

 

[Linc33]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

NICE looking boat! Hope you have good luck with yours, once you get it. Can't wait to see before during and after pictures of your latest project.

-Linc

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

this one was totally restored, engine and drive rebuilt. and has never been in the water since. it's been in a warehouse, on the trailer. it needs a good bath, to get the dust off.

 

[DufferJim]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

OMG that boat is incredible. It's my dream project to hand build something similar some day.

 

[zoe'sdad]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Down in coastal Louisiana where I grew up the shrimpers would build a wooden hull, paint and launch it and then sink the boat to where the water was right below the deck. They would then leave the boat sunk in the bayou for a certain amount of time, about a week, but I'm not sure exactely how long. This would allow the wood to absorb moisture and swell up sealing any leaks. The hull would then be pumped out the cabin built and engine and rigging installed. If a leak developed later it would be repaired with pitch that was heated up with a torch. I can not recall anyone sinking an older boat to re-swell the wood in an attempt to stop leaks.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

These folks know a thing or two about old Chris-Crafts....www.mbbw.com.

Give them a call. I'll bet they would help you out with the basics at least.

If you question their credintials read this: http://www.mbbw.com/Team Macatawa/teammac.htm

Good luck. I am consider an older inboard also. I can't seem to bring my self to a wood boat though.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

My neighbor in had one when I lived in TN; he always filled it with water a couple of days before boating season.


So do you own it yet? I know it will be on your property soon!... Feed the habit!!!​

 

[BillP]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

The only bad thing about using a hose with city water to swell it up is...saltwater inhibits rot growth and freshwater encourges it. If the boat is being used in freshwater it doesn't matter but if you are going in saltwater there's no need to help rot happen.

bp

 

[burroak]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

it looks just like this one, only with a single engine. and already restored.

http://www.sierraboat.com/boats/245.html

As I looked at boat that you linked to, this jumped out at me.

"The bottom is fiberglassed for leak free use."

If it's good enough for a $100K boat, it's good enough for me, since it would eliminate the swelling procedure.

IMO, water INSIDE a boat is never a good idea.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

glassing a wooden boat is never a good idea, it also depreciates the value of a wooden chris craft. they will never get $100K because of the glass.

 

[burroak]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

glassing a wooden boat is never a good idea, it also depreciates the value of a wooden chris craft. they will never get $100K because of the glass.

If the boat is an investment, leave it as it is--on the bunk and in storage. Any use of a completely restored item will diminish its value. Patina does not count as value added.

Only you can decide to be a boater or collector.

Bon voyage, sincerely.

 

[magster65]

Re: swelling a wooden Chris Craft?

Beautiful boat!
Whatever you do, don't glass it! Wood lasts because it can breath. Fiberglass will seal it temporarily and then cause it rot. I had a '68 Owens 26' that sat out of the water for the winters. It dried right out and when the summer finally rolled around I just launched it. Yes, the bilge pump was busy at first but within a week it had sealed itself up.
Congrats... I'm jealous!