Restoring a Wooden Boat

[4X4]

I've wanted to start this thread for a few weeks now, but I wanted to put in pictures. Today I went and took pics but I now see that I have no way of downloading them off my stupid new phone. So I'll have to add pics later, but I still want input now.

I recently 'inherited' a gorgeous old wooden ski boat. It was given to me by my grandmother who built it with my now deceased grandfather about 50 years ago. It is in really good shape, considering it's age. It has been sitting in the quonset at the farm for about 20 years, wayyyy in the back behind a bunch of old farm equipment.

All it needs is to be refinished, plus a new windshield and seats. I'm debating whether to replace the original Chrysler 55 outboard or to try to restore that as well and keep the vintage feel.

I don't know what kind of wood it is. I'm sure my grandmother knows so if it's important, I'll ask her. The entire boat is wooden. It is a 15 foot home made speed boat. The absolute best feature of this thing is the bow. It looks like hardwood floor. There is no seating area up there, just really slick looking hardwood. I'm going to make it gleam.

There are two front seats and two back seats that I'll probably make in to a bench to accommodate a total of 5 people. The existing seats have been chewed up by mice so they need to go regardless. I want to put in some really slick looking seats.

The windshield is straight out of the 50s. That curved plexiglass that just looks ancient. I want to keep that feel, somewhat, but it needs to look classy.

I'll definitely install some electronics such as a cd player and a fish finder. I'll likely make a box for under the bench seat to hold a battery. That said, the floor of the boat is just wood. The opposite side of the hull. No running wires across it. They'll have to run under the port side ledge. I'm thinking of maybe getting a rubber spray on the floor, similar to a spray in box liner.

So my questions to the almighty CP are these:

How do I refinish wood? This ain't a dining room table. It has to be marine quality. Hopefully good enough that I could take it on salt water if I ever felt so inclined.

Where do I acquire seats and windshields for boats? Chances are that I'll need the windshield to be custom made. Maybe the bench seat as well.

Restoring the motor. That's something I can probably do myself, but if there's a pro around that is priced efficiently, I might be swayed.


I'd appreciate any input on this topic. This thing isn't an antique yet, but I'll likely never part with it. I want to do this right the first time.

[Rhetts_the_Best]

Just sent a message to my uncle he has been building ships for a very long time, form cadamaran's....? to Tall Ships.

When he gets back to me i will share some of his vast knowledge.
No worries 4X4 help is on the way!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Rhetts_the_Best

Just sent a message to my uncle he has been building ships for a very long time, form cadamaran's....? to Tall Ships.

When he gets back to me i will share some of his vast knowledge.
No worries 4X4 help is one the way!

Sweet. If it's alot of info, pm me and I'll give you my email addy. Thanks man.

[fredr123]

Pictures of your project as it progresses are mandatory.

[NSFL]

This is what I love about CP, no matter how out of the blue your question may be, there will be an answer.

And 4x4, that boat sounds like a beauty. I don't have any answers, but when you get it done, I would love to see pictures. I didn't even know there was a such thing as a home made speed boat.

[4X4]

I will post pics f'sho. I've enlisted the help of my uncle. He's got an acreage just east of town so there's plenty of space to do it, plus he has pretty much every tool known to man.
My grandmother is just as interested/excited to see this thing come together. It'd be like a gift to her to see the old thing restored. Plus, I get a boat out of the deal. Hopefully I can get it done in time to make good use of it this summer. It's pretty small, so hauling it around on my usual BC trips wont bankrupt me either. I just have to soup up the trailer so that it can handle my 4x4ing ways.

[Crispy's Critter]

lucky bastage! I've wanted an old wooden speedboat since I was a little kid!

Don't really have any answers for any of your questions, but a comment on the seats; if it was me, I'd find an old car from the 50's , and grab the seats out of it. (not sure how hard it would be to come by buckets for the front, but the bench for the back would be easy enough) Then I would get them reupholstered in vinyl, complete with vintage style colouring and stitching. I'm sure if you asked an upholsterer they could figure out a way to get that vintage look as well as making the seats fairly well protected against possible water damage. Another way would be to find a vintage car catalogue and order the seats out of that.

looking forward to seeing pics!

[Dion]

This thread is useless without pictures.

Keep us posted on the updates 4x4!

[rubecube]

Will you call the boat "Diversity"?

[RougeUnderoos]

In my experience, a CD player in a boat is good for music but it is even better at draining the battery and requiring jumper cables or switching out the battery for your next spin on the lake.

A few boats I've used had a CD player and the radio wouldn't shut off when you shut the engine down, like it does in your car automatically. So, if you had turned it down or just weren't paying attention, it would keep playing and playing and playing until the battery was dead. If you go with a CD player/radio make sure you are either A) not stupid and inattentive like me and forget to turn it off or B) rig it so that it shuts off with everything else, if it's possible.

A 55 HP engine isn't going to be much for pulling skiers or wakeboarders if that is a concern. Those old wooden boats are the coolest things going and in my opinion the retro original engine is the way to go, even if you can't drag your buddies out of the water. It's for cruising and looking cool, not backflips and barbed wire tattoos!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Will you call the boat "Diversity"?

I was thinking more along the lines of 'Foreboding'.


And thanks for the tips, Rouge. I can see myself doing that (turning down the volume instead of turning it off).

The engine is a big question mark at this point. It's so old that I doubt I'll even find replacement parts to restore it, let alone repair it on the run if need be. A newer engine may be a necessity. I'm pretty sure it'll get a 200lbs guy out of the water, but doubtful for slalom or barefoot, both of which I intend to learn.

[Tron_fdc]

Name it after Rodney Dangerfiled.

The "lindy"?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The engine is a big question mark at this point. It's so old that I doubt I'll even find replacement parts to restore it, let alone repair it on the run if need be. A newer engine may be a necessity. I'm pretty sure it'll get a 200lbs guy out of the water, but doubtful for slalom or barefoot, both of which I intend to learn.

That probably answers your question.

I'm no expert (on skiing or boats) but in my family we skied behind a 75hp engine when we were children and moved eventually to a 200hp when we grew up and some of us could actually slalom at 35-40 mph. You probably don't need 200 (I don't know what you'd need) but it sure makes it easy to get out of the water.

The way I see it, you don't want some modern plastic outboard monstrosity messing with the style of your cool old boat but if you want to ski behind it you'll probably need something bigger.

[Rhetts_the_Best]

PM sent 4x4

[4X4]

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...agejpeg_22.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...agejpeg_23.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...agejpeg_24.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...agejpeg_25.jpg

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...magejpeg_2.jpg

Some crappy cell phone pics that I finally figured out how to download (sms to my sister who emailed them to me)

Looks like the project will be delayed until at least mid summer and into fall. Too bad for me I guess. Oh well, I'll have a whole year to get this badass into shape before next summer.

And thanks to RTB for the awesome tips from his uncle. I'll post better pics soon when I move it and bring a real camera.

edit* btw, that jerry can is 3/4 full of old gas... Any takers?

[Clarkey]

4x4, did you ever start this project?

[4X4]

I'm hoping to this year... I thought I had a place to do it when I originally posted, but that fell through. This year looks promising. It's up in my grandparents' quonset north of Calgary. It'll be waiting for me whenever I get my ass in gear.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by fotze

This project is sitting next to his judo outfit and his guitar.

Hey, my buddy gave me that guitar. Then I gave it back.

But this project can wait until I'm ready. 21 years in the quonset. What's 22?

[4X4]

I can't post my response. pm'd

[Dion]

Screw the restoration and buy this boat. It`s not mine but it looked quite nice when i saw it last summer. Kind of looks like the one you want to restore. Mind you it`s in northern Minnesota