Restoration of a rare 35' Lyman Sea Hawk

[shade of knucklehead]

Now that makes sense.

Its cool you found an original.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Peter,

How much do you know about small block Chevys? Do you think it would be worth the effort to put on the newer vortex heads? It would require a new intake manifold, but I would imagine that the low profile Chris Craft unit is pretty restrictive as it is. Would an aluminum automotive manifold with a wedge plate under the carb be acceptable? What is your opinion on going with aluminum heads to save some weight? And how on earth do I go about selecting a cam? I wold really like to build the engines myself but I can't find a good resource on marine engine building.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

I can't say I know much about the later gm 350's ... back me up to 1975, and I have some depth. I'm pretty familiar with the edelbrock performer setups, and they have a low profile intake, although I don't know how much clearance you have...The Dart series of heads are also quite excellent. My thoughts here are that you don't need to reinvent the wheel. A good quality rebuild with balanced rotating assemblies, electronic ignitions, and a modern intake manifold and carburetion, and I think you have a good setup. Keep in mind that your original transmissions are only capable of so much power, so if you intend to build some serious power, you have to look at new trannies as well. The quality of the machine work and the assembly on your engine can make quite a difference... a blueprinted balanced stock SBC with some port and bowl work on the old engines can pick up 15% extra horsepower. Put modern heads, ignition, and fuel delivery (carbureted) and it's pretty easy to build a 350 horse SBC. That should make your boat dance right along.


A couple of must have books:

Engine Blueprinting by Rick Voegelin
This is a must have book

Dave Vizard has a couple of small block chevy books... both are good

How to rebuild your small block chevy
How to Build Max Perf Chevy Small-Blocks on a Budget (Performance How-To)

As to camshafts, you need to talk to a good marine performance builder and tell them what you're looking for in terms of the kind of power... In your case, I would say a cam that gives you good performance in the mid rpm range.... 2200 to 4500 rpm. As I mentioned before, you can find all kinds of good used SBC parts... it's the most hot rodded engine ever.

[mucrewbtp]

Peter,

Thanks for the suggestions I'll check out those books. You are probably right about the engine project. Keeping with a 350 set up is probably the smart way to go. I have a little while before engines are a concern anyway so I'll start by reading up on the subject.

-Mike

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

All good Mike... you will find those books really solid nuts and bolts stuff. They will help you form a real idea of what you want.

[SchoonersRUS]

Nice restoration. My first thought was it's a pile of firewood. But came along nicely.

[mucrewbtp]

It has been a little while since I have posted any updates. I have been doing the same stuff I have been posting already just with the other side of the boat this time. The cockpit carlin and sheer clamp are now made and fit but still need a good coating of CPES or as we call it around the shop "The Dip." The new planks are cut for the starboard side but still need the scarph joint cut. The transom, which I picked up about a week ago has now been sanded, stained, and has its first coat of Petit Clear Sealer. In semi boat related news, I have a new addition to the shop that will keep me well hydrated while working to turn this epoxy and dry rot ridden structure back into something that resembles a boat.

Transom after block sanding, I stuck strictly to hand sanding on the transom to ensure that there would be no sanding marks in it that always seem to only show themselves after youve applied a coat of varnish. The transom is solid mahogany above the waterline, and mahogany ply below. Only the solid mahogany will be varnished, the ply will be getting a few coats of the dip, followed by red lead.




After a coat of Lyman filler stain.




Looking surprisingly smooth and shiny after only one coat of sealer





Lastly, the best boat shop beer cooler ever!




Regards,
Mike

[Jeanie B]

Hello Mike,

Looks like your having a little fun with that tabletop... looks great.
I'm still at removing and labeling all mahogany and screws for storage. I built a neat work table for refinishing and repairs in my girlfriends basement ( heat, lights, power, radio and tools) , ready to go.

I'm having my second hip resurfaced on Dec 16, the call it the Burmingham Resurfacing. This will be #2, the first one was replaced in April.

Back at the boat, I've found a few rot spots, Two spots, one on each side of the cabin and one at the stern port corner, both on the top. I'll post some photos.

Bob

[Excalibur]

Hi Mike,

I have a "trying to learn" question. You are obviously doing a very high quality restoration, as opposed to a "just functional" one. Since you are concerned about a smooth finish, why did you not use a cabinet scraper on the transom rather that sanding for the final finish?

Umm, Peter, I have to respectfully disagree on your comment that
"fuel injection versus carburetion is a maintenance issue really..."

It has been my experience that a properly setup fuel injection system can perform much better that a carbureted system as the injection is far better at balancing the fuel delivery to each cylinder, and that properly marinized FI is low maintenance, especially in fresh water.

[mucrewbtp]

Bob,

Good to hear you are making some progress on your project. Send me some pictures of the rotted areas when you can. While you are removing screws, make sure to get a frearson also known as reed and prince driver bit. The bronze screws in your boat look like Phillips but they are not. The heads will strip out much more easily when using a Phillips driver.

[mucrewbtp]

I have used cabinet scrapers before, but they were on smaller projects where I was using either a wax or oil finish. I didn't use a scraper for a couple of reasons here. First, there is over 40 square feet of surface on this stransom and a scraper removes material in about an inch or so wide strip at a time. I was concerned that I would not be able to get a completely even and uniform surface with the scraper. Also, whatever breed of mahogany Lyman used for the transom is very hard. If the surface was completely smooth and slick I am not sure how well the stain would penetrate, and how well the varnish would stick. I plan on about of 10-12 coats of varnish before installing the transom, and probably another 2 or three once it is on the boat, followed by some wet sanding and polishing compound. I will have enough build in the final finish that a sanded vs scraped finish should be of little consequence.

Regards,
Mike

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Hi Mike,

I have a "trying to learn" question. You are obviously doing a very high quality restoration, as opposed to a "just functional" one. Since you are concerned about a smooth finish, why did you not use a cabinet scraper on the transom rather that sanding for the final finish?

Umm, Peter, I have to respectfully disagree on your comment that
"fuel injection versus carburetion is a maintenance issue really..."

It has been my experience that a properly setup fuel injection system can perform much better that a carbureted system as the injection is far better at balancing the fuel delivery to each cylinder, and that properly marinized FI is low maintenance, especially in fresh water.

Sorry, I should have been more clear.... I agree with you. FI is the way to go for best gas mileage, lowest maintenance, and even from a safety standpoint. I kinda get stuck in vintage mode, and continue to fool with carburetors... heavy on the word 'fool'.

[Excalibur]

...Also, whatever breed of mahogany Lyman used for the transom is very hard. If the surface was completely smooth and slick I am not sure how well the stain would penetrate, and how well the varnish would stick...
Regards,
Mike

Now that is a consequence of using a scraper that didn't occur to me at all, and makes me glad that I expose my lack of knowledge by asking questions. I assumed that a scraper would give a clearer, cleaner highlight to the grain without minute particles of sawdust trapped in the surface, but I see the extra smooth surface has other effects too...

Thanks, Mike!

[mucrewbtp]

While I am getting some finish on the new transom, I will be replacing the rest of the planks in the stern. After poking around at what was left, I dont think any of the plank ends would survive the transom transplant anyway. Today I removed two more planks on the port side and and got some planking stock ready to go back in and cut the scarph joints. I tried a different method for cutting the joint, usually I start with an angle grinder and finish with a hand plane. Today I stacked up all of the planks and had at it with a good sharp jack plane. I think it came out pretty good except that by the time I was done I had moved my hastily thrown together planking bench all the way across the shop. I hate to admit, but it is made out of cheap plastic saw horses and some dead Ikea furniture and doesn't have nearly enough mass to stay in one spot when doing heavy work. A sturdier version is in order.


Two more planks cut back, while examining the planking below the waterline, I am finding it to be in better shape than I originally thought. The initial plan was to replace everything below the waterline, I think now I am leaning towards a careful inspection replacing sections as needed. The garboards will be replaced entirely because I intend to remove them the length of the boat to be able to inspect the keel and other structural framing.




New plank sections are stacked up with feather edge of one plank lined up with the butt end of the next.




By running the plane along the corners of the planks, the correct taper is naturally developed.




The finished product, by doing it this way I was able to cut all three joints in about the same time it usually takes to cut just one.




Regards,
Mike

[mucrewbtp]

Today I managed to get the hull planking fastened to the starboard side. I also finished forming the changing bevel on the top edge of the sheer clamp, and making new sub-decking for the starboard side. The sub-deck has a beveled edge that allows it to fit tightly to the deck house. To form the bevel I unearthed an old attachment for a stanley router that my grandfather used to use to fit doors. It looks a little unwieldy but it works fairly well.

Sub-deck cut and trimmed with the new Makita power plane. I can get the ply trimmed much faster by knocking the really high spots off the edge with a low angle block plane and then finishing the edge with the power plane set to a shallow cut.





Using the Stanley power plane attachment to cut the bevel on the edge of the sub-deck.




Sub decking trial fit, still some fine trimming to do before fastening it to the sheer clamp and cockpit carlin.




Happy New Year,
Mike

[Jeanie B]

Hi Mike,
I took some of the fiberglass off the walk-around, starboard side. The mahogany marine plywood, plus, the sub deck had some pretty bad rot. The sub deck seemed to be a 1 1/2 (inch and a half), fir, possibly? I was going to use a douglas fir, whats your thoughts.
Boy, would I like to take that glass off, and put new mahogany on...
Thanks,
Bob

[mucrewbtp]

If I recall correctly when I re-decked my 24' Hardtop the side decks were solid douglas fir with 3/8" mahogany ply over that. If you have rot in some spots you probably have rot in others. The reason I re-decked the 24 is because the original mahogany ply had begun to delaminate. The job actually was not too bad. It involved cross bracing the hull with some aircraft cable and turnbuckles, removing the windshields, and replacing a good amount of foredeck framing before laying the new deck. I chose to use 3/8" ply as a subdeck and I laid 7/16 teak planks on top of that. While I had the deck off I took the opportunity to pull the hull sides back in to factory spec, since these old Lymans have a tendency to spread over time. If you choose to just repair the area for now I would carefully cut out all of the rot and make repairs with the same wood as originally used. Whatever you do, resist the urge to take the easy way out and surface off the rotted area with epoxy and filler. That type of repair has caused the bulk of the damage to my current project.

Regards,
Mike

[Crazer]

I just want to say that this is easily one of my favorite threads on the forum. It's a lot of fun to see all the damaged wood taken out and replaced piece by piece and I'm learning a huge amount about this type of construction and how to do repairs correctly. It's always a highlight of my day when I see a new post in this thread. Keep it up.

[mucrewbtp]

Over the past few weeks I have been working on replacing most of the rotted side planking so that I have something worthwhile to attach the new transom to. My original thought was to steam in new ribs before working on planking and the transom, but I realized that had I gone this route, the aft portion of the boat probably would have disintegrated in the process. In addition to the side planking, I also finished the starboard side decks and have gotten several coats of varnish on the transom. The last plank I replaced on the port side was so badly deteriorated that I was unable to use it as a pattern so I had to spile a new plank. I never tried this method before so I was a little skeptical, but it was actually a fairly straightforward process and it produced a fair looking plank that fit with very little trimming. I am finished with planking on the port side until the new transom is installed, the bottom half of the original was replaced at some point and I dont want to fit new planks to a previous repair. I still have to finish pulling planks down to the waterline on the starbord side, and I would like to get another five or six coats of varnish on the transom before it gets installed.

Planking removed down to the waterline, I will tackle the rest after the transom is in.




The last plank was about 9' long so I had to pre-scarph a plank on the bench before making the new plank.




All but one plank on this side installed, this one had to be spiled.




Port side all closed up for now. Final fit will be necessary once the new transom is in. The planks have been left long so they can be trimmed to fit.




Side decks rebuilt, I haven't decided yet if I will do the aft deck before or after the new transom is fit.




Two coats of clear sealer and two coats of Z-Spar Flagship, still has a way to go.




Regards,
Mike

[oldsub86]

I can't say I know much about the later gm 350's ... back me up to 1975, and I have some depth. I'm pretty familiar with the edelbrock performer setups, and they have a low profile intake, although I don't know how much clearance you have...The Dart series of heads are also quite excellent. My thoughts here are that you don't need to reinvent the wheel. A good quality rebuild with balanced rotating assemblies, electronic ignitions, and a modern intake manifold and carburetion, and I think you have a good setup. Keep in mind that your original transmissions are only capable of so much power, so if you intend to build some serious power, you have to look at new trannies as well. The quality of the machine work and the assembly on your engine can make quite a difference... a blueprinted balanced stock SBC with some port and bowl work on the old engines can pick up 15% extra horsepower. Put modern heads, ignition, and fuel delivery (carbureted) and it's pretty easy to build a 350 horse SBC. That should make your boat dance right along.


A couple of must have books:

Engine Blueprinting by Rick Voegelin
This is a must have book

Dave Vizard has a couple of small block chevy books... both are good

How to rebuild your small block chevy
How to Build Max Perf Chevy Small-Blocks on a Budget (Performance How-To)

As to camshafts, you need to talk to a good marine performance builder and tell them what you're looking for in terms of the kind of power... In your case, I would say a cam that gives you good performance in the mid rpm range.... 2200 to 4500 rpm. As I mentioned before, you can find all kinds of good used SBC parts... it's the most hot rodded engine ever.

You need to have a look at this book. Expensive to buy and hard to come by. Check your local library if you think it too expensive but it is GOOD.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sear...rmance&x=0&y=0


Randy

[mucrewbtp]

Randy,

Thanks for the tip, I have seen that book recommended before. Its a shame that its out of print, I will have to scour the libraries in the area to see if I can find a copy to borrow.

Regards,
Mike

[mucrewbtp]

At the shop today I started tearing out the last of the planks to come out for now. Overall, the planks were in a little better shape on this side than on the port side. However I did discover that the last few inches of the planks at the transom, and a good chunk of the spray rail were formed completely out of epoxy.

I'd be willing to bet that some previous owner paid a yard good money for this "repair"




Bad plank removed, I went a little farther forward than I had to so that I could stagger my scarphs at least 2 ribs, and so that I didnt have any replacement planks shorter than about 2.5 to 3 feet in order to avoid stiff spots where the new planking joins the old. It also just looks better to my eye.





-Mike

[63lyman]

I'm having a hard time feathering the ends of the planks to get them to sit flush and the overlaps to look flat the the transom, any advice? You're look flawless....

[mucrewbtp]

Have you seen the couple of detail pictures that I posted near the top of the 3rd page? The main idea with plank gains (the technical term) is to create two identical sets of bevels, one on the inside surface of the lap on the top plank and one on the outside surface of the lap on the bottom plank. The width of the lap is fixed at one inch but the amount of the bevel changes from a feather edge at the bitter end, out to almost nothing farther forward. On my boat it appears that the gains start about 32" from the bitter end of the plank. Marking out the taper on the edge of the plank helps to work as a guide. Recently I have been using a block plane along the edge to cut down to the taper scribe but not cut it back all the way to the 1" lap scribe. I then use a very sharp slick to work the bevel so that my scribe line is cut back just to the 1" lap mark. It is one of those things that sounds very complicated to write about but is not all that complicated once you see it. Where are you located? If you are anywhere near the Lake Erie islands area you are welcome to stop by the shop and have a look while I make the next set of planks.

Regards,
Mike

[ssnider]

Mike - Thanks for this great thread, I am currently restoring a 26' 1963 Century Raven. It is also lapstrake construction with steam bent white oak frames but has solid mahogany planks instead of plywood. The boat is currently on jack stands with both engines and all interior removed. I have been spending a ton of time lately just cleaning the bilge, looked like it hadn't been cleaned since it left the factory back in 1963. It was full of nuts and bedding much like yours. Getting the bilge clean enough to paint has been a horrible task as a result of oil residue and grime in every nook and cranny but I'm almost there.

My next project is going to be fixing the frames. There are about 24 on each side of the boat aft of the V-berth many are cracked at the turn of the bilge and the ones that aren't are in pretty rough shape so I am planning to address each and every one of them. Originally I was planning to remove them one at a time and then replace with new but some members of my ACBS chapter suggested that i just sister new frames to the existing frames which would be stronger. I believe you did this on your smaller Lyman, bedded with 5200 and then screwed together. Is there any reason not to do the repairs this way? I would be a lot easier and save a ton of time compared to removing one at a time. I guess I am asking the pros and cons to replacing entirely or just sistering.

I will have to make some of the exact same repairs as you have on other parts of the boat as well so this thread has been very helpful for ideas of how to go about everything. There is some rot in the very end of the engine stringers and various planks that need replacing.

[Castleton]

Very well photographed and informative. Thanks for taking the time to do it. I am rebuilding a Gaudy and Stevens 33' . Construction is quite similar. My frames are fine but the keel is warped 7 degrees to port so it must come off. I would be interrested in your photos and experience in removing the Keel and how you supported the hull during the operation. Will you repair and reinstall the keel or replace with new? Also, what brand of epoxy are you using?

I also must rebuild ( Ford 302s). Are you sending yours out ?

Thanks,
Castleton

[mucrewbtp]

ssnider:

There is nothing all that wrong with sistering ribs, it will add some extra weight, and you may run into issues with fasteners no longer holding in the bad frames. In addition, if the originals are rotted, the more porous dry rotted wood will tend to hold moisture next to the new frame, and also provide an ample supply of healthy rot spore, so you may have an issue with premature rot setting in on the new piece, however that is just my un-tested theory. When I sistered the ribs in my 24' I did it as a semi-temporary repair. The ribs I sistered were not in terrible condition, and I plan on replacing the sistered fromes eventually when the large project is done. I did perform some tests, and I can say that the method I used with the sister adhered with 5200 to the adjacent rib, and screwed cross-wise into it is at least as strong as an original frame. If one were to plan on having a sistered rib as a more permanent repair screws should also be driven through the planking into the sister frame just as they are in the original. One thing I can tell you is that sistering required just about the same amount of effort as steaming in a full frame. The main reason I didnt replace the full frames at the time is because the engine was in the way, and the frames in the aft portion weren't in as bad of shape as the others farther forward. I could offer some more suggestions if I were able to see a few pictures of your project.


Regards,

Mike

[mucrewbtp]

Castleton,

For the most part my keel appears to me in good shape except for the forward portion where some imporper blocking caused deformation. I will be dropping the whole outer keel to inspect it though. I have plenty of jack stands (18) supporting the boat with the bulk of the weight on the engine stringers. When I do drop the outer keel I plan on placing a temporary timber in its place and putting the jack stands back with a slight load. I will then repair or rebuild what is necessary with the original as a pattern and re-install. I have always used west system epoxy and fillers with good success. I always clean the surfaces with denatured alcohol or acetone and rough up the mating surface in preparation for gluing. I also always prime both surfaces with unthickened epoxy first before I use the thickened stuff. For a structural joint I prefer the microfibers as a filler. Make sure you do not over-clamp the joint because ti can squeeze out too much epoxy and create a starved joint. I will most likely be ordering a pair of long blocks for the engine rebuilds so I will just have to transfer over the accessories, some of which will have to be rebuilt.

Regards,
Mike

[Pismo10]

I see someone bought the other 35' Seahawk that has been for sale for a while. Great to see, a great deal I feel. Think what a new comparable boat would cost..Hope the new owners love it and keep it up.

[mucrewbtp]

I have been in touch with the new owner of the other Seahawk, he will be keeping it just up the street from where my shop is. He seems like he will take good care of it, I have already offered him any help I can give once he gets it down from Michigan.

In other news, I had a fairly productive day at the shop. I finished all of the planking above the waterline at the stern on the starboard side, and stripped off the top layer of decking in the stern to begin getting ready to pull the old transom out. For now I will focus my attention farther forward in the boat while I get a few more coats of varnish on the transom in preparation for the install. Today I pulled out four plank sections that were in the vicinity of the galley. The window in that area was leaking badly for a very long period of time and caused a lot of rot in the planking, and in the cabin side. The sheer plank and the next two down from that were in good condition, but it appears everything else in this area down to the keel will have to have sections replaced. These planks should be a little easier to replace because they do not have the more complex plank gains that the planks do at the stern, so I am hoping I will be able to close up the gaping hole in the hull quickly and move on to something else.

The last of the topside planks on the starboard side stern.





Teak cockpit ccoaming and top layer of decking removed from the stern. From this point forward the old transom should be fairly easy to remove.




Planks removed in the area of the galley. Everything aft of here and above the waterline that remains is good planking.




A combination of rot and rodent damage in the vicinity of the bulkhead. The bulkhead and frames in this area will have to be replaced.




One more coat of varnish and a final picture before leaving the shop for the day.




Thats all for now,
-Mike-

[mucrewbtp]

The final preparations are underweigh for the removal and replacement of the transom. Yesterday I removed the last of the aft sub-deck and made new decking to go back in its place. Thankfully the beams underneath were in fairly sound condition, only a small repair will be required to either end. The beam that forms the aft portion of the cockpit is curved in two directions with a bevel on top so I am glad I will not have to spend the time to re-create this piece. The construction of the short aft deck seems a little light to me, so when it is rebuilt I believe I will install one or more hanging knees to tie the whole assembly back into the transom. I will likely do the same with the side decks in the cockpit area to add some support and to tie the deck into the frames.


Aft Sub-deck removed and framing cleaned up.





New subdecking made and trial fit.





Final fitting will be done after the transom is replaced.




On the to-do list for tomorrow is to add some additional bracing inside the hull in preparation for transom removal, assemble the hoist that will be used to remove the old transom and position the new, and put one final coat of varnish on the new transom which will give it a total of ten coats of varnish before install. Once the boat has reached a state where it has a greater likelyhood of bouyancy I will have the name hand painted on the transom followed by several more finish coats to protect the lettering.

Regards,
Mike

[mucrewbtp]

I feel like a milestone has been reached with the removal of the old, rotted transom. Yesterday, after a year an a half of work we finally removed the old, rotted transom. The new transom is already pre-finished and ready for installation which should happen sometime towards the end of next week. After the remainng planking is replaced in the stern, and new ribs are bent in I will have replaced roughly 95% of the aft five feet of the stern. The only original wood that remains is most of the keel and keelson, and about 75% of the two inboard engine stringers. It took a lot of work to get to this point, but the stern is where the worst of the damage was. It appears that as work progresses forward there should be less bad wood, but of course theres no guarantees until I actually tear into it.


Getting the transom rigged up to the shop crane. I took a little strain on the lifting straps to support the transom as I removed the rest of the fasteners securing the transom to the boat. All of the screws below the watwrline were an awful mixed lot of various sizes of stainless, bronze, steel, and even a nail every here and there. The heads of some screws even overlapped and some were sunk so deep that I doubt they were even holding on to anything anymore. Of course the whole mess was covered in a thick coating of epoxy andd filler.






After the screws were out it took a little persuading to get it to let go, along with a sort of scavenger hunt to find several additional stainless sheet metal screws that were driven in at various non-factory locations.




The transom finally swinging free. Thankfully the hull showed absolutely no signs of shifting, sagging or spreading once the transom came out. Even with all the fasteners removed and all 5200 cut the transom still had a sort of friction fit with the hull planking.




Funny how the boat suddenly feels like its a lot lower to the ground. Getting ready to take the transom to the front of the shop where it will be disassembled and the remaining good mahogany will be re-used.




This picture gives a good idea on the type of bracing added to the hull to ensure that it does not change shape while the transom is out. Not visible is the series of aircraft cable and turnbuckles installed paralell to the cross members. The cables act in slight tension while the beams act in compression to keep everything as rigid as possible.






A view from the top to admire a solid day's work.




Regards,
Mike

[timo4352]

WOW!
Big step there. Looking forward to seeing it come back together.

[mucrewbtp]

Today the new transom finally found its permanent home in the stern of my project boat. Getting it in was a two-day process, the first day was spent getting the new transom rigged up on the lift, and getting the lower portion thouroughly coated with CPES. The top half will have its turn with the dip a little later but it will be easy to get at the upper half once it is mounted in the boat. I decided not to put bilge paint on the new transom for several reasons. It is already fairly well sealed with the CPES, and In theory with an all new bottom going on this project I shouldnt have any standing water in the bilge, especially that far back. I think it will also be easier to keep an eye on the condition of the transom without it being coated with paint, so it should never reach the state of the original. In my experience paint can hide little problems just long enough for them to turn into big problems.


Rigged up and off the table.




Bottom half gets more than its fair share of CPES, it looks too good to cover it all with sand tan bilge paint or red lead:




Hoisted in to place and held with a series of clamps and ratchet straps. To my surprise it only took several minutes to get it in place and leveled. Being a factory made transom it fit perfectly on the first try.




The lift is taken away and the transom is semi-permanently mounted to the boat. I have screws through the keel and several spots in the bottom at this point. The keel to transom joint is bedded in 5200, the same as it was from the factory. Ratchet straps still hold it in at the top corners. It will be fine tuned and side planks will be screwed in next time. The new side planking was left long so that it can be trimmed to fit.




Looks like a big step forward...





Regards,
Mike

[timo4352]

Very nice. That factory made transom saved you a ton of work. Good for you.

[ben2go]

That is a sweet transom.Real work of art.So smooth and glossy you can see the entire shop in it.

[mucrewbtp]

Thanks, it sure does make it look a little more like a boat and a little less like a project.


-Mike

[Larks]

I'd say "massive" step forward Mike!! Great work mate...........('wondering why this thread hasn't been given a sticky yet, it deserves one!)

[PaulT]

"Looks like a big step forward...".... Damn, I guess! That looks great. I'm thinkin' that's a whiskey plank type of moment.

Thanks for the continued updates. Great work
PaulT

[mucrewbtp]

"Looks like a big step forward...".... Damn, I guess! That looks great. I'm thinkin' that's a whiskey plank type of moment.

Thanks for the continued updates. Great work
PaulT

Libations were most definitely had by all at the end of the day. The funny thing is, before I left the shop I sat in worried silence for quite some time convinced that I must have screwed something up that I hadn't noticed. The whole operation seemed to work exactly as planned which isnt at all what I was prepared for. The whole transom swap operation was a plan for the worst, hope for the best type of situation and thankfully all of the prep work paid off and the best case scenario is what prevailed in the end. That is, unless something has gone horribly wrong and I just haven't noticed yet.

Regards,
Mike

[Pismo10]

Fabulous, looks like a solid boat again.

[Tom Freeman]

It's always fun to see big bits like this come together. Congratulations on your progress!

[mucrewbtp]

Thanks for the comments. It will be a little bit before I have anything new to report, right now I am involved with the tedious task of getting all of the planks trimmed to final length and getting the plank gains and bevels fine tuned so that they all lay correctly against the transom. As of now I have the transom fastened into the keel and have the first four planks on each side trimmed and screwed into the transom. Once I have all of the planks fit and screwed in I will pull them off a couple at a time, treat them with CPES and then put them back permanently on the boat with the scarph joints glued with thickened West Systems and the laps sealed with 5200 as they were from the factory.

-Mike

[mucrewbtp]

Work has been continuing on the project, I haven't posted an update in quite a while because it has mostly been more of the same type of work. All planks are replaced in the stern down to the waterline, and I began to remove the below the waterline planking. The planks below will be replaced in 16' sections, I have already scarphed together several lengths of Meranti ply to in preparation for making these planks. I have decided to replace everything below the waterline after having a look at how much water this boats sister takes on at rest. Interestingly the boat produced just before mine (H1002, mine is H1003) has moved back from Michigan and is now about five minutes up the road from my shop. The new owner is a great guy and he has made the boat available to me anytime I need it as a reference.

Today I finished up rebuilding all of the framing for the rear deck. This was somewhat time consuming because the two transverse bits of framing were curved in both directions. The beam on the cockpit side is mostly original, I only had to scarph on to one end that had rotted but the rest was good. At the transom I had to make my own piece out of Phillippene Mahogany. It took a lot of careful clamping and screwing to form it around the transom but it ended up coming out very nice. I also fabricated some stainless brackets to tie the cockpit carlins into the transom, and I had to re-make the fairly tricky bits that the inboard curved deck beam lands on. They look simple but there is not one square corner on it, and it had to be carefully notched into the transom framing. Still left to do is add a knee below the center of the aft deck framing to offer some more support. It did not have one originally but it seems like an awful large span to have un-supported.


This is the curved mahogany cleat that I had to cold-bend along the transom, It came out looking very nice and fair, its a shame it will never see the light of day once the deck is on...




These brackets were cut out of a piece of 1/8" 316 Stainless steel plate.




Installed on the boat, I had to modify them a bit for clearence but I think they came out nicely and wil really solid things up in this area.




The inner deck beam is also curved in two directions to follow the transom, I had to re-make the mahogany block in the center as well the original had several rusted steel fasteners permanently stuck in it that had to be cut off. The knee I intend to install will bridge between this block and the transom framing.




Another perspective, I still have to do a final fit on the sub-deck which I had to approximate from the rotted originals.




Regards,

Mike

[Reminiscents]

Mike,
you have done a great job restoring this beauty.
I have just received a 1961. 32 ft CC Sea skiff Clipper which came with the factory installed "fishing bridge" which I have been told makes it some what rare.? I'm new to restoring boats as this is my first. Not know ing exactly where to start, your project it going to be a big help in knowing what to look for and how to repair what I find. I still have the original twin 283 engines. I think I would like to rearrange the cabin layout when I get to that point, any way to know if that will cause a problem? Currently the head and galley are in the front of the cabin, I would like to move them to the rear near the cabin door.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and skills.

[BillBerger]

Time for an update?

[Reminiscents]

http://i1265.photobucket.com/albums/...r/bcc28099.jpg
Mike,
your boat looks very much like my ,61 CC 32 ft.

[ben2go]

[Reminiscents]

@ben2go- thank you! How did you do that?.. PLEASE...

[ben2go]

@ben2go- thank you! How did you do that?.. PLEASE...

On the right side of your pic on photobucket,there are links.If you click the IMG code and it turns blue.This copies the link to your clip board.Then you simple press ctrl and V to paste the link anywhere you want it in your post.

[mucrewbtp]

It is indeed time for an update. The framing for the aft and side decks are now finished and permanently in place. I have also finished sealing the inside of the transom with CPES and replacing about 200 steel fasteners with bronze. In addition to rebuilding the aft deck framing I also added a sort of knee to add additional support to the aft deck. As built it was one large span from side to side which seemed a little under built to me. I will be adding similar additional support to the side decks about mid-span in the cockpit area. I have also started the process of replacing the remaining below the waterline planking in 16' sections. As of now the plan is to replace all of the planking below the waterline from stem to stern. I will mechanically fasten them to the boat in 16' sections and after the framing has been re-done I will scarph the several 16' sections into one full length plank and mount it permanently to the hull with 5200 in the lap. By doing it in full length planks starting at the keel and working up I will be re-building it in the same manner as the factory built it and I should avoid any leaks that I would inevitably get if I installed the planks in shorter sections.

Cockpit carlin is permanently scarphed into place:




Knee installed at mid point of rear deck. If you look closely at the deck beam you can see the 4 randomly placed holes from the factory (steel) screws that have been plugged, it looks like Lyman had some un-skilled summer help doing this part.




Framing is all in place with 5200 in the joints and new bronze fasteners. The pictures still look the same but trust me a lot of work has been done. I promise by the fall I will have something new and exciting to post updates on.




Thanks for looking,
Mike