A rebuild for 'Vanora' a 36 foot Chris Craft.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I have owned Vanora for 10 years, and done a considerable amount of work to her, including rebuilding both engines. She has been in the water every year I have owned her, and to my knowledge her entire life. Vanora is a 1964 Chris Craft Challenger, 36 feet in length, and powered by here original but rebuild 283 V8 engines. She weighs 15750 pounds dry according to Chris Craft records, and retains her original layout. She has been painted to resemble a 1965 Constellation model, and this was done prior to my ownership. Here she is a couple of years ago, with 'Dove' a 1946 Akins Active III dory ketch moored alongside. Some of you may remember I purchased Dove from Joe CSOH, another forum member. Dove will be our go-to boat this year






Vanora has had repairs and replacement wood over the years, but nothing substantive, half a new transom, perhaps a 1/2 dozen new planks. Keep in mind she has been in a covered slip almost all her life, and has had good maintenance.

However, this year, we are looking for problems, and guess what? There are some issues. Imagine that, in a boat that is almost 50 years old. I decided to do a major attack on what I knew, and deal with what was undiscovered on the way by.

She needs a new transom. The frame on the port side is rotted, and it has rotted a number of plank ends, and some batten where they landed on the stern frame. I hate short planks, and will not do it, so we are getting rid of a number of bad butt ends on planks further forward on the port side topside. The starboard side will be dealt with in the same way. All rotted, worn, checked, or questionable wood will be replaced. The Skeg, and most of the garboards will be done. Some of the bottom planking near the stern is going to be done. I planned for this rebuild, and I have assembled about 400 board feet of Honduras mahogany in 4/4, 6/4, and 8/4 to do the job. All the pulled fasteners will be replaced, even though this is a freshwater boat. We have a gallon of CPES on hand, and over a 1000 bronze fasteners. Four quarts of Dolphinite, 10 tubes of caulking, and a partridge in a pear tree, if you get my drift.


So here we go....

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

A good view of the rotted frame.....

[chuckt]

Look familiar. Good luck!

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

All the battens have been cut off at the lands, and the are going to be scarfed 8 to 1 a minimum of 4 feet back up to eight foot replacements




The chine planks are going to replaced, and we wanted to have a good look at the chine logs, and the bolts going through the floors. The good news is they are remarkably, (yes remarkably) solid. That said, we could find rot once the chine plank is dropped. Bob Falber, a shipwright I know is working on this project. I simply cannot devote enough time to it to do it myself, so we have a crew of three including myself..... Did I mention the entire engine room is getting painted, the main cabin is getting refinished, the upholstery is getting done, a new AC panel, new battery charger, to round out the reno/resto?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

A view of the chine log..... remarkable condition for almost 50 years old...

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Inside behind the gas tanks viewed from the hole in the transom. Complete paint to follow.

[pcford]

Hey Peter!

Looks like party time for you guys!!!

Maybe you guys know this but maybe not: A very common Chris Craft problem is busted chine bolts. These go through the bottom frame/side frame gusset. (looks like your boat does not have gussets...side and bottom frames are simply lapped.) When they break, the chines are to move outward. This in turn causes the bottom outboard planks to split.

You could see if you are having this problem by checking the outboard bottom planks. If they are split, then the chine bolts are broken. Check to see if there is any space between the chine and gusset. They should be tight together. You might also tap on the inboard end of the chine bolts with a small (10 oz) hammer. It should be obvious when you have a broken one. They are not hard to replace when you have that first side plank off. Pull the inboard half inward and tap out the outer part with a drift or whatever.

Other notes: I would presume the chine is bad at transom. I think scarfing the battens is not needed; just use a butt block. That's how the planks are joined, after all.

If a Chris has any problems...it is likely to be in the rear end. I used to tell people to look at the chine/transom side frame/bottom transom frame joint. If that is good then there is likely no rot in boat...an exaggeration, of course, but some truth to it.

Good luck, dude. Should keep you out of trouble for a while.

[P.L.Lenihan]

WOW! Big time reno work. I'm very impressed with the level of dedication you've brought toward maintaining this boat, a boat you clearly are passionate about!

Good luck with the work Peter and may your "surprises" be few and far between!



Cheers!


Peter

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Thanks guys, work is progressing... the transom frame is out, and the chine plank is off... again, very lucky.... the ply at the edge is solid, and even the plank is good, but we are going to replace it because of wear at the transom end.

Pat, the bolts are all good.... again, quite surprising, but being in freshwater all of her life makes a difference to the fasteners. Even the screws have no evidence of corrosion, but a microscope might find something different. The inner structure at the bottom of the transom is really good too. So far, I feel very lucky. At the start of this project I felt fairly certain we would have some rotten surprises, but I am quite delighted with her condition.

We still have to drop the garboard planks and the skeg, and examine the inner keel, which has a tendency to rot in these boats as well. I'll take it as it comes.

[chas]

"but I am quite delighted with her condition. " ...Does that mean you can take the summer off and sail around in her, with the money you're savin' ? Tks for keeping us informed of the progress. / Jim

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

No, it means I won't be tempted to either hang myself, or buy a gas can and a lighter

[pcford]

Pat, the bolts are all good.... again, quite surprising, but being in freshwater all of her life makes a difference to the fasteners. Even the screws have no evidence of corrosion, but a microscope might find something different. The inner structure at the bottom of the transom is really good too. So far, I feel very lucky. At the start of this project I felt fairly certain we would have some rotten surprises, but I am quite delighted with her condition.

I would presume...total conjecture...that the chine bolts got busted because a cowboy was mistreating the boat...jumping wakes, etc. One fails and then the rest go...like a rocking chair going to pieces.

Sometimes the rot goes as far as you figured, but no further. It has happened.

Rarely though. Good luck on the project again Peter.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I prepared for this job, like I said.... I will need to buy some more planking, but I found some local sources at reasonable prices.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

More mahogany....






Apparently, you make this out of it....



(milling plank thickness)

[pcford]

Zat hondo, Peter?

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

The stuff on the shop floor is Honduras.... bought it for 6 bucks a bd foot.... about 250 board feet. It came from a furniture factory that went out of business... it had been stored since 1979.

The African in the back of my truck came from the bankruptcy sale at Gibbard Furniture in Napanee Ont. They were one of the best furniture manufacturers in Canada...130 years in business. I bought the mahogany for 7.50 a bd ft... it is beautiful stuff. Mostly 13 inch 4/4 X 14 foot... but very dense hard stuff. Probably 35 years in storage.

[Eric D]

wow, best of luck to you on this one!!! after watching a few of your other threads, I know you will do a great job. Ever finish up your motor you were working on? I will have to go check....

I love those old Chris boats, lots of them over in my neck of the woods. Lovely...

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Oh we're still working on the Supersport.... Vanora got the bulk of the attention this year, and Dove is just finishing her spring paint and almost ready to splash.

[Duncan Gibbs]

Yeah, whilst your two stinkers are out of commission get some Joe-boy styled iphone movie extravaganzas out sailing Dove will ya?!

Seriously good luck with it all Peter. I know that luck will only need to extend to the archaeology of seeing what condition Vanora is in and just getting the time to do everything that's required... And getting some quality 'Dove' time in!

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I need to get some more pics... The left frame on the transom is in, and the gist of the replacement wood is known.

[chas]

"and the gist of the replacement wood is known."

That's the best part. / Jim

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Well, at least below the waterline, and the immediate topsides. That's the fun of a 50 year old wooden boat... there is always undiscovered country

[Lew Barrett]

Good luck with this Peter. Your dedication is impressive.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I bought this spiral cutterhead 8 inch long bed taiwanese jointer a couple of years back... It has carbide inserts... which I replaced with German carbides. I'm pretty happy with it. You don't joint the edge of 14 foot boards without a long bed.



Bottom planking milled to 5/8" jointed one edge, and a coat of CPES... and a couple of pieces of white oak for transom framing

[chas]

"You don't joint the edge of 14 foot boards without a long bed."

I can get them pretty close with the tablesaw and a chalkline, and my makita 3-1/4 planer. / Jim

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Time is my most precious commodity. I have spent a lot of money on tools that save me time. That jointer is one of them..

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

So here we have some more destruction, although it is careful destruction. just a few boards remain on the transom, and the floor of the transom was compromised enough that it was removed. Once again I am surprised about how good the material surrounding the soft stuff is... plywood is good, and so are the internal double plank at the extreme stern. In the pictures it is dark because it has been CPES'ed today.

You can also see by paint removal the planking we intend to remove. Most of it is good, but no short planks, and it will take care of a few punky butt joints on the hull.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

You can see how good the ply still is right at the starboard chine... the plank is being replaced because of a previous owner transom repair that left 6 inch planks at the stern...a staggered replacement of outer planking is being done, and new chine planks for most of the boat.





The skeg is almost ready to drop, and I will make up the new one back at the shop this weekend. The original is oak, but it's going back in in mahogany, and some assembly is required based on length... it's not deep, but it's about 25 feet long. You can see Bob Falber up at the bow chiselling out material to access the bronze bolts that hold the skeg.




You can see a pretty big board on the roof rack of my truck... 16 foot 8/4 X13 mahogany. That is the deep portion of the skeg, there will be a scarf at both ends.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

We are pretty fortunate that the keel bolts are accessible over the most of the distance. There are some blind bolts, and a couple under the fuel tanks that are problematic, but only a couple.

The bilge has already been scraped and cleaned once/twice, and will be cleaned once more, CPES where possible, then painted with Interlux bilgekote grey, just as original. Keep in mind the port side motor is out, and in my shop, so this is the time for cleaning painting and rewiring.






Bob has already made the port side transom frame, and it's ready to put in. I am just in the process of milling and laminating the bottow stern frame in white oak...It is laminated in 3 thicknesses of 5/8 white oak which avoids steaming, or using a massive chunk and shaping it.

The batten lands on the stern frame have been routed through for convenience. The batten ends were rotten about six inches back, so I made up a number of lengths to scarf back in 4-8 feet back.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Vanora looks a little sad, but reconstruction is always a little faster.

[John B]

So here we have some more destruction, although it is careful destruction.

Looks like good ole deconstruction to me, the only way to do it. Great thread Peter, looks scary to me but you guys seem to have it well under control.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

These boats are a lot easier than something like Waione....the hulls were built upside down, and they are a lot simpler interms of angles and curves. I have Bob too, which is even better

[P.L.Lenihan]

The weather has been unusually kind of late,nearly perfect for outdoor boat work, in fact,especially reconstruction work .Any new progress pics Peter?


Cheers!


Peter

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I will take some tomorrow... most of the planking is now off the port side, the framing for the transom is dry fit, along with all the battens and chine log. The skeg is out, and back at my shop... I will start to lay out the lamination tomorrow.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Thanks Peter.We're a patient lot.

After seeing several old Chris Crafts, one Owens and one Trojan, getting the death sentence over at the yard were I recently built my boat, it is incredibly rewarding to see a classic getting fixed right. Considering the incredible attention to detail you've paid in previous posts regarding the motors and now with the hull, your lovely Vanora ought to carry you right through to your dotage in style!

Continued success!

Cheers!


Peter

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Everything as far as structure on the port side is now dryfitted/installed. The laminated floor on the transom still has some fiddling, but Bob has it well in hand. I made the thicknesses slightly over size, then we planed down the last thickness of white oak. All the battens have been scarfed and need to be glued, and the final fitting for the port side transom frame has to be done.

Brian and I cleaned up, filled fastener holes, and painted today. It's easier to get at some of these places in the bilge from the outside. A rare opportunity.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Remember Peter, the big Lincoln is for a different boat

I did have an oil pan leak on the port side engine of Vanora, and knowing this was the year for all of this woodwork,
AND the AC wiring and battery charger/battery layout, the motor was lifted last fall, and here it is in my shop, ready for hoses, and then back in the boat. I rebuilt the raw water pump, and cleaned things up generally. There are no hours on these motors really, so nothing else was needed. To replace the oil pan rear seal, you have to take apart half the &%$#@ motor, so there was nothing else that could be done. It's a lot easier to work in the bilge with only one motor in there. I also have new Racor fuel/water separators to put in, and all new fuel lines... no more solids, so the extra room is a bonus.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Here is the skeg, ready for a copy to be made.





Pulling more two inch mahogany out of storage.....




Yes, that is Dove's rudder on the sawhorse too.... just getting a quick paint.. but it's four colors



Dove is just about ready... still applying some varnish to various pieces, and the boom tent I had made last year needs some tweaking, so I am going to rig her in the driveway for a day or two while I figure that out....

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

The front hatch for Vanora developed a small crack in the veneer, so it had to have surgery. The veneer was lifted, (it was the crotch mahogany background panel for the Compass Rose), and epoxy forced underneath with a syringe, then clamped back down. Three coats of varnish on now as a refresher, one final block sand and final coat.




And the cockpit cabinet got a new veneer on top, burled elm, and a new rail.... and varnish
...a few more coats to go on the top.




Meanwhile, waiting in the wings, is this little fellow... My grandfather and my father built this pond yacht during the second war. It was restored once in the 60's for me, and for the last 30 years it has sat in my fathers basement (safe) waiting for me to restore it once more. Full keel, cedar strip glued then shaped, five feet long. I feel quite strongly about a set of proper light cotton sails for her, but I could be swayed. The current sails are toast, they were spinnaker cloth.



Finally, Nancy's lilies out front are in bloom.. couldn't help adding the picture

[JimD]

Following with interest, Peter.

[P.L.Lenihan]

Well Peter, if those latest pictures don't tell a tale of determination,attention to detail and genuine talent, nothing will! All very impressive. I remember your compass rose hatch cover thread the most.Beautiful.

Thanks for the great progress pics on Vanora.Will the starboard transom frame also be replaced or is it still sound enough to go several more seasons? Also,is that a particular primer being applied or just regular paint.


What JimD said!



Cheers!


Peter

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

The starboard frame was surprisingly solid... weird. It required a dutchman on the bottom 25% of it, but all the plank ends and battens were fine too... The sheer plank at the transom has some rot in it, so we will pull the rub rail and replace a good chunk of that plank. There will still be some poking around at the sheer later this summer...


I cannot claim any of the expertise in assembly at this point, Bob Falber has done all of it. I have milled ripped and jointed a lot of lumber to dimension, and laminated a bunch of material, but nothing amazing. I felt pretty bad actually hiring Bob, instead of doing it all myself, but frankly, I just can't make the time necessary to do it all in any reasonable period of time. As it is, I will be dedicating every day off and available evening to the rest of the work necessary on various boats....

[JimD]

If I had to do a job like that without hired help it would never get done.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

We are going to:

1. install new AC panel and wiring

2. new battery charger, negative busses, grounding plate

3. Paint the entire engine room

4. Replace primary plumbing line

5. Install new engine through hulls and sea cocks

6. Install new cockpit drains

7. Reupholster main cabin dinette and couch

8. Paint, refinish and varnish main cabin.

9. Time willing... new vinyl on main cabin top, and new headliner inside, with new air horns plumbed in.

[Tom Freeman]

I find that working with pros helps me get more done than I could alone and affords me the chance to learn quite a bit along the way. I've done it all 3 ways now (hire out, do it myself, and work together) and I get more satisfaction out of working together. Sometimes I have more money than time, but I hate just paying someone else to do the job.

[Figment]

[thread drift]
Wow that cockpit sole takes me right back to the Luhrs we had when I was a kid.
After it had suffered too many years in the sunlight I remember "helping" replace it with some GODAWFUL pacific blue stipple texture stuff. Thankfully Mom had the good sense to "forget" that she'd set her (burning) cigarette down on it a few times that year so we had to replace it again the following with the proper material.


[/drift]

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

That Nautolex vinyl 'planking' in the cockpit is now discontinued. It was an iconic 60's powerboat cockpit floor. Hopefully someone will pick it up and reproduce it.

[Figment]

NAUTOLEX!!!! thank you! It was KILLING me that I couldn't remember the name!

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

On we go.... Vanora has a cover over her to keep the sun and rain off... at least some of it. The green tarp is keeping the new planking from getting rain and sun on it as well





Bob has fitted all the planks on the port side, and is starting to fair them in.... They are temporarily screwed in place, all the countersinks and pilots are done for the battens, but the caulking line that is so typical in Chris cruisers of the sixties still has to be beveled in on the edge of each plank. Chris craft originally did the plank lines with a small straight bit on a router, but we are going to go with a bevel of the same width. It's easier to deal with and will look the same. Still some frame screws to put in....

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

I filled all the screw holes with dowel, but Bob was careful to stagger the batten screws into new wood anyway...




The center hatch in the cockpit was tattered at the edge of the plywood, so it would not hold trim screws anymore... a real pain in the ass, so I replaced the top. Just have to put nautolex back on.






All of the interior stuff has been packed up, and now we have removed the dinette bunks and the panel behind it, as well as all the easily removed interior trim and doors. A full truckful back to the shop for refinishing. It also exposes the inside of the hull for repainting, and running new AC wiring.