1956 Collegian restoration |
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Morfoot
Grand Poobah Joined: February-06-2004 Location: South Lanier Status: Offline Points: 5312 |
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I may just have to come up for weekend with a case of beer or two and just watch you work your Magic. Awesome stuff Alan. You sir are a master craftsman! Drive on Man!
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"Morfoot; He can ski. He can wakeboard.He can cook chicken.He can create his own self-named beverage, & can also apparently fly. A man of many talents."72 Mustang "Kermit",88 SN Miss Scarlett, 99 SN "Sherman"
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Making progress, 3 frames down 4 to go. Not a terribly difficult job just time consuming to get them fitted properly. I'm making them out of a single piece instead of the two piece set up the factory used. I'm not really sure why they do it that way although I'm thinking it may have been to save lumber as there is a little more waste making them as one piece.
The trade off is strength though, the new ones are pretty darn stout, The old 2 piece ones really just fall apart once you take them out of the boat and the wonderful piece of joinery on the prop shaft pass through is a marvel. That is not factory and was probably butchered when the bottom was replaced. So here's this weeks photos, still a bit of a mess but there is a lot of progress. Old vs new keel. prop shaft frame |
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NCH20SKIER
Grand Poobah Joined: December-16-2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2207 |
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Ugh
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'05 206 Limited
'88 BFN |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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A little more disassembly. 5200 doesn't stick to oil. The keel was junk when they did the bottom and it should have been replaced. Looks like they tried to seal it with epoxy and re-install it. A new Mahogany keel cost me $70 bucks so I don't understand the thinking behind reusing it.
I picked up some lumber Saturday for the bottom frames, I'm going to replace 7 of them. Unfortunetly I had to get white oak as my local shop didn't have what I needed in Mahogany due to pandemic related supply issues. The white oak is heavy and hard as a rock but it will do the job fine, just a little more difficult to work with. So the photos tell the story. Notice how the strut block was never even touching the keel, the 5200 is untouched. The block was also held in place with one common nail on each side instead of screws and that was a factory item. you can also see how the keel popped right off at the frames and the 5200 wasn't sticking to anything, again the keel should have never been reused. So are shims used to adjust wedges? You can see where they coated the frames with epoxy before putting the new bottom on. Notice there's no 5200 on the frames, it just pulled right off. Where it did stick out towards the chines the frames broke away during demo so as I stated I'm going to replace all the frames Fitting the new keel. And first frame removed.
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Alan,
I was hoping it was a PO DIY job. It's sad when you see something like this from someone who probabaly avertises themselves as profesionals.
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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I won't state who it was Pete but it was done by a boat shop. The crazy thing about this is the keel was definitely wet before they did the bottom, maybe not as bad as it is now but it was wet. They did a pretty decent job building a new stem but they didn't replace the keel and did a half assed job repairing a mushy transom. The frames are wet as well and there will be few I have to replace. I don't quite understand the thinking in not replacing any wet wood, it's the least expensive part of the job. In any case, I'm over it. I am even considering putting new topside planks on now instead of reusing the old ones. This has gone as far back as the Hurricane went so saving a few dollars on old planking doesn't make sense. Might take me a few years longer than I though but this is a good looking little boat and with a little more experience under my belt now should really turn out good.
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Alan,
Do you know who did the bottom? There are "restorer's" out there that will do back yard jobs but was this one of them or was it the owner doing a DIY project?
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Time for an update, obviously 2020 went completely off the rails for just about everyone and I hope all made it through without too much difficulty.
Dana and I were no exception and although our entire family remained healthy boating was on the bottom of the priority list this year. I only splashed a boat one time and that was the day we sold the Hurricane, our 200 never left the storage unit this year. Being overly occupied with the business, the poor Collegian didn't even get a glance all summer. I thought about tarping it and putting out of sight for a few years as I just lost all interest in it. This weekend I finally mustered up enough ambition to get back to work. I've been dreading this because I knew when I stopped in March that I was fooling myself in thinking any of that bottom could be saved. I was seeing so much damage from the oil soaking that I just didn't want to believe what was ahead of me so I stopped. So here's where we are after a day and a half back at it. I've pulled most of the bottom off, first picture is of the outer keel cap, it is so soaked it is completely black with oil. The inner keel is no better showing rot at the prop shaft hole and black as night throughout. The keel will get replaced up to the stem. And here's where I ended up. I'm going to have to replace the chines, they are nice and solid but since there's no oil there the 5200 will just not come off without damaging them. I spent more time working on saving the chines than it would take to replace them. Will be nice and solid by the time I'm ready to put the new bottom on. |
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Kristof
Grand Poobah Joined: October-08-2007 Location: Bree, Belgium Status: Offline Points: 3391 |
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Always a relief to find out things are not as bad as they first seem... Even though it might still be a lot of work, it is also a lot less work.
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- Gun control means: using BOTH hands!
- Money doesn't make one happy, but when it rains cats and dogs, it's still better to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle... |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Got back to the boat for a few hours last weekend and made some progress removing the outer bottom planks. Went at it with a plunge router and it really isn't that bad of a job, just a little messy. I tried to route down and skim into the plywood but it is secured with brass ring nails so I had to go as close as I could and then trim off the 5200 with a multi tool. I found those nails the hard way. Good news is once I got the old 5200 removed it appears that the plywood layer is in pretty good shape. Seems that the plywood was treated with cpes and has very little if any staining from the oil as far as I can see right now. Best guess is the oil followed the screws down through the ply and into the old planks, notice any planks that were replaced when the new bottom went on are not soaked. I'm thinking these wet planks were already in bad shape and should have never gone back on the boat.
Plan this weekend is to go at it full force and just route off anything that is soaked. Looks like 4 planks on each side from just about strut to stem and the outer keel layer will have to go as well. So lots of work to do but all things considered the best scenario I could have hoped for. |
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Hollywood
Moderator Group Joined: February-04-2004 Location: Twin Lakes, WI Status: Offline Points: 13512 |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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I didn't mean to imply that this boat was misrepresented. The seller said it had a 5200 bottom and it does. No malice on his part. To your question, yes the bilge was oily but I was not prepared for how much or how far it traveled through the bottom. Some of this issue goes to the shop that installed the bottom. Did they seal everything with Cpes before installing I don't know, certainly doesn't appear that they did or if they did it wasn't sufficient. Anyway, live and learn. I have ordered an output shaft seal for the Hurricane because it drips a little oil, I hate the thought of pulling that engine again but I can't let it ruin that boat. Back to my point about wood boats. going forward I will assume any 60+ year old wood boat's bottom will need replacement much like an original 80's Ski Nautique will need stringers. No progress this weekend as I spent a good portion of it working my real job. |
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Riley
Grand Poobah Joined: January-19-2004 Location: Portland, ME Status: Offline Points: 7952 |
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I'd love to save the parts near the chines and the stem but just won't know until we pull it apart, not even sure how I'd do a partial repair yet. [/QUOTE] Too bad about the last one. I've found Correct Craft people to be to be generally very honest. With this one, was there no signs of the oil due to the bilge and bottom paint? |
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67 ski nat
Platinum Member Joined: July-19-2018 Location: Santa rosa Status: Offline Points: 1184 |
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It’s to soon to joke about it
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quinner
Grand Poobah Joined: October-12-2005 Location: Unknown Status: Offline Points: 5828 |
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O Brother, Where Art Thou
The Joy of Constant Sorrow New Boat Name: "Soggy Bottom" |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Fastenings are solid Pete but I can't imagine anything is going to pull this much oil out. The oil has begun to soften the 5200, it is gooey in some of the seams so I can only imagine it's going bad between the bottom layers too. It's really a shame, |
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67 ski nat
Platinum Member Joined: July-19-2018 Location: Santa rosa Status: Offline Points: 1184 |
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I’ve really been enjoying watching your work
Feel bummed for you too But hang in there, cheer up you have great skills to fix damage I’m sure everyone here is behind you too |
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Alan,
Give the oil dry-Toluene or Xylene poultice a try to see if it will suck the oil out. It's worked for me. How are the bottom fastenings? Still a solid hold into the frames? |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Well bad news on the boat bottom, yes it had a fairly nice 5200 bottom put on it about 10-12 years ago and is still quite solid but after flipping the boat last week we found a good portion of the bottom planks are soaked completely through with oil. I mean saturated with oil, this motor must have been leaking quarts and it was never repaired so a nice solid bottom job is ruined. The fact that the bottom was done was a major factor in buying this boat so it's a shame. I've now changed my view on any old wood boat, after getting screwed on the last one we did that was supposed to have a recent bottom and now this one that did have a recent bottom but was still not serviceable I'll proceed with the assumption that any boat in need of restoring also needs a full bottom job. Still feel this was a good buy but it's obviously going to take a lot more than we thought to get it done.
Anyway, with that said, after grinding some paint off last week we found the oil soaked planks. before giving up completely I put a couple coats of CPES on one plank and when that set up I tried some Primer just to see what would happen. After a week away I'm back from vacation and the primer is still tacky, It's just not going to cure and there are spots where the oil is seeping right through the paint. Only thing we can do now is go into damage control mode and pull a few planks off tomorrow to see how much of the bottom we have to replace. My concern is the inner ply is just as saturated and if so then we might as well pull the entire bottom off. Next will be the condition of the frame members, if they're soaked then they'll have to be replaced too. It's a house of cards at this point so stay tuned. I'm down but not out, just disappointed in adding another season to getting this back on the water. I'd love to save the parts near the chines and the stem but just won't know until we pull it apart, not even sure how I'd do a partial repair yet. |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Quinner, Hollywood, Swanny and our skiing buddy Christian stopped by Saturday so we got the boat flipped. Went with the tried and true method used on the Hurricane by building a box around the hull and flipped 90 degrees at a time. Pretty straight forward with no drama. I almost cut that limb off the tree last year for fear of it coming down in a wind storm, looks like it will have to stay at least until we flip it back over.
Only real problem we had was Hollywood drinking Bone's Coors Light Thanks again for the help guys. I'm booked for the next couple of weekends so might be a little while before I get back with a bottom report. |
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Kristof
Grand Poobah Joined: October-08-2007 Location: Bree, Belgium Status: Offline Points: 3391 |
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Ha, love the shirt, love that show and particularly like Sue... Sure hope you won't start calling any of your eventual helpers "Ass Monkey" Keep the pictures coming!! You know we all crave pictures on this forum |
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- Gun control means: using BOTH hands!
- Money doesn't make one happy, but when it rains cats and dogs, it's still better to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle... |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Maybe the word Degreasing was the wrong term because all we did was wipe it down with solvent (Xylol) and sand it. There is still a little bit oil in some of the impossible to reach places but I think it's as good as it's going to get. |
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8122pbrainard
Grand Poobah Joined: September-14-2006 Location: Three Lakes Wi. Status: Offline Points: 41040 |
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Gary, I've had very good results using a poultice of a strong solvent like toluene and oil dry ground into a powder. It works especially good on oily frame bonding surfaces. Alan, What have you been doing? |
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Gary S
Grand Poobah Joined: November-30-2006 Location: Illinois Status: Offline Points: 14096 |
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Simply amazing. Other than getting Dana to do it how do you go about degreasing the bilge? I would have thought once that wood gets oily your pretty much out of luck but the results speak for themselves
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SNobsessed
Grand Poobah Joined: October-21-2007 Location: IA Status: Offline Points: 7102 |
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Alan - You show start a TV show 'This Old Boat"
What a class act! |
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“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Ben Franklin |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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I then spent some time fitting the side inner layer of plywood. This is where that repair that was done when they replaced the deck came into play. I decided to pull off the covering board to get access to it as it would be so much easier to repair. I'm going to have a fairly substantial repair job there to get that void filled and straighten the landing for the plywood. Might be easier to just replace it, i'm certain I'll find the same issue up towards the bow where they made a similar repair.
You can see my shirt selection was appropriate for the day! Plywood is just tacked in place for now while fitting it in but that's where we ended up for the day |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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So this weekend we sort of had a lot of small tasks, nothing ground breaking to show but there was still progress. Dana has the bilge degreased and sanded, ready for paint
I spent some time getting the rear seat back frame positioned correctly and started thinking about the ski pylon. This boat didn't come with it but it's going to get one. I found this one on ebay a few years ago and was going to put it in the Hurricane but never got to it, I don't think I'll ever tear back into that boat so it's going to end up here.. The thought for now is since were dropping in a more modern PCM engine with adjustable motor mounts that we would build an engine cradle as well. It will be similar to what's in most Nautiques and will have the pylon support built into it. We're going to make the pylon ring removal so it won't be in the way when not in use. I know we're going to have a challenge finalizing the design because the engine has to come so far forward to fit in the boat I'm certain the water pump will interfere with the pylon but we'll design on the fly when the time comes. |
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Riley
Grand Poobah Joined: January-19-2004 Location: Portland, ME Status: Offline Points: 7952 |
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Those details are beautiful and make the quality look to me as good as a Chris Craft or Century. That inlay took a lot of time.
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Bruce,
The three boards that make up the Covering board of Todd's Commuter are three separate pieces and run almost the entire length of the boat. I fitted those with a router and the joints are almost non detectable. The factory 60 years ago did these by hand on a band saw and they were still pretty darn good. And I bet they knocked that deck out in a day where it took me a weeks worth of Saturdays. |
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81nautique
Grand Poobah Joined: September-03-2005 Location: Big Rock, Il Status: Offline Points: 5772 |
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Yes I agree on this. I'm sure there were different levels of carpenters in the shop. Apprentices probably worked on the frame work and as you said finish carpenters did the rest. When I was an Apprentice builder many years ago I was always told good finish work starts with good rough work. I can tell you that with all these side planks being hand fitted they were remarkably well done so there was some talent there. Also some of the deck patterns Correct Craft did on these boats was fairly difficult to do. They had a lot of inlays where the deck colors changed and they were all done by hand. When I had to replicate the deck on Todd's Commuter I did it all with a router and follower plate and it was still a challenge. Those guys only had band saws and block planes. Well done. |
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