1950 CC Junior Utility Restoration

Thanks for the kind words. You are moving along at a great pace! Took me almost 9 months to restore my 73 Skier. Well worth every minute after the beautiful summer I have just spent with my family enjoying the boat. The biggest perk has been meeting all the great people on this website. The amount of collective knowledge is overwhelming!

Also glad you tracked down the fir. That white oak was way too expensive. Fir is such a beautiful wood. I hated having to cover it all up in a thick cap of fiberglass. I carved this out of one of the original stringers and put it in old mechanical fuel cell gauge window. Thought just a little of it should be seen!

As we try to solve the mystery or the paint I am adding a few pictures of stem scraps and transom. Will await comments. As Popeye always said, "wimens is a miskery to me". Same holds true on this old woody.

Not sure if this helps the paint sleuthing at all but if you follow this link and scroll down a bit, there is what is referred to as a Cute Correct Craft

My son Burton is proud of his Nautique which was indeed our first adventure in string replacement. Have to say it was a lot more work pulling out all the flotation than just taking apart like the junior, but I didn't do that part. I was lucky to be held in reserve for my woodworking skills. As much fun as the Nautique offers and with all respect to it's power, I still have a soft spot for woodies and so does Burton. Good thing we don't have storage like we used to or there just might be a few more around. Time will tell.

Time does fly and as our obligations to others take over. sometimes our preferred activities take second place. Such has been the case with our junior utility which I placed in my daily path so as to always remind me of the challenges ahead and the fun that also lies in store. Little by little my son and I have removed putty and old screws to release the port side hull material. Seems as if every piece of ply on the hull has had some repair although it is not extensively hacked up. When the other three sections are off I need to make a decision as to what can be salvaged and what needs replacement. Well executed repairs below the water line in areas that are to receive paint are of less concern to me than those that must be clear coated and are up for All eyes to see. Perhaps I'd consider replacing one or both or these but I am not aware of the availability of long marine ply any longer. I know it can be fingered together with a CNC process but this will not look so good to my way of thinking. I'll be posting some pictures of what we have soon but wanted to refresh this topic and dust it off along with the boat. Spring is closing in.

Pete, it is available finger jointed. I don't need a debate on every comment I post however I still appreciate the input. The repairs I intend to make will be on painted areas only, so, staining is of no concern either. Marine plywood which I have 3 thicknesses in stock, has a face veneer of slightly over 1/16 in. I would never use a product available in Home Depot for a hull material. My labors are much to precious. It seems probable that others have had similar situations and I hope to get more input especially on the bow repair.

Regarding my comment about the clear finish, I loosely group any finish without pigment into the category of clear. sorry the vocabulary is misleading. Again my momma didn't raise no fools and I have the collective reasoning developed enough such that I do know the difference between auto finishes and boat finishes. In as much as I wouldn't use HD Luan ply for a boat the same holds true with auto clear finish. I will look into the Flagship varnish you recommend. Thanks.

Has any other found two layers of ply used for the transom? Looks to be original construction. Still trying to figure out the #775. Wondering if it is not the numbering of boats built as they are produced. Has anyone seen this also? I know I need to send pics.

Jack,
The two layers are the way CC made them. I had it in my Atom and I believe Billy has it on his Dart. It's like a planked hull with double layers.

The 775 is most likely a part number.

Have never found the serial # cause the deck has been replaced and along with it went the number I think. The motor serial # puts in in the 50's though. Have seen other hand written identification on the boat but this is different. Written in bold blue crayon and almost decorative. Perhaps someone just enjoying their job too much.

Just picked up a couple sticks of Honduran mahogany to fix up the transom and a couple other areas. At $10.50 bd. ft it can be very painful. Just part of the pleasure of the experience and I do feel good knowing I can still find and use the wood that is original to the boat.

8122pbrainard wrote: juniorwoody wrote: Just picked up a couple sticks of Honduran mahogany to fix up the transom and a couple other areas. At $10.50 bd. ft it can be very painful. Just part of the pleasure of the experience and I do feel good knowing I can still find and use the wood that is original to the boat. Jack, You are going to plank the transom? If so, single on battens or double? 5200?

No plank on the transom Pete. Might even be able to reinstall the original ply's. I need to fix areas on the frame. Specially the bent pieces at the deck area.

8122pbrainard wrote: Jack, Got you now. When you mentioned transom, I wasn't thinking about the transom frames. What else are you finding with the ply pulled off?

Actually not too bad so far for rot on frames. I have been taking pictures but much as I love this new ipad I can't load pics so need time on the other computer to do that. Need to flip the boat as soon as I can get it outside. Not enough ceiling clearance. I don't expect miracles but think there will minimal repair from my poking around. Question becomes do I save panels or replace? There needs to be a honest thought process as to how important to save the original stuff with it's inherent spirit and history as opposed to just scrapping the stuff. I want to give the original pieces a chance if possible. Will be challenging my scarf making skills but I do posses the ability to sharpen a chisel which is invaluable in the process.

8122pbrainard wrote: Jack, I'm glad to hear you are flipping it as well and assume you will then be pulling the bottom off too. This is very good since it's likely you will need inner and outer keel work. It's a real bad spot since the difference in their widths makes the rabbit the ply fits too and it really holds the water. New ply? That's got to be up to you. I really can't tell from the pictures if the original ply can be salvaged and will take a decent stain and finish. I've seen way too many cover up stain jobs that were "painted" so you can't even see the grain.

Well, it's all coming off as you told me from the start and I do expect to find more damage for sure. Patches on the ply below the water line will be more forgiving than those top side. May need to make some hipped patches and fit all sides in. I will be using the 5200 no question.

Sure wish I was back in Fl for the Lake Dora event coming up.

I don't know about July of '75 or part #775. If it was a part #, would that suggest sequence? It would be quite the puzzle!

I was thinking that they probably had a good idea of what they were building, so maybe this one got the conspicuous number to remind someone to check the build sheet.

It's speculation only. My guess comes from the way I leave myself reminders in the process of something.