56' Custom Build

1956 Custom Build

Scope of Work to be done

Secure fuel tank

Take to lake - Run engine - check its condition

Perform Yard Survey - especially check condition of hull

Replace plywood (simulated caulked decks) with Mahogany Decks having routed and live seams. Strip remaining deck of finish. Sand, stain, seal and varnsish with 9 coats of varnish, then pinstripe white deck stripes

Sand according to paint manufacturers recomendations and apply two coats of Hard Antifouling Copper Bronze bottom paint

Fair sanding divots out of hull sides and re-coat with top side paint for smooth and glossy appearance

Repair original Throttle in center of wheel - bypass linkage and install cable from bottom of throttle control lever to carb.

Replace Steering Wheel with other vintage correct steering wheel with no throttle

Note to owner. Consider having us get the original period correct steering and throttle combination working properly.

Replace Dash with either brushed metal or varnished wood dash complete with glove box with power outlet.

Install CD and speakers in an inconspicuous manner

Purchase and install new / proper push pull switches in dash

Install engine complartment ventilating fan in inconspicuous manner

Possibly remove spot light and replace with air horn.

Sandblast and paint coat trailer, replace wheels with aluminum (possibly bronze anodised?) and add bronze pin stripe to trailer... or source new aluminum trailer

Improve legroom in rear cockpit

Re-rout exhaust below back cockpit floor

Replace broken lenses in Bow and Stern lights

Tilt Seat(s) Back for more comfort

Link to owners password protected page

Update 10/09/09

Yard Survey

The below pictures are of the inside prior to dipping for leak detection.

The pics above shows some trim boards from the port and starboard sides aft of the engine compartment

that are delaminating as they are not marine grade plywood

Above pics are boards found used as filler to support port and stbd floorboards in cocpit on outbard sides

aft compartment port side bottom

Trim from aft compartment outbard sides, fwd edge

Forward bottom keel at bow showing shift linkage

Aft compartment starboard side botom

Starboard side below caprails at cockpit showing

a gouged area that was repaired but needs to be repaired correctly and blended prior to new paint.

Update 10/15/09

Yard Survey

left, engine hatch, stbd side after removal, to be replaced with mahogony plankng

close up of same hatch as above, to be replaced with mahagony planking

opposite side engine hatch removed, to be replaced with mahogony planking

engine in process of comprression testing

old port engine hatch panel

frame work for engine hatch to be worked and reinforced

opposite engine hatch frame to be reworked, reinforced

pic of original dash wiring, to be redone new

old wiring at generator to be replaced

grounding strap on front of engine to replaced with new cable

aft decking area removed showing view of gas tank. We will be adding blocks under tank or support and reworking decking and framing, decking will be new mahogony plankinf.

old front deck panel support plywood sheathing.

engine run for survey

Below are pictures of inside trim panels from the sides of the boat at the engine area and cocpit area on starboard side

old side panel roughly notched to fit

old side panel from engine area

old side panel from stbd cockpit area

old piece of trim showing delamination of ply

old piece of side panel with delamination of ply

delamination of plywood side panel

back side of dashboard with wiring and switches removed

This shows wiring harness attached to framing with roofing nails which are rusted

another metal strap holding harness and showing rust on the roofing nails and strap

these two pics are of the dashboard showing location of removed switches

picture of Tach showing oil,temperature, and amps guages

Out with the old, make room for the new

We are beginnning to remove old pieces and catalogging so as to maintain a record of work accomplished and to show condition of old boat versus restored boat later.

These two pictures are of the original wire harness from the console to the engine, lights, horn, generator, coil and other electrical components. We will use this as a sample to manufacture a new wiring harness and install with proper hardware and protection.

below are metal clamps and roofing nails used to hold wiring harness to the framework of the boat, which was rusting and would have lead to rot and mold of the wood around it.

270-866-2628 [email protected]

New Toll Free Phone Number 866-921-2628

Below is close view of old temperature guage workings

side close view of internal workings of old temp guage

above is another view of workings of old temp guage

Left is view of guage cluster with tach, temp, oil and amp guages

port caprail just forward of cockpit showing some separation and filler. Just after stripping.

Above is the starboard caprail just forward of the cockpit show major seraration and cosmetic filling. This is to be lifted, cleaned , reinforced as necessary and pulled back into place. This also shows lumber without the varnish, just after stripping.

above and below is starboard caprail after finish was removed

The three pics above left are of the inside cocpit panels removed and showing delamination of nonmarine plywood. These are to be replaced.

Below are the two rear sprayrails removed which will be cleaned and replaced.

above is the old dashboard removed and to be used as a guide for new dash.

prop and shaft removed, to be cleaned up checked and reinstalled

above is hole where rudder shaft comes thru boat and below it is the spot where lifting ring is attached. They are removed and will be cleaned or just replaced as discussed with Paul and yourself.

Oh No!!! It's all gone but no worry mate, it will be put back better than before. Cocpit area with dash, side panels, forward deck and floor board gone.

Nice pic with a piece for compariso of before and after varnish is removed. This is the nose area top deck

above is the stern panel with varnish stripped away.

Above left red triangle shows cap rail stbd side which will be removed to see why it has pulled up from the framing and what needs to be done to secure it properly, so as to prevent lifting in the future.

port storage compartment

stbd CD player/storage

port storage would be appox., 10" wide, 4" high, 8" deep

stbd storage would be appox. 12" wide,4.5" high, up to 10" deep

start button

IGN SW

choke

bilge pmp

nav lght

search lght

anchor lght

horn

tach cluster

Above is an idea of how the dash could be set up. If there are any suggestions please feel free to reply via email or phone to discuss. Port storage could only be 8 inches deep due to cables coming into dash from this side. Starboard compartment will be larger to accomodate CD player, which we need to know ( single or multi disc). Idea of metal covering for dash good and would be appox same cost as wood finished, and also this era boat was known for upholstering dashes to match seats. Again this is options for you to choose!!!

I would sugget a hand held VHF radio versus installed as cocpit room is limited and need to add antenna to boat which may take away from it's looks.

Similated idea of dash setup/ awaiting input for final make

above pics show old switches laid out before new harness made

BELOW show attachment under bow caprails. No support, just connects pieces together.

above is pic of aft stbd cocpit framework showing with arrow that there is no support for caprail on inboard half from this deck beam forward. Only support was other deck beams which were short and did not attach to topside framesor battens, just basically toed into bottom of caprails.

above shows piece toed into bottom of forward covering board, but not conected between port and stbd framing.

lower pic showes deck beam not extending from outside frame to frame, therefore no real support

above shows sheer clamp worked anddeck beam fitted.

above is fwd cocpit deck beam showing that it is appox 5 inches short from connecting to port and stbd framing, again, no support.

above is close up of deckbeam and sheer worked to fit caprails smoothly.

below shows where deckbeam should be, but orig. was 5 inches short of reaching both side framing.

above is removed rudder, rudder shaft log, packing nuts, lock ring, steering arm and arrow shows oversize nuts used as spacers for thru hull bolts. We will rethread thru bolts and eliminate " spacers" , and seal all with 52 mil compound.

arrow shows filler and gap which will be removed and worked to fit properly.

arrow above shows board has no connection to framing and gives no solid support only used as batten for forward covering boards

arrow right shows covering board with batten under which serves no solid frame to frame connection

Which way do we go!!! Several options available for dash conversion, "but only you can decide".

aft deck support beam manf and installed temporarily

shaft log removed. No sealant on original and copperbronze screws bent/damaged and need replacing

rudder log and lifting ring reinstalled and sealed with 52 hundred

reworking fwd stbd caprails

new butt block for stbd fwd caprails

aft deck beam temporarily installed

engine thru hull for water intake

gas tank support log installed

new underlay dor bow decking

new underlay for engine hatches

new thru hole for engine coolant

aft thru hull patch for old drain system

exhaust pipe behind rear seat cut off approx 2 ft

new stbd caprail work showing tight fit and underlay for deck

Bottom seat brace showing cut back to allow for more angle on seat

pic above shows where old seat position was and the new position it is in now

picture shows the seat back brace removed which eliminates the small deck area right behind the cockpit and between the engine compartment and seat back. Also shows relocation of side supports and shows new angle of seat.

Pic shows old seatback supports and side supports in original position. You get approx 3 inches of upper seatback recline but lose the small deck area between the seatback support and engine cowlings.

old deck area gone

shows new position

arrows show old and new position of seat supports

view of dash with port stereo box cut in

view of dash with stbd glove box cut in and new holes for switches in place

view of the stbd dash showing glove box opening

better view of port stereo glove box cut in dash

bow view of curfed decking trial fitting

another bow view of trial fitting

view of mid section curfed decking trial fitting

view from stern of aft decking curfed and fitted

view of back deck edge fitting of new planks

view of back deck from aft compartment

view of engine compartment decking from fwd compartment

View of fwd deck stbd corner fitting

view of engine compartment fom aft cockpit

engine compartment decking from fwd cockpit

fwd port decking corner fitting

bow nose decking fitting looking from port side

new water hose top of engine

battery box/storage box in engine conpartment

new dash rough cut install for view also showing side panel

another dash view showing both side panels and new glove boxes on top.

view of new dashboard and glove boxes tobe installed

water intake hose,3 way valve installed

gas tank reinstalled and new hose connected

another view of battery/storage box in engine compartment

view of exhaust elbow reorientated,new gaskets made and new steel engine mount wedges

foward new engine mount and new fuel hose installed

rough picture of new exhaust hose run under floor board and fuel hos nex to it

made of 3/4 inch mahogany plank

Picture to the right is of the shaft strut. As you can see it is bent with an offset of approx. 1 inch. We are attempting to straighten it out, other wise it will be an expensive buy. Keep your fingers crossed for a good fix!!!

Pictured to the right and below. Our attempt to heat and straighten the strut were not successful. All the stresses ended up concentrating on the joint instead of at the base of the strut where the actual bent area wasl. A new strut is on order!

Update 12/14/2010

In the next few days we are going to concentrate on

- lining up the engine and running gear.

- Landing the new wiring on proper terminals on the engine

- Landing the tach cable on the engine

- Making the liner panels that will go under the decks (this should be quicker while the decks are off )

-Installing the decks!

through the shaft log hole in the keel and properly installling the strut so that the shaft is not pushed up to, touching, and wearing on the keel. We have drilled and doweled the engine stringer today and moved the engine to the port about 1/4" centering the shaft in the shaft log. We then re-drilled the engine hold down bolt holes and installed. Next we moved to properly installing the strut... and found it bent. We also found the strut bearing to be nearly worn out and have ordered a new strut bearing.

Update 2/2/2011

Video Update filmed 1/21/2011

Decks look the same as before... but now they are fastened down bedded with 3M 5200 between the decks and sublayer of marine plywood. This layer will keep the decks stable and reduce their expansion and contraction thereby keeping deck seam maintenance to a minimum.

The engine hatches are sitting on the original frames and stops... which were none to correct. The hatches had to have been resting on their metal trim and hinges that surround the hatch covers. Some of that trim shows some bending occured. I think the trim is still usable after we do a little straightening before we polish. Small picture is of bungs in strip form that make them easy to install and orient grain. They are grouped by plank so they will match.