1956 DuraCraft Rebuild

I'm a newbie here, but I made the jump the other day and bought a Duracraft runabout. We got it for 50 bucks. We just happened to be driving by the guys house and he had it out front. He just wanted to get rid of it. As a matter of fact we were on our way to look at a different boat when we saw it. I've been looking for the right boat for a while and I thought this fit the bill.

Motor ID# was 25924-04344 and I think I found the motor info here: http://www.marineengine.com/manuals/evinrude/index.html#e15hp

I found 25924 on the website. Motor appears to be a 1956, 30 hp motor. Do you agree?


I have no idea what year or model the boat is. It has a data plate on the dash with serial #17594. No HIN# plate can be found. For the life of me I can't find anything online. Can anyone help?


The hull, trailer and engine appear to be in really good shape for their age. What do you all think? The transom will need to be replaced. I'm working now to get the title stuff worked out.

My game plan is to:
1) Remove windshield, steering and shifting mechanisims, seats and motor. Trash seats.
2) Remove boat from trailer and begin fixing trailer. New wood, carpet, bearings and tires (if needed, tires look new). Paint is good except on fenders. I'll repaint those.
3) Flip boat and begin stripping.
4) Begin going through the motor. Save for colder days since I can do it in the garage.

Does that sound like a good game plan? I'm really hoping you guys will help me through my first restore.

We plan to leave it the same color, crimson and cream.

Any comments and help is appreciated.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

That is one of the neatest tinnies I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!! the windsheild looks like its been chopped!!??!...Seems like you have it all planned out... From what I see from other members that cruved windshield might be a pain to replace....There is a lot to be said about paint! For trailers I like what Tractor Supply has. It is a implement paint by Valspar. It comes with a hardner that makes it very durable. Surface prep is everything. Strip, prime and sand between coats...the end result is worth it! We're all here for you but we need pictures!

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Thanks goboating. I figured the windshield would be challenging. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but right now I'm leaning towards making my own. I saw it here: http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-5/wl43-windshield1.html Seems straight forward enough. I saw an adjustable windshield on a 1965 Glastron Thunderjet V-160. You could raise it up slighty so there was a crack at the bottom to let air in, two different heights also. I've got to try and figure that one out concerning the hardware to use.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Welcome! That looks like a fun little boat and a great find for $50! So far, my limited experience has been in restoring fiberglass, but it looks like you are on the right track to me. Once "demo" is done, I'd concentrate on the transome if I were you. Once that's out of the way, the rest is more or less cosmetic.

There are lots of threads in here of folks who've restored aluminum boats. You'll find tons of good information there. Like goboating said, don't cut corners on the paint prep. Enjoy the resto and enjoy your new boat!

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Imsmith, read your link on the windsheild. That should save you alot of time and MONEY!! Other members have spent alot of time and money just trying to find one with less scratches than the one they started out with! For restoring old boats like yours also look up Fiberglassics. Those people are dedicated!!!!or got bit by the bug to many times to count. Also look at www.tinboats.net. This is a tin only site but its more for newer boats. To let that go for $50 bucks!!!....man...they must have wanted that out of the yard for awhile! Keep up the good work.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Just found your thread, looks like a real classic and you can't beat the price! That will keep you busy for a while, but you've got a good foundation to build on. You might consider just polishing up that windshield and straightening the frame, that's what I did to mine once I found out how hard it is to find replacements. Then later if you come across one, all the better!

As far as the motor, I can't help much there, that's probably my weakest area.

Good luck & have fun!

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

I've got the boat gutted now. There should be a list of warnings/rules for all newbies and it would start something like this: 1) Your tools will get absolutley blazing hot sitting on the boat with the sun shining on them (keep them in a toolbox), 2) When your in the boat tools will roll off the bow cover and fall into the grass and hide from you, 3) There will always be one screw that will or is stripped everyday that you work on your boat. Ok, that's a good start.

Now that the boat has everything removed, including the motor though one picture doesn't show it, my mind keeps thinking about how I want to set the seats up. I want to take my dad fishing so I'm keeping that in mind. I'm thinking maybe 4 single seats (two front and back) and be able to easily remove two to go fishing. Any suggestions would be great.

I've removed the transom, I'll tell more about it later, and I've taken the boat off of the trailer now. I've also got a couple of electronic questions posted oit there. I'll update later one what direction they head me in. So far so good, I'm having fun, the wife is still happy.

More to come later.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

I pulled the boat off the trailer tonight, so I posted some questions in the Trailer forum on what to fix on it. If your interested take a look and let me know what you think.


http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=508589

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

lmsmith said:

I've got the boat gutted now. There should be a list of warnings/rules for all newbies and it would start something like this: 1) Your tools will get absolutley blazing hot sitting on the boat with the sun shining on them (keep them in a toolbox), 2) When your in the boat tools will roll off the bow cover and fall into the grass and hide from you, 3) There will always be one screw that will or is stripped everyday that you work on your boat. Ok, that's a good start.

Click to expand...

I can't tell you how many times I climbed in and out of the boat for the one tool I didn't have in there. Or to get ones that got knocked off onto the ground. Stripped screws, check. You might add one more: If working without a shirt on, make sure you don't lean over into the boat when it is sitting in the sun. And you always drop your last remaining nut/washer/rivet in the grass. Looks like you have the basic rules going here.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

I pulled the transom out the other day. I needed help from the iboat family to get it done. I hade a angled knee support that kept the the old piece from coming out. After your advice I decided to remove the support so the wood would come right out. I'll put the knee support back in with stainless bolts and sealant. I missed drilled one rivet and ended up enlarging the hole through the hull.

One lesson that I learned is that you can take the large bolts out of the transom, but if they have drilled through the hull with little screws for stuff like a speedometer into the transom then it will not come out if you don't remove them, it hangs up on those little screws. Little screws are tough.

Anywho, time to make the new transom. I haven't decided yet whether to use spar varnish or epoxy. What do you think? If epoxy do you just get the stuff that is in the fiberglass area at Lowes. Also, the wood. I thought about using exterior plywood, but I think I may want something prettier. Would Oak do fine if covered and protected. Oak is strong, they made ships out of it.

Here are some pictures of the old transom.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Great progress so far. That boat has really cool lines, almost looks like Caddy fins on the back. Or at least Chevrolet .

I think the epoxy resin is much more durable than just spar varnish; if you go that way, you'll need to overcoat it with paint or spar to protect it from UV, which will break it down over time. I got mine here http://www.uscomposites.com/epoxy.html with the 3:1 medium hardener. These prices are lower than those you see many other places.

No reason you can't use oak if you like.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Hows this project going? I just bought one of these little jewels .

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

m casey stock said:

Hows this project going? I just bought one of these little jewels .

Click to expand...

As usual life has gotten in the way. Not much has changed, I've put some work in on the trailer and motor, but I haven't worked much on the boat itself. I plan to try and finish the motor by the beginning of winter.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

keep us updated, I've just started stripping the paint off mine.

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Re: 1956 DuraCraft Rebuild "Newbies First Boat"

Hi, just checking in, here are a few pictures of mine so far. I'm still amazed that you only paid $50 motor and all, add another zero to that and that's what I paid :cold: