1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Looks like your going to need something to bolt down the new bending brake..

Yep, 2.25" thick maple work bench will do that nicely. Plus give me someplace to bolt a small drill press

Thanks for swinging thru fellas, no boat work today.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Got to spend some time on the beast tonight. It put up a little fight, but the steering has been removed from the tilt tube:

The boat had to give up some more glass to accomplish the task:

Little by little.

I'll finish getting donor 2 cut up in the next day or 2, then get a little help lifting the beast off the transom. I'll need to bleed the T&T system, it's stuck tilted up as well.

Have a great week...................

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Nibble,nibble - Soon it's gonna fall off the trailer.

I think there is a release somewhere for the tilt hydraulic pressure, but I'm not sure where. Does it have a pump under the splashwell?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

A great big pump under the splashwell, and a splashwell mounted 4way splitter. I need to disconnect all that too....

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I just looked at the TnT manual I have and no release to lower the motor. Only a reverse lock release to raise it.

So it's going to be messy with oil/hydraulic juice. Yuck!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Yeah, I kind of figured..... A last indignity for a forlorn glasser, just before I drag it to the landfill: A bit of hydraulic fluid left in the bilge.

The Merc's final farewell to it's previous home.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

I'd give it a 21 gun salute. But it's a glasser, it is not worthy. LOL

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Forward motion jb, I think cutting up glassers is like therapy, it just plain makes you feel good. Think of the Merc as big dog lifting his leg on a tire when it leave hydraulic fluid in the boat.:laugh:

 

[m casey stock]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Somewhere in my scanning through someone I knows Photo Bucket, I came across some pictures of a certain Dura Craft boat with fresh paint and a more modern outboard on it, sitting on a different trailer. Did I miss something, or is it just a twin with a few different goodies on it?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Think of the Merc as big dog lifting his leg on a tire when it leave hydraulic fluid in the boat.

EXACT image I had in mind ^^^ :watermelon:

Thanks dozer!
As for therapy, got some more of that in tonight:

Nope, it's not coming back from this ^^^
Fiberglass boat, built to look like a wooden boat from the way way back. I suspect it WAS a very nice looking boat. Not by the time I got it:

SAE must have been 1 of, if not THE person that built it:

The initials are on several of the pieces of the teak. AMAZING that the underside of the seat benches look like they could be on a boat to be splashed tomorrow.......
The ribs of this thing are some sort of wood impregnated w/ resin:

No idea how they got twisted over at the end. But they are RIGID and hard to cut thru, so not just steam bent oak or hickory....

Trailer is interesting, has keel rollers IN the main trailer spar, some sort of rigid plastic roller. Flat across their width..... But not a TeeNee that I've seen before.

Also the other boat gave up the rest of the steering system. Wheel/helm thru to the tilt tube connection pulled off, all in serviceable condition.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Somewhere in my scanning through someone I knows Photo Bucket, I came across some pictures of a certain Dura Craft boat with fresh paint and a more modern outboard on it, sitting on a different trailer. Did I miss something, or is it just a twin with a few different goodies on it?

Uh, no, not mine ^^^.... Perhaps you saw this pix in my bucket acct:

Supposed to be motivation ^^^ but it's not my boat. :blue:

A fellow iboater did PM me the details of a fairly inexpensive twin, that I'd love to be able to redo too, but it's way to far away and as a 2nd of the same, it'd have to be dang near free & less then an hour from the garage to even be considered.

Embarrassingly mine is in the same shape as the last full boat shot:

Thanks for swinging thru Casey. Splash your Duracraft yet? And more on point (for me anyway) figured out the modern motor & vintage cowl yet?

 

[m casey stock]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Thanks for swinging thru Casey. Splash your Duracraft yet? And more on point (for me anyway) figured out the modern motor & vintage cowl yet?

Shamefully :shame: no on both accounts. Time time time, where does it go :juggle: seems like every time it looks like a good weekend for the maiden voyage something comes up. As far as the retrofit, too many irons in the fire as it is, AND... I also wanted to be sure the Johnson 25 was going to perform the way I want before putting all the effort into modifying the cowl. You did see the interior pics and decals on that other site, but I was kinda waiting to post better pictures on here at the same time as my splash pictures/video. It will happen, just a matter of TIME.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Last nite was the end of donor 2's time on the trailer:

Alas she's no more.................

IMO, Chris Craft built it incredibly well, and I could have saved the entire transom. Minor surface wear & tear, a little rot along the edges where teak met fiberglass but otherwise in really good shape. Unfortunately, they used fiberglass to sandwich the 2 pieces of 3/4" teak together, and I couldn't think of a great place to use a 1.5" thick odd shaped piece of teak w/ a 1/8" fiberglass layer in the middle..... Cut it into strips & make my own swim platform maybe.... Anyway, it's in 3 smaller, odder shaped pieces in the bottom of donor 1's fuel tank hole........................

So that was last night. Headed that way in 10 & the plan tonight is to get the trim resevoir & pump assembly loose from the hull, cut out the splashwell to release the 4way thru mount for the hoses and hopefully get the Merc remote unburied so it can be removed from the boat & no longer connected to the motor.

 

[Decker83]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Looks like your getting a lot of work done in the last few days..

Hope your weekend goes well for you..

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Thanks for swinging by Decker, appreciate it.

So, I'm having trouble getting the remote cables unhooked from the motor, so I'm going to ME.com & find a Merc remote parts diagram & see if I can get a better idea of how to pull them off. It wasn't even evident to me if they were cotter pinned or thru bolted in some why.

All the trim pump hoses & wiring are free from the hull, just not ready to unscrew a line & possibly drain hydraulic fluid into the hull, just yet. I've also cut back more of the splashwell so I can access the lower engine thru bolts. OB still doesn't have much give w/ that big Merc hanging off it, too bad it was such a wreck. Could have been a nice 17ft bow rider.

Engine cherry picker is broken down at my office, so tomorrow's task after work is it's transport & set up on-site, then get the motor control cables all disconnected. IF it all goes well, perhaps lift the 1350 off the transom.

My backordered rivet gun arrived:

Unfortunately, I took a better look at donor 2's trailer, the center spar is thrashed. I may see if any of the FC.net or FGlassic guys want it, but given it's in such bad shape, it may not be worth the drive to pick it up. :grumpy: I haven't really looked at the axle assembly or spring set up, so it may or may not be salvageable. We'll see after the Panther gets it's final farewell Sat am................

Happy to almost be OVER the hump............. Have a great Friday!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

JB - do you have a SN for the motor. Most the older Merc cables hook up the same way. but let me find a parts diagram for you.

Did you find the magic glass dissolver for the one on the empty trailer? She went missing.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

The SN is buried under the front of the lower cowl, at max tilt up, I can't get a clean look at it to be able to read it.

Conveniently, the donors both came w/ an Easy Button for demo and a majic eraser for quick & easy cleanup:

GA, I HIGHLY recommend picking a set up for yourself. Makes getting, harvesting the good bits & disposing of the donor boats SO much less painful............:facepalm:

 

[Watermann]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Another handy product needed when tearing into a rotten McNasty glasser with a skillsaw or sawsall.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Sometimes the SN is stamped above the distributor mount. Different motor, but a Mercs a Merc. Right under item #4 with the faint red box.

http://

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1957 Duracraft Duraflite Custom

Thanks GA, I knew there was a number under there somewhere, but could remember where to look.

1970 Merc 1350 s/n: 2941792

Not going to be soon, but for grins I looked up the complete impeller. gaskets, housing kit: $45..... Not bad. So I looked up some more often needed parts. Should have stopped while I was ahead.

Timing belt: $30
Rectifier: $93
Distributer: $163
Ignition coil: $245
Ignition switch box: $545

Ouch ^^^

No matter, for what I have in it, if I part it out, I'll do just fine

If I can get it running, all the better.

So, some of the cherry picker is now on site, more later........

Enjoy lunch today fellas!