1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Just stumbled upon your thread chriscraft254. Very nice boat! Also very good work with all the teak. It'll be well worth it in the end of the work. I also loved the LED's that you put on.

Keep up the great work!

Thanks for the kind words man, this seems to be a never ending project but that is a boat right! I really hope the teak work lasts for years. I will be making some canvas to cover the teak in the future to insure it lasts longer.

i like that bow ligt even more that my atwood one.

I have been eyeballing this light for a long time, little pricey but really like the looks of it. Plus I had a hole for the wiring that really called for a wide/large bow light. Had an attwood on there before but it wasn't an led light. Seems to be a trend with me to do things twice on this boat. Now everything is led except for the dash gauges.

 

[DustinJean]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

good looking boat and nice to finally see another person on here not far from me, keep up the good work and maybe ill see you on the river some day as I wont be there much

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

good looking boat and nice to finally see another person on here not far from me, keep up the good work and maybe ill see you on the river some day as I wont be there much

Dustin, you just need to pick up the pace on your restore. I'm out all the time, anytime you need a water fix, just let me know. I can always use a fishing buddy that wants to share in the gas prices,lol Of coarse,it has to be a little warmer!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Got started finally on the hatch lid and doors. Well, one door anyway.

This imo is a "must have" if trim sanding down corners or louvered doors. It comes with different attachments and is worth its weight in gold.

Attachments that I am using on the louvers.

Before

During (Sanding)

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Coated a few times, not done

Louvered door one sanded & coated, other two not touched yet.

Couple coats. will let dry hard atleast for 24 hours on this and then sand very carefully to insure not taking off to much varnish before applying more coats.. These doors are going to take some time for sure.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Now everything is led except for the dash gauges.

Found these on sleezbay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400257082250?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Oh yeah, and looking good!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

That's some tedious work for sure but the result will be so worth it. I'm really not a fan of teak usually (especially on tinnies) but it's really well done on your boat and looks great. You have a great boat there. Very Grady-White-ish Since you haven't been around that long, you probably never saw this boat http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=205794 It's another CC from around the same time frame and is another one of my favorite boats on the forum.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Found these on sleezbay...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400257082250?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Oh yeah, and looking good!

Thanks man, I bought the led replacement lights for the step lights I installed on ebay. So far, so good. Will have to look for some red ones though, blue really isn't good for night vision.

That's some tedious work for sure but the result will be so worth it. I'm really not a fan of teak usually (especially on tinnies) but it's really well done on your boat and looks great. You have a great boat there. Very Grady-White-ish Since you haven't been around that long, you probably never saw this boat http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=205794 It's another CC from around the same time frame and is another one of my favorite boats on the forum.

Thats a sweet boat for sure, thanks for the link. My boat is definately Grady Whitish, but having owned a Grady in the past, I can tell you, this boat is far better constructed. Rides better to. I actually traded my second Grady for the motor that was put in this one if that tells you anything,lol. Kinda wish I had the center console back as a project though. It was a 20 footer.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Not alot of progress, but all three doors are sanded down and coated. These pics are one coat on one, two coats on one and three coats on the other. Like all the rest of the teak it will be getting alot more coats with some sanding along the way to fill the grains.

Really can not say enough good things about the angle Bosch sander I am using, it made short work of the louvers. I used a toe nail clipper file to scrape out the corners and make them clean of any debris. Sounds silly but worked great!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Doors jsut got there last coat applied. What a pita these were!!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Won't be able to get the sides and bottom frames sanded down and varnished until I get a couple warm days, so I went ahead and installed the doors and hatch cover anyway to see what they look like finished. Think once the frame is done, its going to look sharp. No more teak oil,yeahhh!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Brother, the only problem I see is that they are coming out sooooo shiny and wet looking, you are going to wear out the shine constantly trying to dry the wet off of 'em...LOL!

Looking super!, once the framing is done, you might want to buy that boat, again...

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Brother, the only problem I see is that they are coming out sooooo shiny and wet looking, you are going to wear out the shine constantly trying to dry the wet off of 'em...LOL!

Looking super!, once the framing is done, you might want to buy that boat, again...

Lmao, thanks man. I scored on four large pieces of teak from craigslist today, four peices 12 inches wide by 48 inches long for $40 bucks. Now I just need to figure out what I want to do with them. The shipping date on these peices were 1971. Hard to find tight grain teak like this, the guy didn't know what he had! I'm siked!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

$40, you couldn't even ship those pieces Louisville to Cincy or Lexington for that, let alone pay for the wood. NICE CL score!

Congrats on the great end-o-year bargain find!! Even better if it's 5/4 stock or thicker, but even 3/4~11/16 is a good deal at $40. For 16+ lbf of teak that's CHEAP! The 1st place I looked was @$85 (+ship) PER 1X8X96, for New Guinea wood that won't be nearly as nice a tight grain & color, and its 'only' 8" wide (really 7.75+/-) by 8foot, so figure at least $40 for a 8X48". Well done, very well done! Can't wait to see it added to the Seahawk!

I need to move to a better CL market Even old busted stuff seems to be dipped in UN-A-Tanium (its SO much more $$ then gold ) in WV.

Have a safe & happy NYE holiday this weekend!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

$40, you couldn't even ship those pieces Louisville to Cincy or Lexington for that, let alone pay for the wood. NICE CL score!

Congrats on the great end-o-year bargain find!! Even better if it's 5/4 stock or thicker, but even 3/4~11/16 is a good deal at $40. For 16+ lbf of teak that's CHEAP! The 1st place I looked was @$85 (+ship) PER 1X8X96, for New Guinea wood that won't be nearly as nice a tight grain & color, and its 'only' 8" wide (really 7.75+/-) by 8foot, so figure at least $40 for a 8X48". Well done, very well done! Can't wait to see it added to the Seahawk!

I need to move to a better CL market Even old busted stuff seems to be dipped in UN-A-Tanium (its SO much more $$ then gold ) in WV.

Have a safe & happy NYE holiday this weekend!

Thanks man, Your on the mark. I usually order any I need off ebay. Expensive to say the least and finding this old of planks, with tight grains and not one knot is almost impossible! This wood is atleast 40 years old and it was still in the original shipping box that was from starcraft. It was originally for seats in a 14' Starcraft Super Star. Its about 7/8 inch thick, 3/4 once its sanded down. I told the guy if he had anymore at all, to call me first.

Here is three of the planks. The other one is shorter by about a foot. My wheels are already turning on where to use it on the boat. There is also a Starcraft for sale for $300 that I am going to look at over the weekend. Trailer and motor included.

Happy New Year to you also!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Don't let the Tinny guys hear you're shopping for tin.... I may have seen that CL ad, I'll be back that way in late Feb. Since it's not a great market here, I've got a BIG area on CL covered by a search bot. I need to rehab my current trailer, and need quite a bit of hardware, so a 2nd boat is probably in my future. And winter will be much more attractive price wise, before they decide to fix & use the boat themselves.

I hear everybody needs a quick & easy Tinny in the driveway/garage/boathouse... Helps to balance the darkside 'glass work...

Good luck w/ the Teak goldmine paying of again!

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Don't let the Tinny guys hear you're shopping for tin.... I may have seen that CL ad, I'll be back that way in late Feb. Since it's not a great market here, I've got a BIG area on CL covered by a search bot. I need to rehab my current trailer, and need quite a bit of hardware, so a 2nd boat is probably in my future. And winter will be much more attractive price wise, before they decide to fix & use the boat themselves.

I hear everybody needs a quick & easy Tinny in the driveway/garage/boathouse... Helps to balance the darkside 'glass work...

Good luck w/ the Teak goldmine paying of again!

The starcraft is a 1965 fiberglass boat. No tinny here.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

Got started on another project today. This is the engine cover refurb! Will get grinded down, adding bracing to strengthen and insulating. Then fiberglass and gel coat or bilge coating. Maybe a wider stainless trim for the bottom.
Before.

Grinding.

 

[zopperman]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

That looked like a miserable amount of grinding.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: 1990 Chris Craft 254 Seahawk ( Refurb and upgrades)

That looked like a miserable amount of grinding.

Shouldn't have to grind to much more. Just getting the loose gel coating off and prepping before I add anything to it. Lot easier to grind it now, before I do what I am going to do.