New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

And a glasser that's headed for the 'Fill' once she's stripped:

But has a 135hp Merc w/ tilt & trim:

I grabbed this a while ago, and needed to stash it somewhere, so an empty transom seemed like a good spot. I have the control harness & cables, plus the remote control w/ key:

So if I don't make much more headway on the boat building as my days get shorter & colder, I think I have a fair bit of work to demo & salvage what I can from a couple boats. And certainly plenty of OB motor work pending.... We'll see how that all goes....

Happy hump day! Good luck getting to the down side of the week safely.........

 

[GT1000000]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

YEEEE-HAAAA! Now this is some awesome news!
I can not put into words how thrilled I am that you have finally broken wood on your new project!
I am definitely all aboard to see your mad skills in action.
Looking great so far, hope you can get the time over the winter months to have this fine looking tinny ready for a spring awakening.
Best of Luck and Have FUN!

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Most awesome! I really love this classic boat you picked up. Moreover and equally important, I love the fact that you are already diving in and working on it.... You have tons of supplies stocked up so you should be able to go quickly...

This beauty is definitely worth restoring, and the Johnson Fat-50 is just, plain awesome...

I do tend to agree with Jig, though... I'm scared we are going to miss your updates down here in the basement, because I spend most of time chilling up on the dry dock.... Just ping me with a pm if I miss some updates, etc...

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

It all looks good, careful of dem REEEEVIT!!!! Dey Makes yew BlEEEEEDZZZZ!!!!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

The Gorilla glue bubbling put of the relief holes reminded me of Frisco's pour in foam job. Good thinking since GG expands.

Have you figured out a way to get the wood in around the knee brace? Looks like it may be tricky. Hope the brace can stay in place.

 

[sphelps]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Well alright jb !! Really glad to see ya in action . What a sweet old tinny ! I don't know how I can help out but I can sure cheer you on .
Makes me want to find one and give it a go . I just bought a new pair of wiss tin snips ! You gunna keep the same paint scheme ?
How in the world did ya get the Admiral to agree on another one ?
Gunna make sure I swing over here to see what's going on .
Later !:joyous:

 

[Zyen]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Most awesome! I really love this classic boat you picked up. Moreover and equally important, I love the fact that you are already diving in and working on it.... You have tons of supplies stocked up so you should be able to go quickly...

This beauty is definitely worth restoring, and the Johnson Fat-50 is just, plain awesome...

I do tend to agree with Jig, though... I'm scared we are going to miss your updates down here in the basement, because I spend most of time chilling up on the dry dock.... Just ping me with a pm if I miss some updates, etc...

there's no way i could say it better, so i wont even try.
great find on the new boat!
i'll have to make my way down here to check progress too.

 

[Trooper82]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

I was thinking my radar was slipping again, seein' I hadn't seen this post yet....

JB...awesome looking tub...and That Johnson would look nice on the CarAqua too, but looks right at home where it is...


Agreed need a link to the resto section...

Ready to watch ya dig in!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

SP: What she didn't know didn't hurt me :facepalm: I kept it at the shop until I had a plan.....

Thanks for swinging by & the compliments fella's, I appreciate it. I LOVE this little Duracraft, the FAT50 too, as long as I don't have to fill the bow tank 2 or 3 times a day... As for getting the Fat50 running great again, that's what the extra Fat50 is for And the 3rd cowl is for the chrome :happy:

So, after work (teaching, my last day for the semester! Yeah :watermelon: Graduating more then 2/3rds & half have jobs, the whole point ) I stopped by the shop to shoot the pix I owe you of some gear, materials & etc.... I couldn't help myself, and cut out the transom. It's official, we have a bat-wing:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Further housekeeping:
The free Golden Javelin:

The bow tank & some bunk carpet for the temp cradle:

Riveting tools & supplies:

The Duracraft's wiring harness (no battery or engine wiring):

The Gluvit, Coat-it & Epoxy:

When the time comes, the Rule bilge pump, auto switch (forgot to drop the bilge hose in the pix):

 

[jigngrub]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Lookin' real good J, what ya gonna do about those glue vent holes... epoxy?

Those previous owners will do anything for a laff eh? Looks like he had a steel grade carborundum blade on that grinder when he went at that bow cover.:facepalm:

Keep up the good work!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

GA: I spent some time thinking on the transom knee over the last few days since I started the transom plywood fab work. I don't think there is anyway to get a full size plywood transom into place (even 1 sheet at a time) w/ the transom skin 'lip' that sticks down, the curve of the gunwales as they turn down towards where the motor clamps to the transom and that knee brace in place.

If I cut the 'lip' off, the curve of the gunwales would still hamper getting the ply in place, again even when done 1 sheet at a time...

I am afraid, I'll have little choice but to drill out the rivets thru the bottom of the hull. I have some larger solid rivets to put it back, but I think I'll probably use SS bolts & lock nuts, w/ a liberal coating of 5200....

I'll spend some time Thurs or Fri & shoot some 'attempt to fit' pix...

I have a few edge voids to fill, the vent holes (sans mushrooms) and all those D/W screw holes to fill..

All & all the Gorilla Glue seems to have been a GREAT choice, good spread, good squeeze out all the way around. I know I advocate TiteBond3 for laminating the transom, but a $10 bottle of Gorilla was well worth it IMHO. I do have a gal of TB3 that will see some use on this build as well.

I should mention that the bilge pump was a deal, and when they had to backorder the 500gph pump, they shipped the 750gph pump, gratis. Ordered Fri, called me Sat @backorder swap, pumps arrived Tues. Great service, great low price too.

Happy 1/2way thru the work week day!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Jig: I haven't quite decided about how to fill the edge voids, those vent holes or the screw holes. I have syringes & may go epoxy on all of it just prior to coating it w/ some.

I have options, but, yep, epoxy is at the top of the list....

 

[jigngrub]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Jig: I haven't quite decided about how to fill the edge voids, those vent holes or the screw holes. I have syringes & may go epoxy on all of it just prior to coating it w/ some.

I have options, but, yep, epoxy is at the top of the list....

I really like the SM fairing compound mixed with the epoxy resin for that kinda stuff, and you can make the filler any consistancy you want. I usually make mix mine to about a mayonnaise consistancy so it'll sag and penetrate.

Fillers

I slao use it to make an epoxy adhesive too and it's what I would've used to bond the transom together with. Pick some up the next time you place an order with USComposites, it comes in real handy.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

My epoxy isn't fast cure, so leaving it overnight under a work light wouldn't have been sufficient in the unheated space I'm using.

Gorilla was a fairly short cure, 2-3hrs and it's good down to 40. By the time it got anywhere near that it was mostly cured, but on the off chance it wasn't quite, it was still good thru the night. Gorillla has a max cure time @24hrs, so I left a couple work lights on over it, and made a quick lean-to out of the rigid foam stockpile.

It's all good though..... Thanks, I will grab some filler when I do order anything else.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

I understand completely, I know the GG is a tried and true transom adhesive and will do a good job.

I also know you already have about everything you need for your build and was just suggesting you pick up some SM the next time you order from USC and try it out, I think you'll like it.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

So, I spent a few minutes before lunch trying a test fit or 2 of the transom bat-wing:

Yep, it's a pretty good fit... A tad snug, but I can't tell how good or bad w/ the knee brace still in place:

Good news though, the 3/4" ACX plus 1/2" MDO thickness looks like it'll be a perfect fit:

So unfortunately, the knee brace will HAVE to come out:
Topside:

From below:

So, Fri or Sat, the knee brace comes out....

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

The brace has to come out for sure. You have a good fit on the thickness of the wood. Does the brace show when the boat's all together? You can polish it up while you have it out, if you wanted to.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

Interesting you mention polishing the brace GA, I had the same thought..... It reminds me of an airplane strut...

Although it isn't likely to be seen if I figure out a splashwell of sorts to hide the bilge & pump, the starter relay box (what that's actually called escapes me...) and the battery. I won't be boating in anything remotely close to big water, but w/ the Fat50 & a history of these boats being stern heavy, I think I'd like to try & come up w/ something to direct water out a splashwell drain & try to keep a dry bilge.

Possible solutions that aren't actually splashwells include a vinyl snap-on cover or a wooden teak inset cover.

In the pix of the hull bottom you can see the self bailing (?) drain plug hole. Normally there's a clamshell on the bottom of the hull & a fitting that'll take a drain plug in the bilge. Those are aluminum, but were put in w/ steel bolts that rusted. They may have once been Stainless, but were no longer.....

Here's a grainy blow up of the bilge drain & knee brace:

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: New project jumping to the front of the line: 1957 (?) Duracraft

My thought about polishing is based on the brace looking like it's cast and a nice shape. A good candidate to shine up.

I was wondering if there was a splashwell, I didn't see one or remnants of one. Maybe a forward battery to help the stern weight? The new tank will help some, but have less affect as fuel burns off.

And the drain plug and plain steel hardware - Seems to be a lot of rusty steel hardware replacement in her. :facepalm: I'm still pulling rusty junk out of mine after two years.