Howdy all...<br /><br />My name is Cujo and I'm and addict 
<br /><br />New to the realm of CC owners, I found this site the other day and have spent some time lurking and reading, but have about a billion questions on proper restoration.<br /><br />As near as I can tell from my research to date my boat is a '55 Cavalier, 17 footer, painted, with a cedar hull. I have not ordered a full paper trail from the Mariners Museum, but it is on my to do list. Apparently there may not have been too awfully many of these built.<br /><br />The motor I beleive is original and easily turns over with a pry bar. Same for tranny, and the steering gear moves freely.<br /><br />The upper hull is shot with some very poor quality bondo repairs just above the waterline on the port side.<br />The floor seems mostly solid with only a couple of soft spots, but the fordeck (correct term?)is wasted with holes and extensive cracking, flaking, & peeling through the paint and finish.<br />The glass on the bottom seems to my untrained eye to be potentially in need of replacement, and the transom seems in similar shape.<br /><br />The wife and I are exited about the prospects for this boat and are looking forward (with a VERY healty dose of speculation and cautious optimism) to restoring this boat to her former glory.<br /><br />I have been around construction most of my grown life and am downright handy with power tools, so aside from the potential of fiberglass, feel confident with the work ahead of me.<br /><br />We are curently looking for info from the experienced and the experts on what we are REALLY in for.<br />Anyone know of a qualified mentor in the Metro Atlanta Georgia area? We can't afford a professional resto job and would also like to have the pride of saying "We did this"<br /><br />I'll post a link to some pics of the boat shortly..<br /><br />And THANKS for any and all...<br /><br /><br />Cujo
<br /><br />New to the realm of CC owners, I found this site the other day and have spent some time lurking and reading, but have about a billion questions on proper restoration.<br /><br />As near as I can tell from my research to date my boat is a '55 Cavalier, 17 footer, painted, with a cedar hull. I have not ordered a full paper trail from the Mariners Museum, but it is on my to do list. Apparently there may not have been too awfully many of these built.<br /><br />The motor I beleive is original and easily turns over with a pry bar. Same for tranny, and the steering gear moves freely.<br /><br />The upper hull is shot with some very poor quality bondo repairs just above the waterline on the port side.<br />The floor seems mostly solid with only a couple of soft spots, but the fordeck (correct term?)is wasted with holes and extensive cracking, flaking, & peeling through the paint and finish.<br />The glass on the bottom seems to my untrained eye to be potentially in need of replacement, and the transom seems in similar shape.<br /><br />The wife and I are exited about the prospects for this boat and are looking forward (with a VERY healty dose of speculation and cautious optimism) to restoring this boat to her former glory.<br /><br />I have been around construction most of my grown life and am downright handy with power tools, so aside from the potential of fiberglass, feel confident with the work ahead of me.<br /><br />We are curently looking for info from the experienced and the experts on what we are REALLY in for.<br />Anyone know of a qualified mentor in the Metro Atlanta Georgia area? We can't afford a professional resto job and would also like to have the pride of saying "We did this"<br /><br />I'll post a link to some pics of the boat shortly..<br /><br />And THANKS for any and all...<br /><br /><br />Cujo