Sub pages for the restoration:
Inspirational link: http://www.deny.org/Escape_the_American_Dream
Similar complete restoration of a Chris Craft 410, though a 70's vintage - and he converted it to ELECTRIC!
Below are my notes on the restoration of a 1980 Chris Craft Commander, purchased 3/11/20.
7/10/21 - Lee Dahlen arrived and diagnosed engines.
He said the blowback from the port engine was not a major problem. He adjust valves (several were in very bad adjustment), then listened to engine to try to determine the source of the loud knocking. His assessment was that it was not from the lower part of the engine. He thinks it's "Cylinder Slap", due to one of the cylinders being cracked. Port side must be repowered.
Starboard engine - Lee removed the valve covers and checked the valves - all were operating freely. Double checked compression on cylinder #5 (one of they cylinders that had zero compression). Still zero compression. He inserted his camera, and found a hole in the piston, and additional piston cracks. Starboard side must be repowered.
We spoke with Kelly. The Emerald Point yard will not be allowed to pluck the engines off the boat at the dry stack doc / ramp. This means that unless Hurst Harbor can handle a tall 40' boat, the ONLY option is to have Madison pull the boat out, and swap the blocks in the yard.
Lee is going to contact Madison to see if they will agree to letting him unplug the engines in the slip, Madison pull and put in the new engine blocks, and then back in the slip, Lee would do the engine installs.
Options:
If the boat can be CONFIDENTLY repowered for under $50K by spring, with MINIMAL involvement from Madison, that is the best option.
If the boat cannot be repowered reasonably, then I will consider the following options:
Sell the boat as is ($5K as a floating condo boat project?)? - Very unlikely. Best bet might be to find someone that wants the project because she's a Chris Craft, and is willing to move her to another location where the repower can reasonably be done.
Donate the boat to Boat Angel - Unlikely, as the boat would need to come off the lake, and that can't happen without a LOT of dis-assembly.
Investigate salvage company options
If the boat cannot be dispositioned, consider repowering with electric motors in a "tandem" configuration so that the blocks don't have to be removed from the engine room.
The Chris Craft should ideally stay a "fresh water" boat, and ideally really needs to be in a covered slip, due to top side leaks, sun exposure, and algae growth when in an exposed slip.
Lake Travis is quickly getting to the point that it will be non-sustainable for keeping a large boat in retirement. Only Madison can pull large, tall boats at this point. Their rates are utterly ridiculous, as is their turn-around, and zero confidence in their work quality. In general, rates on Lake Travis are 2x what they are at the coast. The ONLY reasons to stay at Lake Travis are: 1) I still own a house, live, and work in Austin. 2) It's fresh water - FAR less boat deterioration. 3) More places to anchor(?) and more restaurants accessible with dockage than Kemah.
Kemah is still relatively close to Austin, and not a bad option for the hybrid work model. Prices and service availability much better than in Austin. However - barnacles, hurricanes, and salt water deterioration.
5/16/21 - Waiting to see if Tommy Gural will work out for repairing the engines. Very frustrating - but due to the overwhelming load from the freeze - all I can do is wait and hope that he gets to me eventually. In the mean time... I have started work in the master cabin. Tonight (after several rounds over several days/weeks), finally completed removing all the white burlap type textured cloth from the walls! Started removing the first section of headliner just to see what it might look like. Looks like I'm going to be pulling a LOT of staples out... Also, this weekend, brought out a new Predator 3500 generator, which can help power the boat when away from dock, or even during the time that I remain side-tied to N-dock while they very, very slowly continue to rebuild M-dock (more waiting frustration!). The project that was supposed to be "6 weeks" started in early February. The dock has been re-floated with plastic encased floats, and the land side of the dock has had the entire roof removed, steel replaced, and hopefully new sheet metal going on soon - though this might take another unknown number of weeks due to rain and wind. Forecast for rain for the next 10 days... In addition to the generator (and new generator cover), also brought out new custom made cover for upper helm seat. It fits nicely, looks MUCH better, will protect the seat, and hopefully won't blow off.
4/18/21 - Completed 3rd and 4th oil changes on port engine over the weekend - oil looking much better. John Yeager adjusted the valves to help with a lot of the clatter - but still getting a lower frequency (1/2 or 1/4?) clatter. Maybe a bad pushrod? Also threw alarm when the engine warmed up - probably temp. Good news is that the lifters and rods were throwing lots of oil - so that was working at least.
4/13/21 - Second oil change on port engine - oil still very milky. Expect it to take several more changes to see much difference. Pumping out about 1.5-2 gal, adding just over 1 gal. ??
4/11/21 - First oil change. Hoses from both exhaust manifolds to exhaust pipe leading to aqua lift are leaking significantly and will need to be tweaked / replaced. Lifters still need to be adjusted. Oil still VERY dirty after first change. Removed 2 gal. Added 1.3 gal to get back to "full" on dipstick, briefly ran engine. Will need several more oil changes to get oil and engine cleaned out.
4/10/21 - PORT ENGINE STARTED!!!!! After assembly completed, and plumbed to portable gas tank (and fuel pump re-connected) - the engine fired up IMMEDIATELY!!! Idled about 1100. Oil is really ugly. Next - change oil, adjust timing, install valve covers.
4/4/21 - Several more sessions with Ed. The port motor is mostly put back together. Still need to wire the distributor to the plugs and the ignition coil, add water, and attempt to start. Estimating this might take at least one more full day(?). Meanwhile, have removed the old covering in the forward companionway between the forward cabin, forward head, and main salon. Bead board has been installed there - still need to oil it, but it looks MUCH better than the old paper/covering. Last week while working on plumbing, Ed ran a compression test of the port engine after the valve job on the heads. All but the #8 cylinder were good. The #8 cylinder was at 55 psi - low, but at least not shot. Probably stuck rings.
3/23/21 - Finally have the plumbing repairs mostly complete from the freeze. This gave me the "opportunity" to replace the forward head plumbing. New sink, new sink faucet, new shower faucet, and all the plumbing under the sink to go with it! After some debate, also went back and installed p-traps in both head sinks. These shouldn't "necessary", from a plumbing aspect, as the drain simply goes overboard. But... since things do occasionally go down the drain that shouldn't, it was decided that p-traps would be prudent to include. Still need to replace the faucet and plumbing to the wet bar at the helm, but that's a task for another day.
3/21/21 - Ed was out again to work on the port engine. We now have the exhaust manifolds at least mounted, and held on by at least 2 screws. Ed will be back out again Wed. for a hopefully LONG day of completing bolting down of the exhaust manifolds, plumbing, exhaust pipe, adding water, and everything else to be able to attempt starting the engine.
2/25/21 - Port engine heads are back from the machine shop! $475 (for both heads) to clean and inspect, and replace bad valves.
2/21/21 - One step forward, three steps back... Ice-pocalypse hit Austin last week. High winds, power outages in many areas, snow, and ice, followed by water outage. Chris Craft is running on one extension cord while side tied to allow marina work. Power strip that AC and wind instruments tied to tripped Monday morning 2/14/21 - but by then things had iced up too bad to be able to get to the boat. Cameras recorded low temps in the teens outside, and low temp of 30F inside the cabin (with no heat). The port engine is still waiting on heads - so it had no water in it. The starboard engine had antifreeze, and is hopefully low enough in the bilge that it wasn't damaged. Heater restarted on Friday (2/19/21) once I was able to get out to the boat and reset the power strip. Water lines going up in the aft main cabin wall ruptured. These lines go to the master shower, and then on up to the cockpit wet bar. Capping the lines below the shower helped - but there's still a leak in both lines under the main cabin floor (roof of the engine room, just over the shaft of the starboard engine. There's also a tee and gate valve, going to a copper line. That plastic tee is leaking, and no idea what the copper line is going to. Maybe where an icemaker could have been installed under the cockpit seat (where the mini-fridge is now?)? The good news is that it will be a "good opportunity" to replace the shower valve, the cockpit wet bar valve, and the poly tubing that went to it. Accessing and replacing the tubing in the roof of the back engine room will be a pain!
2/5/21 - Heads have been at the shop a week now, hope to have them back mid next week. Flooring in the master stateroom is in (sloooowwww) progress. The Chris Craft has now been MOVED to side tie on the end of N-Dock, to prepare for the marina to replace the roof and make other repairs to the dock. The estimate was for the dock work to take 6 weeks - we'll see if they're any better at keeping project schedules than anyone else. I'm betting it will probably be at least 3 months.
1/25/21 (Sun) - It's been a LONNNNNNG time since I've posted. I'll try to remember updates as best as possible...
Engines -
Replaced starters (port and starboard)
Replaced mechanical fuel pumps with electric pumps - this got the Starboard engine starting without needing to be primed. Still takes a lot of work (hopefully that will get better when we have all 8 cylinders running).
Port engine - Never got the port engine to start after re-installing intake manifold. Replaced manifold with Edelbrock Performance manifold (probably an expensive mistake). Tried adjusting timing, swapping carbs, etc... still no luck getting the engine to start. Finally took compression numbers (see engine page) - compression too low to even have a hope of running. Some rings, some valves. Pulled heads to send to machine shop.
Installed LED tub lights in engine room.
Plumbing:
Replaced hot water heater.
Replaced faucet in aft head.
Replaced shower wands.
Fixed leaks - Now we have hot and cold running water everywhere but at the helm (helm wet bar faucet capped off - needs to be replaced).
Pulled both toilets and hoses going to holding tank. Removed macerator. Discovered holding tank (under plywood flooring between engines) has multiple holes rusted in it. Holding tank will need to be replaced once the engines are stable.
For now, a new 5 gal porta potty has been purchased for the boat, but not yet tested.
Completed mast restoration, and re-installed! Replaced running forward and stern running lights with LED lights. Replaced switches at helm (may ultimately need to replace flybridge switches too...). We now have running lights!!! Still need to install all around anchor light mounted to bimini and wired to upper / flybridge helm.
Flooring: Completed removal of all carpet in the boat and all tile (galley and heads). Laid flooring in master head, forward head, hall, forward cabin, and galley.
Repaired forward cabin closet door - replaced upper track and hardware. Installed cleats on walls for shelves in the closet.
Replaced and supplemented fire extinguisher count. Installed CO monitors and smoke detectors (not sure when this happened - it was a long time ago).
Removed old blinds and curtains - hung new curtains throughout boat.
Galley update: New microwave, new toaster oven. Rewired that circuit to provide proper size stranded wire cable and new outlets with GFCI.
Installed new stereo under galley counter on salon side. Replaced speakers in main salon, aft cabin, and forward cabin. Installed new volume control in main cabin - works pretty well. Planning to install 2nd stereo with amp and speakers for outside.
9/16/20 (Wed.) Took new 10" king foam mattress out to boat. Cut down to 67" wide x 75" long, wrapped in waterproof mattress protector, made bed. Hung rods and curtains in master cabin. Hung aft port curtain rod and curtain in main cabin as proof of concept.
9/13/20 (Birthday weekend!!) Ed installed the intake manifold and water pump, but was missing main water hose from water raw water pump to circulation (internal / closed loop) water pump, and from closed loop water pump to the engine block. Replaced cut off valve at fresh water tank. Ran new hose from fresh water tank to fresh water pressure pump. Installed new galley faucet. Bypassed rest of boat plumbing and ran water from fresh water pressure pump to galley faucet - achieved RUNNING WATER - though only cold, and only on one faucet. Celebrated 56th birthday Sat. evening enjoying the view from the flybridge!
9/5/20 - (weekend and week) Replaced old main water pressure pump for cabin water system. Replaced valve at fresh water tank. Hooked water hose to dock water connection - but didn't seem to do anything, and no water from faucets. Clogged / stuck pressure regulator?
8/31/20 - Ed removed lifters from port engine. Installed new lifters, but needs to complete re-assembly of the engine (manifold, carb, etc.)
8/30/20 - (weekend) - Hooked up MarinAire AC to try out - it works!!! Currently using previous old water pump, though only supplying the one unit. The MarinAire pump was NOT ignition protected, and therefore not suitable for using in the Engine Room. Returned the pump, and ordered a pump from SEAFLO on Amazon, "SeaFlow Marine Air Conditioning Pump - 500gph", that is stated in the literature as being ignition protected. Also removed bedding and mattress from aft cabin! Ordered new 10" foam mattress, took measurements for curtains.
8/30/20 - Set up fuel line plumbing to run port engine off port fuel tank. Did not start. Eventually started the port engine from the portable fuel tank. Ed thinks the rattle is coming from a compressed or stuck lifter on the inboard side of the engine. Will have to pull the intake manifold to get to the lifters. Lifters for the 454 should be about $7 each, with the engine needing 8. Discovered that the port engine was not getting any gas currently when running off the port tank. Changed valves to run port engine off starboard tank, and was able to run (with priming - and also needed priming when running from portable tank - so still need to understand that.). It appears there is a clog in the port fuel filter that needs to be resolved. Then, we might be able to run off the port tank. While running at low speed, shifted in and out of gear - forward and reverse. Forward responds nicely. Reverse seems a bit sluggish.
8/28/20 - Ordered new AC pump from MarinAire (pre-emptively)
8/27/20 - Cut out carpet around aft cabin hatch - it is set up for venting! Plumbed portable gas tank to port engine, and was able to get it to start and run (still with really loud clatter - unknown where that's coming from). Appears that the gas in the port gas tank is just too skunky to run.
8/26/20 - Wire 110V AC plug to AC water circulation pump. Fitted tubing from thru-hull to pump. Pump did not circulate water due to lack of prime. Purchased tee and valve to put in line to allow bleeding air. May also need to use elbow fitting on thru-hull to reduce the rise of the hose.
8/23/20 - Hacked plug for stbd exhaust lifter to prevent water from spilling back into the boat from large wakes. Discovered that spark plug wires that had been ordered did not fit. Wires were too short (car wires routed over top of engine, due to exhaust manifolds below; boat wires routed below engine, due to exhaust manifold above), and had the wrong ends. Need straight plug ends, and ends that fit into the distributor cap (car caps have protruding metal studs to connect to). Ed used the timing light to check the spark, and found we had plenty of spark on the port engine - though it still didn't want to start. It did at least fire a couple of times, but not enough to start running. Maybe the gas in the port tank is worse than the gas in the starboard tank? Discussed using fiberglass tape to repair the existing exhaust Y pipe. No idea where to get couplers long enough - all the couplers at Home Depot and online are only about 4" long.
8/21/20 - Messing with engines. Replaced cap / rotor, and inboard 4 plugs on port engine. No improvement - still won't start. Seems to be lacking spark. Removed stbd exhaust Y. Significant crack that Ed wasn't able to cover with the JB Weld. Ed will take the pipe to the Round Rock muffler shop to see if they can fabricate a new one, or at least repair the old one. But the old one is made of cast iron, and won't weld well.
8/16/20 (Weekend) - Installed 3rd LED RED rope light string on fly bridge, so all lights match. Completed installing most of the DC LED lights. Installed a white/off/red LED dome light outside near the boarding gate, plus two white LED lights. Installed LED lights in the forward and master staterooms, and in the master head. Removed the DC light in the forward head. Removed the roof panel to inspect the AC system for the main salon. Inspected water pump from AC units. Pump has AC power coming from CruiseAir box on forward bulkhead of engine room. Hose from pump to thru-hull is 1", so will need 1.25" MIP to 1" barb adapter combination. Ed completed installing the port water pump, and plumbing the fuel line, though could not get engine to start. Lots of priming, eventually got some spark, but would not start. Have pre-emptively ordered new distributor caps and rotors. Had to prime starboard motor to get it to start. Applied JB Waterweld to the crack in the starboard exhaust tube coming off the engine - but that was not sufficient to solve the leak issue.
8/8/20 (Weekend) - Installed outlet (instead of temporary plug) to use for new charger(s). Played with the rope lights a little more - trying RED instead of blue, and extending up to fly bridge. Powered from outlet on lower helm seat, run off "ice maker" circuit. Experiment: Installed foam insulation in the windows in the main cabin - didn't seem to make any difference at all in the cooling ability of the AC units in the main cabin. Ed rebuilt the water pumps. First one had too much friction, and heated up quickly when installed. He swapped that out for the other pump. We now have the starboard engine running - though it must be primed with gas in the carb to get it to start. NOTE - the old impellers on the pumps were shot. One had no vanes left at all. Once we had good water flow, the starboard engine ran fine without overheating, and no alarms! He then removed the valve covers. With no water pump or fuel connected, we turned the engine over. Ed said all the lifters were functioning. Will need to get the engine back to running, and explore further to see where the rattle is coming from.
8/2/20 (Sun) - Removed the rest of the carpet in the main salon. First pass at putting up outside LED rope string. Cut power to old battery charger, temporarily wired socket to it to eventually be used for powering new charger(s).
8/1/20 (Sat) - Disassembled sofa and got parts out of cabin. Still need to figure out how to get it off the boat and get rid of it...
7/25/20 (Sat) - Ed still working on rebuilding the water pumps. Removed staples in the front v-berth area. Removed port florescent shop light in engine room, installed box, and hung first of 4 LED shop lights where original florescent was. Installed 3 smoke detectors and 2 CO detectors. Disconnected forward AC unit. Note - this did not solve the 30A breaker tripping immediately when the forward AC breaker was turned on - thus, needs more investigation. Took pictures under hatch in forward V-berth - SHOWER SUMP is mounted to bulk head. Forward bilge pump below. Back further is one of the forward thru-hulls (that has now been glassed over. No idea what it went to - but it is impossible to get to. Cleaned more junk out of the engine room.
7/19/20 (Sun) - Left 8000 BTU (small) AC unit running overnight in main salon. Temp only went down to 84. John Y. loaned me his larger unit (12K BTU?). It was able to get the temp down to 82F with all doors closed (main hatch, forward v-berth, and aft cabin). Clearly not sufficient - but at least made working much more bearable. Ripped out about half the carpet in the main salon. Carpet was STAPLED down!! So it actually came out much easier than feared. Also inspected area between master bed and transom. Access panel on back wall of master cabin on either side of the bed. Aft bilge pump is in that area - but will be VERY hard to get to! Transom brackets are thru-bolted on top bracket (as claimed), but are installed with screws on lower bracket (below the water line). Hooked up individual battery chargers to the starting batteries.
7/18/20 (Sat) - (at home) Made window adapter panel for small AC unit. (At boat) Installed fire extinguishers. Adjusted door on aft head so that it will actually latch. Discovered that the charger for the two starting battery banks had failed - no lights at all. Hooked up small room unit AC.
7/17/20 (Friday) - Boat is FINALLY back in the water!!!!! It was on the trailer when I arrived. They were finishing patching some of the weeping blister spots, cleaning up, and attaching the stern ladder. Splashed about 4pm. Inside starboard thru-hull leaks slightly - but through the ball, doesn't appear to be on the outside. Went to Winkley's, and bought 1 1/4" pvc plug to close off the leaking thru-hull. Tied lines, checked batteries - still at 12.86V - shockingly!!! Plugged in shore power. AC on boat seems to be working. Plugged in battery charger. Need to get carpet up to get access to engine room, and then replace bilge pumps. Final bill from Platinum Marine: $9791.57. Transom brackets from Butler Marine look GREAT!
7/15/20 (Wed) - Emailed yesterday asking about the status of the brackets. No response. Resent email today. Still no response. Called Butler Marine Products. They very efficiently provided the tracking number for the brackets. UPS showed that the brackets were delivered at noon today.
7/12/20 (Sunday) - no obvious progress - Did remove plate for zincs on transom
7/10/20 (Friday) Most of the bottom had bottom paint on it. Several blisters, mostly on starboard side, still weeping water. Jack stands had been moved to allow those spots to be worked. Thru hulls (and scoops) arrived but not installed. Waiting on brackets for swim platform.
7/7/20 (Tues) - Met Jim Merritt and Hazel at the boat. Jim surveyed the bottom, and took my copy of the previous survey to photocopy and use for preliminary information. Most of the bottom had the first coat of epoxy on it. There were a number of blisters that were still weeping, or that needed to be ground (at least one large spot) and filled. Jim commented that the top sides appeared to be dry (low / no moisture content) where he sampled. Nick said the thru-hulls had all arrived, and were Marelon. Jim said the Marelon thru-hulls must be exercised about once a month to prevent sticking - so I told Julio to go ahead and fiberglass over the 5th aft engine room thru-hull (for the aft head), as it would be too difficult to get to regularly for exercising the thru-hull.
7/5/20 (Sun) - Checked on boat and spoke with Julio. Most of the patched spots had been sanded. Some are still weeping water - will need to be dried out with a heater. Large section of starboard bottom had fiberglass pulling off, and will need to be repaired. Julio said that they would probably apply 4 coats of epoxy barrier coat instead of 2 on this boat, due to the extensive blisters. He also said we definitely needed to THRU-BOLT the platform brackets, rather than just using lag bolts. Julio pointed out cracks from small blisters up into the white stripe above the bottom paint on the transom, and suggested repairing those, then raising the bottom paint above that level - which is still covered by the swim platform. I told him that sounded fine. Hopefully the bottom can still be done by end of business on Tues, to give an extra day or two of margin for them to miss, and still be able to do bottom Survey on Thurs or Friday.
7/3/20 (Fri) - Zero progress on boat bottom. Old thru-hulls are damaged and cannot be re-used. New thru-hulls on order, only one has arrived so far. Brackets are hopefully on order and arriving late next week. Spoke with Eric Hibler on Thurs about conducting the bottom survey while the boat is out of the water. He quoted $1200 (!! Seems high!) for the full survey. Quoted $600 for just the bottom. He will see if he can fit in enough time to look at just the bottom late next week. In email exchange, Platinum promised to have the bottom paint complete by Monday so that we could do the survey. Erick mentioned that Joe Curry (who had done several surveys that I was familiar with) - was no longer SAMS or NAMS listed, and that surveys from a non-listed person may not be accepted by insurance companies.
6/30/20 (Tues) Call from Mike at Platinum. He is suggesting that we go with transom brackets from Butler Marine (https://butlermarine.com/platform-support-brackets/). I agreed/approved. There may also be difficulty getting Marelon fittings in the right sizes for the thru-hulls and seacocks. If that is the case, we will go with traditional bronze. I have the original thru-hulls and screens for the primary 4, and have dunked them in carb cleaner to start loosening the crud on them (old bottom paint and sealant).
6/29/20 (Monday) Grinding appears to be basically complete. Blister repair has been largely completed. Transom supports were removed - brackets on the transom end were generally destroyed in the process. New brackets will need to be fabricated. Expectation is that the bottom work may be complete by Tues. Thru-hulls may be on order. Transom supports might become the next stop. Spoke with Julio and Mike about glassing over the forward two thru-hulls, but leaving the location (mushroom head) in place so that it's obvious where they were. The hope is that the back 5 thru-hulls can be replaced.
6/17/20 (Wed) Paint Suits delivered to Platinum.
6/16/20 (Tues) Went by Platinum and spoke with Mike. Still no progress. Plastic still completely down (from weather?). His current claim was that he was unable to get tyvek suits and gloves. I did some searching and found 16 plastic suits at Sherwin Williams in Kyle. This should be enough for 4 guys to work 2 shifts, for 2 days (and hopefully get the grinding done) - though I seriously doubt he would really put 4 guys on the job. I drove to Kyle Tues. afternoon and picked them up. Total was $160.82. Will take suits and a box of gloves to Platinum tomorrow morning.
6/12/20 (Friday) Checked on boat. Some grinding completed on both port and starboard side of bottom. Plastic was completely down.
6/8/20 Emailed Mike early in the week - he said they are now waiting on tyvek suits for the workers to use for the grinding.
6/7/20 (Sunday) Emailed Mike the previous Friday. No answer. Out to check on the boat. Looks like some grinding progress has been made on the bottom, but I can't tell how much is left - possibly all the work so far is still mostly on the stbd side? Plastic blew down again.
5/28/20 (Thurs) Emailed Mike late in the day. Got an answer same day! According to Mike, the grinding on the bottom has begun!
5/19/20 (Tues) Called Mike (no answer), also sent email. Got one-line response that they would start re-tenting the boat that day.
5/15/20 (Friday) Called Mike. again. Left message. Call finally returned around noon. Still no progress on boat. Maybe this weekend or next week? Mike is proposing using aluminum for the swim platform supports (he doesn't have anyone that can weld stainless steel). The aluminum supports will be coated with primer, and then painted with bottom paint to prevent corrosion (if the boat ever goes to salt water) and prevent zebra muscles (that love attaching to out drives).
5/14/20 (Thurs) Called Mike - left message.
5/6/20 (Wed) Called Mike again. Finally heard back from him at 6pm. Still no specific detailed estimates. But he thinks he can do all the necessary work (bottom, thru-hulls, and transom supports) while staying under the $10K budget. Work on the bottom may begin on or after Monday. Might be done in 2 weeks...
5/1/20 (Friday) Spoke with Mike (owner, general manager). Reviewed the scope of work. Discussed options for sealing the 3 smaller thru-hulls. Mike said he would get estimates.
4/30/20 - (Thurs) Still no update from Platinum. Called Greg (service manager). Was told that Mike (owner, general manager) would call me today with details about estimates and a plan for the work.
4/28/20 - (Tues) No update from Platinum. Emailed Platinum Marine, requesting written estimates for:
Fiberglass repair of blisters / cracks in Transom
Epoxy barrier coat
Bottom paint
Replace 4 main thru hulls
This still leaves the 3 small thru hulls, 2 forward, one in stbd aft corner of engine room - all with no action.
Replace rotted wooden supports for swim platform with aluminum square tube.
Followed up email with phone call to Greg. Greg promised to provide estimates on Wed. (4/29)
4/21/20 - FIRE on M-Dock at 5:30am Tues. morning. Chris Craft was safely up on the hard in the boat yard. Checked on boat. They finally have plastic around the boat. Seacocks removed(?) - Thru hulls will have to be removed due to soft wood on backing plates.
4/19/20 - Measured small thru hulls. Inside diameter on hull side is about .685". Continuing work on restoring the mast at home.
4/5/20-4/6/20 - Working on mast restoration in the garage.
4/5/20 Drove out to boatyard to take pictures of the boat hauled out. It's HUGE! And the bottom is in really sad shape. Discovered two forward thru hulls that were previously unknown.
4/3/20 BOAT HAULED OUT!
4/2/20 Checked on boat. Secured back of DC power panel. Removed picture at head of V-berth to discover hatches for anchor locker and additional storage space(?), with access to deck fittings for bow.
Toaster Oven internal dimensions: 9" deep x 13.5" wide
Oven internal dimensions: 13" wide by 14" deep
Spoke with boat yard - rain has delayed haul-out. Hopefully will be hauled out this week so that bottom work can begin.
3/29/20 Caulked aft section of starboard toe rail to hull joint from stern up to forward clean, inside and outside. Caulked aft most section of port toe rail to hull joint inside and outside. Used clear silicon for both. Removed screws from port bow chock - discovering they were 1/4-20 x 3.5" - surprised they were machine screws! Note - Fred C (fellow 410 owner) mentioned several access points - including lifting up the mirror (hinged at top, snug catch at bottom) at forward end of v-berth to get to chain locker. Fred also mentioned that the forward bilge pump was under an access hatch between the forward vee-berths, and that the aft bilge pump was in a tiny access on the starboard(?) aft side of the master bed (under the carpet...). Spent some time re-tying lines, but will still need to be re-done. Removed anchor from bow. Applied contact cement to formica strip at end between fridge and oven, attempted to re-apply - will see if it holds...
3/28/20 Cleaned the cap rail to hull joint from stern to forward cleat, port and starboard. Wiped down helm seat.
3/23/20 Tried Starboard engine. Ed had mentioned after previous night that the gas valve to the engine was turned OFF! Turned on gas valve. Cranked engine - no luck, still would not start. Though by this time, probably had no gas left in carb, and would not pull enough to start, especially with bad gas. Tried thru-hull again. Loosened tightening nut, banged toward other side, and eventually was able to get the first thru-hull to close. Not easy - but it did close. Tried same on starboard engine sea water inlet. Difficult to get tightening nut to turn at all, unable to get thru-hull handle to budge. Stowed items on boat to prepare for haul-out.
3/22/20 Met with Ed.
Hooked up port engine with portable tank to get running. Engine required starter fluid in carb to get started, possibly due to air in fuel line. Once running, we switched back to permanent tanks. Again, engine required starter to get going. Once running, it would restart immediately. And it ran on the old gas!!! Unfortunately, later in the evening after cooling down, I tried it again, and could not get the engine to start. (Bad gas? Though possibly something else... I strongly suspect it will run if started with starting fluid in carb.)
Mapped the drains on a diagram. Tested shower drains - discovered showers require shower pump to drain. Switches are with head toilet switch (Shower, Fan, Toilet switch set in each head). Both pumps sound tired... Aft/Master shower drain pump is mounted on aft cabin wall. Tried 3 bilge pumps in side cabinet next to helm. Forward pump is somewhere in forward cabin. Aft pump is further aft than the pump located at the back of the engine room. Center pump does not work, and we do not know where it is located (possibly in compartment below engine room, and just inoperable?). Found box with two "new in box" 1100(+?) GPH automatic bilge pumps in it. May return the 1150 GPH pump I previously bought and just use these. Will have to check hose sizes.
Discovered more treasures - found JVC (?) stereo (with CD player) under step with misc. stuff. Found bags of new breakers in bottom port side drawer in forward berth. Got rid of both TV's, DVD player, non-functional lamp, air filter, large pictures, personal items in the bathrooms, and some of the bedding/linens in the forward berth.
Removed the rest of the bulbs from interior lights. Chased down breakers for some of the lights. All the main cabin / salon lights are on the "Galley lights" circuit. Aft cabin circuit includes the aft head light (did not test dome light). Forward cabin circuit includes forward head main light (did not test dome light). Was not able to locate circuit for helm area light. Did not test dome lights on aft deck.
Located valves and pressure regulator for pressurized water source. These are in the right hand (furthest forward) cabinet on the port wall in the galley.
Tried AC systems. Forward system IMMEDIATELY trips AC Line 2 (right hand) breaker!! Main cabin system seems to function, and possibly provides both heat and cooling - though cooling is not very strong (may not hold up in hot weather). Aft cabin AC functions, but does not seem to heat, and only marginally blows cold air (possibly only because the water is cold?).
Stove burners, oven, and toaster oven all seem to function. NOTE: There is a switch on the over that selects between stove and oven. May not be able to run multiple stove burners without flipping breaker.
3/21/20 Verified that the 4 main drains (galley, master head, forward head, and helm sink) - all go directly to separate thru-hulls. Checked on port thru-hull / strainer hose leak - Leak had slowed to 1 drop every 40 seconds. Located 2 bilge pumps below (hidden) hatch at aft, center of engine room crawl space. Sounders for depth finders were also there - probably glued to hull from inside. Aft of the two bilge pumps was a small Rule pump, with float switch further aft of it. Verified that with the main helm bilge pump switch set to "manual", it came on. Set to auto - it worked with the float switch - though the switch was gummy with old oil and grime. The larger pump in front of it did not operate. Then located 3 bilge pump switches in the side panel next to the helm - no idea what those do, or which pumps they operate. Started chasing wiring for lights. Verified that aft cabin light breaker does, in fact, seem to lead to DC light in the aft cabin (did not test / trace the aft/master head DC lights). Breaker for aft cabin light appears to be shot. Removed the bulbs from all of the interior lights, except the shower lights (and outside lights). Attempted to trace wiring to center main salon light - no luck yet. Did verify that white (ground) light did seem to go to ground. Brought home mast for re-working.
3/20/20 Met with Ed. Plumbed portable tank to starboard engine with 3/8" hose and open fittings (not using Evinrude fittings). Updated stbd carb with gas filter and filter spring, and new vacuum assembly. Ed also fussed with fuel accelerator pump. Engine started and ran!! (after adding gas to carb) "Idle" speed show still around 900 on digital tach on dash. Plenty of water coming out exhaust. Moved portable tank to port engine. Added fuel filter and spring. Was able to get to briefly start after adding gas to carb. LOUT rattle - Ed believes lifter on inside row of port engine. Some water ejected from exhaust. Leak at engine raw water sea strainer started again.
3/16/20 Met with Ed to attempt starting stbd engine. Fuel connection was made to permanent boat gas tank. Initial attempts failed - tripped dc breaker. We were able to get the engine to turn over. Ed added gas directly to the carb, which got a backfire and some sputtering - but no real attempt to actually run. Vacuum assembly is on order from CarbsOnly.com - and may arrive Thurs. Will try again when that arrives. Will also purchase sufficient parts and tubing to route fuel from portable gas tank.
3/15/20 Attempted to re-install the carbs and re-start engines. In the process of installing temporary portable fuel tank connection - the hose connection from the main fuel tank to the port engine ruptured. Due to age, the hose failed at the connector going to the engine. Fuel was shut off at the fuel tank. The ruptured section of hose (about 18") was removed, and the supply line was capped. The portable tank was then plumbed to the port engine fuel pump. Two new batteries were installed on the port engine. With some effort, the engine started, and attempted to run briefly, before drawing down the batteries too much to continue. During this work, the elbow to hose connection from the sea strainer to the engine came loose and started leaking. Ed was able to tighten and support the connection to stop that leak. New sea cocks and strainers are needed! Ed was NOT able to operate the sea cock valve for the water intake for the port engine. Took a look at the DC breaker panel. Need to replace the breakers (due to age). This may be a challenge, due to the stiffness of the wires.
3/14/20 Carb rebuild. Discovered that "Bubba was here". One carb had the fuel filter, but no spring. The accelerator pump on this carb was stuck frozen, and would not operate. The other carb had the spring, but no filter. The vacuum assembly was incorrectly assembled, which caused it to be jammed, and could not possibly operate. The diaphram on the vacuum assembly was also torn and non-functional. Need to order new filters, new springs, new vacuum assembly, and two spare primary metering rods from CarbsOnly.com
3/13/20 It has begun!! Ed came out to pull carbs. We also removed recliner and coffee table. Starting the process of cleaning up and throwing away old stuff.
3/12/20 Met with Jerry Mudd and John Cannan to complete signing of paperwork. Check handed off to JohnC. John delivered the mast for the boat, and a briefcase full of documentation. Took picture of main engine water pumps to verify - Sherwood G-45 model. Inspected seacocks - NEED to replace with proper ball valve thru-hull / sea cocks feeding sea strainers. Port engine water pump is significantly rusted - may have hole rusted in side? May need to replace port water pump.
3/10/20 Met with Jerry to sign paperwork! Spoke with Carlos at CarbsOnly.com - one of the two carb kits had been opened, and was possibly missing parts. Carlos was going to send a new kit out Tues. PM. I also requested floats for the two carbs - which did not originally come with the kits.
3/7/20 Met with Jerry (broker from Mud Marine), and Mike from Diving Duck. Mike dove on the boat, cleared the engine intakes and shot a short video of the condition of the bottom of the boat. The zebra muscles were present, but not as bad as possibly expected. They do not appear to be covering the bottom of the boat - though they had seriously formed around the entire waterline. However, there were a LOT of blisters, ranging in size from small to palm size or slightly larger. There was a string of blisters that went down one side of the boat, suggesting water intrusion into the fiberglass along that section. Mike also found a significant crack in the fiberglass on the lower starboard corner of the transom (?). The upper surface of the crack was at least 1/8" thick - suggesting a significant repair would be needed there. The crack is possibly 3" long.
The video created by Mike is at: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Z6tMvrZmztT17x2FlBL-PUdYk6JlxRuP
2/29/20 Met with Ed and Jerry - brought 4 charged group 31 AGM batteries. This time able to get port engine to start before immediately killing it. After that, battery was too dead to start engine. Tried stbd engine with fresh batteries, starter fluid. Discovered throttle / shifter levers were not as we expected. Outside handles were shift, inside handles were throttle. Eventually got stbd engine to turn over and sputter, but not start. Ed believes that if we rebuild the carbs, we should be able to get both engines to run. The 300+(?) gallons of OLD gas in the tanks is a significant concern. Wrote contract with Jerry with contention provision for survey, sea trial, engine survey... Gave $1000 deposit
Carbs: Rochester 4 barrel. Serial number: 17059294, 0899 on 2nd line.
https://www.carbkitsource.com/numbers/Rochester/17059061-17059588.html
17059284 CK355 VB045 CC052 F11
Above was closest match (list skipped from 17059285-17059
Engine serial numbers -
782498W - Starboard, 300HP - Model 454 25
782490W - Port, 300HP - Model: 454L25 - LEFT HAND ROTATION
Boat displacement: 26000+ pounds
Transmission: - Paragon Power (straight) - Ratio 2.54:1
Port: 6F4318P44IZ-7730L (Clockwise rotation)
Stbd: Z7730RP44R (Counter Clockwise rotation)
Generator: Onan 6.5Kw
Model MCCK 3CR/2268H
Serial: L780376794
Hours - 100.7 (just over 100 hours) recorded in 1993 survey.
2/22/20 Initially met with JohnC, Ed, and Jerry to see if we could get the engines to start. Brought 2 charged group 31 AGM batteries out, plus starter fluid. Was able to get port engine to turn over, but not start. Could not get Starboard engine to start
Possible electrical panel source: https://www.fisheriessupply.com/blue-sea-systems-dc-main-plus-22-position-circuit-breaker-panel-8380
Possible sources for thru-hulls, etc:
https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?id=6148983
https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|51|2234255|2234259&id=102713
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/forespar--marelon-intake-scoop-strainer-3-4-max-thru-hull--P011_332_003_521?pCode=2540268&cm_mmc=PS-_-Google-_-GSC%3ENonB%3EVendors-_-2540268&product_id=2540268&creative=108421559884&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjq2irLHL6AIVGaSzCh3UAwfvEAQYASABEgKosfD_BwE
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Forespar-MF-868-1-1-4-Scoop-Strainer-108-906060/32925233?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=6361&adid=22222222227021931524&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=52369884431&wl4=pla-83934951791&wl5=9028309&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=118786655&wl11=online&wl12=32925233&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjq2irLHL6AIVGaSzCh3UAwfvEAQYCCABEgLO9PD_BwE
https://www.go2marine.com/Forespar-906062-Scoop-1-1-4
Head Update:
See Raritan Marine Elegance head as highly recommended.
See https://www.barrplastics.com/Custom-Boat-Marine-Holding-Tanks-Containers_p_1936.html#.YH8nguhKjIX for custom holding tanks.
See also Composting heads - AirHead and Nature's Head. See also reviews and comps by the Wynns
Alternator:
See this option from BPI: https://bpi.ebasicpower.com/shop/all-applications/electrical-system/charging/alternators/alternator-55-amp-for-crusader-westerbeke-v-belt-3-ear-1-x-1-2-inch-mount-39200
See also this faq from BPI power for helpful issues: https://bpi.ebasicpower.com/faq/
Digital Instruments:
See this issue of Styled in Fiberglass: https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8933012486?profile=original
There is an article about a CC owner that converted his helm to digital iPads (will also work with Android tablets).
Used the Actisense EMU-1 interface ( https://actisense.com/products/emu-1-nmea-2000-engine-data/ ) to convert analog engine sensors to NEMA 2000 format, then tied the NEMA 2000 display to his tablets, and had a nice cabinet built to support the tablets.
See this site: https://www.thegpsstore.com/ They were listed as distributors for Actisense products, but the EMU-1 was not listed there... Other options may exist. See also http://www.gemeco.com/
Other Interesting Links:
Foscam web cams for engine room: amazon.com <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00466X9SY/ref=pe_385040_30332200_TE_item>
Interesting web pages / blog: https://gilwellbear.wordpress.com/category/boat-technical-topics/computing-aboard/wireless-ip-camera/
James Sizemore's web page on his 1972 Chris Craft 410 electric conversion: http://www.deny.org/Escape_the_American_Dream/Work_Blog/Work_Blog.html
Barr Plastics (barrplastics.com) - holding tanks: https://www.barrplastics.com/box-shaped-plastic-tanks.html#.YO0FNOhKjIX
Good tank example from above: https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/cdn.barrplastics.com/WWW/01+TLH/08+UTILITY+%26+SPECIALTY+TANKS/03+BOX+SHAPED+TANKS/New+Branding+(tables+with+weight)/NEW+Box+Shaped+Tanks-+Web+ID+15759+-+Part+%23T55HW.pdf
Defender.com holding tanks: https://www.defender.com/category.jsp?name=rigid-water-and-holding-tanks&path=-1|51|2234299&id=2234302
Another holding tank option: https://www.plastic-mart.com/product/2880/58-gallon-marine-holding-tank-44w
Sideshift bow and stern thrusters - some of these are external mount! https://sideshift.com/products/monohull-bow-stern-thrusters/
Impellertool.com - Cool tool for swapping / installing impellers: http://impellertool.com/
Flooring note that was posted on Trawler Forum:
Lou, we went through a number of different materials and thicknesses of plank before settling on one. It has the rubber-like backing, and the core is some sort of slate-like material. It's also about the right thickness so we didn't have to replace the trim around the stairways to the cabins fore and aft. We only looked at flooring labelled as waterproof.
The one we settled on was at Lowe's. It's called ProCore Pro, and the color is Stratford Oak.
The edging is Schluter Systems Vinpro-S 0.25-in x 98.5-in Brushed Antique Bronze Anodized Aluminum Metal Floor Feature Strip. Also at Lowe's.
I also saw your post about removing adhesive. We bought a can of industrial grade floor adhesive remover. Because it removed both paint and adhesive, it made a sticky, colored mess which got all over our shoes, hands, knees and elbows no matter how hard we tried. Some of that transferred to the decks, interior brightwork and even furniture. In the end the floor was still sticky and I ended up putting down brown packing paper in the worst spots. I'd be tempted to just leave the adhesive and go with the paper if I had it to do again.