OK, it's totally off topic, but I wanted to share these pics of our Chris Craft, taken on Gun Lake this past week. I brushed a fresh coat of varnish on it before we went, and must say I'd forgotten how good the old girl (the boat!) could look. It still needs some attention, but it ran like a watch, we skied our brains out, and had a great time. Hope people like the photos.
Damn man, I saw one up in Beulah for sale on Friday... it was REALLY hard not to stop and look. Even on unemployment, one of those is on my 'bucket list'. Beauty man. Good job. JK
in the middle '70's ,,i had a Wooden 18 ft Century RunAbout similer to that Chris Craft stored at my boat shop ,,,they guy was an over the road trucker ,,only took it out once a year on the 4th of July weekend ,always called a couple weeks before to ask me to get it ready ,,i put a bunch of water in it to swell up the mahogany planks ,,changed the oil ,,fresh gas anna tune-up ,then put it in the Des Moines river and ran it fer a spell ,,,he'd run the heck outa that Grey Marine flathead 6 banger for three days ,,then we'd drain the gas n put it back in storage ,,he p***ed away in '78 ,,his wife n kids didn't want the boat ,,so I sold it to the Antique Boat Club in Kansas City & gave this family all the money ,$15K ,,,it was a '40's model ,and like new ,,he bought it new from the former owners of my boat shop,,he was the nicest Black Guy i ever met,,so was the whole family ,,
Flynbrian48; I'd love that boat too ,,congrats on having a real cl***ic hot rod boat ,,love to see more pics tho ,,what motor is in it ???
Envy,Envy,Envy... God I've always wanted one of those! But living in the desert doesn't play well with wooden boats, nor does being terminally broke either!
B*** Pro Shops has a Twin ****pit & Windshields ,,Mid Engined, 1940 or 50 sumthin' 21 ft Chris Craft at Big Ceder Lodge here on Table Rock Lake they give Rides in ,,a real treat to see and here it runnin' across the water ,,it has dual exhaust so it must have Twin Grey Marine 6 bangers ,,not fer sure tho ,,too old for a Chevy V-8 ,,I think anyway ,,
Thanks guys for the kind words. The boat has a 350 short block, and '63 283 CC marine conversion parts, courtesey of the marina that "winterized" it some time back (the "winterizing" consisted of pulling it in the storage barn, not draining the block of the 283. Hence, the new short block!).
Here's some pics (some posted before) of it in the shop just after the quickie re-varnish job. It's dulled pretty noticabley already, a testament to the poor UV protection of alkyd type varnish (and paint).
verry nice i love those wood boats but i dont have the time to build one i always wanted a boat with a flathead in it
My very first ride in a boat was in 1956 ,,i was 14 ,,our neighbor had bought a new Chris Craft with a 265 Chevy and three dueces ,,no engine cover ,,gave me a ride in it on the River at Pontiac ,Illinois ,,i've been hooked ever since ,,
Damn I love that boat, what year and model is it? I am going to get one somehow someday...............
Oh sorry, I forgot. Hot rodders never had boats. Sorry to have offended you. I'd forgotten the focus of the board, what with all the builds of mid 50's thru early 60's clapped out 4 door sedans and "...how do I make my own Port-O-walls?", threads lately. Brian
This was my brother Rons boat. A Greavette made in the Muskokas (Ont Canada) It was powered by a 318 Ply single four BBl wth full marine chrome package. Ron was pres of Antique cl***ic boat club and had a couple of show winning boats. I did a few marine engines for him but not this particular one.
Man some people just have "it" - everything they touch is cool. cars, trucks, boats, campers - cool, cool, cool, cool!!! What else you hiding down there in Kzoo???
very nice boat! I watched a show of Discovery this last weekend on http://www.vandamboats.com/ They are true craftsmen.
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