1960 Smithcraft Work in Progress

[lumiecraft]

I am new to this forum and have a work in progress project. I need some good advice. I have taken a look around this forum and feel it might just be the place.

The link in my signature is a photo album of my boat before any work began.
It is a 1960 15' Smithcraft. This is the only information on the make and model of this boat. No tag anywhere. The information is only from the registration.

To begin. From what I have found after gutting the boat is that the floor, and upper deck were all wood. It looks like the upper deck had at one point been aluminum and was cut off and replaced with wood. The hull at the sheer line in the bow section was cut poorly. The sheer was replaced with wood. It is mahagony that was screwed in place.

My questions are:
1. What would be the best thing to replace the sheer with? I have the aluminum rubrail trim from an old fiberglass Starcraft that looks to be quite strong and would fit just right. I have the jig to bend it properly and I can then rivet it in place. It will give enough lip at the top to attach the gunwale and upper deck.

2. I am going to need to remove the paint from the inside of the boat and remove any very minor oxidation that has formed under the paint. This oxidation is only in spots but the paint has chipped enough to bare metal that I feel it's best to remove it and re-paint it. What metal prep is needed prior to painting bare aluminum to prevent oxidation?

3. I don't have the tools to weld so riveting will be my only option and one I feel will be the best for this boat anyway. From what you see in the pics is there anything you might suggest I do to rebuild the upper portion of this boat?

I thank you all for any input you give. The link below is the current state of the boat. Have a good look. Double click on the lower portion of the large images for a real high resolution image of the image you are looking at.

http://inertext.homeunix.com/Smithcraft_March_2_2006/

I am also looking to find any information on this boat as to the true make and model of the boat. Brochures and such. Anyone ever seen one of these. The green paint in the pics it of the original color of the boat and it was purchased in the San Francisco Bay area two years ago.

Thank you all
lumiecraft

[lumiecraft]

Guess this is the wrong forum to post this information.

lumiecraft

[Gilbert]

Sometimes it takes a while for the right person to come looking around and spot a new post. So don't give up yet. I am sure there is someone that can be of more help than me, but I will say that your idea to use the rubrail at the sheer sounds fine.
I don't know what to say about the paint and oxidation question. It would be good to know what alloy was used on this boat. With that information yu could no doubt get some help from paint companies.
It looks like you should install some side decks with a coaming above or a stiffener under the inner edge of them. They should be strong enough to support a big and heavy person sitting on them.

I don't know anything about the company. I like the boat's rather nicely fashioned bow shape.

[lumiecraft]

Thanks for the response. I will wait. I do plan on installing a coaming (gunwale) on the boat and yes it will be very strong. The rub rail I have will allow the combing to be installed and attached to the rubrail as well which will be securly riveted to the boat. The (gunwale) combing that was removed was strong but not attached real well. At least not as well as I would do. Things are coming along nicely. I do not have anyway to know what type of aluminum was used on the boat unless I took a sample to a lab to have it tested. I will not be doing that due to cost constraints.

Thanks
lumiecraft

[SmithCraft64]

Well that person you have been waiting for is probably just as nutty as yourself for buying a 1964 SmithCraft 17ft'r. But I did show up. I don't know what it was that made me get this boat maybe it was the 12 inches of redwood needles that were floating in it's sad looking hull full of water? water? Well atleast it doesnt leak from the inside out. Whats really a kwinky dink (coincidence) is that I live right up the hill from you in Grass Valley. It sounds like you know more about boats than I do but I think I'm going to get my first boat refurbishing self inflicted lesson. Well I'll leave this like it is for now. Oh yeah its powered by a 65 horse Merc. Who knows if it will start yet but i'm about to find out those little things soon. adios SmithCraft64

[SmithCraft64]

Oh buy the way have you had any luck finding any of these 60's boats since you started your project? I've looked but so far no luck at all. Do you suppose that ours were the only two built? naaaagh ha ha. Let me know if you did that would be most helpful. SmithCraft64

[alex fletcher]

Hi looks to me that you both have old re-badged quintrex boats Still common here in Australia and I believe imported to the USA in the 60s

[SmithCraft64]

Thanks Alex I'll check that out.

[lumiecraft]

Well so far no luck finding an early picture of a Quinrex boat. All the Quintrex boats are of lapstrake design. My Smithcraft is a smooth hull and not the lapstrake design. Do you happen to have any images of early Quintrex boats that look like mine? I'd love to have some images. This will help greatly.

I have found one other image of a Smithcraft but that is all.




Photo Album of my Smithcraft:
http://inertext.homeunix.com/webalbum/

[KFB]

You've actually got a pretty little hull there. It looks like there's a bit of tumblehome aft - I don't think I've seen another aluminum boat of this type that nicely shaped. Here's some responses to your first post:

1. I'd stick with aluminum, if you are comfortable working with that material, stick with it. I would always avoid introducing dissimilar materials to a boat unless there's a real need to. If you have the ability to bend and rivet a sheer clamp go for it. I would refer to the other riveting details that were done elswhere on the boat (at the chine etc) as guidance regarding rivet size and spacing. Use an adhesive sealant like 3M 5200 where you want to permanently bed something or seal a seam.

2. The ideal method would be sandblasting to a "white" surface. Look into renting a sand blaster, or calling on automotive paint shops or commercial boatyards to have them do it for you. If you strike up a conversation with the right person, you can often find yard workers who are willing to do little jobs after hours using the shop's equipt...go to www.awlgrip.com and read up on thier paint and prep systems, awlgrip is the most specified coating for aluminum in the yacht world.

3. As I said in point#1, use aluminum if you can. use the old wood frames as templates, and rebuild with bent AL extrusions. It'll take some thinking if you want to use riveting as your only means of fastening, but its just a matter of how much effort you're willing to put into this little boat. You should really look into getting your hands on some aluminum boatbuilding texts.

Good Luck!

[lumiecraft]

Pretty neat little boat. Yes there is a little tumblehome there and it really makes this boat look good. The original material was wood and not aluminum. The top edge of the aluminum under that wood sheer was not cut verywell and I have been successfull at making it better but still have a little cutting to do to make it the best. The heavy aluminum rubrail extrusion I have will preserve the original wide sheer look but will now be aluminum and I can install the rubrail rubber to protect as well as support the sides. I now have a few pieces of the right size to use on the interior to replace some of the wood pieces that were removed. I will be able to use the original splash well which is what I had hoped for in the begining. I will be getting my rivet tools soon and I will be able to use two sizes of solid rivets and I also have my pop rivet gun to rivet blind areas that will not see severe stress and where I can't reach to do a solid rivet. The rail will be installed within a month if all goes well. I have a few other projects in the works so I have less time than I want to spend on this project. Thanks for all the advice and I will be checking it out soon. Did I mention that the bottom part of the hull is actually welded to the splash rail and the upper sides are riveted to the splash rail. Never seen any aluminum boat built like this one. That is why I want to keep her. This hull is very strong and light. Do you want to see some of the progress pictures of what it looks like now? I have it stripped to a bare hull and even have the wood transom out for replacement?

Here are some photoalbums to have a look at:
http://www.inertext.homeunix.com/hull_attachment

http://www.inertext.homeunix.com/smithcraft

http://www.inertext.homeunix.com/smithcraftupdate

http://www.inertext.homeunix.com/Smi...t_March_2_2006

http://www.inertext.homeunix.com/transomremoved

These photo albums show the progress of the boat. The most current images are the last ones. The albums are in order from start to current.

Pete
lumiecraft