1951 Dual Cockpit Restoration

[Denis Siefert]

I have located a 1951 14' dual cockpit racing hull that is very similar to the one my Dad raced in the very early 50's. I am in the process of rebuilding a '51 Merc KG-7 which will power the boat. The interior wood seems to be in very good structural condition, but of course is the dark color of aged wood. Is there a product available to bring the wood color back to life without having to sand the whole interior? Also, what is the best process for filling the many screw holes in the topside since the plywood is so thin? Thanks for any ideas.

[alan white]

You need to be more specific about both exterior and interior.
What is the material and finish inside the boat and what part of the interior are you talking about (please use correct terminology if possible).
Secondly, I'm assuming you're using the correct term "topsides" to mean the sides of the boat above the waterline. In that case, the topside planking of the boat is plywood, and it is thin? Or are bungs coming out leaving shallow holes that need to be filled? What's made of plywood? Boats of that vintage might have had some plywood, but more often they were planked with solid wood.

Alan

[Denis Siefert]

Thanks for the response, Alan. Sorry about my ignorance with boat terminology, but I'll do the best I can. The boat is actually just under 12' long and from what I understand, it was a home-built boat. The top, bottom, and sides are plywood that appears to be about 1/4" thick. The interior and transom are all wood as well. I'm not sure what type of wood was used or the original finish that was used on the boat, but as I mentioned, it is pretty dark in color. The sides appear to have been painted at one time, but most of that has been sanded or chemically removed. The top of the deck appears to have been varnished, but also needs restoration. The heads of all of the screws are just barely below flush with the wood surface due to the thickness of the plywood, so there is a small amount of filler covering the heads. I'm afraid that when I refinish the wood, the heads of the screws will end up at the same level as the wood and will be prevalent. Should they be retorqued into the wood again, removed, counter-sunk and replaced? Being a race boat, it is not plank-sided, but all plywood. As you can tell, Alan, I am a complete novice at this, but would like to restore the boat to the best of my ability. If it would help to identify the boat, I have quite a few photos that I have taken that I can send to you. (One thing that seems to make this particular boat unique is a built-in extension of the floor of plywood about six inches past the transom that acts as a fixed trim tab of sorts.) Thank for your patience.
Denis

[alan white]

Originally Posted by Denis Siefert

Thanks for the response, Alan. Sorry about my ignorance with boat terminology, but I'll do the best I can. The boat is actually just under 12' long and from what I understand, it was a home-built boat. The top, bottom, and sides are plywood that appears to be about 1/4" thick. The interior and transom are all wood as well. I'm not sure what type of wood was used or the original finish that was used on the boat, but as I mentioned, it is pretty dark in color. The sides appear to have been painted at one time, but most of that has been sanded or chemically removed. The top of the deck appears to have been varnished, but also needs restoration. The heads of all of the screws are just barely below flush with the wood surface due to the thickness of the plywood, so there is a small amount of filler covering the heads. I'm afraid that when I refinish the wood, the heads of the screws will end up at the same level as the wood and will be prevalent. Should they be retorqued into the wood again, removed, counter-sunk and replaced? Being a race boat, it is not plank-sided, but all plywood. As you can tell, Alan, I am a complete novice at this, but would like to restore the boat to the best of my ability. If it would help to identify the boat, I have quite a few photos that I have taken that I can send to you. (One thing that seems to make this particular boat unique is a built-in extension of the floor of plywood about six inches past the transom that acts as a fixed trim tab of sorts.) Thank for your patience.
Denis

No apologies necessary. Just hoping to help us save some time and energy.
The plywood is thin at 1/4" but if well framed and curved, it could be just that thin. The tightening of the screws is a good idea, but I think the days of varnishing that plywood are over. If you have so little to work with to begin with, a better idea would be to glass the plywood with maybe 4 oz and then epoxy, and paint.
The glass will make up for weathering and sanding, add strength and also seal the topsides.
Paint is often the best comprimise when dealing with an old hull. Brightwork is best left to full restorations and young boats. This doesn't mean eliminationg all brightwork--- a lot of parts such as guards and coamings and misc. interior trim can be either replaced or wooded and then finished bright.
some old wood runabouts become near worthless when painted because they are judged against their original condition which is always known.
In the case of an oddball, there's no original to follow, so you can get artistic. This is my suggestion with your boat--- have fun and save money by redesigning the boat colors. Youll eliminate a ton of work and future work keeping brightwork up. I promise you.

Alan