Kreativdesigns, you're going to die when you find out what the local marine store wants for a gallon of bottom paint. A set of four new el-cheapo dock lines will run over 40 bucks, let alone the good double braided stuff. A new stainless bow eye for your boat is listed at half the price of the book and that's not the same style as the one you're equipped with, just one that will fit your stem.
Chris Craft Sea Skiffs have a large following. There are web sites for just them, clubs for just them, remanufactured and NOS hardware just for them. Most any antique boat show in this country will have several on display and a few vendors selling Chris Craft stuff (be educated, or you can easily buy the wrong year or style) They want a bunch for this stuff too, as they know they have a limited market and the availability is equally as limited. So if your rubber entry pads are spent, cracked and other wise in need of replacement, you'll sooner or later have to deal with these folks who specialize in Chris gear.
The other options are to rework the materials yourself. How good are you at casting bronze and then chrome plating it? Or finding good used stuff, knowing well that every one and their brother with a similar Chris will be looking for the same part. Or living with what you've described as a fine example of Sea Skiff.
I'm glad to hear you have gone over her and are methodical about the effort. It will be necessary, as you've seen there are loads of pieces to keep track of. If this boat is of any real value to you (certainly seems so) then you should have a survey done for a complete assessment of the structure. There will be rot in the structure, hopefully not much and was kept up carefully by former owners.
I fix these things for a living, trust me, you want the book. It will provide much more then a few pages of info, it will tell you how things go together, what materials were used, the techniques, the specifications, etc. These are not simple craft, but highly engineered pioneers of light weight lap construction. Chris Craft pulled off what many other companies tried, a tight, light, reasonably easy to construct power boat, that has survived the tests of time. You can always return the book with a lame excuse for ordering the wrong thing for a friend's birthday (photo copy the relevant pages)
Samuel J., I have a 1965 Lyman 25' sleeper here, just being completed. She spent nine months on the hard getting everything from the waterline down replaced, except the engine, it's beds and a few salvageable stringers. Her back was broken, ribs rotten, planking fastened too many times, a real mess. She looks nice now, what model is yours? Have you checked out the Lyman sites and clubs, as they too have a strong following, especially in the finger lakes and great lakes areas up north. Tom Koroknay (he'll be pissed if I screwed the spelling up again) has a new book out about Lyman's, worth a look see, though I haven't yet, have heard it's good. He's the guy who bought up the molds and jigs when Lyman went under in the late 60's and now provides stems, transoms, etc. cut on the original guides the factory used.
P.S. the gallon of correct color Lyman bilge paint (God it's ugly stuff too) was over 90 bucks (for Kreativdesigns benefit) got it from Tom . . .
