Restoration of a 1961 Chris-Craft

 So, the bottom is installed thanks to a group of wonderful friends that are experts at doing bottoms.  It's called the "bottom gang" of which there are 5 official members.  Not all 5 attended but we actually had a great time with pizza and beer after the task was done.  I am very grateful to John, Al, Bryan, and Jack for spending their time helping me out.  (took about 4 hours, which is amazing!)  Al and I did one side, John and Bryan the other and Jack was tending to the crock pot for the 5200.  You'll notice that we used some white 5200.  The reason is that white is less expensive and since the bottom will be pained it won't show.  All other places that are not painted uses the mahogany color.      After it was done, we wet it down and then I covered it with plastic to maintain high humidity.  I learned from the "gang" that high humidity helps set the 5200 more quickly.    I'll let this set for at least ...

After fitting the planks, I set about beveling the planks to create a channel for the 5200 between the planks when they are installed.  Here is a photo showing the end result.     After that I cleaned up and organized all the planks so that on the day of the install they would be easily accessible.  Planks for each side of the bottom were set on sawhorses on their respective sides.     I also organized all the various screws that would be needed making 2 of everything so that each team had their own supply when needed. And set up the crock pot to warm the 5200 for applying.     Then I contacted the "bottom gang" !

 Over the last 2 weeks, I've been working on fitting the remaining planks on the bottom.  I think I'm there but I've invited my friend and mentor, Al, to come inspect my work to be sure we're ready to proceed.  Luckily, in this area I know several guys that will come help with the bottom.  We call them the bottom gang and I don't want any surprises when we get the gang together.  This shows fitting the chine plank where I was by myself:   Here's where I'm at after fitting, the planks are intentionally left long and I'll trim them flush after the bottom is applied:       Then I proceeded to make the butt blocks like the original was done by Chris Craft:  .  These will be installed on the inside of the boat before we apply 5200 and screw it all down  

 Over the last week or so I've been fitting bottom planks.  I started with the second plank from the keel because it fits to both the gripe and the side plank/chine.   Once I was happy with those I fit the garber planks next to the keel.  It was a laborious process to test fit, remove to adjust, test fit, remove to adjust, test fit, remove to adjust, test fit and on and on for 2 or 3 hours.  There must be a better way!  But I finally fit these 4 planks.  Then I moved outward from the keel to the next plank and found it more difficult than the others.     So much so that I called Bryan (an expert at this) who came over today to help.  I learned an incredible amount about how to go about this.  Unfortunately there is no quick fix or automated way to do this.  However with his help, we managed to fit the next two planks on either side.  Now I can cut, plane, and fit the aft planks that are basically flat and straight....

 The transom planks don't have a severe bend so I soaked them for about 5 or 6 days and then    clamped them to the transom.  Once they dry out in a week or two, I'll attach them permanently.  Before I clamped them I coated the battens for the transom with CEPS and installed the ones on the plank that was already installed.  Notice how dark the wood is after soaking.  They lighten up as they dry out.  There's a space between them for clamping but I'll fit them better once they dry out!   Coating battens with Clear epoxy sealer:  

 Over the last several weeks I have continued to work on attaching the plywood bottom and the intermediate frames.  In order to do it by myself I've had to get creative.  But as of today, I have just 9 intermediate frames to go and one last piece of the plywood bottom. Here is a frame where I drew a line to line up through the hole that's drilled in the correct position.  Once I prepare the frame, I line it up through the holes.  However the one near the keel is to far away to move the frame and see in the hole.  So I attached the frame near the chine and then used a mirror to see it near the keel.    For the starboard bow plywood piece, I attached the intermediate frames before I attached the plywood to the boat.  However, this made it more challenging to be sure the plywood was in contact with the keel near the frame farthest from the bow.  So I clamped it and them piled a couple of cinder blocks to insure contact.  After this I w...