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" !