1958 Ski Champ Restoration

[Yeonik]

So last year the Admiral was on her way home from work and picked out this "cute little boat". Needless to say, eventually it followed us home! Here's some pictures from when we bought it.

(lemme know if these are too big/break the rules or anything)







We used it all year last summer, and it worked great. When I stored it last winter, I didn't do a very good job and she sat out in the weather a bit... cover tore =\

The previous owner told me he re-did all the wood - I didn't know to ask him how he sealed things or anything (I didn't know about iboats back then). Fast forward to this spring - I pulled the cover off to find all the sealant (it looked like urethane or something) peeling off. Needless to say, this bummed me out. Initially I was just going to sand all of it off, stain the wood, then re-seal it.

Then I came across http://forums.iboats.com/boat-restoration-building-hull-repair/1957-starcraft-ski-champ-restoration-352569.html and thought to myself "This old gal doesn't deserve just a little bit of sanding and a new coat of varnish - she needs a full restoration! The tinny gods may just smite me down if I do the job halfway!"

(Please note : I probably won't get it looking at all like wrfalpacas' rig - that thing is just beautiful)

SO, I started reading and reading so I knew what I was getting into, and hope I have a pretty good handle on things. I'll document most of the resto here, and hopefully include anyone that's interested in the decision making progress, as I've got a couple things that I'm just totally undecided about.

That said, I hope you folks don't mind Iphone pics, my camera's cord got stolen by the bilge gremlins. :facepalm:

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

So, here's what's been done so far.

First off, I started pulling the screws for the cap - the P.O. used galvanized machine screws to hold the trim pieces to the hull... what a rusty mess. On top of that, the oak trim wasn't fully dry so now it's shrunk, holding those screws tighter than anything. Having a heck of a time pulling em. I'm glad there is only.... you know... 125 of em (at rough count).:facepalm:

The transom was replaced by the P.O. and he used a beautiful piece of oak. Unfortunately, being that it was a solid piece, it's starting to crack as it's drying. That'll be replaced by some laminated ply, soaked in epoxy.

The ply for the cap and gunwales is very light, 1/4# ply... it doesn't look like an exterior grade or anything. That'll also be replaced by some heavier ply.



Dash looks decent, I may just clean it up and use what is there - havent fully decided on that yet.


Seating isn't terrible - the P.O. made up some seat cushions for himself, and I'll probably end up using those until I find a cheap alternative - I love the look of the front seats on the original, but that may be out of my limited woodworking skills. When we get to that point, we'll have to see what happens!

I've got everything but the trim pulled off of the hull right now - i'll get some photos of that in a bit. 2 days ago, I got some epoxy from U.S. Composites, so soon we'll be into the rebuild phase!

So, here's a list so I don't lose my progress.

Strip paint
Prep and paint hull (We're going with white for now).
Rebuild & Install transom.
Source new windshield, power, steering wheel.

Two things - I just tried taking a bunch of pictures and they came out terrible =\ Gonna have to go get a new cord for the camera before the mob grabs their pitchforks. Secondly, I started this project when work was terribly slow (like, wondering about layoffs), and wouldn't you know it that as soon as I got into the project we're working overtime. Progress may be slow for a bit =D

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Some random pictures to keep the mob happy.

Transom after partial sanding, before I decided to remove it.


Port side gunwale after sanding


Cap after sanding, with required coffee mug!

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Welcome to the mob.

Nice SkiChamp, looking forward to following the resto.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

That's a neat little boat....nice. Will be looking forward to the progress.

 

[classiccat]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

that's a cool little rig!

no pitchforks...ya done good on your resto kick-off Yeonik!

...you're like the 10th' guy from Michigan that I know who uses "=" for the eyeballs on his emoticons...kinda funny =)

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Great project, I'll be following this one.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Me too. Can't wait to see how she turns out. I love the old 10hp too (looks like a pre '58 model. I'm guessing '57ish). Great little motors. Here are some links that can help you keep it running for 50+ more years.

Johnson

Vintage Evinrude Johnson Outboard Parts & Diagrams - Catalog 376747

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

That is indeed a 1957 10 horse. Those links look great, I found a bit of information over in the johnson section, but that stuff will be invaluable!

Last year I ran that motor.... say 4 or 5 times, just messing around. I knew nothing about outboards (still don't, really), and it just never ran quite right. Was slamming into gear on forward/reverse, no low rpm idle, host of problems. I broke a couple of shear pins before I finally put her away for the winter. Going to need some work I'm sure, I haven't started to tear into her quite yet. I planned on getting a few more horses pushing this boat, but we'll see what the budget says. MBS is catchy (more on that later).

So, bit of progress. I assumed the P.O. didn't know what he was doing when he painted this boat. Unfortunately, I was wrong - it looks like the paint is actually on there pretty good. I sanded a bit on the inside, hoping to get the bulk off, but that paint held pretty well. Nothing photo worthy!

I've got access to a sandblaster at work - has anyone ever tried corn cob blasting one of these old hulls? I wouldn't want to use sand, figuring it would pit the aluminum, but I wonder if corn cob would? If nothing else, we could just try it!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Hello again Yeonik. I've never heard of anyone using corn cob, but lots of folks like soda blasting the hull which is very delicate and only uses baking soda. As for the motor, the symptoms you describe are the tell tale signs of a worn clutch dog, which is pretty common on this particular model. Not to worry, it's a pretty easy DIY fix. Here's a parts catalog should you need it.

Vintage Evinrude Johnson Outboard Parts & Diagrams - Catalog 376747 (catalog for the '56, but it should work)

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

You're a pretty alright dude, kfa!

I might need to read up on soda blasting. I'm sure there's more to it than dumping a bunch of baking soda into a sandblaster...

EDIT: Forgot my status update! Didn't do anything yesterday, but I did clutter up my backyard s'more!



16' supersport. Better get cracking on the ski champ so I can get the supersport started!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Good to see the Admiral is getting a feel for the ship!

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

So, I decided to get the feel of what it'd be like to be a glasser dude and wire wheel the old paint away. Boy am I glad I got a tinnie - after about an hour my hands were numb! Anyways, managed to get all the exterior stripped. Planned on sanding the ext today but the Admiral didn't want the noise. So instead I took some time and cleaned out the basement (my workbench area :facepalm. Got that all cleaned up so I pulled out the 'ol 10 horse and got to work.

I pulled the lower unit off - I'm AMAZED at how clean the shaft is. It looks brand new. Maybe someone has replaced it before, iono. After I pulled the lower unit, I drained the oil - very milky, with water draining last. Not good. Flipped her over, tried splitting the gearbox.... no go. Just about stripped a couple of the flathead screws mad-new so I decided to stop. She'll go into the shop tommorrow where I've got A)impact guns and B) heat.

So after I did all that I came up to the cpu and decided to research paint. It took me about a half hour to verify that Holiday Bronze is the "johnson red" that I need. Who the heck came up with that name? Name it "JOHNSON RED" or something. Ugh!

I'ma stop and buy a camera tommorrow, I promise ;p

EDIT : I'm continually amazed by the motor and boat. They're almost 60 years old. I had to stop and think about that the other day. Over double my age, and still running! I'm amazed. Doubt I'll work that good at 60!

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Glad you're making some progress. I've had to use heat and cussing to get some old bolts free too. Yeah, I'm not sure how "holiday Bronze" = garnet/maroon color of the motors, but go figure. Here are some great lower unit links. They're for slightly different models, but the basic steps are the same. You can get a reseal kit right here at iboats for about $25.

http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-ev...l-kit-1968-evinrude-fastwin-18-hp-601481.html
http://forums.iboats.com/johnson-evinrude-outboards/fastwin-lower-unit-seal-faq-277190.html
Evinrude / johnson 18-20 hp LOWER UNIT disassembly - YouTube
HOW TO PULL SEALS FROM LOWER UNITS - YouTube

 

[barato2]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

i hear ya on the 60 years old thing. any idea where i can go to get a new transom and floors installed in the ole carcass....?


good thing you quit on the wire wheel when you did.....eventually you're picking wires out of your skin.
oh, and thumbs up on the new acquisition!

 

[Yeonik]

Re: 1958 Ski Champ Restoration

Update time!

Got the gearcase lower off, popped out the gears - Everything looks pretty good! I checked the water pump, and it looks horrible! Someone bent one of the ears on the impeller the wrong way during installation, and destroyed the outlet grommet. Time for a kit!