1955 CC Hurricane Restoration

any solidity to soaking wood in water and Dawn soap to bend the wood?
im just curious because this is how an old timer told me how the made the curves on his old trojan. he would take the trim pieces and soak them in a capped at both ends pvc pipe with dawn soap and water???
looking beautiful Alan

Not sure about the Dawn, I would hate to introduce anything that might screw up the finish (stain/varnish)later.

The moisture content of the stock is important in it's ability to transfer the heat. Back when these boats were built the builder had a choice of green lumber at their disposal. Green lumber has anywhere from 20-30% moisture content and bent easily in place then air dried on the boat. Today's lumber is all kiln dried down to 6-8% moisture content and the lignin is cured, soaking is done to help transfer the heat that green lumber would easily transfer.

When soaking the 3/8" planks for the Hurricane, after a 24 hour soak the water would still only have penetrated about 1/16" deep. It is fairly common for someone bending a thicker stock like a chine to let it soak for 2-3 weeks. As green stock disappeared the practice of 2 piece laminated chines came into play not just for Correct Craft but builders like Chris Craft went that direction as well.

When steaming, the lignin ( what the wood cells are full of when live or green), is put back into a compressible state. The wood is bent and let to cool, when the lignin cools it retains the curved shape it has been forced into. Basically compressing the cell on the inside of a curve and stretching the cell on the outside.

Green lumber for framework like white oak is still available from specialty mills and comes coated in wax to slow the drying process.

eric lavine wrote: soaking his wood in water and with Dawn to bend it? im just curious because this is how an old timer told me how the made the curves on his old trojan. looking beautiful Alan

Here all the time Eric you thought he was talking about his boat when in fact he was really proud of his weekend.

81nautique wrote: I've been able to manage a few days work on the hemi over the summer so here's where I'm at After getting the motor running I stripped it of all accesorries , intake and exhaust manifolfs, etc. so I could clean up the parts and block. After a good scrubbing I sprayed everything with a 2 part epoxy primer. After a little research I came up with what I think is the correct color for the engine and had some 2 part enamel mixed up and started spraying. I then stripped and polished all the bronze and brass cooling system plumbing and gave it a quick coat of clear laquer. Also sent the valve covers out for chrome and started putting it all back together. I was getting ready to install the carbs and thought I should clean them up a little first so I gave them a shot of carb cleaner not realizing they had been rattle can painted, you can imaging the mess as the paint just melted off so now I am going to pick up a couple of gasket sets and detail them as well.

Alan,
where did you get your supplies for your method of engine painting? I am planning on painting mine this winter and want it to hold up and am concerned with the durability of rattle can engine paint. What do you think? Is a spray can of engine paint good enough? Or do you think this is the way to go no matter what. Mind you my boat will never be done to the detail you are going in but I dont want the paint to peel off if some gas gets spilled. Someone else suggested the rattle can was ok if you added a clear coat.

I went to the local auto body supply store. All PPG products. I used rattle can on my 81 and one drop of gas and the paint would run. The hemi was painted with an epoxy etching primer ( base,catalist) and the top coat is a 3 part enamel ( base, hardener and a reducer).

The finished product has a hard shell, great gloss and gas/solvent resistant. All was sprayed through a $20 gravity spray gun from Harbor Freight.

81nautique wrote: Not sure about the Dawn, I would hate to introduce anything that might screw up the finish (stain/varnish)later. The moisture content of the stock is important in it's ability to transfer the heat. Back when these boats were built the builder had a choice of green lumber at their disposal. Green lumber has anywhere from 20-30% moisture content and bent easily in place then air dried on the boat. Today's lumber is all kiln dried down to 6-8% moisture content and the lignin is cured, soaking is done to help transfer the heat that green lumber would easily transfer. When soaking the 3/8" planks for the Hurricane, after a 24 hour soak the water would still only have penetrated about 1/16" deep. It is fairly common for someone bending a thicker stock like a chine to let it soak for 2-3 weeks. As green stock disappeared the practice of 2 piece laminated chines came into play not just for Correct Craft but builders like Chris Craft went that direction as well. When steaming, the lignin ( what the wood cells are full of when live or green), is put back into a compressible state. The wood is bent and let to cool, when the lignin cools it retains the curved shape it has been forced into. Basically compressing the cell on the inside of a curve and stretching the cell on the outside. Green lumber for framework like white oak is still available from specialty mills and comes coated in wax to slow the drying process.

Alan, I am asking, not recommending, but could you set up a "humidor" plastic tent with a humidifier for wood storage, I know flooring starts to pick up moisture at anything above 55% ambient humidity, and working in unconditioned homes under construction in the summer it is not uncommon for me to get subfloor moisture readings of 18 to 20 percent. I typically follow the pouring of cement basements, drywall and priming of sheetrock in the process order. I would think you could nmaintain 70% humidity with out to many issues with mold. if the wood was staked with spacers you could get the moisture content to 18% plus in a few weeks. Would that make a big difference?, Does steamed dry wood give less cracking/opening/shrinkage later?

OverMyHead wrote: Alan, I am asking, not recommending, but could you set up a "humidor" plastic tent with a humidifier for wood storage, I know flooring starts to pick up moisture at anything above 55% ambient humidity, and working in unconditioned homes under construction in the summer it is not uncommon for me to get subfloor moisture readings of 18 to 20 percent. I typically follow the pouring of cement basements, drywall and priming of sheetrock in the process order. I would think you could nmaintain 70% humidity with out to many issues with mold. if the wood was staked with spacers you could get the moisture content to 18% plus in a few weeks. Would that make a big difference?, Does steamed dry wood give less cracking/opening/shrinkage later?

In theory yes you could do that, I don't know if it would ever get to the 20-30% moisture level of green lumber though. On the flip side of that, once you steamed and bent the lumber you would have to get it back down to a stable MC or it would continue to shrink back to it's original size when at the 6-8% MC which could take quite a long time, if you didn't it would shrink after install and you'd have open joints. That would be a long process waiting for the wood to dry. The dry time for my method is typically one week for each day of soaking. I soak and bend one weekend and install the next.

Soaking the lumber before steaming only gets the surface or 1/16" depth wet and the purpose is to conduct the steam heat better, the MC of the lumber really doesn't change that much on a short soak. a 3/8" piece of plank stock at 30 minutes in the steam box will come out almost dry but pliable enough to bend.

I will note that not everyone soaks their stock before bending but Dannenberg recommends the practice.

Got a full day in yesterday and made good progress on the Arrow motif.

I was able to get a plank of stock from the mill that once resawn would give me all my pieces for the deck from bow to stern. This was one plank of 5/4 x 16" wide. I spent some time carefully sectioning the stock so the grain would match side to side and also flow seamlessly the length of the boat.





I then cut the old deck off of the 1/4 plywood and shaped it to fit.



I then transfered the old stock pattern to a piece of particle board so I could have a routing template.

Next I cut the plank stock down into 2" strips and cut a half saw kerf for the caulking line. The pieces were attached to the template for a rough cut with the jig saw and then routed to the template.



The pieces were then removed from the template and installed on the boat.





I need to finish cutting the arrow tips and get them installed then I'll move back and rebuild the engine hatches.

It gets a little cooler with each piece you put on!

to think i took a pint size bachhoe on saturday and completely destroyed a trojan woody to get the engines out. i wanted the tranny's for the parts. its a shame because about 10 or so years ago the woman wouldnt sell the boat when it wae prisitne, her husband passed, it was left uncovered in the field since then. my friend is in charge of the storage area and said everything must go, got the pick of about 8 motor homes and camper trailers and about 6 boats, Monday will be a trip back up for a 88 bay bopper, omc 350 and outdrive

Eric - You should start a show 'Boat Pickers'.    Need a tattoo lady though.

Rockin it Alan, keep up the good work.

81nautique wrote: After a little research I came up with what I think is the correct color for the engine and had some 2 part enamel mixed up and started spraying.

That engine looks great. I love that color. I searched the thread looking for the name of the engine color (so I didn't get chastised), could you tell me the name? You have done an incredible job and I want to paint my engine that color.

Engine envious,
Wes

Wes, Sorry I can't be more help but I could not find any information on a stock paint for this engine. I just found as many pictures as I could of this engine on the internet. Then printed out the one I liked and brought it to a auto paint shop. They custom mixed it for me. You may have to do the same.

alan funny you say that, the worst part about working on trailered boats is the hopping in and out, funny though i watch the greenhorns here and they fianlly figure out (without me telling them)that a tool tray is the way to go with the most needed tools....evolution I laugh because i was that way at one time
coming along very nicely i must say