'58 atom skier topsides question
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: Repairs and Maintenance
Forum Name: Boat Maintenance
Forum Discription: Discuss maintenance of your Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=21213
Printed Date: May-02-2024 at 2:16pm
Topic: '58 atom skier topsides question
Posted By: 1morecase
Subject: '58 atom skier topsides question
Date Posted: April-08-2011 at 8:42pm
| Hi, I am getting ready to start a restoration on a 58 Atom Skier and want the boat to be close to original; can anyone tell me if the topsides were white or stained mahogany plywood or were both an option? |
Replies:
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-08-2011 at 11:19pm
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Ed,
They were bright. Someone probably painted it at one time because they allowed the deck to go bad. OK, we need pictures!!!!! Welcome to CCfan. Tell us more about the project. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-09-2011 at 1:54am
  
Here are some photos... the boat is in very bad shape. There is a lot of rot in both the bow and the transom with some major trailer dents on the bottom which has racked some of the frames. The more I peeled back floor boards the more I saw how loose and unglued and a little distorted... so I realized I'd be doing a more total restoration with new frames and ply bottom and sides. Someone put in a Ford Interceptor 289, not sure what year, and I think it has the later type Dearbomatic. I have plans to make a cradle and hope to start working on the restoration this month. Thank you for your welcome, I really appreciate it. So you are saying that the boat came out of the factory with a clear finished mahogany sides? Ed |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-09-2011 at 9:54am
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Ed,
Be prepared for a down to the frame restoration. That's not glue between the frames and hull but rather a bedding compound CC used to fill uneven gaps and they hoped would provide some adhesion. It's a talc and linseed oil compound that dried out within several years. We refer to it as "dumb-dumb" and it being needed after the "finishing" hatchets were used on the frames at the factory!!  When you tear into the forward section of the hull, you'll understand better.
If the bottom has been glassed, be prepared for rot under it but you'll be replacing the ply anyway. The standard Atom would have been painted hull sides and Fir ply. The Deluxe would have been bright with Mahogany hull sides. Both as mention would have been bright decks. If you go bright on the hull sides, your biggest challenge will be scarfing the mahogany ply to make up the long length needed. Modern plys face veneer being only about 1/64" doesn't allow for any sanding. Any epoxy from the scarf joint that gets on the face will not allow the stain to "take". The ply needs to be pre stained and several coats of varnish before the scarf joint is made. The deck is butt blocked but the hull sides need the scarf. Are you sure someone dropped a 289 in the boat? You could have a 256 Y block with that Dearbo! Does it have a single side draft Carter YH carb on it? That combination was available in the later years when the Atom was lengthened to handle the larger engines. What is the length? It will help to confirm the year. Keep the pictures coming. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-10-2011 at 3:54pm
| Hi, thanks for the info (been on a short trip away from computer) I'm pretty sure the motor is not a Y block I can send a photo later... PO I think said the boat was 15 1/2 but I haven't actually measured it. I've been going back and forth over white or bright... I see how doing the scarf right is critical but could be worth the effort |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 1:23pm
here is the motor |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 1:42pm
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Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 1:53pm
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Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 5:02pm
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Ed,
Well, you do have a project on your hands! The engine must be a transplant considering the 58 year and it being a 15.5' Atom. The Dearbo is on the unusual side. They were more common on the Y blocks, still offered with later blocks and less expensive than the B/W Velvets on the Interceptors. Do you have all the hardware? ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 7:46pm
| At first I was kind of hoping with a lot of penetrating epoxy and filler I could will this old boat back together... but I soon realized I would need to do complete restoration. I still can't believe my wife gave me the green light, probably because I didn't show her any photos... the boat seemed pretty complete with the chrome parts and I have the original gas tank. The guy who did the transplant put the dearbo shifter up on the dash in front of the steering wheel. |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 9:31pm
I'm sure glad you didn't go for the first method of wood boat "restoration"!!! It deserves better. The gas tank can be restored. In fact, check out the inside. It being a galvanized tank, it may be OK. How about a picture of the shifter. Lot's of the hydraulic trans's of that era had dash mounted shifters. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
1morecase wrote:Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 10:32pm
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I'll get another closeup shot soon. Were the deluxe models mahogany planked on plywood with a planked deck with caulked seams? Most of the restored atoms I've seen have a mahogany plywood deck? 
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Posted By: boat dr
Date Posted: April-11-2011 at 10:36pm
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Pete, you gotta love that dash ornament.......... ------------- boat dr /diaries/details.asp?ID=4631 - 1949 Dart /diaries/details.asp?ID=1533 - 1964 American Skier |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-12-2011 at 9:11am
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Ed,
They were all ply decks - even the deluxe. Billy, Yes, that's a unusual location for the shift! ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-14-2011 at 7:29pm
| Okay, just measured the boat and came up with 14 1/2 from the bow at the deck to the transom at a point near the waterline. So I'm wondering if this is a different year or model... did they make the Atom Skier that length? |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-14-2011 at 7:42pm
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Ed,
Yes, that's the first hull length/model of the Atom. Same as mine. They were lengthened 6" for the 6's and then again for the V8's. Have you had a chance to take a look at the old brochures in the reference section as well as the diaries? Although there are gaps in the info, still allot. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: April-18-2011 at 1:20pm
| Thanks Pete, yes I've found the brochures and the diaries very helpful and have gotten some good ideas for upholstery from the diaries; there's a '58 owned by Steve Burkett that has a nice white and red scheme I like... CCF is a great site! |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-18-2011 at 1:51pm
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Ed,
Is Steve Burkett's 58 in the diaries? I couldn't find it! I just wanted to take a look at it to make sure you don't do something non original!  ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: April-18-2011 at 1:56pm
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Ed,
I went looking again in the diaries and did find the 58. It's listed as a "Skier" and not a "Atom and the reason I couldn't find it. That is not the original upholstery job or scheme from the factory. I just thought you should know. ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 1morecase
Date Posted: June-07-2011 at 9:36pm
Making some progress! I was able to flip the boat without everything self-destructing, and have removed old topsides and bottom panels. Now on to replacing the stem, keel, and frames...
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