1955 CommuterRestore

While in the Hurricane thread last week I alluded to a project that's been keeping me busy for a while so I thought it was about time I shared what's been happening down at the farm for the last 2 winters.

Todd and Renee Weitekamp have talked about owning a wood boat for as long as I've known them and it was starting to sound less like talk and more like "lets find one". They ended up settling on one that Billy Sutton had in his lean to that was not going anywhere soon. Billy sent pictures, they looked too good to be true. Plus this boat was titled as a 56 but it was clear to me that it was a 55, a long lost anniversary boat cousin to the Hurricane and the Hurricane was lonely. I thought what a pair these 2 boats will be running side by side someday. So off to Louisianna we went.

14 hours later I'm thinking "Does every boat purchase start the same way?, WTH Well we later learned that the pictures weren't exactly current, I mean it looked that good at one time but it was in need of some help now. Main issue we knew going in was that the deck would have to be replaced. Not that big of a job Todd, I'll be glad to help. Then we'll refinish the sides and go boating. What we didn't expect was the condition of the sides, they would need major attention and at minimum would need to be refastened.

In the end we decided to take the project home, see it's already no longer a boat, it was a Project now. And it was getting nicknames like "splinter" and eventually would become known as "Hairball". First impressions can be brutal but underneath she was a good boat and so it began....Again

So over the next few months we striped the boat and removed all the planking. Not really finding any major surprises we continued executing our plan, screw by screw, plank by plank. we striped and cleaned each plank.   Plugged holes and prepped the boat for refastening.

We worked on the boat for a few months last winter and started back with a vengeance this November. Since then we've gotten the sides reinstalled, fitted and installed new transom boards and fitted and installed an entire new deck. Renee became my installation partner on the sides and deck, she handled every task I threw at her, an amazing and eager partner. Todd put a lot of time in doing mechanical work, rebuilding the trailer and installing new knee braces, He was our go to CPES man, think maybe we'll call him TPES.

So here she is with the old side planking reinstalled and getting her new transom.








We also got a visit one Saturday from Swanny and Brian, Huge help with getting a lot of the new knees cut and fitted. There was a lot of wood flying with 5 of us on the boat that day

Did you catch that they wore their CCfan gear, class acts these guys.

And this is where she sits now, we're just about done with wood working, shes been completely faired in and sanded. The three of us spent 2 full days grinding and longboarding every inch of that hull. I personally don't think it could have come out any better.

















we took off as much wood as we hung

Incredible. Wow!

Alan. I have always wanted a wood boat as well. I think if you help me..........In all seriousness, you are a fine craftsman and it a real treat to be able to see all the hard work come together and look so awesome. Thanks for documenting and sharing the stories along the way. Keep up the ambitious projects!

You are sly Alan. Are you planning on 327 power?

Check out Renee digging right in there too,way to go! Beautiful work

I've been following it on FB... I was hoping it would get it's story posted here with lots of pictures (God knows we all crave pictures here).

Alan, Renee, Todd and others working on this beauty: ab-so-f*ckin'-lutely awesome!

Very nice.

Boat looks great, it takes lots of work to bring back the dead. Keep it up looking forward to pictures of her running on the lake.

So quick answer on power for the time being will be a 6 cyl 140hp Gray marine.   I'm not sure how long Todd will be able to live with that but for now that's what it will get. This one is also getting a ski pylon so they can tow the kids around behind it.

This project has been in the fast lane because it's a true group effort. I show up on Saturdays but there's work happening during the week that make my days productive. Great teamwork and it has been a ton of fun.    Todd will probably jump in with more pictures once he sees this as he's the real cameraman.

81nautique wrote: power for the time being will be a 6 cyl 140hp Gray marine.   .

A few options per the 55 price sheet:



Keep it original!

Todd who??? All I see is everybody except Todd working, lol

Sure is coming along nicely, great work by all!!
Barely give him 1 summer before he is working on a new power plant, any diesel options for the little boats in 55', lol

quinner wrote: All I see is everybody except Todd working, lol

Funny, that's exactly what I noticed when going through the pictures!!