Removing the hardware.

It's been cold... really cold... On the only day above freezing so far this year, I was able to start removing hardware and gauges. The gauges are in pretty bad shape, and after research and recommendations, I have chosen Mark Clawson (www.markclawson.com) to restore them back to their former glory.

This the current state of the gauges:




And this is how they would look after Mark Clawson is finished:




Through "The Buzz", Chris Craft Antiques boat club's online forum, I got confirmed that my deck vents are the original for the 1940 17" Deluxe.




I got the tickets and hotels for the Mount Dora show in March booked as well. Can't wait...............

Engine choice and old litterature

Thanks (?) to Matt Smith at woodyboater.com, I'm now "plastered all over the blogosphere". All I wanted was to keep a journal for friends and family to follow the progress on the project. Well, this is my chance to keep both the boat project and blog going.

Engine choices:
The original 95 hp K engine was replaced with a 120 hp KLC sometime in the 50's. Since I am going to spend a lot of money on the engine, I asked Don Ayers for his advise on the matter. And, as expected from the "master of barrelbacks", I received a well documented and meaningfull reply. Putting a pre-war engine back in the boat is only right choice. And If I wanted an engine with with more horse power (like the KLC) I should consider to have a 121 hp KB built, which was an option for the 17' Deluxe. The triple carburetor KB is an great looking engine, however 3 grand more than a K, well we'll see.....

Here is some great information I got on the KB from Don Ayers:




From the Chris Craft Antique Boat Club's archives I found a copy of the original brochure for the 1940 Chris Craft line up. Below you see the page on the 1940 17' Deluxe. Cost new in 1940 with the K engine option, $1445.00.




Happy new boating year!