14' FeatherCraft. Going to name her "Crappie Days"

[Holdemhook56]

Joined the site about a week ago and intended on restoring a very rough 66 FeatherCraft I've had for years now. It's a 12 footer and I just use it in ponds/creeks/river. Then I decided to look for a more solid boat to work with and keep the old boat just to kick around in. I've driven all over Georgia and parts of Florida and ol Bama but found nothing affordable as solid as I wanted. Then an ad popped up for a 14' Jon boat just 2 miles from my house. These are the only pictures I have right now as I went to pick her up in the dark last night, but will post more soon. Pictures don't show much but the hull is amazingly straight for what I believe is a 1968 model. Serial number plate I couldn't read but, but hopefully I can work on it enough to read it, or since it was registered (but back in 1974) I should be able to get numbers from DNR. I also snagged a 20 hp Johnson tiller electric start the same year model for $500 that runs like a champ. I got the boat and a decent trailer for $500 which is probably more than it was worth but it's never been painted inside or out, so that's saving me many hours of stripping so I'm very happy with a thousand invested and with just a transom replacement she is ready for the lake. Incredibly I put water in it before I bought it and found ZERO wet spots! That could change when I get it on the ground and fill it up more.

Right now I'm planning on buffing it out to a nice shine, and keeping it pretty much original, but I have to add anchor mates, some nice seats and rod holders but not cut up the boat in any way, and hopefully find an original gator trailer around the same year just for the nostalgia of it all. Basically I want a nice rigged out fishing boat that one day later down the road I can make a beautifully restored antique out of. Right now the crappie are bighting anything and everything so I MUST get on the lake ASAP. I will probably just water seal exterior (no copper) plywood for a quick transom fix, stick the 20 on and go to the lake after a thorough cleaning. She is in MUCH better shape than anything I've seen these last 6 months that I've been looking. Very few dings in this one and they are all small.

Anybody else that knows what model this is or any info on it would be greatly appreciated along with any ideas.
Enjoying the site gentleman and will keep progress posted!

 

[Tallpine]

Pretty solid looking old hull! Have fun.

 

[Holdemhook56]

After a little research this will be a restoration rather than any modification. The boat is a 1959 FeatherCraft Cisco. It's just in too good a shape to modify so I'm going to keep it all in tact. The picture is from the original brochure in 1959. Now if anybody has a 1959 18 hp Johnson or evinrude lets talk!

 

[Holdemhook56]

Just a few more pics

 

[TNtroller]

Looks like it will be a fun little boat. GL on the restoration and finding the motor you want. Like the name as well.

 

[muzikman]

Love the name!!

Still tryin' to come up with one for my "new" boat.........

.....ummm.....ahhh....hmmmm......

...nope - nuthin' yet...... #-o

 

[Hanr3]

I got a '57 18hp Johnson, however it isn't for sale at the moment. I'm still using it on my '67 14' Alumacraft. :mrgreen:

Just saw a bunch of ads in Craigslist for Vintage motors. Peoria or Bloomington IL., Northern WI. Might be other places too.

 

[Holdemhook56]

Made a little progress over the weekend. A little aluminum brightner and a lot of scrubbing and she cleaned up pretty nice. Bought this little Briggs outboard from a friend for $250 and it really runs like new. Should push Crappie Days pretty well with just me, and mostly it will be just me and sometimes my little 3 year old. For now it will work just fine till I find an old 18 horse like I want. I put the boat on an old gator trailer I've had for years, now just needs bunks and rollers fitted for the boat, new winch and lights and it will be fine till winter when I'll strip it down and get it shiny again. I got a 1/4 sheet of 3/4" white oak plywood for the transom. (Not cheap). Red mahogany stain and helmsman to finish it up. Other than the new seats I already have, pretty much all I have planned is some way to mount my anchor mates without cutting anything up or drilling any holes in it except maybe a few holes in the top rail which there is no way around. Then put some new lights on it and I'm ready to go. Would love to find an old bow light and been trolling fleebay for one. Just to try to keep it antiquee looking. Maybe some more progress soon!

 

[Holdemhook56]

I don't have pictures yet but I removed all the old transom wood a couple weeks ago and finally have started getting the new wood cut. The old transom was only 1" thick and I decided I wanted it a little beefier. After reading every post I could on wood recommendations I wound up with a hybrid of different ideas. A friend gave me some 3/4" thick 5" wide white oak flooring which was already tongue and groove. I used gorilla glue to glue the flooring together, then I used 1/2" exterior non treated plywood and glued it to the back side of the oak, and screwed it together with about 48 stainless steel screws. I countersunk the screws into the plywood and also used a putty knife to apply a thin layer of the gorilla glue to bind the two together. I made a pattern with poster board which I then laid over the glued and screwed new transom and cut it out with my jigsaw. For the board on the back of the transom I also used the white oak glued together but it will go directly on the rear of the boat without the extra plywood. The way the old transom was done it had 16 bolts going through the inner and outer board, so I got all stainless screws and they will be countersunk to give it a smooth finish. The transom will be sealed with 5200 to the aluminum, same for the rear board. The boat had the corner transom supports but no transom cap, so I ordered a piece of aluminum channel to make the cap, also sealed with 5200 along with the bolts. I drilled the holes for the 1/4 " bolts to 11/32" to give a little room for the sealer. Now that it's all cut I just have to test fit it all, router up the edges to pretty it up and put 4-5 coats of Helsman Polly over it all and put it back together for the last time. Should be good for a very long life on the lake. And I'm staining all the wood in a beautiful red mahogany. I'll post some pictures Wednesday since I have that day off to hopefully get very close to finishing it up. It's been a lot of fun working on this old boat, and it's almost time to get her in the water. Planning on just fishing with her pretty bare a few times to decide how I want to set it up to make the perfect little Crappie Days!

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Don't use the 5200 to attach the wood to the boat. If you ever need to remove the wood it will be a problem.

 

[Holdemhook56]

Don't use the 5200 to attach the wood to the boat. If you ever need to remove the wood it will be a problem.

What would you recommend for sealing the wood to the aluminum? Maybe the 4200?

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Don't use the 5200 to attach the wood to the boat. If you ever need to remove the wood it will be a problem.

What would you recommend for sealing the wood to the aluminum? Maybe the 4200?

Nothing is needed. It's not like a fiberglass boat.

 

[Knee Deep]

Love the name !

 

[Kismet]

GREAT BUY!

and wondrous plans for it.

(see my Model F thread. '59 hull, '59 engine. Not as pristine as yours, but tradition is important.)

It is going to be wonderful!

=D> =D> =D>

 

[Ringo Steele]

Nice old hull, and good plans for her too.

You might want to rethink the Helmsman Polyurethane (assuming Minn-Wax brand). I used it in my build, and it lasted less than a year before it was cracking and peeling from UV exposure. It you always keep it stored covered or indoors, you may be OK with it for a while. I would suggest a spar varnish instead of a spar urethane instead. I regret using the urethane, as it allowed my wood to get stained before I could see cracking, and I ended up having to paint it, so I lost that gorgeous look of the wood grain. YMMV, of course.

 

[Holdemhook56]

Not much of a picture but the mahogany stain turned out pretty nice. Will post a few more pics of the process as soon as I have time to download from my camera.

 

[Holdemhook56]

I got the transom finished up, mounted a set of rod holders, and made a temporary base to strap my battery boxes and gas tank down to. Basically I just cut a piece of 1/2" ply and fixed straps to it and laid it in the back. With the tank and batteries attached to it it was plenty heavy enough to not bounce around. Of course with the whopping 6 mph the boat cruised with the Briggs engine no flipping was going to happen anyway! I sold a friend my 20hp and I'm considering a 73 9.5 evinrude. I have another post on the boat house if anyone would like to give opinions about the engine. Don't know if it will be enough to plane it fully loaded. Had one small leak from a rivet up front that didn't leak a cup in 8 hrs on the lake so I was very happy. Snapped a few pics of the progress and more to come soon.