1957 Alumacraft “Deep C” Restoration

[Piomarine]

So I’ve been off the forum for a couple years now. About 2 years ago my wife and I had a pair twin boys to go along with the two year old we already had and my boat projects (motor project at the time) took a rightful seat on the back burner.

Well about 6 months ago I found this amazing old Alumacraft runabout along my drive home. I knew my wife would never allow me to get another project boat so I’d stop occasionally and dream about it, take a few pictures and be in my merry way. Well fast forward to last week and I just so happened to see the owner leaving their drive way the same time I was driving by. So I flagged them down and asked what they were hoping to get for it. To my surprise she told me “I’ll take whatever you want to give me.” We settled on $200 for the boat and the motor and to my even bigger surprise my wife actually said yes when I showed it to her!!! I dragged it home Sunday afternoon bill of sale in hand!!!

There will be plenty more to come as far as updates but in the mean time here are some pictures to whet your whistle. Anyone else who has an Alumacraft runabout like this please share pictures of yours so I can start thinking about what direction I want to go design wise. This project is meant to be a restoration as a family pleasure boat not so much as a fishing platform (although it will have a small fishing deck in the back).

 

[mbullen]

Nice! That's a whale of a deal on a great boat! I have a '56 in a state of restoration myself.
Apologies if I go over anything that you already know, but I can offer a couple of observations...
According to the bow handle, your boat was made between 1956 and 1959. There will be a stamped serial on the spine of the lower transom brace that begins with the letter N. Post it up here and I can dial in the production date for you.
The stainless bow light behind that handle is made by Vollrath. Great line of vintage bright stuff available from that company. Makes for a cool treasure hunt.
The windshield is in awesome condition! They offered two different heights on this model, the taller one being combined with the bimini top option. Yours is definitely the taller one. The snaps along the top confirm the presence of the factory bimini once upon a time.
I've never seen the walk-through seat backs on this model but they look nicely done. With the curved top trim, it makes me wonder if they might have been harvested from another model? Or maybe a special order? I don't know, but they look great.
And finally, the gunnels on these boats are press-formed and the corners are welded, so when it comes time to replace the inner transom wood in your Aqueduct transom, the path of least resistance is to remove the two smaller braces in the pan and push the current wood piece down a couple of inches and out that way.
Super boat! Congratulations!

*oops...just now saw where you've been able to date it in the title of the thread. So just skip that part of my diatribe. lol

 

[Piomarine]

Actually I only got that date from the Reg # I didn’t know that that the hull ID was stamped in the spine. The number is N1412.

Good call on pulling the transom wood cause mine is definitely shot. The windshield is not in as great of shape as it looks in this picture. It’s pretty badly scratched and has spiderweb cracks inside the plexi down by the hardware mounts and in the bend.

I do plan (at some point) to replace the original convertible top. Also the motor that came with it is a 1973 Evinrude which I plan to replace with the 1956 Evinrude Lark I am rebuilding. I’m really excited about this project!!!

 

[mbullen]

Actually I only got that date from the Reg # I didn’t know that that the hull ID was stamped in the spine. The number is N1412.

Good call on pulling the transom wood cause mine is definitely shot. The windshield is not in as great of shape as it looks in this picture. It’s pretty badly scratched and has spiderweb cracks inside the plexi down by the hardware mounts and in the bend.

I do plan (at some point) to replace the original convertible top. Also the motor that came with it is a 1973 Evinrude which I plan to replace with the 1956 Evinrude Lark I am rebuilding. I’m really excited about this project!!!

N1412 is indeed a 1957 production. 600 units cranked out that year.

Pic from '57 catalog..

 

[Piomarine]

Thanks for the info! I had hoped slightly that it was a ‘56 and that it would match the model year of my motor but they will still be a pretty pairing regardless!!!

 

[Kismet]

What a deal!!!

You have a life-time craft on your hands. Congratulations; well-done!

 

[Wayne Roberts]

So I’ve been off the forum for a couple years now. About 2 years ago my wife and I had a pair twin boys to go along with the two year old we already had and my boat projects (motor project at the time) took a rightful seat on the back burner.

Well about 6 months ago I found this amazing old Alumacraft runabout along my drive home. I knew my wife would never allow me to get another project boat so I’d stop occasionally and dream about it, take a few pictures and be in my merry way. Well fast forward to last week and I just so happened to see the owner leaving their drive way the same time I was driving by. So I flagged them down and asked what they were hoping to get for it. To my surprise she told me “I’ll take whatever you want to give me.” We settled on $200 for the boat and the motor and to my even bigger surprise my wife actually said yes when I showed it to her!!! I dragged it home Sunday afternoon bill of sale in hand!!!

There will be plenty more to come as far as updates but in the mean time here are some pictures to whet your whistle. Anyone else who has an Alumacraft runabout like this please share pictures of yours so I can start thinking about what direction I want to go design wise. This project is meant to be a restoration as a family pleasure boat not so much as a fishing platform (although it will have a small fishing deck in the back).

Neat boat and a great piece of history!! Keep it as original and practicality will allow you!!

 

[moedelawn]

That's cool boat and a good looking motor cover. I had a 1955 25hp Evinrude. We called it the toaster because of the shape. We upgraded with the later style fuel pump and hose. Strong engine.

 

[Piomarine]

Anyone else out there in internet land that has a similar Alumacraft or another similar runabout could you post some pictures of your restorations? Especially photos of your interior. I am trying to figure out what I want to do and I’m looking for some ideas to steal…I mean get inspiration from…

Thanks in advance

 

[mbullen]

I can offer some ideas, but honestly, your boat presents a bit of a quandary - at least in my realm of experience.
The split seat backs are something that I haven't seen before in a Deep C. However, the way they're made doesn't necessarily scream "homemade", either.
There were other versions of the C hull that did offer walk-throughs, but not in the same vein. They were much deeper. The thinner versions in your boat are really more reminiscent of the split backs in a D hull, something like a Flying D. It's why I mentioned "harvested" in another comment.
Nonetheless, I'll first show you mine - which is just mocked up at this point and wearing the optional bench seats- and then I'll offer some factory literature on both the Deep C (showing the benches and bimini) and also some limited versions of the C hull (showing the deeper walk-throughs, but offering upholstery patterns, at least)

 

[Piomarine]

I can offer some ideas, but honestly, your boat presents a bit of a quandary - at least in my realm of experience.
The split seat backs are something that I haven't seen before in a Deep C. However, the way they're made doesn't necessarily scream "homemade", either.
There were other versions of the C hull that did offer walk-throughs, but not in the same vein. They were much deeper. The thinner versions in your boat are really more reminiscent of the split backs in a D hull, something like a Flying D. It's why I mentioned "harvested" in another comment.
Nonetheless, I'll first show you mine - which is just mocked up at this point and wearing the optional bench seats- and then I'll offer some factory literature on both the Deep C (showing the benches and bimini) and also some limited versions of the C hull (showing the deeper walk-throughs, but offering upholstery patterns, at least)

Thank you! I am fully aware that I have a Franken-boat, but at least it was well done! Can you show me how you attached your cushions to the aluminum bench seats? I have some ideas about how I want to do it but I am actively looking for other ideas.

 

[mbullen]

Thank you! I am fully aware that I have a Franken-boat, but at least it was well done! Can you show me how you attached your cushions to the aluminum bench seats? I have some ideas about how I want to do it but I am actively looking for other ideas.

To be honest, I haven't really finalized the attachment ideas yet.
The gray cushions in the pic are pre-made from Oceansouth, USA. They have a netted backing with grommets. I suppose I'll use a webbing and buckle system to thread through the grommets and around the entire bench.

On other boats not using the pre-made cushions, I do a cardboard template to plywood dealio. Then just wrapping closed cell foam from the interwebs in a length of marine vinyl and stapling the backs.
One project done this way, a Texas Maid, had the seat backs visible through the aluminum frames, so I had to cut a "picture frame" of nicer sticks to cover the staples.
Most I have done with this layered style, I have simply wedged in place. I like to be able to remove them and they're heavy enough to not blow out.


Meanwhile, I just lifted this pic from a Flying D on facebook marketplace. The seatbacks look conspicuously similar to yours in size.

 

[mbullen]

Thank you! I am fully aware that I have a Franken-boat, but at least it was well done! Can you show me how you attached your cushions to the aluminum bench seats? I have some ideas about how I want to do it but I am actively looking for other ideas.

So....another split seatback Deep C just surfaced on an old thread.
"Old Gold" in the thread title.
....And two seat backs rather than four.

I'm certainly not an expert, but I've been knee deep in these boats for a minute now and these are blowing my mind. Lol

Would you mind if I lifted a Screenshot of your seats and dumped them on the vintage Alumacraft Facebook page?
I'd love to glean some info about these shenanigans and there is a good group of folks on that page.

 

[Piomarine]

So....another split seatback Deep C just surfaced on an old thread.
"Old Gold" in the thread title.
....And two seat backs rather than four.

I'm certainly not an expert, but I've been knee deep in these boats for a minute now and these are blowing my mind. Lol

Would you mind if I lifted a Screenshot of your seats and dumped them on the vintage Alumacraft Facebook page?
I'd love to glean some info about these shenanigans and there is a good group of folks on that page.

Please do! I didn’t know there was a vintage Alumacraft Facebook page! I will be jumping on there myself! Could you post a link to the other thread? Thanks in advance!

 

[mbullen]

Please do! I didn’t know there was a vintage Alumacraft Facebook page! I will be jumping on there myself! Could you post a link to the other thread? Thanks in advance!

https://www.tinboats.net/threads/old-gold-1958-alumacraft-deep-c.34712/

 

[Piomarine]

Thank you! He obviously went a very different direction than I am planning to. My plan is restoration to original…ish…condition. I actually really like the double cutaway seat backs in mine. I don’t know when the guy did that but he did it well and it will make getting into the back a lot easier while on the water. What I am envisioning for the boat is to fully upholster the front two rows to have it as a runabout, but solid deck the back of the boat (from the second seat to the motor) as a fishing deck with a removable seat post. I will probably do very little fishing from it but I like having options.

 

[mbullen]

Thank you! He obviously went a very different direction than I am planning to. My plan is restoration to original…ish…condition. I actually really like the double cutaway seat backs in mine. I don’t know when the guy did that but he did it well and it will make getting into the back a lot easier while on the water. What I am envisioning for the boat is to fully upholster the front two rows to have it as a runabout, but solid deck the back of the boat (from the second seat to the motor) as a fishing deck with a removable seat post. I will probably do very little fishing from it but I like having options.

Yeah, the opening shot was the interesting one for me.
For what its worth, I'm not entirely convinced the seatbacks aren't a factory option. They're too Alumacraf-ty in design and installation. I just originally thought harvested from a different model but now I'm not sure with the emergence of that other set (though slightly different)

 

[Piomarine]

So have determined that the original owner fancied himself somewhat of a metal fabricator and these mysterious seat backs only speak to that fact. It looks like he purchased the factory option and then cut them down to make them thinner…for some reason…

In other news I am starting to remove components so that I can clean it up for paint. I had a devil of a time getting the steering wheel off by myself. Then I had my brother in law give me a hand and some firm upward pressure and a good thwack with a mallet and it came right out.

My plan is to restore the steering wheel if possible and I’ve gotten a couple options from another forum but curious what others have to say on the subject.

 

[mbullen]

Regarding the wheel, I've got several in progress and I'm using the simplest of shelf products: JB Weld and Rustoleum. lol
I did all the deep-dive research and looked at the specialty products, too. Ultimately, I began to realize I was probably overthinking it.
I'm completely happy with the progress to date and my pocketbook feels much better, too.
I began with using a dremel to bevel and clean all the fractures and cracks.
Next came several sessions of the epoxy, using it to not only fill the major fissures but also to completely rebuild the hub on one particular wheel.
After several sessions of progressive sanding using spray primer as a blocking film, I'm at the point of smoothing the tiny stuff. At the moment, I'm using a bondo-type glazing film, but I'm considering ordering a total fair product to finish a couple.
Finally, I intend to shoot them with my tried and true 'Rustoleum, Acetone, Hardener' formula mixed 4:3:1. The hardener comes from TSC in the tractor paint aisle and it hardens up into an essentially 2k product.
Hopefully, I'll get time to finish them up this warm season so that they can go back on the boats over the winter sessions.

 

[Piomarine]

Long update post warning…

I’ve been stripping all the hardware off of the hull and I mean everything! Windshield, bow light, bow handle, pulleys, rollers, mysterious old screws plugging up mysterious old holes…if it was attached it’s not anymore! Tonight I started building a motor stand for the ‘73 50hp that came with it. My intention is to not use that motor and opt for my 56 Lark 30hp project motor instead.

Once I can get the motor off and the transom wood removed I can start stripping the 3-4 layers of paint on this thing inside and out! I’ve used aircraft stripper in the past but I am open to other (cheaper) options.

Also, I have a question for any vintage Alumacraft guys out there. What the heck is this device that came off my dash??? It says override and it had an electric toggle switch for something (lights I assume) but for the life of me I cannot figure out what that tube the came out of it would have been for. It says temp next to the hole but there’s nothing to indicate what it was…more pictures to come tomorrow. It was raining tonight (finally)

Lastly GO RANGERS!!!!!!! World Series here we come! I was definitely watching that game rather than working on the boat tonight lol.