1951 Larsen 14'

[Slipfloat10]

I finally bought a 14' modified V with a late model 9.9 Evinrude (the price was good, so I bought primarily for the motor), but after looking the old boat over once I got it home, I've decided the boat has a lot of character and I'd like to restore to its original condition. For those of you who are familiar with this model boat, the gunnels have a wooden rim on the inside, with an aluminum strip on the outside, which sandwiches the aluminum walls between the wood and the aluminum strip. The inner rim actually consists of two strips of wood, the first being 1/2" thick by 2" wide, and the other being 3/8" thick by 1" wide. The wood and aluminum strip are drawn together with a whole slew of very small countersunk bolts w/nuts . Does anyone know what type of wood was used for this inner rim? I suppose I could use something like a 3/4" Marine grade plywood, as I need a wood that will conform to the contour of the sides of the boat, but I'd like the boat to be as close to original as possible when I'm finished. The old boat is a 1951 model, I'm a 1952 model myself, so I'm sure there's a nostalgia factor involved here. The aluminum is in excellent condition, there are absolutely no leaks, the boat has a 17" high transom and a 48" wide floor, so it's very stable. Any advice/info will be greatly appreciated.

 

[finstr]

Some good quality photos would help for sure. Sounds like a really neat project. I've used a large diameter abs plastic pipe with one end cap screwed on and a slip cap for the other to steam hardwood strips. Pour boiling water in it and let it sit for an hour. Careful tho as the plastic gets soft and will droop. I used splints on the outside of my steamer pipe.

 

[Johnny]

Slip - do you have papers for it? a model and serial number will help you find photos
of restored models to pattern after.

there are probably dozens of methods of steaming wood. the simplest one I have seen so far is this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--iPQIwSEJM

the wood should be kept very hot and wet with live steam. especially white oak.
https://www.retrocrestliner.com has a few projects of this boat.
a little woodworking experience will be helpful as the wood strips must be scarf joined.
some use white oak (which must be special cut or ordered at a lumber yard).
there are some substitutes used but you would have to do some research on that for your area.
plywood was not used on the original... so if you are working toward a period correct restore,
white oak or similar will have to be used.

some ideas:
https://forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=36961
also - visit the good ole YouTube for tutorials on just
about everything. (their way may not be the correct way, but will give you some ideas).



.

 

[Slipfloat10]

Guys, thanks for the feedback, information and suggestions. I think I'm going to go with red oak since I'm not able to find white oak that's readily available. I'll post progression pictures once I get this project moving forward.
Thanks again.

Ron