By McKenzieDriftBoat.com
first wood boat first restoration on a old woodie hindman advice/help appreciated
I have always wanted a drift boat but lack the big cash
so i have been searching craigslist for a rebuilder for cheap
i bought one for 200.00 with trailer that was pretty solid but needed work
first thing i did was take the fiberglass matte off the sides heating up with a heat gun luckily it pretty much peeled off showing the natural wood finally
then 4 coats of paint stripping and sanding ( still in the process)
it has a cool plaque saying built by woodie hindman crescent city cal.
ill get some pics up soon i need to replace the transom, and make a new rowers seat
it didnt come with that part
any info on this boat would be great and any info to help me restore it and use it would be great as well
thanx
so i have been searching craigslist for a rebuilder for cheap
i bought one for 200.00 with trailer that was pretty solid but needed work
first thing i did was take the fiberglass matte off the sides heating up with a heat gun luckily it pretty much peeled off showing the natural wood finally
then 4 coats of paint stripping and sanding ( still in the process)
it has a cool plaque saying built by woodie hindman crescent city cal.
ill get some pics up soon i need to replace the transom, and make a new rowers seat
it didnt come with that part
any info on this boat would be great and any info to help me restore it and use it would be great as well
thanx
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Greg Hatten on -
Wow... you have a "classic" there my friend. Very cool - great picture. This is going to be a fun project for the whole community of wood boat buffs to enjoy... be prepared to share lots of photo's of the progress. You got an outstanding bargain for $200.... Well done.
GH
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Permalink Reply by Roger Fletcher on -
Nice discovery. You'll get plenty of advice here from the restoration crew -- those with key interest in the recovery of historic and traditional drift boats. If the nameplate is original to the boat youj can date its contruction to sometime between 1955 and 1960, that period when Woodie was still building some boats for the McKenzie crew, and you can also be assured it was built by Woodie's hand.
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Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on -
What a great find! A. J. DeRosa is the person on this site that has the most experience with restoration of these classics.
It looks like you are well on your way. I suggest that you take an awl or small screwdriver and give the whole boat bottom and chine area a poke to find any hidden soft spots. Depending on what you find there are a number of ways to repair any rot.
Roger has already responded, he has drawings of a boat in his book that is likely very close to the boat you have. You will be able to get the original Woodie H. seat design from there or from a set of his plans.
Best of luck.
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Permalink Reply by mitchell on -
I had heard that Woodie had always used 10 ribs but by the looks of your photo, yours does not have 10. I wonder when he changed his ways? Your boat looks to be bigger than a 16 footer, is it?
good find and keep us posted on the re-do
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Permalink Reply by tintnit on -
its a 16 footer i measured it
as for the ribs umm i dont know if i count the ones on the transom and count them towards the bow there are ten total i dont know if thats right or not
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Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on -
The tenth frame is a short frame that may be hidden in this photo. It is under the line deck and runs half way down the side panel.
Regardless, you have a very worthy restoration project and the forum members are very generous with advice.
Enjoy your project.
AJ
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Permalink Reply by tintnit on
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ok well i got to talk to roger yesterday and man he knows alot and very helpful
anyways he told me on woodie's last boats some of them didnt have the 10 th rib
anyways got alot of work done to it but now realize i may need to redo the floor
i dont know if i can just repair it between the floor boards or what
please take a look and let me know here are some new pics
thanx again
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Permalink Reply by AJ DeRosa on
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Bottom issues seem to come along with most old boat restoration projects. We have found very old boats with remarkably good wood in the bottom panel and some that needed a full bottom replacement. As Randy mentioned you should poke about with a sharp object to determine the integrity of the wood. Bottom panel and inside chine logs are the most likely spots for rot. Nonstructural areas can be fixed by injecting warm epoxy into holes drilled into the rotted areas. Fractured bottom panels can be strengthened by laying in kevlar or s glass and epoxy between bottom frames. These are all easy fixes and will get you on the water sooner. A whole bottom replacement may sound like a daunting task but is fairly straight forward and doable for anyone who has some basic skills.
Your boat seems to have some plywood patches on the inside of the bottom. Remove these to see whats really under there and then deal with the real problem. Fiberglass and epoxy is an acceptable quick fix that may last for years but a properly installed new bottom will probably last a lifetime.
To learn more about using epoxy and fiberglass read the users manuals from the various epoxy manufacturers.
I just reread RAKA's online manual and reremebered a bunch of stuff that I had forgotten. Check it out at www.raka.com . West System and System 3 also have very informative manuals that will answer many of the questions that are posted on this site.
Most of all, have fun with your project and understand how happy you will be with the finished product.
Cheers,
AJ
© 2012 Created by Randy Dersham.
