TOPIC: '62 Custom Craft Sting Ray restoration

[img/] Hello! I just picked myself up a project - I must admit, I have an slight obsession with fins. I'm usually a classic car kind of guy, but recently I've been playing a lot more with old boats (and since boats is my professional interest, it makes sense)

My research indicates this is a '62 Custom Craft Sting Ray. Transom needs replacement, and the deck is cracked at the windshield base on both sides, so the deck has now seperated from the hull there.

The trailer and motor both date from the early 70's - trailer I'll keep (it's a Sterling), the motor is a Mercury 650 (which I despise) so I probably will sell it in favor of something a little more modern - after I try to get it running, of course

Welcome...nice looking project you've got there.

Check out Nickle City Classics for all the Custom Craft info you could ever want.

I was checking this boat out on craigs in portsmouth. glad someone got it. someone did put up a nasty posting about it stating all that was wrong with it. Hope you got a good deal on it.
Congrats

Serial number on motor tell you what year it is.Please give the Merc a chance as they look great on the CC vintage boats.Older is better,unless racing,in my opinion.Any problems with the motor then check the Merc forum out.I have two 1966 650"s,love 'em.Boat looks great,raised bow light nice.Like the divets she left!Kind of marked her turf, now its time to bring her back the dignity she deserves.

CONGRATS, You are in a good region to own / find a Custom Craft. Just talked to a ACBS couple Sat about one of the Summer Shows in the New York Finger Lakes that will feature Custom Craft for the 50th annv. Give us more pics as you go , & any history , serial # on that sleek puppy.

Mr. 88 wrote:

Serial number on motor tell you what year it is.Please give the Merc a chance as they look great on the CC vintage boats.Older is better,unless racing,in my opinion.Any problems with the motor then check the Merc forum out.I have two 1966 650"s,love 'em.Boat looks great,raised bow light nice.Like the divets she left!Kind of marked her turf, now its time to bring her back the dignity she deserves.

Serial gave me 1973 - I'll give it a chance, if it runs well it will stay. It turns over fine (starter needs service, though), it has ignition and everything looks more or less ship shape - the lower needs some help, she's stiff and stuck in gear (has been sitting dry for who knows how long!)

I've just had bad luck in the past with Mercs, almost makes me not want to try.

Split wrote:

CONGRATS, You are in a good region to own / find a Custom Craft. Just talked to a ACBS couple Sat about one of the Summer Shows in the New York Finger Lakes that will feature Custom Craft for the 50th annv. Give us more pics as you go , & any history , serial # on that sleek puppy.

Where would the serial be? I gave it a once over looking for one but didn't see anything. It was originally red over white and appears to have only one coat of paint on it, so hopefully if there is one I can find it!

JJorgensen52 wrote;
"I've just had bad luck in the past with Mercs, almost makes me not want to try."

I've had bad luck in the past with women,almost made me not want to try as well. I kept at it though,sometimes I still wonder why.Sooner or later you end up with the right one......Just had Tim C give my 73/50 Merc the once over and it left with a grade A bill of health.You will not be sorry with Mr. Merc

j,welcome to the custom craft club,lol,nice looking boat you have there.
now if you stand at the rear of the boat looking at it,bend over the transom on the starboard side,and on the inside of the transom you should see a serial # stamped upside down there,at least thatis where i have found ours,john

J,
Welcome, great looking boat there. There are plenty of folks here who have or had Custom Crafts so there is a wealth of knowledge. Good luck on the restore, keep us posted with plenty of pics.

Bob

Thanks for all the welcomes! I am habitually a picture taker, so there will be plenty of photos, no worries there

Tonight, took apart / cleaned / lubed up the starter, will reinstall tomorrow.


Other than that, started stripping the interior. Removed the vinyl covered side panels (these were original, it appears?), all the carpeting, and the seats. Found carpenter ants and ice inside the seat supports - they were so rotten I sucked them out with a vacuum...



But, I found the center cap for the steering wheel frozen to the carpet under the seat!


I found a few cracks, one in the starboard stringer and one on each side of the transom. Wood core in the transom is rotted, and as the pictures show the deck and hull are separated at the windshield and cracks in the deck are pretty bad there.


Still no luck finding a serial number ... will have to look more carefully as I go. Nice red though!

We got faith in you Jman. I am sure it will be outstanding when your done.I would lose the whale tail on the Merc,makes me cringe just looking at it.

Welcome. Nice bow light. May not be original, but very unique

Watching with great interest here JJ, I'm just starting a Custom Craft project myself. I feel for you on the discovery of cracks in the transom, etc., I KNOW the feeling:
www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/2-main-forum/22883-custom-craft-sea-ray.html#26411
Keep us posted on your progress, love the looks of that one!

What is the purpose of these "whale tales"?
Andrew

The Tails in theory are supposed to get you up on plane quicker,allow you to plane at a lower speed thus saving you fuel money and help your boat if it porpoises. Newbees eat that marketing ploy up. Boat is underpowered,prop is not pitched correctly and load is not distributed properly are the real reasons for poor performance. What it does do is put a ungodly strain on your ventilation plate as it was not designed for that add on and may snap off at some point.It slows down your top end with the added drag and at best is a band aid patch that does not solve the real problem.I am sure there are more negatives.
If they work then why have none of the engine Mfgs. incorporated them into there drives?

cawrsfm wrote:

What is the purpose of these "whale tales"?
Andrew

Basically a cheap fix for a bad set-up. Doesn't really fix it, but makes it bearable. Sort of like sticking a steel plate on a rotten transom.

Mr. 88 wrote:

The Tails in theory are supposed to get you up on plane quicker,allow you to plane at a lower speed thus saving you fuel money and help your boat if it porpoises. Newbees eat that marketing ploy up.

I've seen them used for "correcting" prop walk / porpoising on an overpowered boat, too - does not work well for that, either.

Once I get the lowered squared away, it will come off. It's convenient for now, helps it to stay standing up on its own

Looks like a progress thread is in order for this boat - Changed my title to reflect that.

So, in doing a little more research it looks like my serial would be on the aluminum transom plate? Unless the PO glassed over it, that plate is long gone on this boat

Tonight, pulled the rub rail, did a little investigation on the cracked deck, and the Merc lives! Now just to free up the lower unit...

Video (click to play)

Do you plan on stripping the top sides and bondoing[use marine grade] everything or patching and leaving as is ? Any thoughts on what you are going to use for paint? How about color,deck and hull? Leaving the wheel where is or flopping to the port side? Glad to see you got the Merc running!

Mr. 88 wrote:

Do you plan on stripping the top sides and bondoing[use marine grade] everything or patching and leaving as is ? Any thoughts on what you are going to use for paint? How about color,deck and hull? Leaving the wheel where is or flopping to the port side? Glad to see you got the Merc running!

My intent, at this point, is to strip it down to the original surface, make repairs using glass (and filler if I need it, but I try to avoid using any) and then refinish. Definitely going to be keeping the wheel on the port side.

As to painting, I haven't got a finalized idea as to colors, but I like the original red - I am thinking about doing a red over blue scheme.

I will also say that I'm not a purist in any sense - I'm planning to update to Teleflex steering, I most likely will modify the seating setup / possibly go with a center console between the bucket seats, and I'll likely go to all LED lighting. I do like the bow light I have now, may convert it over or may replace it, undecided on that point, too.

I did a little doodling last night, here's a concept of the idea I'm envisioning for this boat

wow..cool, i luv it.jg was going to do somethin like that with my mantaray. ron

Is that a 8 Track in the dash? Hah. From what I could read you plan on putting "twin 12 gallon" tanks under the front seat? Is that the gas fill deck plate in front of the shield? You got that Chip Foose look going on.

Mr. 88 wrote:

Is that a 8 Track in the dash? Hah. From what I could read you plan on putting "twin 12 gallon" tanks under the front seat? Is that the gas fill deck plate in front of the shield? You got that Chip Foose look going on.

I am on the fence about the fill, but most likely there would be a fill on the back of the console, one on each side (didn't really fit in the detail level of the sketch)

The round thing up on the bow was a last minute add in, it's the new nav light I'm thinking of using. Not decided if I like it yet - might have to mold it into the deck for a better look.

In other news, tore into the lower tonight - *gulp*, making this up as I go along - it looks alright, the bearings on the drive shaft and reverse gear don't feel healthy...

I don't think that you would be able to fit that size gas tanks under the seats unless custom made.It almost might be overkill on your boat. I would think 18 gallons would last you all day.Might also not make it as bow heavy with the battery and your two main sitting positions in front of the center of gravity or planning surface.I am no engineer so as they say take it with a grain of salt.Just a thought.

It'll be a snug fit, but it will work with the tanks I am looking at - the seats end up being about 3.5" higher than they were originally. Also, I'm a lanky individual so I'll be shifting the seats aft probably 4" - 6".

And, I actually have a degree in ship stability and design , I'm definitely going to be tinkering a bit with the weight distribution to see how it'll balance out. Most early planing hulls I've seen are designed with too much weight aft for ideal performance, anyway.

JJorgensen52 wrote:

It'll be a snug fit, but it will work with the tanks I am looking at - the seats end up being about 3.5" higher than they were originally. Also, I'm a lanky individual so I'll be shifting the seats aft probably 4" - 6".

And, I actually have a degree in ship stability and design , I'm definitely going to be tinkering a bit with the weight distribution to see how it'll balance out. Most early planing hulls I've seen are designed with too much weight aft for ideal performance, anyway.

I can tell you from experience that this model in particular will benefit from more weight up front and less in the back at least in certain set-ups. Of course mine has a large tower on the back.

A little update - I'm going on a 2 month business trip (I work for the USCG, go figure), so the project will be on hold for a bit.

Got her all stripped down and ready to separate hull and deck in prep for glass repairs


The second shot is a great perspective of the hull lines - you can also see my other various toys,

And here she is, tucked away in the garage next to my '75 Whaler 13 sport, until I get home again. You can just see the merc hiding in the corner under the clock

You need to power your Whaler with a 55 Homelite /Bearcat 55
Guess who bought Homelite?

I'm going to go ahead and guess Fisher (the Whaler guy)?

I have nothing against period correct outboards (the whaler had a '75 Evinrude 25 on it when I bought it) but I do like the turn-key reliability of that Tohatsu 40 I've got hanging on it now.

Its coming along . Should be a Sweet boat when your done ..

Opps Sorry Double posted

you know that you have a motor with a 20 inch shaft on while you need a motor with a 15 inch shaft? Maybe when you replace the transom you can rebuild it with a 20 inch transom or build a plate to lift the motor 5 to 6 inches. The boat will not perform right with a 20 inch shaft on a 15 inch transom.
I included a pic but I have a 175 Merc with a 25 inch shaft but my boat requires a 20 inch shaft so I used a set of CMC power lift plates.

I have to ask...did you start that motor with no water?

g3jim wrote:

you know that you have a motor with a 20 inch shaft on while you need a motor with a 15 inch shaft?
I have to ask...did you start that motor with no water?

The motor did seem tall to me, but I didn't bother to check before I tore everything apart. It is as I bought it.

As to starting with no water - Yes I did. I only ran it for maybe a total of 25-30 seconds, not enough time for the motor to get warm, even. The lower was not installed (the impeller is trashed anyway).

vuyosevich wrote:

wow..cool, i luv it.jg was going to do somethin like that with my mantaray. ron

yeah ron,and im going to put consoles in all my boats,especally the flying fish its portsteering,on the others the controls wont be in the consol though,but they will be in the flying fish.

by the way jj,it looks like a great plan,john

Holy old thread Batman!

So life re-arranged my plans, but I've finally started working on this boat again.

And pretty much everything is looking worse than initially anticipated. Go figure. Separated deck from hull in anticipation of repairing the transom, but I've got a long way to go before I get there:


Essentially all of the original remaining plywood supports have delaminated and are rotten


Meanwhile, the PO sandwiched a second layer of plywood behind the original, damaged dashboard panel, causing structural cracking (the deck is actually broken clean in two at this point, all that was holding it together was the rub rail)


And, much to my distress, after a year in the garage there is still a TON of water in the boat. I drilled more drain holes in it...


Yikes! So now the plan is to re-build the underdeck structure, reinforce the joinery near the dashboard, and repair all the extra holes in the deck. Oh, and remove the silver paint. After that, I can get to the transom...

Does anyone have any information or pictures regarding how the under-deck supports are supposed to be set up? I have my doubts as to the originality of what I have here

JJorgensen52 wrote:

I'm going to go ahead and guess Fisher (the Whaler guy)?

I have nothing against period correct outboards (the whaler had a '75 Evinrude 25 on it when I bought it) but I do like the turn-key reliability of that Tohatsu 40 I've got hanging on it now.

The Tohatsu 40 i a good choice for the 13' Whaker. I had a 3 cylinder Yamaha 30 on mine. The 215 pound Homelit would sink it!

Upon looking at the photos of the first post, I was wondering why in the hell a restored turn-key boat was sitting out in the dirt. Then I scrolled down & saw the close up pics of the condition of the boat. Now it makes sense. Splitting the boat & getting right to it was the rright thing to do and really, the only way to correctly get to the problem. The one and only Custom Craft that I've had my hands on was chopper built. It was like a giant potato chip - cracked everywhere. You might want to try some low prerssure sand blasting (with sand) in the reverse side of the structure as the only prep. Grinding can take of a dangerous amount of material. Just prep with light blasting, then lay a coule layes of chop mat over the cracked areas, backing that up with alternating layers of woven cloth and mat. When that is cured, flip the deck and grind back the original glass enough to feather out the crack. Then lay chop strand mat over the ground out (dished area) to over fill it. Then once this is cured, knock down the filled area until it is level with the original deck. Little if any filler will be needed, and the original damage will be eliminated - thus never creating a "shiner" under the new finish

If that nice little Merc ever fails to impress, get yourself a big ol' angry Evinrude Starflite III The engine that is so ugly it's beautiful on a rocket-era fin boat.