TOPIC: 1960 crosby questions.

This is a video of my 1960 Crosby with a 40hp johnson electric seahorse outboard. I know the video is not the best but i'm hoping its good enough that some of you could help me out with some issues im coming across.
!. can the windshield be polished out? it's plastic not glass.
2. Paint or gel coat? are the spider cracks in the gel coat or the paint how doi fix them?
3. Step plates. I have read a couple threads about the step plates and think i can get them replaced. Any chance i could fix them myself?
4. Speedo cluster. Am i going to have to have it rechromed?
5. There is a screw in plug in the spash area by the motor and im not sure what it is. Someone said it might be for an electric shift set up but im not sure.
6. IN the video i do a close up of a hole that i drilled in the deck under the bow ...... when i was moving the boat i heard water sloshing around inside the bow. drilled the hole and about 6 gallons of water poored out of the hole. I put a tube in the hole and sucked out about another gallon of water. everything seems really solid on the boat. even the transom but im not a expert. i was hoping that maybe someone in the seattle area might want to come by and take a look at it for me.
7.The PO started the motor and it ran good when i got it. I checked the compresion and it was good. Has some problems shiting but i think thats because the shift lever is not hooked up right.
I know its alot of questions sorry. I figured it might be better to put all the questions in one thread instead of spreading them all out in 5 or 6 threads. I's my first time posting a video on youtube, if it does not work let me know and i will try and fix it. i also have pics on my profiel....thks for all the help.

Nice find on the Crosby, CLK! She needs a lotta love, but definitely worth the effort IMHO. Several members here very knowledgeable on those, I'm sure they'll be glad to advise on your questions.

There's a couple of great articles on bringing the windshield back in the "Research - Restoration" section here, look in the toolbar at the top of the page for the button to get you there.

I had a Cutter Tornado that had the same issue with water in that bow compartment. Like you, I thought "that can't be right!" and drained it by cutting an acess hole (4" deckplate) from above and vacuumed it out with my shop vac. Then I read that some of the older boat builders did that on purpose, for ballast to make her ride better, added stability? Don't know if that's fact or fiction, or if Crosby was one that used that method.

Nice find and a great way to show the boat. This shows that I need to get more video savvy.

It looks like the spider cracks may be in the gel coat. The gel coat would need to be ground or bead blasted off and redone. I have the same issue with my Glastron.

The speedo cluster is great and would look outstanding rechromed.

The step plates look in decent shape and those chrome frames come up on eBay quite a bit. Try softening up the rubber inserts with 3M Vinyl Cleaner and Restorer. If anything can bring them back, that will.

Good luck with it!

Clk, the boat IS definitely worth it. You had some problems what? Must be a typo. Anyway, I'm sitting down to breakfast, so, I'll answer a few questions, then come back. If the plex is discolored all the way thru, no, it cant' be repaired. If it's lime or other deposits, then yes. Take some CLR or other deposit remover, NOT laquer thinner, and try that. The you can polish it with plex polish. Best to remove it first. It's probably been sitting out in the sun. I had a forty horse Johnson. I had a lot of fun with that motor. I had it on a '59 Merlin. That's 40 hp at the head, not the prop. Looks like a 14 foot. A good idea is to completely disassemble the boat and remove the motor to a stand. Remove the windshield (easier to work on). Keep your parts together in a box or coffee can. The gel coat doesn't look good, it will probably have to be removed. Remove the wood rub rail and plug the holes with wood plugs and marine glue, not putty. My Merlin had the same problem with water build up. Pain in the neck. I removed the complete interior of the boat and drilled 2" holes,with a hole saw saving the cutouts, 2 per compartment(you have to know where the ribs are) in each section of the upper deck, at each end(one end you pour in and the other the foam will come out). I got some liquid foam, mixed it and poured in each section. Mix one compartment at a time, it "kicks" fast. It's a two part mix. A foaming agent and a blowing agent. Put some weights in the middle of the section so the foam doesn't push up. It expands 40:1, so you'll have to do a little math. That will take care of water in the deck problem. Reglass the cutouts in the deck. Did someone paint over that wood in the front of the boat?! After you strip off that white paint or whatever that is, let me know if that's wood. You have enough to keep you busy for now. Save everything. Don't get rid of anything. Let me know your progress.

CLK, I'm back. For now, where you want to be, is to prep your boat completely, befor you intend to do any finish work. If it's a job, it's worth doing it right. What you have is a real classic. You can visit www.antiqueboat.com and click on "Buy a boat" and you will some in mint condition. I wouls suggest you keep the wood rub rail idea. Remove the old one and when you get to that point, I can help you with that. If you need more help, just ask.

Hey all! thanks for all the good words.
Stuff i did today.
1. removed windshield.
2. removed rotten wood rub rail.
3. cleaned inside and outside of boat.
4. removed gas tanks and really scrubbed back of boat.
5. took 6 or 7 videos and like 20 pics of stuff. @mark I read the up on renewing the windshield, i think it will turn out great when finished. Aslo looked around online to find out about water balast. Not looking like these boats were designed to have water in the bow. some types do but the water is pumped in and then pumped out depending on if the boat is sitting still or under way. also some fishing boats use the live well as balast.
@Tudor I like taking video, gives the viewer a much better understanding of whats going on. I took a lot more pics and vidoe today and will be posting them soon. I'm not going to try and fix the spider cracks this year, just want to make sure everything is working tip top for this summer. I'm going to eventually pop the cap and redo everything but in the meantime is there anything i can do to make the gel coat better? maybe sand and paint it? i know the cracks will show through again eventually but that will be fine since im going to redo everything anyway.
@craig, i will have to replace the windshied eventually but i think i can get it looking pretty good for now. only one real bad spot that i can see. Not sure what i'm going to do with the rub rail yet. i like the look of the wood but also like the look of a metal rail with a rubber insert. I also don't have anyplace to do any major work on the boat right now. i live in a tiny two bedroom apt with my daughter and the complex wont even let me park it in the lot. so for now its 10 mins away at a frends house. will have to find somewhere coverd for the major stuff next year.

Windshield gone

Video of the wireing. Everything electricl works on this boat. it also has lights under the dash and the little cubbys where the radio is. It used to have a cb radio also but i took it out. all the guages work. the cigaret lighter even works. so does the horn.

Short up close video of the windshield. One pretty good crack and a funny spot that im not sure what it is....looks like a bunch of tiny cracks. don't know if it will buff out. I hope it does.

CLK, great job! Very clean. You are in almost the same position I'm in. I also live in a two bdrm. All I have is a tiny garage. I'm really interested to know if that's paint over wood on the top side, front. Is that an all glass boat? Maybe I'm wrong, I thought Crosby's were wood boats. Anyway, I forgot to tell you, if you don't have a D.A., they're on sale at Eastwood. As far as the upper deck goes, if it needs to be replaced, it will be easier to "foam fill" the space between, That was such a problem I had with my '59 Merlin. All that extra water in the deck space really weighed the boat down. Lastly, the chrome parts on the boat can be redone. Personally, I think your biggest project will be the deck. Sometimes the upper deck looks o.k. 'till you remove it. Then it looks like that the stringer and frame is all water logged and falling apart. Great job CLK. Great score, by the way. Crosby, Lonestar, and Chris Craft, are my favorite.

For the step pad frames, I would just polish those babies up and keep using them, especially if you're interested in keeping it stock. You could have them re-chromed, but because they are pot metal, it's very costly. My local chromer wanted $75 a piece.

Yes, there are many step frames on Ebay, but not the trapezoid shaped ones that are on your boat and match your hole pattern. There are lots of rectangular ones that come and go, but strangely, it's usually a pair, not 4.

If refurbishing your white pads doesn't work out, you can check with MadProps. He recently made a mould and produced some new black ones that fit your frame. I don't know how many he made or if he has any more. You can check back through the old thread using the search site.

I have those same frames and just ordered some white ribbed rubber extrusion from Wefco. It was $5 a foot w/ a 10 foot minimum. I'll have extra for sure. If you're interested, I can send you what I have left over (which would be more than enough for your frames) for what I paid for it per foot. Shipping is on me.

Brian

I really like the look of the originals. I was also thinking of trying to make the pad myself and have the crosby logo instead of the lines. Wondering if a chunk of ruber tire would work and using a hot knife to cut in the logo and then smooth it out with a torch? Or could i just oder a larger step pad for a lager boat and cut that down to fit? just some thoughts. Here is a pic of the pads ......haven't used any of the 3m stuff yet. Looks pretty bad huh? Also, how can i post more than one pic at a time?

Buffed up the windshield today. Nothing to indepth but it did wonders...trim buffed up nice also.

Your windshield looks good, nice work! You can post multiple pics by posting with one, then hit the edit button. Add another and post again, hit edit and repeat as often as you'd like.

If you use a pic hosting site like photobucket or picasa, you can post multiple links at once. There is a thread posted in the support forum that explains the process a little better, it's a "sticky note" at the top of the page.

Here's what the pads looked like on the '57 Crosby Capri. These came up on Ebay a while back, but I didn't win them. I wanted them so I could reproduce them.

CLK, the winshield looks great!. The step pads are not my area, but it looks like the center is removable. Ever think of wood? You could replace the existing ones with wood, like teak or jatoba. If you like, I could make you a set and mail them. Are you in a hurry? Wood would look sweet. The outer frames look ok. As far as the rub rail, if you want to keep the boat original, I have been looking on the web for one similar. Also, you can use wood with a rubber insert. Anyway, your project is coming along fine. Once again, is that paint over glass or wood on the top front?

I'm not in a hurry at all. haveing no place to work on it is going to make it a long process.. Im kinda torn between using wood or rubber for the rails and step pads. As far as it being wood or glass. i think it's glass. I know from just looking at it and not drilling any holes yet that there is wook under the back seat and the frond seat but the rest looks to be glass. If the title is right and it is a 1960 then it sould be glass.....they swithed from would in 58-59 im pretty sure. I'm gonna try and go do some more work on it this weekend and i'll find out for sure. thanks again for the offer on the pad...i may take you up on that in the future.

Cool!!! they look almost exactly like i had pictured in my head. think i'm just going to have to make my own cause i really like the shape of the ones i have. My daughters art class my take it on as a project. that would be great!!