TOPIC: '57 Crosby Capri

Hello,
I have recently been given a 1957 Crosby Capri by my father and unfortunately sat under the horrid Florida(Tampa) sun. there is cracking and bowing of the wood and some pieces removed. Was going to try to restore the wood but am new to this on whether this is feasible and where to begin, but I did start to sand some of the varnish off with a finer grain sandpaper. Any suggestions on which direction to head in and where to begin would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Pictures of Boat (link)
plus.google.com/photos/102503253394209333371/albums/5869456738612320625

This is amazing ! ! I too am restoring one of these except it is the 14 footer which I think was called the "Hurricane". We are well into the work on this boat and I can possibly answer many of your of your questions. Our work is a complete restoration of boat, 1963 Evinrude 40hp motor, and original Tee Nee trailer. Follow along with our postings under the thread "1955/57 Crosby restoration". I'm
just about to post some new pictures on the thread that might help.
One of the things you'll probably find is that most of the perimeter wood is rotten inside where you can't it. I've got pictures to share if you wish.
By the way, as you take it apart Photo, Photo, Photo, !!!!!
You'll absolutely need it for reference, patterns and reassembly tips a year (or more) from now!.!. Start a project photo file for yourself REALLY helps.

Cheers!!
Paul

Thanks! I did look at your thread before posting and really enjoyed seeing a project similar to this one. I forgot to mention that the motor is an '57 evinrude lark 40hp, but is not running so will need to figure that out. My only problem is trying to figure out what to do with the top sheet of how to replace/repair it, as there are a few good cracks and separating. should I just sand the varnish down and reassess? Thanks for all of your help. I look forward to seeing your updated pictures!

If the varnish is as bad as you say ? You'll most likely have to strip the whole deck. All you're going to do by sanding off the varnish is waste your sandpaper, because you'll gum it up, and go through a lot of it in a hurry.
First, I'd use either stripper or a heat gun to get the varnish off.
Then I'd sand with 80 grit. Then you can assess.
From the pics, I really couldn't see the cracks ? They look more like seams or butt joints ? The missing pieces will need replaced, but that shouldn't be difficult, because you already know the size by the adjacent pieces.
It looks like a fun little project.... keep the pictures and posts coming !!!

as a mini update I went out a bought a heat gun and it made a world of difference, although i have not made a whole lot of progress on stripping the deck. the cracks seem to be delamination of the deck possibly. I will post more pictures as I make a bigger dent. One interesting thing I did see was standing water in the center battery tray, which on further review was a crack in the corner of the battery tray which expelled water as I pressed down. My sudden fear is that of the core integrity. As a newbie to the tap test, I did not seem to notice any definite signs of dullness from the surrounding hull, but I could be wrong. That is unless the gas can/battery tray are glued down to the floor.