Great advise, thanks all. I installed the plywood on the transom today, used Mahogany 5200. The boat is right side up now and i will be flipping it over to do the plywood on the hull sides next. I have already scarfed the plywood and rough fit from patterns. I will take your advise and mount plywood...

Thank you all for your suggestions! The hull (plywood) will not be painted it is all Mahogany and will be stained and varnished on the outside and inside above the floor boards. Bilge paint below. I am using bronze flat head screws and will putty the holes. Will 5200 adhere to plywood that is staine...

I am rebuilding a plywood boat (1962 Compact Skier). I have completed the frame and am now working on the plywood sides and transum. I have the original pieces for templates so that is no problem. My confusion lies with the fastening of the plywood to the frame. I have decided with advice to use scr...

Thanks Brian,

Very interesting effect, I think I will live with the dust or find another solution.

Ken

I have tried what you guts suggested. I did not have luck with the brushing out thin method mentioned, I don't think I moved fast enough and got brush marks and dry dull spots from brushing after the varnish had dried a little. I sanded down again to all white and tried the roll and tip method. Very...

Thank you very much I will order some.

Ken

Thank you both very much for your advice. It is always interesting to see that people can use very different approaches and yet both get great results. I am sure one of these methods will work for me. One question, the rollers you refer to (yellow not black) were do you get them- what brand? Thanks ...

Thank you Al I will try your suggestions
Ken

Al, Thank you very much for the advice, I will try that for the next coat. For the last coat do you sand flat so there are no shiny spots? I have been told to do that but wanted to check with you on your system. Also do you thin at all? The Epifanes seams thick and does not brush out well without th...

Hello all, I am refinishing a 1956 Cavalier and am having trouble getting the varnish to come out the way I want. I am using Epifanes gloss varnish after sealing with CPES. I am doing the sides of the hull with the boat upside down and have trouble keeping the varnish from drooping, not really drips...

Al Great to here there are some other boats like mine out there. I miss stated the year of my boat in the first posting. I had been lead to believe it was a 1955 but I recently received the factory info from my hull # V-15330 and discovered it is a 1956. Mine never had the white strip you mentioned ...

Thank you both for the input.
If you keep this up I may become an expert.

I have ordered the Klean strip wood bleach and already have the Interlux filler stain 573 and can't wait to get started.

Ken

Jim and Al, Thanks, this does get complicated. I agree that spot use of CPES probably is not a good idea. I am sure the water stains even after removal with the Klean Strip wood bleach has some very good potential for returning because of the underlying decay in the wood. On one hand I am not sure t...

Thank you Jim and Randman for the great advice about Klean Strip Wood bleach and Interlux 1026 sealer VS CPES. CPES is a great product but because of your logic maybe not the best choice for plywood. I am anxious to try the Klean Strio wood bleach and get to the fun of putting a finish on. It is so ...

Thanks Jim, What you are looking at is the rub rail and that will all be replaced or at least 5' of it in the area of the stain. The rub rail has some rot it that area. The plywood is sound and I do not believe that it has delaminated. What would you seal the new piece of rub rail with? What is Thya...

Thanks for your input. The staining is just below the gunwale in two places on one side of the hull. one area is maybe 10 sq inches the other twice that size. See the two pictures attached. I would be bleaching the hull prior to application of stain of CPES. The entire boat is stripped of all finish...

I have a 1955 Cavalier (plywood hull) that has some minor water stains or it could be the start of some rot. The wood is sound and after staining I will be using CPES as a sealer so I am not to concerned about this structurally. I think that bleach will solve the problem but I am not sure how to pro...

I have the boat bottom side up so painting the bottom was easy. The 1959 paint goes on over the CPES like silk and covers very well. Pictures show what the bottom looked like after stripping old paint and the new paint. http://www.postimage.org/PqPgHir.jpg http://www.postimage.org/gxmTzSJ.jpg http:/...

The bottom on my Cavalier is the original bottom. The only thing I ran into was a green layer that was very difficult to remove, it was something that was well penetrated into the wood as you could see the grain. Someone suggested it was probably residue from the original Cooper/Bronze paint and I s...

Definitely you need to stain first. The CPEC is a great sealer and no stain will stay on it. I may be wrong but it sounds to me like you plan to stain and seal the new plywood pieces before you install them on the deck, I would recommend you install then before you stain so you can sand even with th...

Thank you both for the input!
I am familiar with Cuprinol it could be that but the residue form Copper paint sounds reasonable.
Either way it looks like the CPES should penetrate OK.
I will try it out and if it does not soak in I will try something else.

Thanks again for your help!

Ken

I am stripping the bottom of my 15' Cavalier to refinish it. After removing a number of coats and color of bottom paint I am down to a green layer. It is almost like a green stain and does not come off with the 5F5 stripper I have used for everything else on the boat. It is very thin and you can see...

Thank you all for your suggestions! Right clicking and saving link works good. I was using version 5 but now I have V6. Thanks again, it has been very frustrating finding a thumb nail of an article and not being able to read it. Now I should be able to do some research on the 15' 1955 Cavalier I am ...

I am having trouble getting information from the Archives and I am hoping someone can help. When I do a search and find an article to read some times when I click on the PDF download I get a message saying "this file is damaged and can not be repaired" Some articles open but most do not. The one I r...

I have just removed the gas tank form my 15' Cavalier. This tank has sat with a half a tank of gas for 22 years. It has some sludge in the bottom and the residue of gas that is like old varnish up to the mid point. I have heard that gas turns to a varnish like substance but have never experienced it...

Thank you Mark, The 1955 did not have the white at the top of the hull(all varnish) and I think the seats were red. I have sent away for the Chris Craft the essential Guide but I have not received it yet and the mariners museum is closed until October so I can not get a hull card or any information ...

Thank you Mark for your suggestions!
What did you use for upholstery material and color?

How about the floor boards? I see that Classic Boat Connection sells 3 different floor coverings, do you know if any of these are what would have been on an original 1955 Cavalier?

Ken

Thank you Mark, Your pictures look exactly like mt boat does now. Do you have any pictures of the boat after you finished it? I would love to see some! What did you seal the bottom with before the 1959 paint? How about the order of finishing? Bottom first or sides first? Thanks a lot for your input!...

I am looking for some advice on the order of the steps for refinishing my 1955 15' Cavalier. I have stripped all of the deck, inside and out side the hull and will soon be turning her over to strip the soft copper paint from the bottom. I plan to use the following: Seal the bottom with CEPS and pain...

Alan Thanks for the reply, I found the hull # over the weekend!! It was stamped into the keel just aft of the bronze casting that the propeler shaft goes through. V15330. I have hunted for it a number of times with no luck but two weekend ago I presure washed the inside to get rid of some of the oil...