64 sunlounger 155

jimmymoon · Post by **jimmymoon** » Wed Mar 16, 2011 8:54 pm

Hi, I belived to have just bought a 1964 chris craft corsair sunlounger 155, can anyone tell me anything about this boat, i really can not find anything on them. i have looked on many different sites but nothing on a picture in the one brochure, also anyone know if there is anything like a fibeglass paste out there to repair the hull there is a small gouge on the side of the hull like the previous owner hit the trailer, theres no way of getting to it fron the inside so how would i go about doing this?

thompsonboatboy · Post by **thompsonboatboy** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 4:49 am

Welcome aboard!

Post the boat hull ID and we can probably tell you more. Might be something like "ORBO-15-xxxx"

You can also purchase the hull ID card copy from the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, VA by providing them the hull ID. This card will tell you exactly what the boat is, its accessories, when it was shipped and to which dealership it was shipped.

Is she an outboard or stern drive?

I have a '66 Corsair Sport V 17'-6 outboard.

These boats were made by Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. - a wholly owned subsidiary of Chris-Craft at Cortland, NY.

Andreas

Bill Basler · Post by **Bill Basler** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 7:18 am

As for the ding in the white area. This is in you gelcoat...the outer most layer of a fiberglass boat. Gelcoat on this vintage of boat would be polyester with colorant added...in this case white.

I usual use a small hand grinder, like a Dremel tool with a carbide cutting tip to clean out the ding, roughening up the opening. Clean everything up with Acetone.

From there, on a small ding like this, you can usually find a fiberglass repair kit at most marinas. It is a small blister pack containing some white gel coat and various colorants like yellow red, green, blue, and black. You can use these colorants in microscopic amounts, ie: a quarter size unit of white might be tinted with a pin head size dot of black. It takes very little colorant to over tint the white.

Once you have a decent color match, add the hardener per the instructions. You then use a small plastic spreader to fill the gouge.

In these kits there is a small piece of plastic. Polyester resin does not like to cure hard when exposed to air. To get a hard cure, cover your patch with this piece of plastic. It will peel off when the patch is hard.

From there you will wet sand starting with about 320, then 400, then 600, then 1500 grit or so. Once the patch is level with the surrounding area and smooth, you can buff to match with a good quality buffing compound.

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 10:55 am

I used a patch kit to repair an area on an old aqua colored boat a few years ago. The results were good but the color was off just a bit. The polyester stuff does take quite a while to cure, even when covered. I had to go back and fill a low spot, best to build the area a bit proud all over the first time. The filled spot matched the original color better than the first attempt but when it was faired down level the other color reappeared.

Andreas, most Chris-Craft historians refer to the purchase of Thompson Boat Co. of New York, Inc. as the first move in creating the Corsair Division of Chris-Craft. They don't mention the "Wholly owned Subsidiary of..." part in the continuing history of the Corsair Division while it was located in Cortland, NY. Thompson Boat Co. only gets honorable mention following the purchase, even with the 1962 lapstrake outboard models that were sold by the Sea Skiff Division.

You are the leading authority on Thompson history. The question is, did the Cortland company continue operating under its original name and build Corsairs for Chris-Craft as a wholly owned subsidiary or was the name changed to Chris-Craft - Corsair Division?

Al

thompsonboatboy · Post by **thompsonboatboy** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:12 pm

The Cortland operation, once purchased by Chris-Craft, continued to be "Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc." This firm existed until the end of the wooden boat era in 1965 (or was it 1966?). The wooden lapstrake Thompson by Chris-Craft boats were NOT sold as Sea Skiffs. They were sold as Thompson. For part of one model year, some of the same boats were sold as Sea Skiffs. But Thompson continued to have her own dealers and identity.

The 1963 brochure writes "Thompson Boat Co., Inc., subsidiary of Chris-Craft, Cortland, N.Y." The 1963 price list writes "Thomspon Boat Co. of N.Y., Inc. - A Part of the Chris-Craft Fleet". Same for the 1964 brochure and price list.

I have another 1963 flyer that indicates "Thompson subsidiary of Chris-Craft".

The 1965 brochure writes "Thompson subsidary of Chris-Craft."

The 1963 Corsair fiberglass brochure has "Corsair Boats, Industrial Park, Cortland, NY". Same for 1964 and 1965. But in 1966 they revive the name "Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc." very prominently. That firm name is also used in the Warranty statement - no mention of Chris-Craft or Corsair.

1967 price list "Chris-Craft Corsair Boats, Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc." Same deal in 1968.

1969 drops any reference to Thompson or Corsair and they are called Sport Boats Divison.

My 1966 Corsair definately has a builder's plaque that says "Thompson Boat Co. of New York, Inc." on it.

Andreas

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:39 pm

Andreas,

Thanks for your reply. When studying Chris-Craft history it's not possible to see the full picture, only small tidbits that sparks my curiosity.

The Sea Skiff outboards that appear in The Essential Guide in 16, 17 and 19 foot lengths does include a note "These models were developed from Thompson Boat Company plans after Chris-Craft bought the Cortland, New York operation." I imagine that these boats were built in the Sea Skiff facility in Salisbury and not in the Thompson facility in Cortland. They only built them in 1962.

Thanks much, Andreas.

Al

jimmymoon · Post by **jimmymoon** » Thu Mar 17, 2011 9:31 pm

its an outboard, where can i find the hin at?

thompsonboatboy · Post by **thompsonboatboy** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 6:35 am

Look for hull ID on bow below the deck right on the stem near the mooring bit. Also look just below the deck to either side of the stem. Look near the stern on both sides just under the gunwale.

Should be stamped into the fiberglass.

Andreas

Al Benton · Post by **Al Benton** » Fri Mar 18, 2011 11:17 pm

Jimmymoon,

Here's a link that gets you to The Mariners' Museum, Library, Chris-Craft page on their web site. It has the information on how to order a research package for your Corsair using the hull number. They'll send you a copy of the original hull card for your boat and any other interesting information on it.

Andreas, the club archive has Corsair catalogs for '67 & 68 and a few spec sheets for some 1970 models. The front page of the catalogs reads Chris-Craft Corsair but the back page does include "Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc.". Both include the warranty was by Thompson Boat Company of New York, Inc. (with no mention of Chris-Craft in that paragraph). There's no mention of Thompson in the 1970 literature.

64 sunlounger 155

64 sunlounger 155

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