new wood and chrome!

Sorry for the delay, been sailing all summer no time to work on the streb or post!

here is the latest from the past few months

the previous owner mel contacted me to let me know he had some of the original parts still. he had
    the front vent that actually goes with the front light casting.
    the prop shaft and coupling.
    the tow rope bar, it goes between the front seat and doghouse.
he didnt have the bracket to hold it. i have
no idea how its held in. so ill have to do some research. here are some photos of the front vent. he polished it pretty nicely. hopefully i can get the light casting as bright and i wont need to send it to the plater.

mel read my blog post and didnt let these go as cheaply as the boat! mel i hope you are still following. we will go for that boat ride soon!

I also cut all the frames and other pieces that i needed. below is a picture of the front stem and a transom bow (or frame stake) the christmas tree one is the front stem. these are designed a little different than other boats i've been reading about..

these were originally made from mahogany, but i chose white oak.

the front stem knee (the curved piece below) i thought was a little too much complicated for me.

fortunately the fine folks at streblow custom boats to the rescue. steve horton was able to duplicate the piece. this was made from mahogany. steve wondered why i didnt make it. he said it is easy. yeah right!

Not a '59 but a 1960

I brought the serial number to Streblow Custom Boats and spent some time with Kris Streblow. She was gracious enough to look through their journal to determine that the boat was built in 1960 and not 1959! She didn't have any other information about the boat other than it was sold through a dealer and not directly.


I now have the complete bottom off and am preparing to start the rebuild. Here are some photos of where we stand. hope to update a little quicker next.

Above is a photo before the entire bottom was off. below is a photo of dowel plugs and gorrila glue to fill in the old screw holes on the lower transom bow. the transom frame held up pretty well, i will have to replace the port transom cheek. i am also able to use the keel and chimes!

 I spotted these 3" exhaust tips on ebay, they were made for a century but the angle for the transom is almost perfect! what a find. I noticed that when you see something that may work for the boat you have to pull the trigger and buy it, you can always resell it. Some things just aren't available anymore!

1917

I have given up looking for a serial number, then with the boat upside down there it was on the back of the keel!

What i don't understand is how the numbers are trans vexed?? Also found when i was taking off the bottom was a 1962 penny under the rear frame, now i wonder if it is actually a 1959 or possibly a 1962? I am hoping that they have the records at the Streblow shop. Let you know when i find out.

Upside Down

Well the i have been fearing is here, turning over the boat. Thanks to Don Danenbergs book and forum, Brandotowns" youtube videos and other bloggers i felt i had the knowledge and resources to complete the flip. As you can see by the photo i bought some pallet racking for the gantry set up, it worked great! i saw a 1940 Chris Craft blog where he used small pieces of pipe and bearings as rollers. I thought i copied these pretty well, but they failed! I think i had the chain too long and they twisted right away.

We pulled the straps through the hooks, made it half way but had to rerig to complete. I will need to have this ready for flipping back, i think if i shorten the chain or put a bolt through the links it will prevent it from twisting again.

On to bottom work!

Farewell Randy Streblow

Randy Streblow passed away Nov 1, 2011. I had a few more chances to visit with randy after my last blog. He was a great guy and full of knowledge. For a nice tribute go to www.streblowboatowners.com    I am going to miss Randy Streblow!

OK, Now What!

Early summer late spring i stopped by Streblow Boats on highway F. Randy Streblow was sitting in the office talking to a couple of ladies. Turns out that the one lady had her boat in for a new interior. I introduce my self to Randy and give him a brief discription of my project, I don't think Randy knew what to think of me! Though he spend some time with me, showed me the shop ( i was a little in awe!) was asking some questions ( i think he was feeling me out, he asked if i was handy) and answered some of my questions. Within a few minutes he told me i had a 1959 and it came with a cadillac engine. We talked about my uncles boats (he still knows were both are, one is on lake mead). He said he was busy and i should stop back again. What a nice guy! "memory like elephant"!


OK, 1 Cadillac marine engine please.

These engines are hard to find!! I saw one post from a guy just wanting to buy the name plates. I saw one for sale in CA but he wanted 6K for it, i thought it best to wait to see if i even start this project. Then by pure coincidence at about the 50th page of a google search. I spotted an ad from Ontario Canada: Cadillac Crusader Marine Engine, with Velvet Drive Transmission $1200. I contacted the seller and had shipped to me one Cadillac Crusader 390 Marine engine (rebuilt? to be determined) sans 2 four barrel carbs!

The engine has a rear facing flywheel and a 1:1 Borg Warner Trans. besides the carbs it is also missing one thermostat housing.

Let the fun begin

Since i was a kid in the early 60's spending my summers in Lake Geneva, WI I was fascinated with a locally owned manufacturer of mahogany boats "Streblow Custom Boats". A neighbor of ours had a 22 foot Streblow which was parked at our pier. Their son, Mike, was a friend of my older brother Andy. They would spend the day out on the lake on this beutiful boat as i stayed at the pier with my other siblings and friends swimming and fishing. I can still remember the rumble of the engine, it was sweet.

One fouth of July, can't remember the  year. Mike our neighbor took our whole family out to see the fireworks on the streb! I can still remember i sat next to him and the gear shifter stood up from the floor and i had strict instructions not to touch it! What a great ride. Man this boat even had wings!

Fast Forward, I moved to California in 1988 at the same time my Uncle moved full time to live on Lake Geneva. During this time he owned 2 streblows and I living on the west coast never seen either! by the time i moved back to the Chicago area my uncle relocated to Florida and the strebs were gone. 

Fast Forward, I was horsing around on ebay in the early fall of 2010. I plugged in streblow boat. no results. i decided to check completed listings. To my surprise a 15 foot outboard had just sold out of northern wi. I never knew they made an outboard. I figured oh well, next time and added the streblow search to my file. To my surprise, the same boat came back to auction, this time it was in south carolina! I put in a bid and was second to the winner, i sent the owner an email saying if the winner didnt buy to contact me. Well the owner contacted my and after a paypal transaction the streb was mine. (this outboard story to be continued later).

With my saved ebay search, i started receiving posts of some boat parts labeled "chris craft, century, streblow". After a couple of these i got to thinking, who would add streblow to this unless it came from a streblow. i contacted the seller, and he stated that indeed he had a streblow he was parting out. I asked him about it and went to see the boat parked in a tent. It didn't take long before i made him an offer on this 19 foot streblow, He accepted my meager offer stating he almost sold it to a guy that wanted to cut it up and make a bar out of it, i think he wanted to see it completed and sold it to me.

So i picked up the streblow and brought it back to my shop. Oh by the way the boat was missing, seats (had the front seat, but no seat cushion), engine, transmission, prop, shaft, back seat, windshield, floor boards (i have the one for the front and one for the  back side) and a few other items. But it was a streblow and i was on my way!