1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat) FINISHED 7/25/14

luke000

Been Around the Block
I am going to start off and say, this is a joint winter project between myself and my dad. I was in northern Michigan with my dad 2 weeks ago and we found this boat for sale on the side of the road on a desolate road. We saw it and both admired the styling and construction, pulled over and called the number on the sign and a few minutes later we bought the trailer and hull from an old man for $400 on the condition that we restore it to better than new condition and bring it back by for him to see it in the spring. The boat is a 1956 Duratech "Sealine" S-13 (13 foot with a 60 inch beam), manufactured in Pleasantville, NY. The company history is available at www.duratechboats.com/‎ In short they manufactured heavy duty aluminum boats between 1950 and 1965. We transported the boat to our cottage, and left it there. The trailer tires are very dry rotted so we are going up next weekend with new tires, wheel bearings, and lights to bring it home and start work.

Our plans for the boat is a complete nut and bolt restoration including:
-The exterior hull & fixtures will be polished out
-Seal all leaks in the hull
-New windshield
-Re-wire the boat
-Paint the interior
-Make new seats
-New transom and wood
-Restore Steering Wheel
-Power it with a brand new 15 or 20 HP outboard
-A few modern upgrades such as a speedometer and anchor light etc

As for the trailer:
-New tires/wheels
-Wheel Bearings
-New light Bar
-New Jack
-Sandblast and repaint to match boat
-New bunks and rollers
-New winch and mast
-New lights


This is not my first boat restoration with my dad, the last one was my 1969 Larson All American 166 that I bought myself in 8th grade 6 years ago (last picture) He has done countless other boats over the years as well but this will be our oldest to date and first aluminum boat. I will post the next update next weekend when we haul it home to Detroit. In the mean time please chime in and share your thoughts, comments, questions or suggestions. It is always fun to hear from you guys!

Oh yeah the boat has been named "pop can" (My idea, there is a story behind the name, and fit the boat perfect)

And now for pitures ;D

On the side of the road when we bought her


Back at the cottage

















And the 1969 Larson that was our last restoration project:
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Cool fact about Duratech boats and the Sealine model, a number if 18 foot versions of this boat were purchased by the CIA and stripped down and then used as landing craft for the 1961 Bay Of Pigs invasion of Cuba. This was because the boat was had such a good reputation for being solid well built boats that could take a beating and not be damaged.

Cool picture from the invasion with a Duratech sealine:
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Looks restored to me already! I just started my own 1950's boat restoration thread. Mine's 1 step away from being scrap but I'm bringing it back.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Well I got my first big day of work in today after cleaning the garage yesterday and helping my mom pull her big boat for the season this morning as well as a jet ski. The first thing I did today was work on the trailer light mounts; the old ones were a flimsy galvanized sheet metal (looked like crap: see below) so I replaced them with heavy gauge 2" angle Iron as well as lengthening them %50. The rest of the day we striped down the boat as far as we could without removing original rivets. No big surprises other than a complete lack of OE stainless steel hardware. Next step is to disassemble the trailer and send it off to get sandblasted and ready for paint. And strip all the old paint out of the interior, acid wash the aluminum and at least get a coat of primer down.

And what would an update be without some pictures to help make sense of my ramblings ::)

OLD Light mounts



NEW Light Mounts



The boat at the end of the day:





 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Very cool. All these boat projects are making me think I want one. ;)
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

I stripped down the trailer as far as I could, and we hauled it off to the sand blaster. We will pick it up on thursday or friday and will immediately paint it. We decided on using POR-15. Only thing I have yet to decide is if I want to brush on the paint or spray it on (have a gun and compressor) any opinions?? We also will be rebuilding the hubs, new shocks, new jack, new saftey chains, new winch and mast with bow roller, new rollers, and new bunks.





In the mean time today I decided to use aircraft stripper and the power washer to remove the OE paint from the interior of the boat in preparation for that paint job in a few weeks. I still need to use an aluminum brightener for the deep clean of the aluminum before the primer goes down but i am going to wait until right before the painting.





And one in the garage waiting for the trailer

 
1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

This is sweet.
I would spray the por15, otherwise you'll get brush marks.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Thanks to input I got from the Iboats forum (running the same thread there) I was told to remove the caps to the seats where i would find foam that was to be used for floatation if the boat ever started to sink. Being 57 years old the foam is old and ratty and should be replaced.

I removed the seats just now and drilling the rivets went smoothly and got the seat caps out without any damage. The foam looked OK considering being 57 years old, only 6 mouse nests ::). (Flashbacks to my first project on the site! 1974 CB550 Project: Mouse nest)

First layer of foam



Second layer (had to cut out)


All gone ;D


I will probably re-foam with either foam sheets from Lowes or a 2 part expanding foam after the inside is painted.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

I have been busy at work over the last few weeks on the boat project, mostly with the trailer (update at a later date), but this weekend it was a balmy 47 degrees here in Detroit so I decided to use NAPA aluminum brightener to clean the inside and outside hull from all the years of tarnish and junk. It worked very well!

Here are 2 pics to show a before and after the Aluminum brightener:




This is the interior of the boat after the aluminum brightener:


 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Today was a fun day, we came to the conclusion that we will need to do as much work with the boat in a heated space as possible over the winter. Unfortunately, our garage is FAR from being warm, even with 2 heaters running :( so we came to the conclusion that our basement is the next best space.... we measured all the doors and came to the conclusion it WILL fit down the stairs with about 4 inches of height and 3 inches of width to spare. Unfortunately there is one thing standing in our sucess...this half wall/guard rail thing in front of the stairs.


Well, my dad said he had an idea and did NOT want to work in the cold all winter long so we got some of the tools and a half hour later....



My little brother was helping us move it down the stairs so I decided to step away and take a picture ;D


With inches to clear we got it down the stairs and to its new work area (will need to bring it up in a week or two to prime the inside for paint then bring it back down)

 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

I was working on the boat in the basement while my dad did the work on our "side project" and here are the results: Just needs paint



I decided to take West Systems 650 G/Flex epoxy and seal all the seams.
This is a link to the process I followed I was able to do the bow, side/bottom, and transom seams and used less than 1/4 of the epoxy.





One last thing.... my dad came to me with the idea of installing a permanent fuel tank under the rear seat area with a fill cap mounted to the seat top, under the to-be cushion. I am on the fence about this due to the loss of area for flotation foam. :confused: Any input on this??

 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

I wouldn't worry too much about the foam. I helped my brother restore a 1988 ski nautique earlier this year. We took all the foam out of it when we stripped it and didn't put any back in. Granted, it has a fiberglass hull and the foam had turned into a huge sponge over the last 20+ years helping to rot the stringers but the boat floats great without any foam at all. We were a little worried when we did it but the boat is super strong, rigid, and runs great after the rebuild. I posted a short thread about it here too titled Nauti 88.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

hansenracing519 said:
I wouldn't worry too much about the foam. I helped my brother restore a 1988 ski nautique earlier this year. We took all the foam out of it when we stripped it and didn't put any back in. Granted, it has a fiberglass hull and the foam had turned into a huge sponge over the last 20+ years helping to rot the stringers but the boat floats great without any foam at all.

At the risk of stating the obvious(?) the foam is there to keep the boat from sinking if it fills with water. It's a safety feature/requirement, not a performance enhancer. The boat floats because it displaces enough water to match it's own weight. Putting things inside the hull doesn't change that, other than making it displace more water to offset the weight of whatever you put into it.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Well it has been a while since my last update, but the work has not stopped. Over the last month or so I have been restoring the trailer. I tore it down and we took the pieces to get sandblasted, we got it back and I started paining it with a spray gun in my driveway. The weather was somewhat cold, and we had to hold off paining a few days between coats for the temp to get above 50. The paint turned out very well except for a few spots that I will touch up in the spring (temp looks like it will not get above 50 until then) We replaced all the hardware with stainless nuts and bolts, replaced all the rollers, made new carpeted bunks, rebuilt and painted the hubs, bearing buddies, new lug bolts, a new Fulton jack, A new winch and winch mast because the old one was rusted almost in half. The Lights are submersible LED's and the wiring is routed inside the trailer as much as possible. The only thing that did not go as planned is we were unable to find replacement shock absorbers for the two that were frozen up. I am unsure of what this trailer actually is but I %90 sure that this trailer was home made from a kit back in the day, either that or it is a horribly butchered Tee Nee. It has a lot of bugger welds and a few good ones, it also has been "updated" a few times in its past life with a new tongue, a jack, different fenders, and the previous light mounts that I replaced in reply 3.

And now for some pictures....I seemed to have lost a lot of the before pictures and after we got it back from sand blasting :facepalm:

Before:


On its way to get sand blasted:



And the after pictures!! :D





 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Got some more work done today, we reproduced the transom and bow shelf boards. We used 3/4 marine ply-wood picked up at the local hardware store/lumber yard. The exterior transom board we decided to make 2 inches longer than before (total ''14) to accommodate a new motor. All the pieces were traced and rough cut to shape on the table saw and then I used a jigsaw to cut out the engine slot and the profile for the shelf.


We positioned everything in place on the hull and drilled 4 of the mounting holes and bolted it up.



When I traced and cut the engine slot I left a little extra so now with everything bolted in place I used a belt sander and sanded both the wood and the metal flush and smooth. The shape is the same but the aluminum has a nice clean and shiny edge to it now.

Before sanding:





And after:







Finally I took the boards back off, sanded the remaining edges and rounded the corners on the disc sander. I still need to drill the remaining holes sand the faces with an orbital sander, stain them, and finish them. And there is a backing piece for the dash that the steering wheel mounts to that we still need to make.





 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Oh I forgot to mention, we went on a Perko binge and bought lights, rowlocks (to cover holes from I think previous rowlocks :laugh:) and a bow eye. Should all be here on Friday. There is a lot more hardware that needs to be bought but this is a start. Next is trying to find a good looking, non-trumpet, horn.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Awesome progress! Hoping to get my project boat in the water in the next 4 months. Nowhere for me to work on it for a few more weeks unfortunately.
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Awesome job mate, the trailer looks sweet as now :D That brightener certainly had a great affect 8)
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

I meant to ask about the marine plywood transom. Are you going to take the boards back off and coat them with epoxy or anything?
 
Re: 1956 Duratech S-13 "Project: Pop Can" (Boat)

Holy crap, you demo'd a wall in your house to bring a boat inside it?! You guys must have some easy going lady folk around!

luke000 said:
Today was a fun day, we came to the conclusion that we will need to do as much work with the boat in a heated space as possible over the winter. Unfortunately, our garage is FAR from being warm, even with 2 heaters running :( so we came to the conclusion that our basement is the next best space.... we measured all the doors and came to the conclusion it WILL fit down the stairs with about 4 inches of height and 3 inches of width to spare. Unfortunately there is one thing standing in our sucess...this half wall/guard rail thing in front of the stairs.
 
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