News

Parts, Supplies, and Accessories

We now have Four Marine Distributors supplying us with Parts, Supplies and Accessories. Each Supplier has access to something in the order of 50,000 to 60,000 different marine items! We also deal directly with many of the manufactures of supplies and accessories. So it is safe to say we have access to more parts and accessories than you do when you look in a so called Discount Marine supply catalogs.

Give us a call and we will assist you in solving your problems and finding the right part for your vintage or other watercraft! Not only will you be getting parts and supplies shipped to your home but you will also be getting outstanding service for the same price and many times for less!

We also stock approximately 2000 board feet of African Mahogany, Philippine Mahogany and White Oak and a line of indispensable tools for the do-it-yourselfers!

We have a new pricing structure on fasteners making us the lowest cost suppliers for your fastening needs!

Remember, because of our Kentucky sales tax laws, if we ship out of state we collect no sales tax. Depending on the size of your order we can often times save you money on shipping costs as well!

Spring Outfitting!

First Check the owners manual for your boat and read the section on spring outfitting. If you don't have a manual.... of course we can get you one! Your manual should tell you to check a few items like

Condition of water pump impeller (s)

Prop Shaft Coupling alignment

Engine Mounts - Condition

Strut bearing

Ignition Point condition and gap

Spark plug Condition and gap

Check the oil level and condition of oil

Charge and Check the condition of your battery

Check the condition of belts and hoses

You are looking for cracks, missing chunks etc in belts and for cracked or soft hoses.

You should plan on taking the boat to the water without all the water toys and just a one or two select family members and / or friends. Adult beverages should be left at home as this is not a recreational trip. Before you go you should:

Check the condition and operation of your bilge pump and bilge pump switch!

if you have a lovett pump remember there is a belt inside that needs to be checked for condition.

Next, when you go to the boat ramp you should dunk the boat in the water and:

Check and adjust rudder packing and prop shaft packing

Run the engine and check:

The ammeter to ensure the battery charging system is functioning

The exhaust to ensure cooling water is pumping through the engine

The oil pressure gauge to ensure you have good oil pressure

The temperature gauge to ensure the cooling system is functioning properly

Again! Check your manual as I am writing this from memory! Make sure I haven't left anything out by checking your manual. Secondly, there is only so much information that can be written efficiently. Give us a call if you have ANY questions at all!!!

Checking

When checking your water pump impeller(s) make sure you know how many impellers your pump has! The customer complained of overheating on his engine even though he had changed the impeller. Well see the plate between the impellers pictured to the left? That plate was hiding his second impeller! It was not getting changed. If you have two water inlets and / or two water outlets there will likely be two impellers inside the water pump! Oh, and in case you are wondering... there is no more "goody" in the impeller on the right either!

Correcting Problems

To get all the little bits of rubber that had come off the impeller out of his engine we had to remove one end of most of the hoses and flush the hoses and engine passageways out by running water from a hose in reverse of the normal direction of flow. These bits of rubber if left in the engine can restrict flow and cause hot spots in the engine. If you try to use an impeller too many years this may happen to you! The manufacturers will tell you to change these annually.

Water Pump Impellers

Bad

Beyond Bad!

Propeller Shaft Alignment & Shaft Log Condition - Engine Mounts

BEFORE you do the coupling alignment you need to check a couple of things. First you need to pull the hose for the shaft log packing off of the shaft log. The shaft log is what you see pictured below. This is screwed down to the keel if it is a single engine boat - otherwise you will have two of these screwed down to some other structural members. See the notch that is being pointed to? This notch is not supposed to be in this part. In this boat an engine mount had failed and allowed the engine to drop down toward the bottom of the boat. The coupling was re-aligned in the boat without noticing the engine mount had failed. This lowered the position of the propeller shaft and it actually rubbed against the bronze shaft log wearing a slot in the log. Luckily there was just enough hose on the packing gland assembly to cover the notch that had worn in this casting or did it cover the notch????? This guy became my customer when the boat sank! This was a possible cause of the sinking, but we also had a failed bilge pump switch. So check your engine mounts and pull the hose off the shaft log so you can check to make sure your prop shaft is centered in the opening and not rubbing the housing of the shaft log.

Check the condition of your wood!

Check for rot and if your boat has ever been in salt water - check for worm damage that may have thus far gone undiscovered . When you pull the boat back out of the water after testing and you are standing around with your buddy having that adult beverage you didn't take to the boat ramp with you... look for wet spots that stay wet after the rest of the bottom surface of the boat has dried out. This would be an indication of wood soaking up and holding too much moisture. Get out your ice pick or screw driver and push firmly on the wood in those areas. If the pick sinks easily into the wood there is a problem - worms or rot - it doesn't matter - it is still a problem. Call us and we can help you with that problem!

Worm holes and passageways!

Woodies Restorations

News Letters

Woodies Restorations Newsletter

Spring 2009

It is spring outfitting time and this newsletter is packed with tips to help you ensure you have a trouble free season with your classic boat. But first a little news about how Woodies Restorations is growing to serve you better! We have been adding team members since September of 2008.

Meet our new additions to the Team!

Greg Tucker

Greg comes to us with 26 years of management in the hardware business. He has been working to solve customers problems through helping the customer Select the right product or tools to solve their problems. He is also very good at finding hard to find items.. and finding them at the least cost! We are very lucky to have Greg on our team. Put him to work on Your team too! You won't be disappointed!

Robert Ruddy

Robert comes to us with right at 30 years of woodworking experience most recently as a Master Woodworker. Robert hails from California and is now living in Kentucky while he rebuilds his 1968, 41 foot Chris Craft Constellation that was damaged in a Flood. Robert has replaced the decks, and nearly all the ribs, stakes and planking on one side of it. Let Robert help you solve your woodworking problems!

Chris Craft

Join This Mailing List

Remove Me From The Mailing List

Jan Hadley

Jan has over 30 years of woodworking experience as a Building Contractor, Cabinet Maker, and Boat Restorer at the Master Woodworking Level of expertise. Jan restored a 1940, 57 foot Elco motor yacht on which he and his wife Peggy operate a Wine and Cheese Cruise business. This boat was a "hit" at the recent ACBS Blue Ridge Chapter Spring Meet on Lake Keowee in West Union South Carolina! Jan runs our South Carolina location and occasionally travels to Kentucky to assist with our heavy workload. Let Jan help you solve your woodworking problems from here or our South Carolina location.

Work directly with Jan on your project!

Click here to go to Jan's website!

This photo shows the shaft log bolted to the keel of the boat and it has the packing gland sometimes called stuffing box attached. Since water is used as a lubricant to cool the shaft and packing material thus reducing wear on the shaft this packing gland should "leak" at about the rate of 3 drops per minute at the point where the finger is pointing.

After checking these adjustments, it is time to measure the gap between the prop shaft coupling half and the transmission coupling half. These measurements are used to determine that the engine is properly aligned with the prop shaft. If this is not properly aligned shaft breakage can occur. This is a critical adjustment - follow your owners manual instructions exactly. Or we can do this for you in our shop!

Propeller Shaft and Strut Bearing

The photos above show what can happen to the shaft when you run the strut bearings too long and the engine is not properly adjusted to match the angle of the shaft! The photos on the right show the difference between a worn out strut bearing (still in the strut) and a new one (not yet installed).

Remember, what we provide is service first and foremost!

We will even travel to where your boat is if necessary. Here are a few shots from our recent trip to Belize to install an engine we rebuilt in a 1950 Chris Craft 22 foot Sportsman!