Labors Love

Lake Norman, NC

Lee and Jodie Dahlen's 1966 Chris Craft

Mr.Dick Avery (left), Chief "Stylist" of the Commander among many other models meets with Lee Dahlen at the 2002 Commander East Coast Meet in Portsmouth, Va

FXA272129-T

Translated: FXA=CC Express/27/2=2nd year(66)/ Hull 129/ Built in Tn

      I'm told the definition of a good deal, is when the buyer and the seller both agree that a good deal it is.  Well, in October of 1991, the buyer and the seller agreed it was time for this boat to have a new home. Unfortunately, as much as we would like you to believe this ( above pic) is what she looked like when we bought her, it obviously wasn't even close.  ( Scroll down)

and yes this was the engine!

She was very rough! but floated...............ok just barely, but the pumps worked!!

When I took possession of her in 1991, she was known as "Foxy Lady" and I had no idea of what I had bought. She was sitting high and dry in a field with a barn partially collapsed on her bow from Hurricane Hugo, the year prior. The deal was right, and being young, motivated, and in the CG Auxiliary, I heard the same comments from each of my other Aux friends when they came to look at her.  "That has got to be the biggest back deck space for her size."  In the Auxiliary, deck space for working is a definite premium, and most of my friends liked what they saw, but alas, everyone still thought I was crazy.

    The wife, said " First the name has to go"  I say fine, come up with a new one.  needless to say she and my father, whom also was a partner in the boat, came up with the name. So unbeknownst to me, as to what I actually owned, other than that ragged piece of ****** that everyone seemed to want to call her, I saw her potential.  I didn't know what she was, but she was obviously built like a battleship.  What I would find out later would absolutely, astound me and prove the nay sayers wrong indeed!

    There was lots of work to be done!  GAWDDDD the list never stopped.   First item was to get her out of the water due to the fact that a broken thru hull fitting was seeping water as quick as the pumps would evacuate, so might as well start now.....in the dead of off season!  We needed to get the skeleton of the engine out, and find a new one, or build it ( whichever is more cost efficient. We needed to get something on the mahogany wood work in the cockpit area to protect it from further deterioration. Make sure the hull was sound, and the running gear would work ok.  At this point my Mom and Dad were starting to take an active role in her resurrection and my wife was slowly coming around, although still very skeptical I might add.

    With yard fees as they were, it was imperative to get as much done in as little time possible.  I concentrated on hull issues and rounding up a new power plant of some sort. The old one, a 318 Chrysler Fury motor ( seen above) was little hope to be resurrected, so I trashed it and looked for a good 350 Chevrolet 4 bolt main.  Considering that Hurricane hugo, had ripped thru Lake Norman at still a category 2-3 there was lots of salvage parts to be had in the area.  My partner in the boat business I owned had located a 5.7L Mercruiser Alpha One engine that had a confirmed 12 hours on it, but had been to the bottom of the lake.  We were able to obtain the engine "as is" but complete for 500.00!  SOLD! It would require a complete teardown, and deep cleaning to get all of the mud and sediment from the lake out, and reassemble to make it work. I decided to go ahead and make some changes such as Cam, and also put a double roller chain and gears in her for security sake.  Two modifications had to be done in order to make an I/O Mercruiser become an Inboard Mercruiser. The exhaust manifolds and a wedge plate for the Carb, to level out the angle. Two weeks later, The hulls buffed, the new engine is sitting on the stringers ( but nowhere near ready to fire) Thru hulls are in, the pumps are all fixed, the wood is sealed and painted. ( yes painted until we have time to do it right, this will just keep it protected!) and guess what?????

we are ready to splash!

The Helm Gets a Facelift

Although the helm station was all genuine Chris Craft and the Gauges were in perfect condition( below left). The late model engine to go into Labor's Love, was a 1990 MerCruiser 5.7L 350 Engine. This meant solid state ignition as well as solid state charging system, so th old gauges using the "Shunt" system with external regulators for charging and Cable drive for the Tachometer would not work without conversion. Conversions are readily available "for a price" and that price would exceed $1,000.00 to get me close to original.

1991                                                                    1992

While I am into the "original classic" thing I am also into the fact that I have a family and other debts that take precedence over the boat.  So do I spend the "Big Bucks" and take a couple of years to do it? Or do I do the more practical thing and replace with updated equipment at a lesser cost.  In 1992, I was ready to pursue this project, and decided that Teleflex was the most practical as well as the most economical route to go.  On a budget, I went with some UV protected plastic and the new gauges and put the project together. It was very practical ( upper right) and worked like a charm until I really got serious about restoring this classic. Remember now it wasn't til the year 2000 when I knew what a classic I really owned.

Fast Forward to 2003

Well I guess you can see here that I finally got serious 11 years later, employing the skill and expertise of my closest friend Elmer Horton. Elmer, a retired photojournalist is also a retired machinist and holds many skills. We have known each other since I was 10 and still today enjoy doing many projects for each other. I use my engine and electrical skills on his projects, and he in return uses his many talents on mine. Above shows the final outcome of my helm station. Revamped, New wood, New Vinyl, and Polished and rebuilt original switches.  I am very proud of the outcome of this project and although I still have the "aftermarket" teleflex gauges on her, the "close to original" design is still there in spirit.  Thanks Elmer!!

Expanding the Horizons in the Aft Cockpit

Moving on to the next project with Elmer Horton's expertise, was to revamp the aft cockpit. The wood, all mahogany veneer had not only been painted, but primed as well. To purchase the wood to redo to original standards would have crippled my budget, not to mention my family life. Chris Craft Commanders, not only possess the finest of quality in their fiberglass, but also the wood everywhere in the boat. Once you have delved into the bowels of one of these "battleships" you come to find that the term "overbuilt" is a joke!  Considering the bottom layup is somewhere in the 3/4 to 7/8" thickness using real live Woven Roven Mat, ( not like that crap they shoot from a chopper gun these days) One also tends to notice that EVERY bit of interior superstructure is Mahogany planking. ( and we aint talking thin stuff here folks!) Thus making one Hell of a heavy boat that is planned to at least double the current life of 37 years!  I would suspect if the future owners ( yes, eventually I'll do another project before this life ends) take half as good of care as I do, it will be around for an indefinite period of time. ( is 100 years too outrageous???)

 In the photo below, is one of the many areas we redid in the cockpit project. The side combings were delaminating and in terrible shape. You'll notice that Chris Craft, beefed up the area for the seats. Yes Folks, that is a genuine piece of 2x6 Mahogany planking! (Bet you wanna know what that costs in today's market??)

Finally while that was going on, in my never ending search on Ebay for stuff people no longer want, I came across a set of Chris Craft Original Seats. the bidding war was on, and when I won, I had a set of seats ( in need of repair of course) and without legs for 51.00 plus shipping. Thank You Ebay! The last set I looked at brought over 200.00!! Working for a tubing company has its advantages.  I had already seen the design the legs were supposed to be, and while Elmer was restoring the seats themselves, I was rounding up what I needed to make the legs for them. Below you will see the final outcome.  We are both very proud of this accomplishment.