Bonjour .
10 months in process, Complete restoration . Chris craft 23' 1947 Express Cruiser .
I did start talking about this project 4 months ago , she is a 23' Chris Craft build-ed in 1947 .
At my knowledge ( Chris Craft Museum research ) there is only one left except the one in my hand .
I was very surprised and hope this serie of articles will help to learn more about her .
I did restore plenty of vintage Chris Craft , but I love the preservation quality of this one , for a 1947 , she is amazing .
As the owner does not want to keep the current name ( not original anyway ) i will have to temporary name her , for convenience communication XC47 ....
Donc , ( french expression for OK ) XC47was apparently for over 10 years in a dry storage and major damages we find were cracks on wood plank due to over dry . My first move was to move her to a friend Shipyard ( Cerritos yacht anchorage ), open damaged area and let her sit for some time .
The weather condition this month in long Beach are totally perfect ... even too much this week .
As today , when i am revueing my week end article ... Really Too Much rain !
By tradition , i do prefer pictures rather than long descriptions and my written english is far from perfect .
In this first page , we did remove all hardware's , send them for chroming ,open cracks , sand : hull ,transom , and heat gun "varnish and caulking" remove .
Philippe d'Aniere
 |  |
 |  |
Second major operation is wood cracks "West System epoxy" repairs , and loose planks refastening
Watch this short video
 |  |  |
 | |  |
January 31 2011
XC47 is fully prepared and one coat of white LP was applied , wood is ready to be stained as close as possible to original ( dark red ). Deck is done ( i will issue a special paragraph to this specific " Philippe " process )
Finishing process ready to go !
Philippe
Because of weather and quality requested by owner , it took us until March 30 to complete interior , exterior
Awlgrip Lp snow white paint . Over 700 hours as Today .
Result is close to perfection
 |  |
 |  |
During this 2 months period , we also repaired and processed bright wood .
This process will be completed after motorisation done in New port Beach .
| |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
April 20 2011
Gone a month for motorisation
May 20 2011 Engine instaled
Back to us Monday June 20 ..........
July 27
All carpentry done / Varnish one part 14 coats / waiting for awlgrip +
Deck done , missing 10 varnish coats .
Full report this week end
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |
August 04
Engine cover in process
 |  |
 |  |
 |  | |
 |  |
 |  |
