1978 Chris Craft Cutlass Dory
- Jeff Carroll
- Oct 25, 2024
- 1 min read
Updated: Oct 26, 2024
This 1978 Chris Craft Cutlass Dory is a boat that is in my private collection, and is not for sale at this time. I have always liked these boats, and when this one became available, I jumped on it. The previous owner had hit something and bent the prop, strut, and shaft, so those will have to be replaced. Other than that, this boat seems to be in pretty good condition. We'll find out more as we start the restoration.
This boat has been sitting around our facility, waiting for us to have time to work on it. Today it got its first bath in about five years, and still looks pretty nice! We'll get to work on it next week and see where we stand.
Wow. I am so impressed with our carburetor guys. They knocked this rebuild out super-quickly without even being asked to rush it, and had it back to us yesterday. That's less than a week, including shipping to and from Jacksonville FL!
Sure looks nice, too. Can't wait to test it out in the next few days.
The carburetor is already down in Jacksonville, FL being rebuilt.
While it is out, we're going to go ahead and replace one of the three bilge pumps on this boat. Two of the three worked great, but the rear pump didn't seem to function, and it looks really old. We'll be replacing it with the Sahara MK2 automatic bilge pump. If this one works as-promised, this will be our go-to pump for all boats going forward. This pump has an integrated float switch, so it can run in automatic or manual mode. Since the float switch is internal, there is little chance of it getting clogged or stuck on. Also, since it is using a float switch, it won'…
Today was water test day!
It didn't go as well as we hoped, but the engine ran nicely. Unfortunately there was a fuel leak at the carburetor, so it had to come off and be sent out for a rebuild. Last thing we need is to catch this thing on fire!
We'll have the carb back soon and we'll try again...
This boat is ready for a water test on Tuesday! If all goes well, she'll be at my dock for the rest of the winter. I love this boat!
The strut, although straightened well, would not line up correctly for the shaft to fit into the packing gland smoothly. We ended up shimming the strut so that the shaft fit well, and that worked great. The shaft now spins nicely, and everything is aligned properly. Tomorrow we'll remove the temporary bolts, install the permanent ones, check alignment again, and tighten everything back up. This boat is almost ready to see the water again!