Kingscraft owners and fans

fisheatingbagel,

I am absolutely up for a KC website. Hopefully you, JT and I can start posting some of the material we have collected. I am interested in what you have in mind and how to implement it. I have been trying to figure out the best way to make the stuff I have available. I will PM my email to you and JT and we can get this started.

On a side note, Thursday I drive up for the sea trial on the Ebbtide 190 Catalina, I am very confident it will go well and we will have it in our garage Thurs Nite. Unfortunately, the houseboat is still on hold until the hauler gets the situation worked out on a different boat he is working on. It will probably be a little chilly for an early evening boat ride Thursday in central Indiana, but I am really excited about it. I don't know if this is the best place to talk runabouts, so when I find a good forum to discuss it, I will put up a link to it and put one there coming back to here.

If you can't tell, I am ate up with this stuff :p Also, a buddy of mine is a professional mechanic (commercial diesel manufacturer test mechanic) and when I told him about the KC and the twin 318's he was actually excited and said we would get them and the genny in tip tip shape when it got here. I can get by when it comes to mechanical work on motors, but this was awesome as this guy is a serious mechanic and WANTS to work with me on the engines. I think he and his wife want boat rides ;) but this is cool as we hang out together and play cards already. Now, if I gould just find a source of free gasoline......

Later,

KC55

I am not in any way associated with either of these boats, but as a Kingscraft fan I was interested to see these boats advertised, one because of its price and the other because it seems to be somewhat unique.

I hope you enjoy looking at these if you have not already seen them ( I would LOVE to have the 36' it would be a blast in my opinion) here they are:

http://gulfport.craigslist.org/boa/3348923610.html

http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/boa/3368563885.html

Let me know if you have any trouble using these. It's pretty bad when I still surf craigslist for KC's even after I have bought mine. I guess I have gotten into such a habit, it is hard to break.

Good day,

KC55

That 36 is quite interesting - looks like an armoured landing craft!
and that 55...interesting. Wish there were more pictures. "Needs refurbishing" can mean a lot of things

[QUOTE=fisheatingbagel;760]That 36 is quite interesting - looks like an armoured landing craft!
and that 55...interesting. Wish there were more pictures. "Needs refurbishing" can mean a lot of things[/Q
i would be nervous if it said "needs refurbishing" and didnt show any interior photos or engine compartment.i do have to admit i like the diesels.

JT

You have a PM

Quick Post

Just got home with the 19' Ebbtide, love it. It ran out fine, easy start, a real pleasure. We will be finding out the new ETA on the Kingscraft. Hopefully by next Friday.

Long, long winter ahead

KC55

I don't see a message from you OHB.

Try again

You too KC55

Our houseboat is scheduled to be picked up late this week and delivered first of next week. It seems like months since I've seen her.

We plan on going out on the new (to us) runabout this weekend. It is supposed to get into the low 70's here. This will hopefully be the beginning of a long happy story for us. I will be winterizing it after this weekend.

I have not forgotten my promise to post the Kingscraft documents I received with our KC. I want to get a web site and do it right. Maybe I can make some progress this weekend.

OHB - thanks for the heads-up on the previously posted info.

KC55

Well... once again there is a new delay. I agreed to put off getting delivery of the Kingscraft until approx the 19th so my hauler can pickup a new trailer. He agreed to give us a slight discount for the wait. I will get it soon enough, it just seems like forever right now.

A question, how important do you think the second head (1/2 bath, toilet and sink) would be on our 55' boat? We are considering opening up the galley to the salon, and we are not sure the second head is really that useful. Main head if shower, toilet, and vanity/sink. I would really appreciate your input.

Later

we have a 2nd complete bath. we never have used it. even when someone stays over they always use the main head.then at the end of the year its something else to winterize. i guess its just a matter of preference.

You don't need it.

That is the kind of response that makes this forum great. We are leary of making changes we might regret, but when experience speaks we try to listen. My wife really wants to "open up" the forward area of the boat and I like the idea. Thanks again.

Now, another question. The main head on our 55' is Starboard, and the shower/bath is on the left as you enter the main door. The end wall of the shower blocks a great deal of the window and leaves a weird sort of unusable space to the left of the sink. My question is this- would removing the original shower/tub and replacing it with a corner shower (I think it's called a neo angle shower) be a good idea? Have any of you done this? My wife and I agree the tub doesn't seem big enough or really useful for us, we both take showers. I believe it would really open up the head and expose more of the window to the room. I would really appreciate your thoughts (and pictures would be awesome). Again, thanks for reading this and thanks for your thoughts.

I'm a tub user and we had the opposit problem on our 48. We had to fit in a small RV tub. If you don't use the tub, by all means, get rid of it.

Does your 55 have the notch accross from the galley? This makes an Ideal laundry. A stack washer and dryer and folding closet doors make this a cheap and useful use of a wasted space.

Thanks to OHB on the tub advice, We are pretty sure the 1/2 bath (head) is going away. Thanks also for the advice on the "notch", we dont really need the sleeping space and we are trying to figure that space out also. Your comments are truly valued by myself and my wife.

I talked to a bathroom guy and he suggested we build our own corner shower. This is something I can do (remodeled and tiled our main bathroom at home) and save money. All we are waiting for is our boat to get here to start measuring.

Now for the gas... we took our runabout out for the first time today. Awesome, awesome, awesome except for one thing :mad:. Gas. Even though the boat is new to us, I had asked if there were any issues. None. Well, we ran out of gas on the Ohio River. Fortunately we had been out for about 2 hours and we were back at the ramp getting ready to load (still showing just under 1/2 full). It wasn't a nightmare but I was plenty embarrassed. If anybody asks you, YOU CAN load a 19' boat by hand with no gas! It all worked and we are home safe. One thing for sure, I guess it could get worse, but I don't think it will get worse than today. In case you were wondering, we loved it. We have been waiting for months to ride in "our" boat. Today we did it. Tomorrow is sending unit, maybe another ride, and then winterizing.

We are boaters now.

Glad to hear you made it back and got the boat loaded, KC55. We have run out of gas on every boat we've owned, including the Kingscraft 40 :-)
I think it's a good (but painful) experience in getting to know your boat - how far you can go on the gas you have in the tank, how accurate the gauges are, how to get more gas, who to call, etc.

So I called my hauler today after he did not respond to a text for 3 hours. I was going to touch base and make sure he was picking up his new trailer today and on the way to pick up our 55' KC this weekend. Nope, he said he had told me it was going to be after Thanksgiving before we get the boat. After a brief and not so happy discussion I agreed to continue to let him do the job. I just want to say, if you are getting a boat hauled, don't hesitate to get a written contract beforehand. I went with a highly recommended hauler and let his good reputation make the determination for me. I still trust everything is going to work out, but this has put a sour taste in my mouth. My three grown sons will all be coming in for the holiday and the boat will not be here. I would never have agreed to this had I known the boat wasn't going to be delivered by now. It was originally supposed to be picked up no later than Nov. 1st.

I am going to just relax and think about the fact that this shouldn't cause any harm for us other than a frustrating delay. I know everybody can't always do things the way they want. My hope is in the end I will have had a good experience overall with this hauler and be able to recommend him. I just wish I had had a contract with him.

Oh well, at least I get to see all my boys together for the first time in quite a while.

I sure wish I was posting measurements, plans, questions, and getting going on our "redecorating".

I know the feeling. I had to wait 3 months to get my boat moved. The river just wouldn't cooperate.

I talked to the hauler yesterday and he is going to be in Minn. at the Marina, Monday morning to pick up the boat. We had a short civil conversation and I believe my boat will be here Wednesday (+/- 1 day). I realize I have been whining about this for a month, sorry to put you all through this. I didn't intend for this to be a chronicle of the trials and travails of my learning experience.

We are almost at the point where we can't get excited about seeing the boat until we actually see it. If that makes sense. We are still just as eager to get started on our "Winter work", hopefully we can start posting some good Kingscraft information/questions. I will post as soon as we see our "baby", "Empty Nestin' ".

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, we did. We got to see all three of our grown sons (doing well) and our extended family including my Mother( and 2 new babies of a niece and a nephew).

Good Sailing.

1. I replaced a couple of tracks on our 47 - can't remember where I got them. They were plastic - not the black fuzzy stuff. IF YOU KEEP THE DRAINS CLEAR you won't have leaks.

2. IMHO this is way to many pieces to rattle loose. Kings Crafts system of welded in place rails is hard to beat. If you have bent or missing rails I would STRONGLY suggest you bite the bullet and replace/repair as original. If you have everything precut a good welder can do a complete job in 4 to 8 hours if you help him. I assume you would like to add height to the rails on the top deck.

3. If you ae not gaining any water you can assume your tank isn't leaking. There is really no way to visually inspect the tank that I know of. There is a lot of advice on cleaning and maintaining your water tank. Peggy Hall's procedure is as good as any. We always filled the tank and used the boat system. We never hooked up directly to the hose. This kept fresh water in the tank and eleminated the possibility of sinking due to a inadvertant water leak. I know where your coming from on this but other than going through 2 or 3 flushings you don't have any other options that aren't expensive. I would suggest that IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!!!!!!

We had a Pur filter on the faucet used for drinking. HOWEVER my wife always drank bottled water. I drank the filtered tank water.

4. My buddy lengthend the platform on his 36 KC cruiser. He just added pieces that matched the design of the existing platform and welded them on. He lengthend it a foot and didn't need aditional bracing. Looked factory when he got it done. Cut the pieces and use the same welder that does your rail repair.

I am trying HARD NOT TO head up to Ohio and get into the $15K 55. That puppy has my name written all over it. I love KC's and really enjoy the refurbishing process.

Cheers.

1. I replaced the tracks in my 48 with plastic. Don't remember where I got them - think it was an RV supplier. Keeping the drains open will prevent water leaking inside.

2. Too many pieces to rattle loose. UGLY!!!! KC's welded rails can't be beat. STRONGLY suggest you replace the missing/damaged with same as original. You probably want to tallerize your upper deck railings. If you have everything cut and fit, ahead of time, a good welder should be able to do whatever in 3 to 6 hours.

3. If tank is not taking on water you don't have any leaks. (GOOD) There aren't any inspection hatches (NOT SO GOOD). Follow Peggy Hall's cleaning instructions 2 or 3 times and Install a Pur or Britta filter on the faucet you drink out of. Your then good to go. NOTE: IT AIN' T BROKE DON'T FIX IT. This was one of KC's better ideas - lots of water storage in an unusable space and adds stability to the boat.

If you get over the fear in your mind you aren't going to get sick. If you do I was wrong. :o I always drank tank water, my wife drank bottled.

Fill your tank and use the ships system 100% and you will always have good water. I was always leery about hooking up dock water to the boat because of possible leaks developing and sinking the boat.

4. My friend added a foot to his platform on his 36' KC cruiser without adding additional braces. He fabricated pieces and added them to the original. (While on the hard) Looked factory when he was done. Get every thing ready and have the welder do the job when he repairs the rails.

Note: Some Kings Crafts were equipped with bronze cased cutlass bearings. This resulted in heavy loss of metal around lower portion of strut due to electrolysis. If yours are in bad condition have your welder build them back up and replace bearings with fiberglass cased units.

Tomorrow is the day. The boat, our boat, is supposed to be here about 3:00PM. I am not holding my breath, but this is starting to get exciting. This will be the first time my wife sees the Kingscraft. I hope to take plenty of pictures. I will definitely keep you updated.

OHB- thanks again for your advice. Your experience is invaluable, I hope you do consider the 55' in Cincinnati. If I hadn't bought mine, I think I would be seriously checking that one out.

One other thing! Ta da- I finally got around to getting a place to post pictures and documentation on KC Houseboats. http://www.kingscrafthouseboats.com is the new website. It is nothing fancy, but I will be working on it. If you have any suggestions please feel free to comment. I hope you will want to contribute pictures and any information on our obsession :) More will be coming soon. I also put a link back to this forum, I hope that is okay.

Thanks for all of your comments, PM's, and interest shown.

KC

keep us posted kc. i hope it arrives so you can get to work. you'll have a great timne with it.

Well, it's 6:00PM local time and the boat is not here. He told me 3:00 and he told the Marina 4:00 or 5:00. I had to contact the hauler to get any information. Now he says it will be tomorrow morning before he can make it here. And he wants cash for the balance. I won't be recommending him to anyone in the future.

What should be an evening of enjoyment and fun is now turned into extreme frustration and worry for no good reason. I am glad I did not start my journey into the boating world dealing with this guy. I don't think I would be a boat owner if I had. I can't wait until I am done dealing with him.

wish us luck

Both of these were projects. Both are rare, the 48 has Volvo Diesels. I havent seen another of either.

Feel free to post these to your website.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...r973783/47.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...r973783/48.jpg

they both look good OHB, we found a strange one last summer @ smugglers cove in warsaw ky. i'm not sure of the year but the owner said it was a 42 foot. it was all one floor 15 wide.according to him it was a special build for a doctor at the time.

Our boat arrived today, thank goodness. It seems like forever, but I know it was just a little while. No problems to speak of, the upper steering line is pinched closed and the boat almost tipped forward off of the temporary jacks while she was being blocked, but I am happy for now. My wife got to see the boat for the first time today and she is pleased. She was impressed with how clean and nice the exterior looks. She is already going a little crazy on the possibilities for interior renovation. We have a lot of decisions on the changes we want to make and the changes we need to avoid.

One neat thing that happened today, as we were going through the boat I found a note from the former owner. I left it on the boat but it goes something like this. " Oct. 16, 2012, To the new owner, Today is a sad day. I sold my boat today. I have had her for 25 years and she has been a good boat. I hope you enjoy her. Captain XXX. River Captain" I left his name out to protect his privacy. I really felt good when I saw this, he left it inside an old notebook which I almost threw away. I know this boat meant a lot to him, what better endorsement could you ask for. He must have left the note after I drove away the last day I was in Minn. He was an actual Coast Guard certified Captain and really knew how to handle her. I hope someday I can do as well with her as I witnessed him doing.

The first thing will be building some access stairs. Then I want to get some moss cleaned off of the carpet (exterior) and get the window frames and windows cleaned and sliding smoothly. This could be a busy winter. I will be posting pictures on my website soon.

By the way, thank you OHB for the beautiful pictures. I have already posted them to the website, I hope you feel I did them justice. If you have any others I would love to post them also.

This was a great day overall, especially since I got to be with my wife on-board the "Empty Nestin' ". She makes owning a boat a lot less scary and a whole lot more fun.

Fair winds,

KC55

So Sunday I spent about 5 hours designing, cutting lumber and pre-drilling bolt holes for the stairs. We (wife and me) took everything down to the boat and spent 1 hour assembling the stairs and installing steps. They are 3 foot wide and have a handrail. They are level and plumb :) and very sturdy. All weather construction. That's out of the way and will be a big time saver. Deck of boat is approx. 7'6".

Tonight I went and talked to the Marina owner and am getting a quote on building and installing a hitch for our runabout. I will post design and pics when we get that far. He liked the idea. He also installed an outlet outside so we can have power and lights. I am buying one 30 amp outlet so we can have "shore power" while dry-docked. The Marina owner is a fantastic guy, real genuine and small town. We are lucky to have found him.

Next comes cleaning. The windows, window tracks, and indoor/outdoor carpet. Not glamorous but it will make things much nicer. Hopefully I will get this done before Friday. I want to save the weekend for whatever project my wife comes up with. I just have a feeling she will have something in mind by then :confused:

I have posted new pics at the website, I hope you will drop by and check them out. I spent about an hour in the pitch dark interior ( didn't bring extension cords and lights yet) taking a bunch of "before" pictures. I hope you like them, I am a little obsessed. http://www.kingscrafthouseboats.com

Fair winds,

KC55

Did they haul the boat with the bridge on?

OHB, the flybridge was off for transport. The hauler was supposed to fill the srew holes (for the railing) with caulk for the trip to prevent rain from getting in. He did not. It didn't rain and I covered the holes with duct tape. I want to do some cleaning around the mounting bases before I screw it back down. The steering line (copper tubing) got crimped by the hauler. I don't think it will be a big deal for me to fix it, I do work like that frequently. I may even change the line out with a rubber hose designed for that application.

He did reinstall the flybridge but I just wanted to be done dealing with him. He was very nice in person but after all the delays, the flybridge issues and the boat nearly tipping forward off of the jacks I was just fine taking care of the particulars myself.

We are going down tonight to make a few measurements on the boat. I will try to start cleaning the window tracks. Anyone with experience of ordering the aluminum tracks from Marinette and installing them, I would appreciate it if you piped in about now :D . I will take some exterior shots and post them to my webpage.

By the way, I started a blog (thanks for the idea JTAlberts) on the website. I hope anyone with interest will read and comment. I wanted to start a Journal of our experiences in Houseboating. JT would you mind if I put a link to your blog on my page? Let me know.

By the way, I just want to say again--- get your agreement in writing with the Hauler, it may be uncomfortable up-front but it will save you major worry down the road. I would suggest time limits with $$$ penalties for late or faulty performance. This may be overboard (no pun intended) but I wish I had. What do you all think?

I hope if you live somewhere warm you are on the water right now, I wish we were!

KC55

Best to not use too much hose in the steering line. you have some long runs and too much rubber makes things mushy.

Awesome news. Sorry for being MIA lately. We sold our house and are in the process of moving. We will be done this weekend. You can link my blog and I'll link yours as well.

ok jamie, my obvious question is.......did you move onto a boat ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 42gibson

ok jamie, my obvious question is.......did you move onto a boat ?

---

HAHA. Nope. I am in need of a much bigger boat to fit all of our crap!

Jamie,
I need to replace the exhaust manifolds on my 318 Chryslers. Where did you get yours? How much of a PITA was it?

Wow, I am really running into water damage. It's a good thing we wanted to redo the looks of the interior. I just wish it were a little warmer so I could more easily work on the exterior. I have decided to go back with copper lines for the steering, I can work with copper.

Hope your move went well JT, good to see you back. I'm hopeful you'll share some info on the manifolds and windows. I am really taking it on the chin with my window problems.

I will know this boat inside and out when I get done.

later

KC55

Hey guys, I just added some good stuff on the "Documentation" page of my website.
The Flu is slowing me down on "Empty Nestin' ", maybe I'll get some work done next week.

later

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ed K

Jamie,
I need to replace the exhaust manifolds on my 318 Chryslers. Where did you get yours? How much of a PITA was it?

---

Actually it wasn't too bad. I purchased them from hurrikain marine. The most difficult part was the main bolts wanted to snap off. We also ran into issues with the backing plates being rusted through. If I was doing it again, I would buy brand new blocking plates with the manifolds.

I can't be much help with the window tracks as mine are stil original. Do you know where the leaks are coming from? One thing I did notice is the if they aren't clean they will leak.

JT

I know the water is coming in from the cracked, broken, and (recently found) missing section of window track. I am exploring other options right now but am going to have to do something quick. It looks like new tracks from Marinette. I have heard good things about them from A Boat Reborn I was just trying to find a less expensive route.

Thanks for the info on the manifolds.