TOPIC: new to board (1960 Norris Craft)

Hey folks, I'm Daniel from Alabama. I have just acquired a 1960 Norris Craft with 1964 Johnson Super Seahorse 40 that has been sitting out for a good while. Initial inspection to me looks structurally sound just needing a good cleaning and some renovating. Does anyone know where to find information on this model of boat? I've searched the net and am getting very few hits on the searches. I look forward to sharing my journey on this project as it goes along. I have two kids so the amount of time I'll get to work on it will be spread out but I hope to run her on Smith Lake in the spring/summer of 16.

Thanks,
Daniel

I had a 58 Norris Craft. Good luck on finding any info. It was a low-volume boat. I had to piece together paint schemes and other stuff off of old pics I found scattered around the internet. Good boats and solid hulls!

Here are some photos of a nice-looking '57 Norris Craft that was on E-Bay way back in 2007:

Nice! Do you remember what it went for?

Oh, and here was mine.

Thank y'all. Those pics are helpful and they look sharp. I do wonder, how frowned upon is it to modify the restoration of old boats? For example not alter the structure but add different seating maybe extra components, etc. My thoughts were since I couldn't find much on the net about these boat to just wing it on the interior. Not sure if that is a good idea or not? This is my first restoration project for a boat.

What it comes down to is this: It's your boat. Who cares what others may frown upon? As long as it is tasteful, functional and thought out, but most important ---> makes you happy, then you have a winner.

DanielB1982,

WELCOME ABOARD. - NICE boat, too.

yours, satx

So I went to the tag office here in town to check on the registration. I did find out that it is a 1964 rather than a 1960 according to the past registrations in the AL system. Not sure this matters to me, really, but it's good to know.

For those of you that know much about these Norris Crafts, how much wood is in them. The transom feels like it's solid as a rock. Surely this is not the case for a 50 year old boat. Especially since it sat out for what looks to be a long time.

I guess essentially the question is what do any of you guys know about these hulls?

Thanks,
Daniel

DanielB1982,

SORRY to tell you this BUT unless VA's PWD is much better at keeping records (VA isn't, in my experience - I was stationed in VA for over 15 of 30 years in the USA.) than Texas PWD is, your nice boat is as likely to be ANY year from 1955-70, as it is to be a 1964.
(In both places the "record-keepers" asked the current owner what they were registering, when the States started titling boats/outboards/trailers & most often the owner didn't know or care if the information was accurate or not.)

yours, satx

Satx,
You may have me confused with Norris58 as it looks as if his pic had a VA registered boat (I only wish mine looked as good as his picture). I'm in Alabama. Either way the registration year isn't that important to me, but rather how much wood I need to look for that could be rotten. Any idea?

Thanks,
Daniel

DanielB1982,

Pardon my confusion. Otoh, I suspect that AL's records don't have any less obvious errors of fact than TX, VA or any number of other State's records do.
(PWD & DMV records on boat/trailers/OB are mostly about $$$$$$$$, rather than historical facts.)


yours, satx

Daniel,

From the looks of things, the company went out of business recently.

Here's their contact info. Worth a try:


Norris Craft Boat Company Inc
200 Memorial Lane
Jacksboro, TN 37757
Phone: (423) 562-7629
Web: www.norriscraftboats.com (no longer valid site)