Vintage Race Boat Shop

  We maintain vintage wooden boats.

Hakuna Matata

1956 Philbrick Custom Utility

Owner - Kevin McCusker

On September 27, 2004, this very unique, 1956 Philbrick was brought into the shop for some rudder/steering repairs, and also some prep work for the Wolfeboro Car & Boat Rendezvous. Please take a moment to look at the photos below, that show the unique and beautiful lines of this 1950's California boat. Hey - check out the steering wheel and dash board ???!!! 

The owner, Kevin McCusker, was concerned with the steering, which was getting worse and worse, and loosing the ability to turn to the left. So we brought the boat into the shop, removed the fuel tank and floor boards to expose the steering setup, and found several issues with the steering and rudder assembly.

We had to first disassemble the rudder assembly and fix the slop/looseness in the keyway and rudder quadrant. After the rudder assembly was fixed and reinstalled, we also found that several guide blocks for the steering rod were worn or completely missing. So we had to fabricate and install the missing guide blocks, and adjust/tighten the loose guide blocks.

By tightening the rudder assembly and replacing the guide blocks for the steering rod, most of the slop in the steering assembly was removed, and we now had full rudder movement to the port and starboard. But there was still way too much play in the steering box, so after the boat show, we pulled the boat back into the shop and removed/repaired the steering box.

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