Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 162318 is a 16 foot long, CS (Common Sense or middle) grade, Yankee model with a keel. It was built between August and October, 1954. The original exterior paint color was Princeton orange. It shipped on October 29th, 1954 to West Swanzey, New Hampshire. A scan of this build record can be found below.
This scan and several hundred thousand more were created with substantial grants from the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association (WCHA) and others. A description of the project to preserve these records is available at http://www.wcha.org/catalogs/old-town/records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will donate, join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See https://www.woodencanoe.org/about to learn more about the WCHA and https://www.woodencanoe.org/shop to donate or join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the project,
Keels were commonly a hard wood like oak or ash. Many of the builders listed at the first link below can supply them. The other two links are the suppliers most frequently mentioned for keels and gunwales.
Whether you're looking to have a canoe restored, or to find the products or information to restore it yourself, you'll find what you need in our Builders and Suppliers listing.
Island Falls Canoe - Maine made custom built canoes, canoe restoration, canoe repair, and canoe building classes. We also carry Old Town Wood Canoe parts and materials and we perform repairs on wooden Old Town Canoes.
Rollin Thurlow's Northwoods Canoe Company constructs, repairs and restores wooden and canvas canoes, offers wood canoe building classes, cedar and plywoodstrip plans, paddle kits, books, videos, and canoe building materials.