1978 Ranger

[Whovian]

Good afternoon, longtime reader, first time poster. Looking for any info available on the new to me 1978 Old Town Ranger I just picked up. Serial number: 221164 and hull ID: xtc21164m78j.
The hull is in great shape and few scratches I might round over with gflex, but was stored outside so the outwales took the brunt of the damage, a bit on the decks as well. Original outwales mahogany and inwales / decks ash?

Thanks!

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome and congratulations, the Old Town canoe with serial number 221164 is a 17 foot long, Chipewyan Ranger model with wood rails and cane seats. It was built in April, 1978. The original exterior vinyl color was green. It shipped on May 2nd, 1978 to Boston, Massachusetts. It was purchased on May 5th, 1978 and moved to Waban in Newton, Massachusetts. Scans showing both sides of this build record can be found below.

These scans 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 http://www.woodencanoe.org/membership to join.

It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match the canoe. Page eight of the 1978 catalog at https://www.woodencanoe.org/_files/ugd/537308_c90d9b8b9d22439aba78b75be0163b6a.pdf has more details. It says "outer gunwales are of handcut mahogany; inner gunwales of spruce; decks, thwarts, and seats are of native hardwoods" which could be ash. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions. Good luck with the project,

Benson