Welcome to the WCHA.
The Old Town canoe with serial number 173988 is a 167foot long Otca model with narrow planking (2 ¾” wide) equipped with a keel and a full-length bang plate along the keel, and 2 painter rings. It was built between June and July 1964. The original exterior paint color was dark green . It was shipped to Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 2, 1964. A scan of this build record can be found by following the link behind the thumbnail image attached below.
Click image for larger version.
This scan and several hundred thousand others 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/ot_records/ if you want more details. I hope that you will join or renew your membership to the WCHA so that services like this can continue. See
http://www.wcha.org/about-the-wcha/ to learn more about the WCHA and
http://store.wcha.org/WCHA-New-Membership.html to join.
It is also possible that you could have another number or manufacturer if this description doesn't match your canoe. Feel free to reply here if you have any other questions.
In addition to asking questions here, there are three good sources of information about canoe restoration that you would do well to get, or at least look at before making any decision about how to repair or restore your canoe, -- "The Wood and Canvas Canoe: A Complete Guide to its History, Construction, Restoration, and Maintenance" by Rollin Thurlow and Jerry Stelmok, and/or "Building the Maine Guide Canoe" by Jerry Stelmok.
You might also want to look at "The Old Town Canoe Company" by Susan Audette and David Baker, a great history of the Old Town company and its canoes. These are available from the WCHA store, are often on eBay, or from Amazon.
The first is often called the "bible" of canoe repair, restoration, and maintenance; the second is an excellent study of the wooden/canvas canoe and its construction, and the third is a great history of the company and its canoes. These are available from the WCHA store, are often on eBay, or from Amazon.
Sue Audette also sells her book directly (
http://www.thebaglady.tv/ ).
I am not aware of any kits for dealilng with canvas and paint repair. If you post a few pictures here showing the areas of the paint and canvas that you are concerned about, you will likely get some specific advice about how to proceed (although a response may be a bit delayed -- the WCHA Assembly is this week -- I am packed and ready to leave tomorrow).
For a discussion of determining the value of a canoe, see the post at:
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.ph...en-canoe-worth
See also:
http://wcha.org/legacypages/catalogs/old-town/guide/
Greg Nolan
President, WCHA
