Re: Starcraft 16 SS, should I or not?
I would be very leery of any aluminum boat that was hit by a car. I had one here that was a freebie last spring, it had taken a hit to the forward port bow, sort of a glancing hit that really didn't look too bad. The boat was a 16' Lowe V hull with an open interior. The side damage began about 40" back from the bow eye, and went back about 8' total. The side of the boat was pushed in about 8" at the worst spot. The bottom showed no obvious signs of damage.
The owner brought it to me to swap over his electronics, rod holders, and motor, plus place the new boat on the old trailer after fixing some minor damage on the trailer as well.
After setting up his new boat, I set the old one on two sets of blocks upside down out back. The first thing I noticed was how out of square the entire hull was. The top rail surface of the boat was no longer flat, the boat rocked sitting on 4 evenly spaced wood blocks sitting on level concrete. The transom had a twist to it, although minor, it was off about 1/4" side to side, corner to corner. The worst damage was the dents caused by the opposite side trailer bunks, which had indented the hull slightly, more at the front than at the stern. The bow eye was also pulled through the hull partway, thus deforming the keel both inside and out. The accident also shattered the livewell drains beneath the floor which were made of PVC. The drivers seat was pulled out of the aluminum, and the casting pedestal which was lying in boat when it got hit, poked a hole in the side of the console, which was now leaning towards the left about an inch.
The boat was hit by a small car, a guy had made a wide turn and not seen the trailer sitting at the light. The boat probably would have been usable as it was, although ugly, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some leaks from panels being bent, as well as it maybe favoring either left of right, or maybe nothing, but the boat go listed on eBay and was sold for $207, (not by me). I'm sure someone pounded it back into shape and resold it, but after seeing what can happen to a boat in an accident, I'll pass on any that have this sort of damage. Metal stretches and twists when it bends, there will no doubt be damage all over that boat. I saw a Starcraft Holiday that got hit while sitting on a roller trailer, a guy backed into it at the boat ramp one day, it appeared to have no damage at all since the guy was driving a van and hit the rub rail area, but after looking closer, the boat had been dented at nearly every point where the rollers contacted the hull, plus two rollers were cracked. The trailer was brand new. The guy had come down to the ramp to set up his boat on that trailer.
If you decide to get that boat, take many measurements and learn how to buck rivets on a piece of scrap before doing any on the boat. The worst seam to deal with is the transom as that seam had sealer in it when new. While I'm sure 5200 would work the same, its still a matter of getting that area perfect to end up with a straight running hull.
On another note, if you are after an SS, and you can get that boat for cheap, it may end up being a good source of parts to redo a good used boat. It would no doubt be cheaper than buying all those parts new.
