I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

[ifloat]

Wow am I happy to find this forum. I hope you guys can give me some advice on how to go about getting her ship shape again. There is a lot of work to be done. Only bummer is, I live in a condo and won't be able to store it and work on it myself. Gonna have to pay for most if not all of the resto.

Background- My grampa always had a boat. He had 3 sons. They all have had at least 25 boats themselves. This boat was my grampa's last boat he had. He had one heart attack prior so this was a small boat he could still handle by himself to get out on the water. He kept all of his stuff in mint condition and when he passed the boat was as new. My grandmother gave the boat to one of my brothers since he lived by the water and had a young family. This was in 1998. Without venting too much, my brother used the boat for some years and then it got neglected in his side yard. It has been basically sitting there for 2 years or so without moving. It sat under a tree, with a ripped up cover laying in it getting rained on and having leaves fill it up. It has a nest of carpenter ants in the wood somewhere.

My brother gave me the boat which was nice of him as I'm sure he could have gotten something for it but he feels bad about it. His family grew to 6 and the boat wasn't of use anymore and he didn't have the time or the money to fix it.

It's a 1988 Starcraft superfisherman 16 with a yamaha 30 on the back. My brother said the motor ran great last time he used it, and he ran all the fuel out and drained the gas tank. That's the good part. Bad part is, floors are toast, seats are toast, dunno what else is toast. Steering is locked up, and it seems to be the shaft that goes into the housing on the actual bracket that connects to the transom. It does have a pretty nice shorelander trailer with rollers. Need to replace the trailer jack and wheel bearings asap. Anyway, any advice is appreciated. Even a recommendation of order to do things...like check out motor and steering and electrical first, then do the interior stuff last. I would love to get the outside painted as well as it's pretty roached. Future plans would be to keep an eye out for an upgrade motor as 30 hp is on the low end for this hull.

Thanks for any input!

steering shaft locked up

transom/bilge/ugghh

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

few more

front area isn't bad but probably needs to come up anyway to check for rot.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Welcome to iboats....... Welcome to the STarcraft Club

That is the Supersport hull...... re-badged as the Superfisherman.

Looks great and in nice shape..... my only concern is the motor. That hull is rated for an 85 HP and rule of thumb..... you should have at least 70% of the hulls rated power for proper performance.

All of the current SS owners will notice subtle changes..... the Pax console, the casting deck, the knee braces...... take a look around and you will see you are in good company here

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

1. disconnect the motor steering arm, its the one with the curved end connected to the motor and see if the motor swings side to side. 2. clean the boat out the seats do not look to bad and other than the floor a lot of clutter. 3. check wireing for bare wires this done connect power to it after you take the plugs out and trun the motor by hand. Then reassemble hook up the gas and try to start it. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WATER TO THE MOTOR never run one without as the pump impeller will be toast. 4. The steering arm is most likley bound in the tilt tupe and will need a lot of penrtrating oil to free it. You might use a socked on the outside end and tap it from time to time to try and free it. I have a 16 supersport that I am about half wat thru a total restro, It war really in bad shape. Your boat looks fine till after season to repaint a little polish will do wonders. Have fun and if you do not know boats well, as a neighbor to look at it with you.

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

@Bob VT - Thanks for the welcome! I found the forums last night and I was soo happy to see all the threads on Starcrafts! I did a lot of reading, and did notice that the Supersports were the exact same design. It is really exciting to see all the love for these Starcrafts, because it encourages me more that what I am going to do with this boat is well worth it, and that I wanna keep this boat for a very long time! It is a very special boat to me as I was very very close to my Gramps and many of my memories with him were in boats. He died shortly after he got this boat, I got to go out on it with him one time. I also have a picture of him standing in front of the boat right after he got it, and he is grinning from ear to ear. My grandma was putting the kebash on him with buying boats as he got older, and I believe he went and scooped this one without approval.

As for the engine, I would love to repower it with something bigger and that will happen, but I will make this work maybe for a while. My brother pulled me on a surfboard behind this boat with his wife and kid in it, and I'm 200 lbs, so surprisingly it does OK. I'm single and probably a lot of times it will be just me going out for a ride, so it will do. The thought of getting a 70 on it is veeeery exciting though!

@ Pugetsound - in the pic of the steering you can see the tab the steering connects to the outboard is disconnected, so motor goes side to side freely. I will try to use some penetrating oil to get in there and free it up from within the housing shaft though. Also, I grew up on boats since my dad has had probably 40 himself, so I do know the main points. Definitely won't try to turn the motor without having water to it. What year is your supersport? I love these little boats! These ones I'm seeing from the 70's are so cool!

I think I am becoming a new Starcraft disciple!

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

My Supersport is a 1978 and has a good running 50 Johnson. This boat was really in bad shape. Looked fairly good when I bought it off Craigslist for 8oo and drove 360 mile into Oregon to get it . I had to buy portable lights and put tires on the trailer and grease the bearings, and the steering and tilt assenbly had to be removed with a saws all. I also have a very nice 1975 Holiday 22 ft. with a 200 Johnson O/B I drove 380 miles to ger it three summers ago and other than add some things it has been perfect never a problem . Every thing solid and very FAST which is nice on the Pacific Ocean if the weather looks bad. Only run about 24 28 mph but it will do 50 on flat water. You will enjoy your project. I got real leary a time or two but now can see the rewards of a lot of labor . And a lot less Starbucks. LOL Good luck Oh you might remove the motor take the nuts off of the tilt tube and remove the cable and tub all at once then you can work on it off the boat. You would have to remove the cable from the Helm to do this but probably will have to sooner or later Might be a good idea to find another tilt tube to have on hane. This can be done on the boat but is real tricky.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Welcome to the club man! Love your rig, awesome that you got it from gramps and you have that memory!

Cheers!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Welcome to the club! That's a real nice boat and in the grand scheme of things...is actually in pretty good shape. You need plywood, carpet, and seats! Check out my SS thread, Huron Angler's SS thread, any any number of others for a better idea of how these things go together. That 30 will push you around ok but as mentioned you'll someday want to repower. In my opinion, for a 16' SS the ideal motor is one of the larger 3 cyl. A Johnson/Evinrude 70 or 75 would be great or a Yamaha 3 cyl 90 would be sweet.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Nice rig...welcome to the Starcraft fleet

Very cool of you to want to fix up Grandpa's boat like this

Well worth the time and effort and you will be making some new memories on the rig before you know it

Feel free to ask questions along the way, none of us are doing this work alone, the forum helps out an awful lot!

BTW what is the length(sometimes the 16 is actually 16 foot 6 inches) and HP rating?

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Thanks guys I am more encouraged today than I was when I was first digging in to it. I was really worried about the pour in foam stuff...but I have done some core sampling in different areas and it seems firm and dry really. I can't go all out North Beach style and take it down to nothing and rebuild it again, I don't have the facilities and I already owe enough on my credit cards . I have to do the best possible with keeping a realistic budget on the boat.

A forum member by the name of Fireman431 is local to me and he came by and gave me some great advice and leads for who to call for some things the boat needs. There doesn't seem to be any of the nasty corrosion stuff under the foam on the aluminum, which I was really happy to see. I'm gonna have the engine looked at this week and make sure that is all up and running before I do the floors and seats etc.

As for the length exactly I don't know if it is 16'6 or what...can't find original specs on it. The max hp rating is 90, so I am keeping my eyes peeled for a 3 cyl 70 or 90 I can find. I figure this motor will be worth something and I can cover the difference for the upgrade. Definitely looking for something with trim and tilt also as it doesn't have that now. Hopefully I can be enjoying the boat within 60 days or so.

 

[Drews29]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Welcome to iboats....... Welcome to the STarcraft Club

That is the Supersport hull...... re-badged as the Superfisherman.

Looks great and in nice shape..... my only concern is the motor. That hull is rated for an 85 HP and rule of thumb..... you should have at least 70% of the hulls rated power for proper performance.

All of the current SS owners will notice subtle changes..... the Pax console, the casting deck, the knee braces...... take a look around and you will see you are in good company here

I used to run a 18' holiday with a 70hp (rated for 140hp) ran awesome with a 70hp. Crazy fast with a 140hp (my Dad ran it with a 140 before he gave the boat to me less the engine).

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Hey guys anyone know what length steering cable this boat would take? Is it just 16'? Any teleflex cable would work? I have the boat at a shop right now and the steering is froze up I guess and he is saying I need a new tilt tube (which the steering cable runs through on the motor brack) and a new steering cable...so I am gonna try and see if I can locate the parts for a bit cheaper than what I am being proposed.

Any info on changing out the tilt tube and cable on a little yamaha like that? Is it a tough job or something someone who is fairly mechanically inclined could do?

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

I suggested earlier to look for a tilt tube. I have done two that were frozen. if the motor is off the boat no problem providing you can force the old tube out. Have a new one on hand or a piece of 1/2 half inch Iron pipe. drive the old tube out and then clean the holes out real well also the grease fittings so they supply gerase to the tube. When this is done take the new tube and a rubber hammer or mallat and feetdthe tube back where it belongs, make sure the threads are not damaged is why you use a wood or rubber mallet. the threads are on some motors longer on one end than the other so when you remove the old one take a photo of it as you remove it and as you go akong as then there is no question as to where things go. You will have to align the tilt bracket to the holes so you might want someone to help you. I have no help and find id a little les progessice than with help.

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

I suggested earlier to look for a tilt tube. I have done two that were frozen. if the motor is off the boat no problem providing you can force the old tube out. Have a new one on hand or a piece of 1/2 half inch Iron pipe. drive the old tube out and then clean the holes out real well also the grease fittings so they supply gerase to the tube. When this is done take the new tube and a rubber hammer or mallat and feetdthe tube back where it belongs, make sure the threads are not damaged is why you use a wood or rubber mallet. the threads are on some motors longer on one end than the other so when you remove the old one take a photo of it as you remove it and as you go akong as then there is no question as to where things go. You will have to align the tilt bracket to the holes so you might want someone to help you. I have no help and find id a little les progessice than with help.

You did mention that but I wasn't quite with ya yet...now I get it . Thanks for the suggestions you know of sources for the tilt tube? I don't know what other models used the same size or if it is specific...I doubt that though.

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

The tilt tubes come in all sizes (diamiter ) and length. Length depends on the engine size as the bigger the longer tube. Try ebay -boats accessories and specify tilt tubes Yamaha. If you try to move the cable first, do not loosen it yet Get a hand propane torch and heat the sdie by the tube for a while. Then use a larger size socket on the end of the tube where the steering hooks up. With the unit warm try rapping it a few times and see if it moves. Sometimes this works. The last tube I just bought from Evinrude was $65.00 plus shipping. righrt at 72 total the price I have paid on ebay was about half that. I have a merc tube and a Johnson tube but sorry they might not fit the Yamaha. I took the last one out of my 50 johnson last week with a saws all in 4 pieces then had to rework the assembly to get it to work. I could not get the old tilt tube to move from the engine but thats unusual. They mostly come out with a little work. Oh go on linr to Yamaha outboards and you should find a site that will help you.

 

[lakelover]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Fantastic looking hull, looks like with a little work you'll have an amazing boat. Compared to a lot of the starters we have around here, it's really in great shape, a good place to start from. Trailer looks nice too.

 

[Pugetsound]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Most boat supply firms will show you what to order for a cable. Measure the one on the boat if the helm is good and it turns free only get the cable.

 

[ifloat]

Re: I inherited my Grampa's old boat. 88 Starcraft SFM 16 (pics)

Gettin the mechanical stuff done this week...I can't go full resto on this one I want to fix her up and make it functional and useable and not go broke. This way I can use her for what it was meant to do for some years, and maybe do the full tilt resto in another ten years or so. Hope to be in the water in another 30 days...maybe