1973 starcraft ss restore in progress

[crankbait cowboy]

1 coat of self etch, and 2 of color, hoping to get er all put together this weekend . my thought is there will not be much chrome on this boat, as i am thinking black lights/cleats/ and windshield frame

 

[Decker83]

Those panels look great..

 

[BWR1953]

so far so good! next is to get to work on trim pieces

Very cool looking! Might have to consider something like that myself. :encouragement:

 

[crankbait cowboy]

thanks for the kind words fellas, couple shots of the finished product, and i am real happy with the way they turned out, and durability is yet to be seen, but they look nice stored in the closet for now. time to move on to the consoles themselves, and i am gonna play a little bit with hammered black paint and see if i like that. ( a change i made to that switch panel on the right was to cut off the individual inline fuses it came with and added some length to wires, as i plan to have a fuse panel under the console somewhere)

 

[crankbait cowboy]

id like to find a small "starcraft ss" decal in white to put in the middle on flat part of that glove box, any ideas or suggestions as to where to look?

 

[budski]

What is the height and width of the area you want to put it in, I have one starcraft decal that might work for you, not white but ultra metallic silver, 1 inch X 51/4, you're welcome to it, if it fits. also your dashes came out great.

 

[Decker83]

The dash is outstanding.. I bet you can't wait to get them mounted in the boat..:whoo:

 

[Watermann]

What's your plan for attaching the dash panels to the consoles?

Do the switches in the switch cluster have spade connectors on the back of them? If so it would be better to just add new female spades to the ends of the proper length of wire rather than butt splice in the wire creating 2 more connections.

 

[crankbait cowboy]

Thanks for the offer bud, but I think I will find something white ( if not I will let ya know) h20 , the consoles have a lip with screw holes in it , that I will use stainless screws from the backside thru lip into back of dash. As far as the female spades, I hear ya, but, the switch has a double wire spade connector, which I could not get in town Saturday , so I went with the butt connectors ( looks to me like , 1 fuse line runs 2 switches, thus the double spade connectors)

 

[crankbait cowboy]

looking for some advice. thinking my nautolux vinyl on top of console and possibly in side store and wondering if any of you all could give advise on what adhesive to use on nautolex to aluminum for a good strong bond. thanks

 

[MNhunter1]

I used contact cement under heavy pressure in warmer temps on the dash tray of my Nova with good results. My most recent experience with contact cement on my SS gunnels in cooler temps without a lot of pressure wasn't as impressive. Anyone ever try carpet glue? I think either way, you'll want some sort of mechanical bond for the edges, such as aluminum angle or the like. I'd tend to believe it will eventually curl over time at any exposed edge.

 

[crankbait cowboy]

how about nautalex vinyl flooring , adhesive to use? and also carpet to wood? lets here some feedback on you all product of choice and thanks!

 

[MNhunter1]

I've had good luck with the 3M 80 adhesive for the Nautolux to wood flooring and exterior carpet glue for the carpet to wood.

 

[CeeJ1791]

Your dash looks outstanding! I want to do something similar to my '16 SS. What size and thickness did you get for the carbon fiber sheet?

 

[crankbait cowboy]

Ceej, not sure thickness of carbon fiber, i do know that my plywood / lexan / 3 coats of epoxy and fiber all fit nice and snug in the aluminum frame that goes around it all. i think ya gotta get your carbon fiber and lexan and then use appropriate wood to make a nice fit in aluminum trim, and if i did it again i may have went with thinner wood and thicker lexan . but the key is getting it all in the trim when you mock it up before cutting and such.

 

[CeeJ1791]

i think ya gotta get your carbon fiber and lexan and then use appropriate wood to make a nice fit in aluminum trim

Where did you get the aluminum trim? Did you have it custom made? The trim I took off my old dash is worse for the wear and pretty much isn't salvageable. My old dash must have been original as it's completely rotted out.

 

[CeeJ1791]

couple shots of the finished product.

Did you use anything to affix the lexan sheet on top of the carbon fiber or just use the aluminum framing to hold it all together?

 

[crankbait cowboy]

Cant help ya with the trim, as mine was good, and i used nothing to affix lexan ( just sandwiched in trim, and the gauges and switch panel screwed down tight help hold it all together.

 

[M2HB]

Those dash panels look awesome.
You certainly can be proud of those.

 

[crankbait cowboy]

thanks M2HB, i have started working on my consoles and step 1 was to fill holes from po. i affixed a sheet of aluminum behind hole with jb weld, and then used Evercoat metal to metal body filler, and sanded down. i liked the way it adhered and sanded