1966 Starcraft Holiday Engine Repower

[66Holiday924]

Like most of these older boats, I have a lot of unwanted holes on my dash and gunnels. I'm thinking about patching them and then putting down Nautolex. I'm basically considering doing white Nautolex over the dash, and on the gunnels from the windshield back. Do you think Nautolex will hold up for that application?

 

[Watermann]

Nautolex is made for people to walk on so it will hold up just fine.

The only location where it suffers is on an unprotected edge or corner where a foot applies a huge amount of force and abrasion sliding over it. I noticed the Nautolex in my SS along the back deck edge was being chewed up due to a fishing buddy that is extremely uncaring for anything that isn't his. All I did was buy an AL threshold piece from Home Dept and cut it to fit to cap that edge, problem solved.

 

[66Holiday924]

Day 34:

Monday I installed my fuse block cables and tested everything I could without the engine installed. Aside from having my pull switches wired backwards everything worked great. I never did anything like this and I managed to wire the whole boat with no problems. I ended up with a total of 43.5 feet of number 2 cable. It weighed about 10 lbs in the package. So, I've observed all the ABYC color coding and wire protection. I used 16 gauge wiring (as recommended) under the dash, and placed my fuse within 7 inches of the battery switch. I currently draw up to 29 Amps but it's designed to handle up to 53 Amps, so, I can safely add up to more 24 Amps worth of electronics to my fuse block with no problem. I think it's definitely excessive, but it's safe and it will make adding future electronics much easier. From here the boat is ready to go to Wisconsin and have the Powerplant installed. I had the bearings packed on the trailer and I'm taking it at the beginning of October. Sorry no pictures this weekend, forgot my camera. I will take a few before it goes to Wisconsin though.

 

[66Holiday924]

I think this boat runs. This is a killer deal if it does. I would almost buy it for extra parts like the windshield, part it out, sell the hull as scrap and probably end up making money on it.

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/boa/d/foot-starcraft-holiday-110hp/6690791743.html

 

[SHSU]

I think this boat runs. This is a killer deal if it does. I would almost buy it for extra parts like the windshield, part it out, sell the hull as scrap and probably end up making money on it.

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/boa/d/foot-starcraft-holiday-110hp/6690791743.html

You buy it? Link now shows it was deleted by poster

 

[66Holiday924]

No, but I called and talked to the guy about it. I wanted to see what he had as far as canvas. He had five people talking to him about the boat and he said all five of them described themselves as restorers from the internet. One of the guys was from Louisiana.

It was a nice boat. It was a 65 Holiday. Floor was just rebuilt with 3/4" Plywood. It had a 9.9 Horse Kicker Motor on it. He upgraded it to a 20 gallon tank. The Hull looked good and the trailer looked decent. It had an issue with the fuel supply but he could tell you exactly what was wrong with it. He caused the damage and couldn't fix it due to health problems. He sounded like he was in bad shape on the phone. He had to pause between sentences to get his breath. For $600 obo somebody got a steal on that one.

 

[66Holiday924]

Fishing for tips. :fish2:

I've been going through Coast Guard Literature regarding required equipment and I've been doing a lot of thinking about ventilation. Originally, I believe these old Starcrafts had natural ventilation, with no mechanical ventilation installed.

Somebody set my boat up with mechanical ventilation. It had a blower installed with the output being the cowl vent on the transom cap. My boat also has the cowl on the bow to allow for natural ventilation, except I believe the exit vent is the cowl that the blower is hooked up to. There is no escape vent for the natural ventilation. So, I'm thinking to do it right, I need to install a means for the natural ventilation to escape adequately. I think the easiest solution (without hacking up my aluminum) will be to install a vent in an inconspicuous location, on my engine cover. What have other people done? Anybody see any reason why putting the vent on the doghouse will hurt anything?

 

[mickyryan]

when blower is off natural ventilation occurs through that port just fine

 

[Watermann]

The bow vent has nothing to do at all with the blower vent at the stern and they did have active ventilation back in the day. The bow vent is there to fill a hole on the Holiday as it was the same bow cover as in the cabin boats like my Chief.

My Chief had a center vent with 2 holes on either side that were fuel fillers for 2 tanks in the stern. I replaced the fillers with SS louvered vents.

Here is a look at the before pic of my Chief's stern.

 

[66Holiday924]

I don't know if it's the original set-up but on my boat I have two cowls:

One is on the bow. That cowl connects to a vent hose that runs under the deck and appears to terminate somewhere in the bilge. I believe that cowl's purpose is to supply natural fresh air ventilation to the bilge and engine compartment while underway.

The other cowl is on my transom cap in the same location that you have on the chief. That cowl was connected to the blower via ventilation hose.

Those are the only two vents on my boat. My problem is that I don't see an escape to allow for good air flow when the boat is underway and ventilating naturally. The air can come in through the bow, but with the other cowl obstructed (connected to the blower) I don't see how it can escape/circulate.

My donor boat (1992 Thompson) had side louvers that were set up to allow natural ventilation to occur. It was set up in a manner that allowed for natural air to escape through a designated louver and it had a vent for the blower to exhaust through. My boat doesn't have that and according to Coast Guard literature blowers weren't required on boats until 1980. So, that's why I think my boat might have been built with natural ventilation only, via the two cowls and somebody added a blower at some point, which is fine, I want a blower, but in doing so used the cowl that was meant as the escape for the natural ventilation system, obstructing it.

 

[66Holiday924]

The natural ventilation system on my boat is set-up exactly as this graphic from the Coast Guard literature shows. With the exception that the aft cowl is obstructed because my blower hose is connected to it. It's the only aft vent I have. That's why I'm thinking I have to add an aft vent somewhere. Engine cover?

 

[Watermann]

I believe you have the wrong idea about an active IO ventilation setup. So fuel vapor is heavier than air and will sink to the lowest point in the bilge. The blower is used to evacuate the vapor prior to starting and while moving at low speeds. The blower blows out, extracting the vapor not in to mix it with fresh air. You want the fresh air to be drawn in from above where the vapor would collect, no IO motor is ever going to be in an air tight enclosure. I added the vents to cover the holes mainly but they will also be a way for fresh air to enter.

The picture you posted above is for passive ventilation of an inboard not the standard IO system of using active ventilation. The passive system does nothing to expel the vapor from the bilge prior to starting.

 

[GA_Boater]

How is the venting blocked by the blower? Bilge blowers aren't exactly airtight and every venting system relies on the vent with inline blower to exhaust fumes while underway with the blower turned off.

You may be overthinking this.

 

[havoc_squad]

So, that's why I think my boat might have been built with natural ventilation only, via the two cowls and somebody added a blower at some point, which is fine, I want a blower, but in doing so used the cowl that was meant as the escape for the natural ventilation system, obstructing it.

As what GA Boater and 66Holiday are pointing to, the number of vents on the boat is enough. You don't need more vents if the following is true:

1. It is properly ventilating the bilge when at on plane speed. (No blower running needed)
2. It is ventilating it properly when at slow speed or starting (Blower running)

You have a simple 1 intake vent on the bow and one exhaust vent on the stern with the blower properly attached to the stern exhaust vent. That is what you need. The exhaust vent is not obstructed by blower motor when the boat is at speed, the air will escape just fine through the fan.

What you want to make sure is the intake vent air is being routed near the bottom of the bilge in the engine compartment and that the exhaust vent hose attached to the blower is also near the bottom of the bilge.

What I would be more concerned about now is exposed wire that could cause sparks on any old wiring. That and staying far away from any non-marine rated ignition/charging components or non-marine rated fuel pumps.

 

[66Holiday924]

My blower motor is attached to the aft cowl via ventilation hose. It has about 2' of hose going up the transom makes a 90 degree turn and has another foot or two, and it is connected to the cowl.

So while under way, for the natural ventilation to work the air comes in through the bow, has to pass through about two feet of hose on the intake side of the blower, through the blower motor, through 2' of hose up the transom, and another 90 degree going to the aft cowl. It's not going to happen, It's not going to ventilate properly like that.

This is a very specific Coast Guard requirement (there's not many of them really) and where I use my boat, on Lake Erie, it will be launched and retrieved right in front of a Coast Guard headquarters. There's no doubt in my mind, they will inspect me.

The Coast Guard requires my boat to have natural ventilation. Boats built after 1980 have to have both natural and mechanical ventilation.

 

[mickyryan]

My blower motor is attached to the aft cowl via ventilation hose. It has about 2' of hose going up the transom makes a 90 degree turn and has another foot or two, and it is connected to the cowl.

So while under way, for the natural ventilation to work the air comes in through the bow, has to pass through about two feet of hose on the intake side of the blower, through the blower motor, through 2' of hose up the transom, and another 90 degree going to the aft cowl. It's not going to happen, It's not going to ventilate properly like that.

This is a very specific Coast Guard requirement (there's not many of them really) and where I use my boat, on Lake Erie, it will be launched and retrieved right in front of a Coast Guard headquarters. There's no doubt in my mind, they will inspect me.

hmm and yet every other boat that has blowers do ventilate exactly like that once underway you turn blower off and air finds its path in and out, the engine sucks a ton of air as well about 400 to 600 cfm depending and most blowers only do about 120 to 250 so id say after you are moving you are good end ventilated, also remember you are only concerned with the lower bilge area where gas fumes puddle because of weight . if that area is stirred up you are good to go

 

[mickyryan]

also i don't know for sure but the pic you are posting is totally wrong for your boat it isn't a inboard its a inboard outboard with engine against transom correct? if so you should have a hose going to the bilge and one from bilge as per coast guard rules and just high enough they stay out of water .

 

[mickyryan]

you could put one of these on ya doghouse just to be sure there is enough ventilation

 

[66Holiday924]

It's a generic picture. It's from the Coast Guard "A Boater's Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats" The point they are stressing is to ventilate the bilge and engine compartment.

This is no big deal I know how to make it work the way it's supposed to, without adding vents.

 

[66Holiday924]

If you look at some of the other people's rebuilds you'll see they added cowls for proper ventilation. As a matter of fact just today I noticed grzzzz who is an iboats member added a few to his 66.

I have an idea of how I'm going to do mine without adding vents.