1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

[franklenz]

I've been poaching off of this website for solutions and ideas while working on my newly acquired 1967 Starcraft Supersport V with a 1974 Mercury 650 thunderolt outboard. I figured it's about time that I actually started a thread and begin my adventure into the restoration business.

The boat was purchased new by my wife's grandfather in late 66 or early 67. The original motor was blown by my father in law (while in his teens) and replaced with a new 1974 Merc 650. My son is excited on the work so far because he knows it will eventually be his boat - 4th Generation.

The boat is in surpirsingly good original shape. The decking and transom are solid. The boat appears to have been painted one time, and I beleive the seats and lenolium floor was replaced once. Everything else appears original and in great shape. I believe that this is largely due to the boat being kept in northern Wisconsin and always in a shore station or heated garage.

My initial questoin is.... Should I do a full resto on this boat, or should I just do new paint and a lot of polishing?

I've replaced all of the original wiring - that had very little signs of dry rot, and I've done a lot of little tinkering - Nothing major yet!

Also, I have already replaced the gear oil, plugs, and the impeller in the motor. I checked and adjusted the timing too. New gas - and the motor ran like a champ......until....I blew the switchboard out while replacing some wiring and I shorted it out. That's being fixed/replaced right now, and no worries.

Attached; see the pics and let me know what you think.

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

A couple more pics....

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

Just a handfull more pics...

This is how it sits now.

I rewired the trailer lights, put a new and larger tounge on trailer, along with a new axel (old one was bent), new hubs/bearings and larger rims.

I obviously cleaned the interior of the boat, replaced any missing screws/nuts/bolts with stainless ones, removed some rust spots from the anchor that was on the seat and floor, and lightly polished some of the trim.

Again.... just tinkering - nothing major yet.

 

[classiccat]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

With the exception of the floor vinyl, this SS is in AMAZING shape; Its like a time capsule! And the fact that it's been in your family for 3+ generations...I'd be inclined to try and repair/maintain rather than overhaul.

The majority of our "restorations" have been used/abused by the time we get our mitts on them..."rescue" is the more appropriate mission at hand!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

This boat gives us all hope that there are many boats that are sitting out there, waiting to be cleaned, polished, and used as is. I would leave her as she is, unless you really want to customize the functionality of her. Really nice find you have there.

 

[850Merc]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

Great looking boat you have there, I like that it has been in the family for so long. Judging by the picture of the linoleum, you may find that you need a new deck (which is probably original). If this boat has been used semi regularly for the past 45 years, chances are its time for take really close look at the transom too. These boats are built well, I replaced my transom but in retrospect (other that surface flaking) it was in pretty darn good shape. Just my 2 cents.

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

I checked the transom again, and there is not a spot of bad wood anywhere on it. So I'm not replacing that. You can jump up and down on the decking, and there is no play or soft spots anywhere. So, I think that's solid too. Part of the reason it's so solid is because the boating season up there in northern Wisconsin is barely longer than two months and the boat has never been beaten by the weather.

Most of the repairs I see that need to be done are cosmetic things. The trim pieces are beaten up pretty bad, paint has scratches all over it, replace the seats, vinyl flooring (only damaged from fuel spills), dash, bow seating, and other panels need to be wrapped in new vinyl or other material. Also, there is no cushions for the bow seating. I would like to find an original Bimini top (original mounting brackets are in place). Only one of my "Starcraft" side emblems are fully in tact - the other one is missing the top of the T in star.
I will put up more pics of the damaged spots or pieces that need replacing when I get a minute.

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

Here are the pics of some of the problem areas.....

Did I mention that one of teh windshields are melted. A glass was left on the dash and the sun was hitting it just right - acting like a magnifying glass.

Is there a shop that I can order a new windshield, or should I just find a local plastics place that can make one?

Also, I'm willing to buy a replacement starcraft emblem if anyone has one available. If not, I'm going to have a mold taken from my good one and have two new ones made in aluminum - polished and blinged out.

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

Found out today that the paint is in fact original. I'm going to try some scratch remover compound and wax to see if I can clean it up a little bit. If it's not presentable, it will be time to find a fit shop to paint it right.

 

[franklenz]

Re: 1967 Starcraft Supersport V w 1974 Mercury 650 Resto

Well the paint did not clean up all that well. This winter I will find a professional painter that can do it right.

Meanwhile, I polished some of the aluminum trim today. I polished the corner peices using wet sandpaper - 400, 600, 1000, 1500, then finished with Mother's Aluminum polish. All by hand and did not have to remove the pieces. I think it turned out pretty good, and I left some "patina" because I did not want to sand all the way down to the bottom of the marring or deep scratches.

Let me know what you think.

 

[franklenz]

No Title

I recently installed a Seastar Solutions Teleflex NFB? Safe-T? II Rotary steering system on my boat that has an early 70?s Mercury 650 Thunderbolt engine on it. I ran into a problem though.

The old system used a transom anchor point for the steering cable. I switched this to the ?through tube? system because the anchor was digging a hole through the transom after 40 years of use. The problem was that I could not find the part number for the steering link arm ? also known as the steering link rod.

I searched the internet relentlessly for the part number, and even called upon some vintage motor rebuilders to help find the right part. No one was successful.

I eventually bought a link arm in hopes that it would work, or may be modified to work properly. This is the part I purchased.

Part number 89638A3 or 89638A 3.
Fits 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 Mercury 650 Thunderbolt outboard motor through tube steering install.

To my surprise, the link arm fit perfectly with great clearance and zero modification.

I?m posting this information in hopes that anyone else searching for the right link arm will find this page and purchase the right part.

See pics below.