1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

[TkdSilat]

Hello! I just got a 1970 StarCraft SuperSport 16' Boat with a 50hp Johnson outboard. The cover was not good, so it had about 5 yrs of rain, snow, leaves and debris in it. The floor is shot, so am stripping out the old floor and replacing the plywood.

I had to use an angle grinder to remove the head off the rivets on the floor. Im almost done removing all the plywood. I then plan on scrubbing the hull, replacing all the foam, and reinstalling a new plywood floor and carpeting.

The driver and passenger seats were shot. I am going to replace them with a swivel style captains chair. The single seat up front in the bow is still good, just dirty.

Any ideas or suggestions?? The motor does run, it will need fresh gas, spark plugs and a good carb cleaning.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Welcome to iboats! You could not have found a larger collection of aluminum Starcraft freaks as you have just now. You'll find lots of ideas and camaraderie here. There are numerous Starcraft restoration threads going on right now (mine included) in the restoration section (where I'm moving this thread) and lots more down in the Starcraft manufacturers section.

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

one more question. After I rip out all the plywood and scrub down the hull, is there anything else i should do before installing new foam and plywood? is there any sealant or anything that i need to paint the inside of the hull with?

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

one more question. After I rip out all the plywood and scrub down the hull, is there anything else i should do before installing new foam and plywood? is there any sealant or anything that i need to paint the inside of the hull with?

Welcome to iboats Tkd

You will want to coat seams and rivets with an epoxy called Gluvit. It's available from iboats(when it's in stock) and marine stores.

Was that picture taken in a mirror? The 50 on the cowling looks backwards.

I will be picking up my 16' SS soon and doing a winter resto project so I will be catching up to you soon.

Nice find

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

LOL sorry... i had to edit all the pics and resize them. I must have accidentally flipped the photo too.

So after I rip out the plywood and scrub it down, coat it all with GLUVIT and then i can go ahead and replace all the foam and install the plywood.

Im still reading forms on the best way to replywood the floor. I am probably going to use 1/2 and coat it with some sealant.

Here is a new picture of the motor!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I went 3/4" in my 16' Jupiter and loved it. It was SO nice and solid. My SS came with 1/2" and it was so springy I thought it was rotted. When I tore it out I found that only the rearmost portion was rotted. So if you don't go all that way to 3/4", you may want to at least for 5/8".

As for sealing it, the best way it to coat it with epoxy resin on both sides and add a layer of fiberglass cloth on the top. That's what I'm doing. Next best would be just the epoxy. However, if you don't want to spend the money on epoxy, just paint the heck out of it with a good quality porch & floor paint.

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Thanks for the info... im just about done ripping out all the old wood...

ill post pics of how the hull looks after its been cleaned and painted with GLUVIT ( that stuff is kind of expensive). THanks for all the help! ill keep my progress updated with pics!!!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Tkd welcome to iboats and since you have pictures The Starcraft club . On the gluvit you dont need to coat the whole inside of the boat just the seams and rivets themselves a 2 pound kit ( quart ) should be plenty for your boat and yes it is somewhat expensive at $50.00 a quart but its worth every penny knowing your rivets and seams wont be leaking after the deck ( floor ) is back in .


Rick

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I got mine from wholesalemarine.com (iboats out of stock) good price and service from them.

 

[PaulyV]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

TKD..Congrats on the new (old) Starcraft! Your in the right company to move forward with your renovation..These guys are amazing! I am also working on a 79 SS...Look forward to seeing your project take shape.

 

[Pap's SuperSport]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Tkd-missed the PM, but it looks like you got the deck out. On our boat we just used a drill and screwdriver to remove the deck. Things went pretty smoothly. We were just careful not to damage the already rotted pieces, so that we could use them as templates. Good luck with the restore. Bill

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I have the same boat, but a jupiter as opposed to an ss. for the deck, i went with 1/2" and its sturdy, but flexes a little. if you can go with 3/4 or even 5/8 like ezmobee suggested. what i did with mine was coat the bottom of the deck with poly resin. then i screwed it down with ss screws and put a layer of glass cloth and poly resin over the top.

and +1 on the gluvit. its a must with aluminum boats. before you apply it, but after you get EVERYTHING out, fill the hull with water and see if there is any major leakage.

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

All the plywood in my boat was actually secured with rivets. Talk about a pain in the *ss. I had to use an angle grinder to cut the heads off. I should have the boat completely gutted and cleaned out this weekend. Then I will check for any leaks and apply the Gluvit to the inside.

I am going to use 3/4" plywood as people suggested. I am still debating the best way to secure the new plywood to the hull, either screws of rivets?? (any suggestions?)

The old plywood was so shot that I could not use it as a template. I should be fine on measuring and cutting the new sheet of plywood.

I got an email today, my Gluvit shipped today so I should have it by the weekend... Ill post pics this weekend.!!!! thanks!!

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

All the plywood in my boat was actually secured with rivets. Talk about a pain in the *ss. I had to use an angle grinder to cut the heads off. I should have the boat completely gutted and cleaned out this weekend. Then I will check for any leaks and apply the Gluvit to the inside.

I am going to use 3/4" plywood as people suggested. I am still debating the best way to secure the new plywood to the hull, either screws of rivets?? (any suggestions?)

The old plywood was so shot that I could not use it as a template. I should be fine on measuring and cutting the new sheet of plywood.

I got an email today, my Gluvit shipped today so I should have it by the weekend... Ill post pics this weekend.!!!! thanks!!

if you decide on rivets, you will most likely have to order then from the internet. i was going to use them at first, but couldnt find any locally that had a wide enough grip range.

ss screws however were locally avalible. i used about 200 1" screws, and about 150 3/4" panhead screws.

you will have to pre drill either way though. the screws themselves have a hard time penetrating the stringers. i used an old 22 shell casing duct taped to my drill bit as a stop so i didnt accidentlly drill through the hull.

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Thanks for the tip... I didnt want to use rivets, I planned on using screws, I figured it would be faster. Im still waiting for the Gluvit to arrive so I can coat the inside of the hull....

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I got the boat gutted to the bare hull ( plus some dirt) Im going to scrub it clean and apply the Gluvit to seal the rivets.

The front of the bow has tar on it. It looks like its still in good condition.... should I leave it in place and just apply the Gluvit around it as needed?

I left a section of the rear plywood on. Its still in great shape, not wet and solid. Im going to make it a cleaner cut and butt up a new piece of 3/4 or 5/8 plywood right next to it.

The guy who gave me the boat is swearing he has (HAD) a bilge pump in the boat... but i can not find it. Do these boats require bilge pumps?

Im in the process of scrubbing it down... more pics to follow!!! Let me know any ideas on the tar up front... it seems like its still good

One idea someone gave me.. for the plywood floor, (the top).. Coat it with truck bedliner.. and throw sand down so its not too slippery... sounds like it would work, and I have 2 HUGE cans of roll on bedliner....any ideas??????,

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

TDK take a peek up under the wood you left in the back of the boat near the transom your bilge pump should be back there in the bottom of the hull . Thats where mine is and where it should be and yes a bilge pump is a good idea . I personally would recomend going ahead and pulling up that section of the deck ( floor ) as well so you can access the rivets back there as well when you do the Gluvit .


Rick

 

[TkdSilat]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I did find the bilge pump and removed it... still looks good but i am going to purchase a new one. I also removed ALL the tar in the front of the boat... 3 hrs it took. Im actually thinking about re-taring it... I would guess that the previous owner had the tar there for a reason..

 

[ddrieck]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

Not sure if you have thought about putting in a casting deck in the bow or not. I have a 1978 16' Starcraft SS and I put a casting deck in the bow. I kept it about 12'' below the top rails so the wee ones wouldn't fall overboard when we stop to fish. I added a small compartment with a flip up lid between the consoles for my trolling moter battery. You could put that swivel seat on top of the deck and have a foot control for a trolling motor.

My deck turned out like this:

Just a few ideas for your rebuild

 

[ddrieck]

Re: 1970 StarCraft SuperSport Restoration

I did find the bilge pump and removed it... still looks good but i am going to purchase a new one. I also removed ALL the tar in the front of the boat... 3 hrs it took. Im actually thinking about re-taring it... I would guess that the previous owner had the tar there for a reason..

All that tar is more than likely there because of leaks. Check to see if you ahve any loose rivits in that area. If so, you can tighten them up by having someone on the inside with a heavy backup and then hitting the rivit from the outside with a hammer. I believe that is how its done, someone else may have a few pointers on the proper way to tighten the rivits. My hull didn't have any loose and leaking rivits so, I didn't have to do this.