1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

[MichaelP]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Congrats on the new addition to the family!

I'm definately planning to leave mine on and I'm about to flip soon. The one my buddy has the cap off and there are a BUNCH of rivits, maybe 30 per side. Trade off is that it will be high to work on. I did leave the bulkhead trim on to help keep things stiffer.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Thanks Micheal. Ya the main reason I wanna do this is for stripping paint and painting. I would have to get a step ladder to do the bottom. Seems like quite a few guys take the piece off the bow on the Holidays and such and it turns out fine. It doesn't appear the gunwales have any strength for side to side movement anyway.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

I was going through some threads in the Starcraft section and remembered the boat horiconducker did. They pulled the cap off to make an open boat. So I guess that kind of answers my question about the hull getting deformed pulling the cap off. I will add cross braces wherever I can for support before removing it. A case of beer and a few friends should make it easier. I'm just looking at it from the perspective it will be easier to flip and reach spots on the bottom to prep and paint.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Alright, so the plan for the weekend is to get the cap pulled off. Excessive disassembly? Probably. Will it make work on the boat easier? For sure! So I have 50' of 1" aluminum angle. I plan on attatching some braces on the inside of the hull to hold everything together. Then when I'm ready to flip it I'll put some 1" square tubing across where the gunwales are to hold everything on the top of the boat together.

Here's what I'm thinking:

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Any chance you could do a "tip" instead of a flip (like I did on the Islander) to save ya a whole bunch of time and effort?

Keep at it bro!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

I'm not convinced you need that reinforcement. It might flex some but it shouldn't break. Its tin afterall.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Ya I agree. I just want to be safe. I know you mentioned earlier your friend pulled the cap off his so I was hopng you would chime in. Thanks buddy!

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Any chance you could do a "tip" instead of a flip (like I did on the Islander) to save ya a whole bunch of time and effort?

Keep at it bro!

hmm, somehow I overlooked your post Jason. I thought of doing it this way but I don't have enough headroom in the garage for this and it will probably be a few years befor I get my shop built. I did get the cap pulled off this weekend, it was scary but did it without incident. I also got the old rotten transom pulled out. Will try to get some pics posted tomorrow of my "exciting adventure". I'm getting closer to reassembly which is given me some more motivation.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Alright, here's some pics of the cap removal as promised.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

And rotten transom removal.

As you can see the old transom was pretty well toast but should work ok as a template.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Nice work!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

That looked like a smoooooth operation man, nice job

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

So I've been looking for a below deck fuel tank. The choices are slim for ones short enough to fit under the deck. Moeller makes a 27 gallon one I'm pretty sure will fit but it's $350 . I would like a little more capacity than that but not sure I can afford it. I also found a few used ones on evilbay but they want a premium for those as well.

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Great work BN, I bet there was a lot of planning done on the pillow after bedtime, for lifting the cap off. That seems to be the time my brain works the best.
Glen

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

Ya I don't get much sleep when the wheels are turning in my mind. Now I need to come up with a good plan to put the cap back on when the time comes.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

I was doing some cleaning on the inside skin of the transom and found I have some slight corrosion. It's not terrible but it will need addressed before the new transom goes in. I know EZ has mentioned por 15 in a few other threads so i might look into it.

 

[Bighoss]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

BG, man that beast would look awesome polished out!!! It would only take 2- 2lb cans of the Shark hide at 59.99 each, another 59.99 for the protectant. Very easy stuff to work with. Watch the video on their site.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

I was doing some cleaning on the inside skin of the transom and found I have some slight corrosion. It's not terrible but it will need addressed before the new transom goes in. I know EZ has mentioned por 15 in a few other threads so i might look into it.

Had beers last night with my friend that did his transom with POR15. He reminded me that you do need to etch prime it first. Thought I better add that here.

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

I was wondering about etching it.....I was looking on por 15's site and they make a chemical that is supposed to etch it.
here is the link: http://www.por15.com/METAL-READY/productinfo/MRG/

 

[boatnut74]

Re: 1972 Starcraft Chieftain restoration

BG, man that beast would look awesome polished out!!! It would only take 2- 2lb cans of the Shark hide at 59.99 each, another 59.99 for the protectant. Very easy stuff to work with. Watch the video on their site.

Man bighoss, your throwing me for a loop now!!! The only thing is I have some pretty good scratches and stuff I would have to try and feather out, but then again how many polished Chieftains are there? Hmm, decisions decisons .