1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

[Joeshow]

Hi, i'm thinking of making my 16' American into a bowrider... i'm wondering since i come up with no search results, that it cant be done? would it make the boat too flimsy?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

That's a fiberglass SC?

 

[Joeshow]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

yes shes Starcraft and fiberglass... i found a couple on google that came factory as a bowrider but nothing on doing it from scratch

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

Yeah, it's do-able... depending on your skill level. Have you done much fiberglass work before? How are your carpentry skills?

It shouldn't be that hard, but will probably be time consuming.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

Here's a thread you might find interesting:

http://forums.iboats.com/boat-resto...ject-log-runabout-fishing-machine-507523.html

Not a runabout to bowrider but you can modify the design to fit your needs and will give you a general overview of what you'll be in for.

 

[Joeshow]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

good to hear! i can do carpentry no problem... fiberglass, well i've played with it a bit.. i have learnt a fair bit about it since the last time i had it out lol

should i go through the trouble making the seat wrap-around, floor, and walls one piece. then place in the boat and glass it together?

of course measure and build the frame out of as little wood as possible.

id like it to lift with the top of the hull, or bolt to it.

at the moment im just getting working on getting this planned out.

i thank you for your input!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

It really depends on what you have under your covered bow. You may need to add an elevated deck (one step up) for strength and to accomodater the seating, then build the seat up from there.

Your primary concern will be strengthening the bow area to make up for removing the bow cover on your boat. Then it will be your seat height and design.

Start reading through the bowrider restorations in the completed restorations forum to get ideas on what you need to do and how you want your boat to look:
Completed Boat Projects

One big mistake I've seen several people make when doing this project is cutting the bow cover out too close to the hull. You need to leave the same amount of width from the rub rail to the cut out as the gunwales are, so you can make the gunwales go completely around the boat in the front. This is important for strength too.

 

[Joeshow]

Re: 1975 Starcraft 16' American Bowrider?

Jigngrub, thank you for your input! i believe weve covered her all! think ill gather all i should need over the next few months, might be a next fall project... think ill do the transom in seacast at the same time!