1976 Mariner Rebuild

[HypnoCraft]

Identification of a Starcraft

Hi guys,

I have found a bare Starcraft for sale that needs the transom put back on and probably leaks. The person is asking 800 CAD with a trailer. Both have no papers but I guess I could figure that out later.

Anyways, I was wondering if anyone could identify this boat. From what I have been told.... its a 1980's 22 foot Starcraft.

I can't find any boats that have the same rail on the bow, and I am doubting it is actually 22 feet and even from 1980. Any help appreciated. also, any idea on how much this thing weighs?

Thanks.

 

[HypnoCraft]

I cant figure out how to edit the previous post... Additional information... the transom cut out is square. once I find the picture I will post it. it doesn't look like the super sports with the rounded cutout.

 

[HypnoCraft]

Sorry for the multi-post

 

[HypnoCraft]

So, I picked up a boat the other day. I believe it is a 21 foot Mariner even though it was sold as a 22 foot. I will put up more pictures once I actually start the rebuild within a week or two. This wont be the fastest rebuild because it gets dark at 4:30 and drops to 5C at night, and I also have other things to do around the house.

The good:

Boat is torn down to almost nothing but one sheet of plywood left on the floor
Loose rivets were already removed
transom was already removed and kept for a template
came with a side console that I can rivet back together if I want it

The bad:
At this point the boat and trailer are unregistered. Working on getting the boat registered but its missing its HIN, we will see what happens
The trailer is from another country so I am not sure if I will be able to register it as it was never transferred over to this country properly. May need to buy a new trailer.
looks like it needs a lot of rivets redone
The top of the bow has a medium sized hole punched into by a pole or something
The bottom of it has barnacles on it
I am not sure of the integrity of the sealant between all the panels, and I am not sure how easy that is to fix.

Anyways, thought I would post this now. The short term goal is to strip all the paint, re rivet any loose or missing rivets, seal all the rivets with gluevit, rebuild the transom, put flotation and a deck on, get it in the water with a 40 horse or a 20hp kicker I have, and possibly build a small console for it.

Long term I would like to repaint the hull, possibly try to put an interior cabin on it, and do a lot of finishing touches.

I will try to update this weekly but I make no promises.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome to the tin fray and Starmada :wave:

Lots of work to bring one of these oldies back but it sounds like you have that on your mind already. I've heard guys talk about putting a pilot house on and seen a few who tried, it looks pretty tough to get it right.

Have fun planning and keep us posted

 

[Watermann]

Looks like you popped on the Mariner, you could have a Mod merge the topics

 

[HypnoCraft]

Thank you for the welcome! I have been scrolling through all the rebuild threads and a lot of them seem to just end. I will try my best for that not to happen to this thread. Either it will be a picture of the boat being hauled away or the boat "finished".

An update on the paperwork side of things. I sent in my pleasure craft licensing form online yesterday and I just got an e-mail with the license approved! No HIN needed, so that's good to have taken care of. Very fast as well.

Now I just need to attempt to license and register the trailer which will probably be a more daunting task. I believe I am going to need to get a declaration signed by a notary saying that I purchased it and blah blah blah.

Does anyone know who I should contact to merge my two threads?

 

[Watermann]

Seeing your trailer in the pics it's tough to say for sure but it looks pretty gnarly with rust and the small wheels are a big heck no at least for me, especially on a 21'r.

I know there's a bunch of boat resto threads where the guys are all gung ho and just disappear never to be heard from again. I have a couple unfinished threads myself but I'm still here.

Mods skulk around here at times GA_Boater he or jbcurt00 could merge them for you.

 

[HypnoCraft]

Seeing your trailer in the pics it's tough to say for sure but it looks pretty gnarly with rust and the small wheels are a big heck no at least for me, especially on a 21'r.

I know there's a bunch of boat resto threads where the guys are all gung ho and just disappear never to be heard from again. I have a couple unfinished threads myself but I'm still here.

Mods skulk around here at times GA_Boater he or jbcurt00 could merge them for you.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","height":"720","width":"720","src":"https:\/\/forums.iboats.com\/filedata\/fetch?photoid=10815845"**[/IMG2]

The trailer does have some surface rust yes. I am planning on trying to get the trailer insured so that I can take it about a km away from my house to a lake for testing before spending a lot of money on a trailer. 20~ foot trailers go for 2-4 thousand used here.

Also, is anyone familiar with companies within Canada that sell the 3/16" and 1/4" brazier rivet set and rivets? I have had a good look but they seem quite hard to find. I may have to use universal head because that's easy to find through the aircraft industry.

 

[GA_Boater]

Skulk???? I am a furtive observer, just like Boris and Natasha.

I think your transom cutout is normal. I know it looks strange with the high sides. A couple of pics in this post in an older rebuild with the same transom cutout as your new Starcraft.

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/boa...acement-21-ft-alum-boat?p=3927822#post3927822

 

[Watermann]

Yikes that is spendy for just the trailer, I picked up a boat with a heavy duty galvanized trailer for 1,500 and it had a low hour 1995 115 Merc outboard to go with it.

 

[HypnoCraft]

Yikes that is spendy for just the trailer, I picked up a boat with a heavy duty galvanized trailer for 1,500 and it had a low hour 1995 115 Merc outboard to go with it.

That sounds like a dream! Around here a 1980's 115hp outboard is around 1-2 grand by itself!

 

[HypnoCraft]

It's quite cold, so I have only been working on it for a few hours so far.

I found some aircraft stripper. The bad stuff with DCM in it. It removed the paint quite easily, but I am not sure how willing I am to work with it because of its toxicity. I have neoprene gloves and a respirator, but I am still concerned about its neurological effects. It's also quite messy.



I have since purchased a grinder and 3m stripper pads which seem to easily scrape off the paint, but have potential of eating into the aluminum and/or rivets if I am not careful.

The plan is to lightly grind away a majority of paint with the pads and then maybe use the aircraft stripper to get it bare.

I also started to clean up the inside a bit and remove all the old junk the previous owner left in it. I am working on removing the floor but it seems to be possibly glued down? I will have to look into it further. Also, the plywood was pretty much bare and now each partial sheet weighs at least 75 pounds.






Anyways, just a little update!

 

[Watermann]

Oh man that is heavy. is it 3/4"? There's nothing really to glue the ply to though.

 

[HypnoCraft]

Oh man that is heavy. is it 3/4"? There's nothing really to glue the ply to though.

Yeah its 3/4". It wasn't glued down. Just lightly held by drilled out rivets.

I removed the floor and have started cleaning out the boat. Here is a before and after.






Slowly I am getting there. The other side of the boat is partially stripped from the PO. I should be able to get most of the sides done soon. Then I just have to figure out how I am going to get to the bottom.

I thought about maybe propping the boat up on each side to do the underside. and then I thought about paying a boat yard to flip it over for me, but with the transom missing I would need to reinforce the hull so it doesn't bent or break. Any suggestions for stripping the bottom?

​​​​​​​

 

[Watermann]

Pull the boat off onto the ground, roll the hull over enough to expose the bottom on one side, prop it up and strip the paint, then repeat on the other side. You can use a 2x6 cut to fit for a make shift transom, a 2x4 cut to fit mid ship with a ratchet strap to hold the hull tight against it.

 

[HypnoCraft]

Pull the boat off onto the ground, roll the hull over enough to expose the bottom on one side, prop it up and strip the paint, then repeat on the other side. You can use a 2x6 cut to fit for a make shift transom, a 2x4 cut to fit mid ship with a ratchet strap to hold the hull tight against it.

Thanks for the advice! When I get to flipping it I will try that.

I was skimming over the pictures I have posted and noticed something quite weird. The brackets that reinforce the edge of the chine/wall on one side are riveted straight through and then on the other side are only riveted above where the chine and side meet.

seems like all those rivets kind of negate the purpose of the brackets? Would this be a factory mistake or someones handy work? Also does anyone know if this is something I need to fix? that would be like 2 or 300 rivets alone!

 

[Watermann]

That is really strange, I haven't seem that before but it is factory since the ends of the ribs have the bend in them to accommodate the strip of AL that is needed to keep there from being rib end cracks. Normally the braces go under the rib, bridge the spray rail chine and are riveted top and bottom.

Check that out classiccat

The braces looks like this...

 

[HypnoCraft]

Hmm, very interesting. I guess we will see what happens when I get to leak testing!

This weekend was somewhat productive. I feel like paint stripper doesn't work nearly as well in sub 50F temperatures, but I got one side down to a nice smooth finish.




Also I have continued to clean the inside. I have been spraying out the ribs and generally washing it.

 

[classiccat]

That is really strange, I haven't seem that before but it is factory since the ends of the ribs have the bend in them to accommodate the strip of AL that is needed to keep there from being rib end cracks. Normally the braces go under the rib, bridge the spray rail chine and are riveted top and bottom.

Check that out classiccat

The braces looks like this...

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Sorry...late to the party!

that is interesting indeed Watermann ! I'm surprised the bracing showed up on such an early model...tells us that they knew of the problems and started "experimenting" before the '79 roll-out.

Super stout from the factory..me like! :madgrin: