1976 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB - restomod

[BWR1953]

Guys - as long as my health permits, I will get going on the Chief this year! Probably in the August or September time frame. The "goal" is to have a splash in late 2018, but only time will tell with that. :lol:

As a beginning, I had the boy go out and take some measurements the other day. Then I had him exercise his brain doing the math to calculate fuel tank sizing. He actually liked that part! And not just figuring out how much fuel was needed, but calculating the actual volume of a gunwale tank, i.e. triangular prism, then converting volume in inches into gallons. He did good! :thumb:

I'd hoped that I could put a pair of saddle/gunwale tanks in the Chief but there simply isn't enough room to get the range needed. We calculated that the Chief should have about 40 gallons on board in order to meet our theoretical Gulf runs. :fish2: The gunwales would only be able to hold about 8 gallons per side.

So I'll probably have to go with an under deck system, just as others have done. With the twins in the back, I really don't want to add a large stern tank if I can avoid that at all.

 

[strokendiesel002]

Planning=Progress.

Every winter, for over a decade, I've been thinking would be the winter that I redo it. Problem is, I just can't decide what I want to do. There are a few mods that are set in stone, but others I just can't decide on. Color - restore to original scheme? it's kinda ugly, but beautiful in my eyes at the same time! Seating... switch to pedestal, or keep the b2b's that fold down into loungers?! Actually, those are my two main concerns. Just while typing this, I started to wonder about going with a grey/gray and orange to match the 1979 Mariner that's been powering it for all these years?! I have a very strong attachment to this boat and motor, and while the current trailer is leaps and bounds nicer that the original, I kind of regret selling it.

So, keep planning! Once you have a vision, it's so much easier

 

[BWR1953]

So while sitting in the garage contemplating boat stuff this evening I noticed the 6-spoke steering wheel that I bought for the Chieftain. And remembered that a couple days ago that I popped off and saved the Starcraft logo that was on the Kingfisher. I'd originally thought that I would clean it up, paint it and put it onto the KF in the steering wheel from the donor boat.

But! I have decided that it will look much better getting cleaned and shined and then put on the Chief!

 

[BWR1953]

Dagnabit! A guy on craigslist has this pair of 19 gallon tanks for sale and I'd love to put them in the Chief! But I just went out and measured and can't figure a way to mount them without taking up too much real estate in the boat.

The tanks measure 9" x 10" x 50" and I was hoping to put one on each side, somewhere under the gunwales, but they are only about 4" wide.

Doggone it anyway. :blue:


Twin 19 gallon tanks.

 

[BWR1953]

So this happened yesterday.

Got the second 70HP Mercury for the Chief! Boo yah! Twins here we come! :sad:
Talk about some seriously great motivation. :whoo:

 

[Watermann]

Oh yeah baby!

 

[MD28]

Twins will be nice out on the big water. Glad you could make a successful trip for the whole family.

 

[nrf414]

BWR1953. I've been to that beach many times and saw that same sign last April when heading for a big boat ride

nice score on motor and extra parts.

 

[BWR1953]

Yeah, the seller was a really nice guy. The more we stood around and yakked about boats, the more he dropped his price! :lol:

He owns SEVEN boats, 6 of which are projects and one of those is "hidden" over at a buddy's house to hide it from his wife.

He had plenty of motors, parts, junk, goodies and miscellaneous boat stuff stacked and scattered about.

Bottom line - he'd originally wanted $400 for the 70HP Merc and the 90HP midsection with tilt/trim. As we (he!) were loading everything into the truck, he kept having to go find other stuff to add to the deal.

Then he dropped to the final price of $200 for everything! :congratulatory:

That 90HP Merc midsection goes for $400-500 around here, so I'm a happy camper. :nod:

 

[BWR1953]

This evening my old buddy and his son came over and we got the Chief off the blocks and hooked to the truck. Moved it over close to the house so that the boy can begin cleanup tomorrow. (He has a 1/2 day at school and is much chagrined that he won't be just playing. :lol: )

We'll get the junk out of it and he'll pressure wash the hull. Then we'll regroup on what to do next. But it'll be fun anyway. Keeping motivated on this boat is pretty easy. When my wife got home from work, bringing Chinese takeout, even SHE said that it's a beautiful machine and she's looking forward to seeing it completed.

I think it'll look good painted to match my truck!

 

[Watermann]

Oh man you're getting distracted from the KF :lol:

 

[BWR1953]

Oh man you're getting distracted from the KF :lol:

Who, me? :lol:



We pulled the 20 gallon tank from the Chief today. It's too small for my purpose so I'm putting it on c-list. I need to find something in the 35-40 gallon size.

 

[Watermann]

You may want to find your dream tank before unloading that one, it's not that easy to find a tank that will fit in the belly.

 

[BWR1953]

You may want to find your dream tank before unloading that one, it's not that easy to find a tank that will fit in the belly.

I'm not sure that the one I have now was in the belly originally. It was on top of the deck and the deck is still fully in place. And since the deck is still there (spongy tho it may be) I can't take measurements to see if it fits in there.

Hmmm... I wonder if another tank is in the belly... maybe I should get distracted again from the KF tomorrow to find out? Gotta do SOMETHING while the OTF is drying, right? :lol:

 

[Watermann]

Yeah I think you'd see a filler for the tank if one was hiding in the belly.

I had assumed you would be looking for a new belly tank as an above deck 30-40 gal tank will take up lots of real estate on the deck as it wouldn't fit under the SW not too mention the added weight isn't good all in the stern.

 

[BWR1953]

Yeah I think you'd see a filler for the tank if one was hiding in the belly.

I had assumed you would be looking for a new belly tank as an above deck 30-40 gal tank will take up lots of real estate on the deck as it wouldn't fit under the SW not too mention the added weight isn't good all in the stern.

Correct, I'll look for an underbelly tank. Might have to go custom like you did, but that decision is well into the future. :sad:

As for seeing anything like a filler... the inside of the boat is currently a mess and it's hard to see anything!

 

[59Thompson]

Long time lurker, first time commenter. Perhaps if you fabricated plywood boxes for port and starboard under shallow seats for the captain and mate, the two tanks could be located outboard by the gunwales with some storage drawers for rods, lures etc. that open towards the center of the boat. The boxes could also have some rear facing seats atop them or make them not quite as long and install some removable post swivel seats. Or a lounger on the mate's side for additional sleeping capacity. This would still leave room for a belly tank or one under the splash well or both. By removing the drawers it would provide the required access to the tank and sender fittings. I believe someone on this site has done something similar before.

 

[BWR1953]

Long time lurker, first time commenter. Perhaps if you fabricated plywood boxes for port and starboard under shallow seats for the captain and mate, the two tanks could be located outboard by the gunwales with some storage drawers for rods, lures etc. that open towards the center of the boat. The boxes could also have some rear facing seats atop them or make them not quite as long and install some removable post swivel seats. Or a lounger on the mate's side for additional sleeping capacity. This would still leave room for a belly tank or one under the splash well or both. By removing the drawers it would provide the required access to the tank and sender fittings. I believe someone on this site has done something similar before.

Sounds like a solid option. Thanks for that tip.

And I've also decided to follow WM's recommendation and hang onto the existing tank until I'm farther along in the project. He makes a lot of sense, that guy. :nod:

 

[BWR1953]

Will this 30 gallon tank fit my Chief? It's for sale on c-list.

 

[Watermann]

The height overall concerns me. If I remember right with out modification you're looking at around 8" from the top of a rib to the top of the deck supports. I would say that tank is around 20 gallons in size. You would need to take measurements to be sure but my guess is no it won't and if it did with some mods the filler for sure would have to be under the SW.