1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

[chrisp929]

Some of you may remember the thread i started late last summer.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=430263&pagenumber=

Well since that gave all the story of how i obtained the boat and trailer, and what i did in the time i had before it got cold to the trailer, I'm not considering that thread the official restoration thread.

I have started this thread to better help those like myself who are first timers. I think it will be viewed more frequently here. I hope this is ok with everyone.

Here is how i found her. Buried in mud up to the fenders, sitting under a pine tree in upstate NY since 1997.

So last year i started to tear into the transom, and it came out as wet sawdust. Then it got to cold to continue.

I finally pulled the boat out a couple weeks ago and have been slowly ( weather permitting ) working on it.

And the shaggy blue carpet starts to come out.

I began to find plugs in the floor.

The bow piece could not be salvaged to use as a template, to bad as its the most complicated piece to fab.

The bow piece and middle piece of floor removed. I started to figure out what the plugs in the floor were for.

When the factory built the boat, the floor went in first, then was glassed over, then holes were cut in the floor and barely any foam was injected into the floor cavity. There was hardly enough foam to keep me afloat let alone a 200+ pound outboard, and gear.

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Some foam stuck to the bottom of the third and last piece of floor board.

Again little to no foam other than what was stuck to the floor board. And completely soaked in water.

Floor gone finally. I tweeked my already messed up back pulling those water logged floor boards out of the boat. I have to be careful.

Then i pressure washed the inside a couple days ago. Some maple leafs already found there way inside.

The floor was clearly factory, as was the carpet, and pour in foam. Can anyone tell me what in gods name happened to the factory transom brace and the rear most rib of the boat? Why would Starcraft have done this ? It looks like they poured in some epoxy and then layed some fiberglass into it after the hack job. I can't see why since the bottom of the boat is pure, strait clean aluminum. For the life of me i can not understand what happened ?

A side view.

So anyway, the next step is to remove the windshield, steering wheel, and extras, and flip her over to begin the prep for a new coat of fresh white Interlux brighsides. Then topside paint in Interlux Brightside Sapphire Blue. Then interior. Stay tuned all !

( I know this little boat ain't so cool as Jason's Islander but hey, we all have to start somewhere ! )

 

[BoatAddicti0n]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

77 was a good year...you have a nice boat and I wish you good luck in your resto!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

That has to be the most horrible, ridiculous, flotation job I have ever seen (yes including mine). And your knee brace/rib deal?? What is that about.

Man, I know you say you are sure that everything was factory, but from what I am seeing, I have to believe that happened in someones back yard. When it was dark out. And there was drinking involved. With no supervision.

Anyway, that is a sweet rig and I know you'll make her right! She'll be beautiful in the end!

 

[CBGale2]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Man, I know you say you are sure that everything was factory, but from what I am seeing, I have to believe that happened in someones back yard. When it was dark out. And there was drinking involved. With no supervision.

I concur, looks like someone grabbed a few cans of expanding foam and went to town. And from what were seeing Starcraft didnt use the poor in garbage till '79. That knee brace almost looks like there was a hole in the bottom that needed some extra space to put the patch on so they busted away metal.

 

[djpeters]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Yeah, believe me, that was not factory poured in foam. Mine had it and there wasn't a square milimeter that didn't have foam, it was packed SOLID. If only your boat could talk! Nice boat, and it will be again soon. Good luck!

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

So today the weather cooperated with me and i did some work on the boat after work. Tomorrow i will stop at store and get plug, then fill boat with water to check for any major leaks. If none, then i hope to drain, then flip the boat. I purchased a Dual Action sander at Harbor Freight last week so i will use that in conjunction with a scotchbright pad to scuff up the existing paint in prep for some primer and paint.

I have to go up to harbor freight again tomorrow and pic up some of these .. they are cheap enuf, and will help tremendously after flipping during painting. Only $12 bucks on sale. I'll get 4 in case.

I pulled my teleflex out of the boat today. It was hard steering even with nothing hooked up. I think the grease inside the cable got gummed up, cause it takes my 250 lb self to really yank on the steering to get it to move. I guess I'll have to replace it with new teleflex. Better safe then sorry. Can anyone tell me how old the style of this teleflex is? It's labled teleflex all over the place.

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Well, i flipped her over last night. I know, nothing new most here haven't seen before but .. i did it myself. I little ingenuity goes a long way. It also helps to have styrofoam and old tires on hand. I teeter tottered the boat up on one side, then slowly walked over around the boat to the other side, and let her down. Then ran to harbor freight and got the dollies for $11.99 each x 4.

The sander

Today i started some grinding away of loose paint and sealant in between the aluminum joints when my craftsman 4.5" grinder sh*+ the bed. So i had to run out to Home Depot and picked up a nice 4.5" dewalt grinder for $60. It has a 3 year warranty vs the makita which was $10 more and only has a 1 year warranty. I also got some 150 grit sticky 6" sand paper for the Dual action sander.

Turns out the DA ( sander ) really works great on the paint. At 150 grit, it takes the sheen off the paint and smooths out the edges between where there is paint and isnt. So it kind of feathers it out. Not as much as i probably should but i could try a lower grit tomorrow. I will need at least 3 more 5 packs of sand paper to finish the sanding job. Decals have to come off, then a final scuff with a scotch pad i bought and then Zinc Chromate, then primer, then paint.
For now, come tomorrow at 430 its officially the weekend for me and as usual its family time. So more to come monday night if the weather holds.
I'm excited, the most important thing about this project is like Jason said, do at least something little every day.

Some sanding done .. yay ..

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Yup, just put one foot in front of the other and she'll get there. Good progress man!

 

[lakelover]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

I just found your thread, I'll be following along for sure. I love the smaller runabouts, nice find.

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Continued progress all be it slow progress on the boat. The garage has been tied up so all work is being performed outside. And for those living in the northeast/new england you know how wet it has been EVERY DAY for the last 3 weeks.

I sanded her down with 150 grit and dusted with zinc chromate. There were tons of little pits in the paint down to the aluminum so i had to dust the whole underside.

Then i primed her with Prekote, and painted with Brightsides White. Marvelous if i say so myself. And the paint lays JUST like Rustoleum as far as i'm concerned. It's just a hair thinner in my opinion. In this picture there is remnants of masking tape on the rub rail. It has since been cleaned nicely with mineral spirits and looks like day 1.

I love the new 'saphire blue' that interlux has. So much nicer than the old 1977 starcraft blue. The boat previously had a 3 inch boarder and then the famous starcraft wave on the side. I decided to do a 4 inch stripe and keep it simple. I'll eventually get a 'Starcraft' decal to put on each side below the stripe towards the back when she is ready.

Here it seems my tape job was measured incorrectly. Altho it only looks like this in the picture. In person you can't tell unless you measure it. It must be the angle the picture was taken. I love the way the paint came out. Again i love the blue. Sorry about these photos, they are all iphone. I'm lazy.

Today i turned her over on lunch. And wire brushed the inside and applied Gluv-It Generously. The tarp is on her to protect the gluvit from the UV rays. Tomrrow i clean the inside walls and prime. Thursday i paint the inside and splash well the same white as on the outside, and then eventually strip the paint on the topside down to aluminum. The sun over the years has done a number on the paint, and it must be stripped. Otherwise it will be a horrible base for primer and paint. I'm going to do the same 'saphire blue' on top, with 'maybe' 2 white racing stripes on the bow cap. I have seen this on other starcraft boats before and i kinda like it. After that, the transom and floor .. and so on and so on ..

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Yur blue over white looks sharp Chris!

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Nice little runabout you have Chrisp, great job on the paint, sounds like you have a plan and can stick to it.
Glen

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Well today it was 88.5 degrees in the office so i left after 30 minutes and took a vacation day off. Since again, weekends and holidays are family time, i got nothing done on the boat over the long holiday so i had to do some work today.

As you all know, masking with tape for paint, removing parts, this and that all takes A LOT of time. So much in fact that most of my family are now starting to ask, " you done yet with this thing ?" .. sigh ..

so today i hit up home depot and bought wood for the transom, some fiberglass and resin from west marine, and some paint stripper.

I stripped the boat of its blue top coat, removed all aluminum trim, masked, applied a dusting of Zinc Chromate, and built my transom which took the longest.

stripping paint and removing trim.

masked and painted ZC.

My transom. I went to HD, and got an 18 dollar a sheet 3/4 inch plywood. There were little to no voids, and the next best thing was 30 dollars and the only difference was that it was sanded and 'b' grade on the sanded side, and 'c' grade on the lesser sanded side .. at home depot you will see this called 'bc' ply ... they had NO arauco plywood and the guys had no clue what i was talking about. It depends on which HD you go to. The one in my girlfriends town an hour away has arauco, mine doesn't and my HD is the same size store. Oh well.
So i mixed up some epoxy resin, painted some on, laid down fiberglass mesh, painted again, sandwhiched the two 3/4" boards together, and screwed, and clamped them together for a few hours. After a few hours once the epoxy was cured enough to work with, i installed the transom, traced out the dip in the back, drilled some clearance holes for some rivets in the back, and applied additional epoxy to seal the transom on both sides. Each side was given time to cure well enough to handle before flipping.
I should have sandwhiched one sheet of 3/4, and one sheet of 1/2 to make the transom like factory. But i'll be hanging a fairly heavy 50hp, 1987 2 stroke johnson to the back and i wanted strength. So i had to router out an 1/8' inch on the bottom of the transom so it would fit between the transom back and the 1.5 inch space in the splash well. I think with the fiberglass mesh inside, and epoxy all around, i SHOULD have the strength i need. The boat says it maxes at 50 hp so i feel confident my overbuilt transom should be fine .. I also routered out two small channels 1/8'' deep for the gunwhales since my transom is extra thick, the gunwhales were preventing a good fit. I had no choice .. i also softened the edges with a 1/2'' corner round. It made for a snug fit. I like snug.

I just took these an hour ago and i was DEAD tired so again i apologize for the crappy iphone pics taken during dusk.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Once it's all glassed I'm sure it will be plenty strong enough.

Arauco ply comes from Lowes. Glad you found some decent ply at HD. They stuff I got there for my deck was crap.

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

i thought so too .. but the guys at lowes said the same thing .. try home depot .. ha !

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

So i been busy. Even took today off again to do some more work .. i was at it from 830 to 815.. i only stopped for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and to run out to store for supplies and more primer twice ..

So you all remember what someone did to my poor transom brace and last rib .. well i bent a flat aluminum bar length wise about 20 degrees and riveted it to the last rib .. this is better than nothing, and its the best i can come up with without hiring someone to TIG a better fix for me.

I rough cut the floor and placed it inside. It's half inch and i wasn't happy with the weakness of the wood. I now wish i went 5/8, but what ever. So i got some al. channel and riveted in braces to take my weight on the wood. This should provide both support for heavy people such as myself on 1/2 inch ply, and rigidity to the whole structure.
( ok so i copied off of jason )

This picture shows my paint job ( not super but great for me ) and an over all look at whats goin on .

A picture of the transom area with newly painted transom slipped in place. Fits like a glove.

Primer on the inside. ( i used rustoleum in the can, for both durability and easy touch up ! )

Fresh coat of primer where it counts ..

The floor has been west systems epoxy coated and is waiting to be installed tomorrow. I have to knock down the runs with a griinder and rivet in place. I have to pick up some pink foam board at home depot this week. I ordered some blue carpet ( yes carpet) and that should be delivered by the weekend. I have to fit the transom drain tubes shortly, and start installing hardware. Then the outboard and electrical and rest of interior and im done .. PHEW .. wish it were that easy.
I'm shooting for a 4th of july splash. It's gonna be close. I still have to decide on seating. Pedestal or back to back like original. I just don't know. Back to back is nice but dang it is ever expensive.
I also put WHITE marine vinyl inplace of the old blue vinyl on the dash. It's stapled in place and ready to be installed. Forgot that one .. sigh ...
back to work ..

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

Great progress Chrisp, looking good. I hope you get to stick with your July 4th launch.
Glen

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

That extra alum structure is great!

 

[chrisp929]

Re: 1977 Starcraft 14' Holiday Restoration has officially begun

So the floor has been fitted, pink board installed for flotation .. and everything buttoned up ..

I cut the carpet to the general size i need and once some small dabs of epoxy dry over night, ill be installing the carpet tomorrow. YAY .. carpets waiting on the bow..

Things are moving along.
Transom bolts and drain tubes installed, and sealed with 4200. Gunwales riveted and screwed into place. Dash board installed ( wow what a pain in the butt ) ..

I ordered some white back to back wise boat seats which i found cheapest at walmart for $180 shipped a piece. I ordered on thursday, and it said to expect delivery some time this week to come. To my surprise, the fedex guy was honkin at my door yesterday morning ( saturday !!!! ) .. i could NOT believe the speed of shipping from walmart AND free shipping AND cheapest price for wise seats in white. So the fedex guy pulls out the first box and i carry it onto my porch. As he's rummaging in the back of the truck for seat number two, we find the box, and before he even removes the box from the truck i stop him. I saw a HUGE gash like from a razor in the box, and upon inspection while the box was still on the truck, the driver and i found the seat to have a big gash in it also. DANG IT! But since shipping is so fast, walmart is ALREADY shipping out another seat free of charge ... yay ...
i gott hit walmart and get some cutting board for the transom shim tomorrow..
I have to install windshield, outboard, electrical .. and i think im done ..phew .. the end is NEAR !