1980 starcraft SS restoraton

[richardlee]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

Thanks, Keith. You have been a help. I will need to find a stringer or have one made. I am cutting plywood for my flooring today. The back 2 pieces were easy. I am working on the piece where the consoles mount. I had at first thought the floors angled up from there to just below the top of the bow. The ridge along the side looked like it at one time had flooring. But if I do that, the floor doesn't touch the stringers. I am cutting a cardboard pattern before I cut the plywood. I hope to have all the flooring cut today as well as the plywood for the consoles. I will post some pics later.

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

that front peice needs to be notched at each rib to fit properly, luckily my front peice of floor was still good so i had a template

 

[tomats]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

I have an 18 ft 1981 mariner, simliar hull, that I just restored, I wished I had floated it first to see where the leaks are, unless you are planning on sealing all the seams and rivets you may want to consider launching it with the floor out to see if its watertight. I wished I'd had

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

i sealed all the rivets and seams, but what i did was put a little water in the boat (not much just enough to cover most rivets) then i tilted the trailer forward, backward and side to side and let it sit in various positions till every rivet had water sitting over it for a few mins to see which rivets were leaking and i made sure to give those rivets extra attention

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

i was looking at the boat and i keep hearing about reinforcing stringers. is that just fiberglass boats or is there anything i can do to mine?

 

[mark1961]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

The "stringers" in these tin boats do little more than support the deck.....provided they are serviceable, no need to do anything to them imo.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

The "stringers" in these tin boats do little more than support the deck.....provided they are serviceable, no need to do anything to them imo.

I don't think so...................

Think ground/up, think left/right, think all 4 points of the compass, think basic stick frame construction.

The ribs runs laterally, the stringers run longnitudanally. The ribs are attached to the hull which is attached to the port and star chines.

The stringers attached to the ribs provide not only floor support, but gridlock each rib, and when the decking is adhered(riveted) to the stringer, as well as the ribs on each outer area near the chines, you have all points interlocked.

The same concept happens higher up with the bow crossbeam and the aft crossbeam, as well as some upper support from the consoles, with that walk-thru, it is supported below deck at the intersection of the fore stringer end and the bulkhead.

In other words, stringers do more than provide a nailer for the decking.

As far as reinforcing the stringers, I doubled up areas for additional vertical support as well as lateral support for a ski tow and other reasons for modification needs, added weight for upper decking.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

You should not need to reinforce your stringers.

 

[Starman8]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

You should not need to reinforce your stringers.

no reinforce required unless special modification, like a bow deck?

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

i am planning a bow casting deck and gonna try and figure a way to put a livewell under the deck

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

what size bow mount trolling motor would work well on this size of boat. i forgot to measure how long of shaft i need so im hoping someone with a similar boat could chime in. im also wondering how many lb of thrust i will need. im thinking a 24 volt system is my best bet

im just buying my parts for the boat (carpet, wiring etc.) over the winter so progress will slow over till spring since i dont have a heated garage and working on anything metal at -30C well...... kinda sucks

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

I've a got 40 pound bow mount for mine and it is more the adequate. Thing down right trucks if you put it on high speed. I had no interest in dealing with a 24V one.

 

[LonLB]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

what size bow mount trolling motor would work well on this size of boat. i forgot to measure how long of shaft i need so im hoping someone with a similar boat could chime in. im also wondering how many lb of thrust i will need. im thinking a 24 volt system is my best bet

im just buying my parts for the boat (carpet, wiring etc.) over the winter so progress will slow over till spring since i dont have a heated garage and working on anything metal at -30C well...... kinda sucks

Shaft Length.
I have a similar boat, but mine is a Sea Nymph. The trolling motor I currently have has a 48" shaft. It's way to short. The Minn Kota Shafts come in 50" and 60". I think the 60" is the best bet.

As for size. The one I have is also a 55lb motor. I'm not sure how it will do because I haven't used it on this boat yet. However, about 5-6 years ago I bought a new Tracker 16' Pro V. It was about the same depth as these boats, but quite a bit wider. It came with a 45lb motor stock. It was WAY to small.
Sure it worked fine on nice calm days. But, there were times when you just couldn't fish because of the wind. I replaced it with a 65lb 24V, and that did the trick.

Wiring up the 24V is a piece of cake. Just a couple cables long enough to connect the batteries and your good.

Another something I'll add. These are not terribly heavy boats. Especially compared to new aluminums, and glass boats. That makes them able to use a smaller motor in the calmest of conditions. However, that lack of weight makes them WORSE in windy conditions, Requiring a larger motor than a heavier boat.

BTW should you find a REALLY good deal on a Minn Kota, you can buy longer shafts from Minn Kota. They are around 30 bucks.

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

what size bow mount trolling motor would work well on this size of boat. i forgot to measure how long of shaft i need so im hoping someone with a similar boat could chime in. im also wondering how many lb of thrust i will need. im thinking a 24 volt system is my best bet

im just buying my parts for the boat (carpet, wiring etc.) over the winter so progress will slow over till spring since i dont have a heated garage and working on anything metal at -30C well...... kinda sucks

Hey Keith, looks like you have a great project there, I had a Minnkota PD55 54"shaft on my 16SS and I have the same on my 18SS. They are 12 volt and work very well. I think I saw a couple of them listed on Kijiji in Winnipeg latley for a very reasonable price. If you go Minnkota spring for the quick release mount it is worth every penny.
Glen

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

thanks for the responses. i will be watching kijiji classifieds all winter and will pick something up before spring.

here. so far all is cut out the new floor but have it sitting in my garage for winter, i replaced the transom and applied gluvit to all the rivets. that will be the extent of the rebuilding till april or whenever it defrosts here.



its funny because i never noticed how weak the old transom was till i mounted the motor on the new one. its solid as a rock now!

also dozerII where about in sask are you? i lived in saskatoon for about 2 years

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

Hey Keith, I'm down in the South West corner of province Swift Current area.
Here ia a great deal on a PD 55 with the quick release bracket which is $75.00 alone http://winnipeg.kijiji.ca/c-cars-ve...sories-Minn-Kota-bow-mount-W0QQAdIdZ319628521
Glen

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

im looking at what i need to buy for a livewell, i came across this bracket that holds a pump onto the transom, imnot a fan of cutting holes below my waterline so this i what i want to do. has anyone made a similar bracket to this? i know i could just buy that online but by the time i factor in shipping to canada its gonna be closer to $60

http://www.boatdepot.com/productdetails.aspx?part=EZ-500

im thinking if i wait till around christmas time there wil be trolling motors popping up on kijiji

 

[LonLB]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

It's your call, but there are literally 10's of thousands of boats with a livewell pump hole. The install ends up much cleaner, and best of all the pump isn't visible, or vulnerable from the outside of the boat.

Besides the pump to draw in water to the livewell you will need enough hose to connect it, a livewell tank (I got mine through Great Lakes Skipper), enough hose to connect the pump to the livewell tank, and a sprayer head mounted high in the tank to fill it.

Then a drain hole, w/plug is the bare essentials, IMO. You can use this setup, and just drain the livewell into the bilge, and pump out the water w/the bilge pump, or drain it through the drain plug hole.

An aerator would be nice also. For that, you need another thru hull livewell pump, mounted outside the tank. It picks up water at the bottom of the tank, and sprays it back in at the top. There are a few different sprayer heads to use in this situation.

I don't want my livewell to just drain into the bilge, and because of my string setup, I didn't install a drain with a separate drain hose. Instead I'm installing a valve on the aerator pump hose, and connecting to a thru hull fitting. This way I can use the aerator pump to pump the water out of the livewell.

 

[Keithwpg]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

so today im out with the gf shopping and i pop by to look through the fishing and boat sections as i usually do and i seen they had a powerdrive minn kota (not the V2) and they were blowing it out, its a 65 lb motor with foot pedal and 54 inch shaft and 24 volt. pretty much what i wanted, little more thrust than i wanted but i will love it when the wind picks up! plus if its overpowered for the boat i wont need to run it wide open to move the boat in normal conditions. it was regular $899 on sale for $449, brand new in box! seems to be a pretty sweet deal

 

[LonLB]

Re: 1980 starcraft SS restoraton

I had the same exact T/M before, and it worked out great. You won't be disappointed.