1982 Starcraft 160ss restoration...

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eMKay

eMKay

Seaman
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May 14, 2008
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I figured I should duplicate my thread over here in the Starcraft section...

Yeah, another one, lol. I've been trying to buy this poor neglected Starcraft for awhile now from a coworker, finally got him to part with it. It's a 1982 with a 1985 60hp (former)VRO. The engine is fine, the rest of the boat is not. Rotten deck, weird hacked in fishing mods, ugly paint.

I work at a marina as a marine tech, but primarily on sailboats (I have had a dozen sailboats, first powerboat) so I know how to do a lot, but certainly not everything. First time working on something not made of fiberglass.

So far I have gotten it home, taken the engine and consoles off, ready to rip out the rotten deck. I'll be posting pictures of that later.

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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I got the floor out, the interior out, all the foam out which was easier than I expected, I thought it would be really firmly bonded to the aluminum. With the boat naked I can tell Starcraft is a "value" brand, LOL. For one thing, the foam was so thick on the port side it was pushing the floor up, and on the starboard side there was a lot less of it. Other things too, other than the excellent workmanship on the hull, the rest of the boat is just slapped together. The stringers are held to the ribs with pop rivets made from a much cheaper aluminum than the solid rivets and hull are (I believe these are 5052? that's serious quality aluminum) there is no sign of corrosion on anything made of 5052, but the pop rivets on the stringers, most of them are just gone. I think there were only 7 or 8 left holding them on. The knee brace has one crack in it, it's in much better shape than some others I've seen in restoration threads here. Of course everything made of wood is just mush but I have a solid base to work with.

Other than that the previous owner before the last owner did so many weird mods, like the 1/4" steel plate on the bow? trolling motor maybe? There are so many holes all around the gunnels too. I'm just going to cover them with Nautolex. The rest of the boat will be similar to one I saw here...

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat-...build?t=378656

Except the hull will be blue and black like the current Starcrafts. Marine electrical systems is what I do so that's going to be all new, and pretty basic. It will have a real shutoff switch, real breakers, a stereo, LED lights, an electric trolling motor, and a simple char/finder. Nothing like I install at work, this is just a toy that will see occasional use for fishing, tubing, I'll pull it behind my motorhome camping. If I can bring myself around to buy two slips at work I'll park it next to my 26' sailboat but it's so small and light I'll probably just launch it every time. It's so light I couldn't even tell it was there behind my Sienna, my wifes car can tow this thing (Subaru Crosstrek)

So here are some progress pics


Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

See the steel plate? I mean, really?
Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Starcraft Restoration by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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nothing got done over the weekend as we were camping, but today I went shopping, and stripped everything off the gunnels, and got the transom almost ready to pull. also I believe I discovered where the leak is. The knee brace has 8 rivets holding it to the hull, well I should say it used to, because now it only has 3 rivets holding it to the hull. I guess I get some more practice bucking solid rivets.

3 sheets of 1/2" and 2 sheets of 3/8" Arauco ACX, it should be enough for the deck and all the trim pieces. Oh yeah, it's going to be safety blue. I love that color, it's almost like Mariner Blue Mazda used on Miatas.Another 2.5 hours, 10.5 total.
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Nautolex, epoxy to seal the wood, glue for the nautolex, new trailer lights, a box of rivets, some muffs (I could have just borrowed some from work, but I figured why not have my own set)
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

3 rivets
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

No RIVETS! when I turn the boat over I'll see what it looks like, but I better get some rivets from my aircraft mechanic friends!
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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I got the boat flipped over today, there are several rivets popped out, and one 1/4" rivet that's just gone. several more that are covered in some kind of goop. I also salvaged some marine grade plywood used in the berths on a 50' Elco that was abandoned at our marina, and we are dismanteling. It will work well for the transom, I got 3 1/2" thick sheets of it and it's already covered with some kind of very hard paint or epoxy. It definitely feels like a 2 part product. Very strong plywood, much stiffer than the cheap Lowes ACX stuff I bought. I wish I could get more but there weren't many dry parts of this poor boat left. I also tried some 15 minute stripper I got at Home Depot, it's more like 15 second stripper, works good. Completely removes one worry I had about stripping it. I didn't want to have to sand for hours!

My garage is a disaster! Now that I'm at stripping and painting stage I have to clean that mess up and kick my wifes car out.
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

WOW! Can you say hack job?
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

That is a 1/4" hole. In the bottom of a boat. Previous owner said "yeah it leaks but the bilge pump keeps up with it" LOL!
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

15 minute huh? More like 15 seconds...
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

And then I thought "I wonder if it works on the graphics?" "Yep, sure does".
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

This is the boat we are taking apart at work. Such a shame, it was once a spectacular beauty. Some of it will live on though, in other boats, in various furniture projects, part of it will be a bar...
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

My other baby, this boat has issues of it's own that need fixing, but at least it's in the water being enjoyed...
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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Making progress, I'm about 1/3rd the way done with stripping, and drilled out all the bad rivets. Last two nights I have 4 hours, 14.5 total. I ordered some gluvit today.
Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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Bottom all riveted together, sanded and primed. My goal is to paint it by Sunday morning as we are leaving for a week camping, so when I come back the paint should be pretty hard.

I also made the new transom, and since all my plywood from Lowes isn't 3/8" 1/2" and so on, iit's what, 11/32, and 15/32? I had to experiment to get close as I could to 1 1/2", so 3 layers of 3/8" and one of 1/2" and it was right on. I epoxied them together, I will then sand and coat the entire thing in epoxy.

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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Got some black on it, maybe tomorrow if the black is dry enough to tape I'll get some blue on it. Then it will sit for 8 days. It turned out pretty good, the bottom is pretty rough from sitting in the water during the summers, but the hull sides are pretty nice. The bow turned out pretty well. My second time spraying Rustoleum with hardener in it. This is two coats, Used an entire quart, I have another quart, should I do more?

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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The second coat went on so nice, I'm stopping there. No more progress for a week, we are going camping. Wish we were taking the boat! But it's a family vacation, 5 families, 4 boats will be there. That will give the paint some time to cure, it's Rustoleum with hardener in it so it will take less time than usual, but still takes awhile. Last thing I painted this way was a motorcycle tank and that turned out really well, but never got as durable as a true 2 part. But I thinned that with acetone alone and I think it's too aggressive and made it too brittle, easy to chip. This time I followed this guide I linked below.

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
eMKay

eMKay

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May 14, 2008
Messages
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I got it flipped over with the help of my 2 brothers in law and my sister, MUCH easier with 4 people than by myself that's for sure. Also, got some 43" long graphics, $30 on ebay. I went with silver, and it really looks nice. Next step is gluvit the seams, install new transom, foam, floor, all the fun stuff! It's always better to be putting things back together. I also got rid of those tilt brackets on the calkins trailer, they would not allow the boat to slide forward any further, and there was not nearly enough tongue weight before. I could pick it up with one hand! I just put bunk brackets, bunks, and rollers for the keel. I'm working on painting the trailer a bit but it's not a priority. I did discover one of the springs is much more compressed than the other, so I'm getting new springs and bearings. One is shot.

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Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr

Untitled by eMKayUSA, on Flickr
 
Watermann

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
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Hey you could've had a mod just move your thread in the resto section over here to the SC forum. Not sure they're going to like you having duplicate threads.
 
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