1983 starcraft ss180 restore

[Travishamrick20]

Hello everyone. I purchased this boat about two months ago and have worked on it as much as I can find the time to do so. So far I have stripped it down, patched a few corosion holes, rebucked some rivets, sanded, primed, and almost finished the painting on boat and trailer. I hope to be able to put it back on the trailer next week and start on the inside. My plan is to gluvit the rivets and seams on the inside, potentially paint the inside under the floor, add a fuel tank in the belly, install foam and floor and transom, paint and put all the pieces of splash well and gunnell and trim back on, build center console and hang a 1993 johnson 88 spl on the back. There's probably a few things I missed in my steps lol but over all it has been a really fun project so far. Some of my questions are how stable are these boats as far as walking around and rocking side to side? How well will my 88 spl push the boat? Should I paint underneath where the floor will be? And any other advise or tips you guys may have for me. I will try to post the pics I've taken so far. I'm not really good at taking pics and I'm even worse at remembering to take pics as I go along. So if there is any pics in particular you'd like to see just let me know.

 

[Moserkr]

Nice boat! Shop too haha. Looks like you are well on your way to getting her splashed. Good plan too, Im a few steps behind you and following a similar order so keep showing her off!

I have a 16ss and it goes 30mph with a 75 johnson. Im guessing yours will do similar. Boats ride great in the water and are plenty stable, and mines shorter than yours. I bet yours could handle a larger motor too if you wanted it.

From what Ive read its not recommended to paint under the floor. I guess it makes it harder to spot issues or something, plus you never see it.

Only advice is post more pics!

 

[classiccat]

Welcome! It looks like you're well on your way there!

if it's still hanging upside down, that's a good time to seal the bottom double seam from the outside...then get the inside when it's right-side-up.

If you paint inside, just be sure you have excellent adhesion. Otherwise its just 1 more thing to flake off and trap water. It looks nice though.

As far as stability goes, my previous boat was a 16' displacement hull (liked to roll), so my 18' SS (1975) seems very stable to me. Yet I've heard others complain when comparing to a more modern, ultra wide beam boat.

 

[Travishamrick20]

Thanks guys. Seems I may not paint under the floor after all. I dont want to create any future problems. And yeah it could handle a larger outboard. Its rated for a 140 hp but I took in a old tri hull with the 88 spl on a trade, the motor is jam up, perfect compression and fires right off as soon as you turn the key. So I figure I'll run it until it dies then maybe upgrade lol 30 mph would be fine for me. And the stability sounds good. I've put it in the water once when I got it completely stripped down to check for leaks. Obviously at that point I could lean slightly and turn it on its side due to it having no weight lol. My other boat is a 1648 landau flat bottom jon boat so I'm trying to get an idea if it will be that stable when I walk around in it or more so?

 

[BWR1953]

Thanks guys. Seems I may not paint under the floor after all. I dont want to create any future problems. And yeah it could handle a larger outboard. Its rated for a 140 hp but I took in a old tri hull with the 88 spl on a trade, the motor is jam up, perfect compression and fires right off as soon as you turn the key. So I figure I'll run it until it dies then maybe upgrade lol 30 mph would be fine for me. And the stability sounds good. I've put it in the water once when I got it completely stripped down to check for leaks. Obviously at that point I could lean slightly and turn it on its side due to it having no weight lol. My other boat is a 1648 landau flat bottom jon boat so I'm trying to get an idea if it will be that stable when I walk around in it or more so?

My 16' Kingfisher rolls a fair bit when I'm moving around. It's not like a boat with a flatter, more square bottom.

 

[Moserkr]

Wife and I upgraded from a 1436 lol where you literally feel like falling out constantly. So it was a huge difference in stability to us.

 

[N1265]

I have owned and restored both 16' and 18' Holidays, witch are the same hull as the ss but with a closed bow. I am 350# and usually go out alone. I feel completly safe in the 18' as far as roll but not so much in the 16'. When I am in the 16' and have to go to one side of the boat I usually drop to one knee in rougher water, I also put a bench seat in the 16' so I can sit in the middle of the boat to balance out the weight more. I ran a 40 hp Yamaha on the 16', and a 85hp on the 18' and they were plenty of motor for me ( 1977 18' holiday with 1976 85hp evenrude = 32 ish mph ) depending on how much you plan on weighing down your boat, your 88 should serve you well. Just because the boat is rated for a bigger motor does not mean your back will take it. These boats are light and will beat you in rougher water, Even with the 85hp Evenrude I only run WOT when the lake is like glass. Also, I do not paint the bottom of the boat but I do paint the bottom of the wood floor and I use 3/4 toung and grove sheeting. Replacing wood is not my favorite thing to do so I try to make it last. Looks like you are doing a good job so far and keep sending us pictures

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard and to the Starmada,

You have one of the 80's lots changing models that is half smooth half lap side. After the V5 run and before SC went totally away from the laps and swooshes.

The 18'rs will run fine but not be a speed demon with the 88 or 90. I'm running a 115 Merc now on my very heavy SS and loaded up it gets a solid 40.

Once these boats are put back together with new they are very stable and sea worthy.