1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

[AndySky]

Hello all!

My father bought this boat years back sight unseen (whoops) a few years ago with the idea of restoring it, but it ended up looking a lot worse to him once he actually laid eyes on it and gave up on the project.




I went to take a look at it the other day with the notion of using the trailer for something else, and was struck by how cool the hull was, and was thinking about whether a restoration project on it was actually possible.

The major issue is that dozens of the rivets on the bottom of the hull were covered in some kind of epoxy by the previous owner. It also looks like he used sheet metal screws instead of rivets for certain repairs. I suspect that these gobs of epoxy are covering up some fairly significant corrosion. See the pic below for an example:



More:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20608566/Starcraft/Photo%20Mar%2008%2C%203%2023%2052%20PM.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20608566/Starcraft/Photo Mar 08, 3 25 30 PM.jpg

Is it even possible to restore it? Is it at all possible that the epoxy gobs over the rivets are not a sign of major corrosion? Even if this is more of a project than I can take on, does the hull have any value beyond scrap? I know its a rare hull. Any help or advise the experts on here could provide would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[erwinner]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Could be that the rivits just got leaky and needed rebuking, but instead, the PO covered them in epoxy.
Was it run in saltwater?

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Yes, it was run in saltwater.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Welcome to iboats.

Yes, it is restorable.

You can use a stainless steel wire brush on a drill and eat right through that epoxy to get to the gist of things. It looks like a quickie repair but not hard to fix the right way.

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Are the sheet metal screws a major cause for concern?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Replace them with stainless steel bolts or rivets

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

This is an easy way to replace your bad rivets and sheet metal screws and it works well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MA1-5NXjs&feature=related

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

I don't know diddly-squat bout aluminum boats...But...

From what I have read and learned here on iboats, aluminum boats are almost indestructible and almost uncorrodeable...

Get the hull good and cleaned up and you might be surprised to find that it is in very good shape...

You can use a SS wire wheel as has been mentioned, or if you have a shop that can Soda-blast it for a fair price, might be worth the expense...

Then it's a matter of making the necessary repairs and you could end up with a really nice boat...

It does have a very cool looking hull...

Best of Luck,
GT1M

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Thanks for all the advice!

Is there any chance I can fix these rivets without taking out the floor and all of the foam? Or would that be a mistake?

 

[starcrazy]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Love the boat, next one will hopefully be a 21'. Although, I think I should wait until after I complete the 18' CC rebuild...

Best of luck.

wr

 

[bob johnson]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Thanks for all the advice!

Is there any chance I can fix these rivets without taking out the floor and all of the foam? Or would that be a mistake?

yes, solid blind rivets......they are a step lower than the perfect method...but still viable..and has been talked about here often.

they are specialty....if you find the correct thread, a guy has posted a youtube video of them being used!! nice

good luck

bob

 

[Piece715]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

If it was me and the boat was needing a restore anyways I'd just do it all at once. Is that diamond plate, carpet, vinyl on the floor?
Who knows if there is foam in the puppy and whether its waterlogged etc which can add serious lbs to the boat which will mess up performance.
Hows the power on her? still running? remember cuz she was run in salt water ull wanna stop by the engine section and do some reading; Are you planning on running her in fresh or salt?
Very knowledge people in these parts... just have to ask the right questions in the right places... always try to search ur question first then ask

Tinny's are a lot of fun and restoring them is tons of fun! The possibilities are endless... i went WAY outside the box with mine. WELCOME TO THE DRY DOCK!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Here's a link to the vid on using the blind pop rivets and the correct tool for the job...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MA1-5NXjs&feature=related

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Thanks for all the advice!

Is there any chance I can fix these rivets without taking out the floor and all of the foam? Or would that be a mistake?

yes, solid blind rivets......they are a step lower than the perfect method...but still viable..and has been talked about here often.

they are specialty....if you find the correct thread, a guy has posted a youtube video of them being used!! nice

good luck

bob

Here's a link to the vid on using the blind pop rivets and the correct tool for the job...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0MA1-5NXjs&feature=related

Look at post #7 in this thread.

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

The power is a '96 Evinrude ocean pro 200 HP that I'm pretty confident will be ok after some effort. It started and ran with good compression last time we gave it a shot.

I plan on keeping it docked in fresh water the vast majority of the time, but I do occasionally trailer to saltwater.

The floor is diamond plate right now. I'm debating whether to do the blind rivets first to make the boat usable or to take out the deck and the foam first and do the whole deal all at once. That might be a little more than I can bite off right now. The foam removal seems pretty time consuming.

I'm planning on taking off The apoxy in the next couple of days, I'll post pics and hope for more feedback before I make a final call. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

My latest idea is to turn this into a big ultra lite bow rider type concept. I've searched around a bit and haven't found anything on someone trying something like that. Any feedback on the idea or links to other projects would be much appreciated.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

You won't have any trouble at all with the closed end blind rivets, and after you've installed a couple of them you'll see and feel how tough and strong they are.

 

[AndySky]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

I honestly hadn't considered the possibility that there might not be any foam down there. I can't wait until tomorrow morning to get over there and take another look at her!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

Restorable? Youbettcha! The guys have ya all set with the rivets n such. If it were me I pull up the deck and do it all at once. It would be good to know what's going on under there, eh?

Welcome to iboats!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: 1984 22 ft. Starcraft Aluminum Center Console - Restorable?

If it were me I pull up the deck and do it all at once. It would be good to know what's going on under there, eh?

Welcome to iboats!

You and me both!

If that boat was mine, I'd have it in so many pieces....