1986 Starcraft Restoration

[C/ODave]

Hello I am a new member. I bought a 1986 Starcraft bow rider this spring to have fun with the family. I had planned on replacing the floor and add some swivel seats. But after looking at some of the restorations on this forum, in particular "Naked Lady" i am inspired to do a complete restoration including changing the Hull color. My only problem right now is that i do not have a place to work on the boat through out this winter, and I am having too much fun with it to start on the restoration now. I even started looking for another starcraft to put on the water for the summer. Problem is there are not many for sale in my area. I spent hours looking over posts yesterday and got tons of ideas. I could not get over how nice everyone was when responding to posts. I cant wait to pick your brains and try my hand at bringing this old tin goddess back to glory.

 

[dozerII]

:welcome:to the Starmada Dave, great looking Strarcraft you found. Little sister to the 21 I redid a couple years back. Looking forward to following along.

 

[coostv]

From the outside she looks like a good clean starting point! I too have gathered many ideas and plans from perusing the forum. I would poke around at the transom wood and make sure it is solid. Mine didn't look too bad until I took it apart. You can always replace what is bad now and reserve more in depth projects for later. Mine was supposed to be on the water by now...

 

[C/ODave]

:welcome:to the Starmada Dave, great looking Strarcraft you found. Little sister to the 21 I redid a couple years back. Looking forward to following along.

Thank you Glen. You were my biggest motivator in this project. The boats you did are first class.I admire that you always went the extra mile instead of taking short cuts. Please by all means, if you have any input do not hesitate. The only thing i ask is please respect my choice to change the color of the Hull. I did see your pictures after you polished the 21 and it looked much better, but i do not like the color at all. I had always wanted to change the color of the Hull and even had thoughts of polishing it but could not find any good examples of the idea until I saw naked lady. I do love the look, though i must admit i would feel like a bit of a copy cat if I were to go that route. Thank you ever so much for following along, cant wait to get started.

 

[C/ODave]

From the outside she looks like a good clean starting point! I too have gathered many ideas and plans from perusing the forum. I would poke around at the transom wood and make sure it is solid. Mine didn't look too bad until I took it apart. You can always replace what is bad now and reserve more in depth projects for later. Mine was supposed to be on the water by now...

Thank you coostv, the Hull is does not leak a drop. But, the floors are soft, the interior is well worn. I would hate the thought of having to do a transom rebuild, but if i have to then so be it. I would prefer to do it all at once though. I will most likely finish the season out, try and build a heated work shop before winter and work on it then. The winters here in Maine are quit long and it would be good to have a project to work on and keep my mind occupied.

 

[C/ODave]

A little about the boat. I bought from a friend who had just rebuilt the motor. The cylinders are slightly bored out and the VRO has been discontinued. The motor runs amazing. I am finding that the steering is stiff at times and has a hitch to it. I cant seem to find a cable for the original Teleflex system so I will most likely need to buy the entire updated helm kit and cable. I would also like to change the tilt/trim controls from the console to the remote handle. I plan on doing a lot of tubing and skiing with it and i would feel more comfortable with having those controls as my thumb while I steer. I am hoping that is just a matter of buying the tilt/trim handle for my existing controls.

 

[dozerII]

Thanks for the kind words Dave. Changing from that blue would not hurt my feelings in the least, but it would be great to take pictures and measurements for the decal and strip. They are pretty unique and would be great to have reproduced in a color to match what your using on the boat.

 

[C/ODave]

Thanks for the kind words Dave. Changing from that blue would not hurt my feelings in the least, but it would be great to take pictures and measurements for the decal and strip. They are pretty unique and would be great to have reproduced in a color to match what your using on the boat.

I will most likely do that. Although i have thought about doing something different there also. I have some pretty radical ideas for customizing, yet keeping some old charm and evening adding some old Wood boat type characteristics to it also. I will probably be asking a lot of questions and asking a lot of opinions. I have too many ideas and will have a hard time making some of the choices on my own. The Hull color I choice will be the biggest factor in the decal that i use.

 

[Candutch]

Welcome to the Starmada Dave! That's a fine looking tinny you have and looking forward to following along on your rebuild. I don't think you have to worry about offending anyone on this forum by not keeping your rebuild original. There are lots of members making radical modifications like myself and lots that prefer to keep the original look, but everyone seems to appreciate that we are all bringing back the glory of these old boats the way that we want to. Have fun with the rebuild when the time comes and enjoy your summer with your new boat.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard Dave :wave:

You found a great candidate for a restore, SC makes some of the best boats on the planet, I may be a bit biased though. :lol:

What HP is your OB? When you get a chance if could pop a few more pics for us I'd appreciate it, we love lots of pics and you won't be sorry to have the record of your SS's transformation. hoto:

 

[C/ODave]

Welcome to the Starmada Dave! That's a fine looking tinny you have and looking forward to following along on your rebuild. I don't think you have to worry about offending anyone on this forum by not keeping your rebuild original. There are lots of members making radical modifications like myself and lots that prefer to keep the original look, but everyone seems to appreciate that we are all bringing back the glory of these old boats the way that we want to. Have fun with the rebuild when the time comes and enjoy your summer with your new boat.

Thank you for the encouragement. Glad to have you follow along.

 

[C/ODave]

Welcome aboard Dave :wave:

You found a great candidate for a restore, SC makes some of the best boats on the planet, I may be a bit biased though. :lol:

What HP is your OB? When you get a chance if could pop a few more pics for us I'd appreciate it, we love lots of pics and you won't be sorry to have the record of your SS's transformation. hoto:

I am running the original 70hp Johnson. It had been rebuilt and the VRO had been disabled.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Not sure if any here have changed the color more or butchered theirs more than i have and still get tons of support. So no worries there! Looking forward to following another first class resto. My next one will be a resto back to original or better though.

 

[C/ODave]

Not sure if any here have changed the color more or butchered theirs more than i have and still get tons of support. So no worries there! Looking forward to following another first class resto. My next one will be a resto back to original or better though.

Thank you for the encouragement. I am having a tough time on deciding a color. I want to go bold.

 

[Watermann]

Now you're talking, I'll be looking forward to seeing the transformation.

 

[C/ODave]

No Title

So I have not made any head way on the restoration, but i have been using the crap out of the boat. I am still loving it

 

[Watermann]

Nice to see the old boat making memories and as long as she isn't suffering from any structural issues then it's all good. :thumb:

 

[BMerr509]

Will be following you C/O Dave, looks like you've got a great boat for the family! Careful, you might get "Footitis" and want a bigger one! Good luck with your choices for restoration, you are right in that some of the restorations here at iboats are incredible. I'm learning more here than I did in college!!!

 

[C/ODave]

Will be following you C/O Dave, looks like you've got a great boat for the family! Careful, you might get "Footitis" and want a bigger one! Good luck with your choices for restoration, you are right in that some of the restorations here at iboats are incredible. I'm learning more here than I did in college!!!

One of the days on the lake we had some pretty big waves. I realized i did want a bigger boat. That thought haunted me for a days. My conclusion was to find a bigger boat and turn mine into a dual purpose boat for fishing and fun. I changed some of my plans to achieve this. I will be sharing those thoughts closer to restore time.

 

[C/ODave]

Nice to see the old boat making memories and as long as she isn't suffering from any structural issues then it's all good. :thumb:

She has not leaked one drop and the entire time I have used it. I keep a close eye on the transom and see no major changes. I did have to put a swivel seat in today because one of the sun bather seats finally gave out. I wanted a better seat for me any how. The boating season here in Maine will only be about another 2 more months or so. I think she will finish out the season before i need to rip into is.