'74 21ft Chieftain

[doubleud]

New member from the south here. I picked this beauty up a few months ago. So far all I have done is start the teardown of the interior. Unfortunately, this will likely be a long term rehab. I have seen some of the top notch restorations on this site and having done a couple glasser restorations, I know what kinda time and money these things take. Anyway on to the boat. some of you may have seen this on craigslist a while back. I drove 4 hours to get it on the sellers word that it was in "really good shape". Kinda figured that wasnt the case, but it was worse than I hoped. I dont know if this guy really thought this was "good shape" or not but after a 4 hour drive I was kinda at a negotiating disadvantage. Not to mention I have been looking for a big chief for a while and this is the first I have seen even remotely close to good ol Alabama. So I gave the guy my hard earned cash and became the proud owner of this



Complete with a big dent in the bow, matching dent on the side, a questionable engine, trashed outdrive, junk trailer, and in need of the usual floor / complete interior. It looks like i can repair the dent with ALOT of rivet drilling and a new piece of aluminum to replace the "keel" piece.



On the bright side, the interior of the cuddy looks pretty good other than the color and most of the pieces are still there. Unfortunately, the "windshield" was replaced with two poor fitting pieces of acrylic which let plenty of rainwater in to make the cushions unuseable.

I removed all the non skid off the sides and heres my starting point

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Oh and the first of many questions, does anyone have any pics of the cuddy windshield trim / whatever is supposed to be there? All I have is the piece of aluminum channel on the bottom, screwed to the deck. Someone removed all the trim then used a few pounds of clear silicone in an attempt to glue some acrylic right to the outer edges of the cabin. Hopefully i can get some pics of whats supposed to be there and fabricate some new windshield trim.

 

[1973Chieftain]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Welcome aboard man!!!:welcome:

Could you post a couple more pics of the dent? If it's not leaking, my thought would be use it as is. But is that a crack in the aluminum above it? That would be more serious

 

[redneck joe]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

if i'm looking at the same looks like bad paint job worn off.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

^^ Joe got it

If youre talking about the jagged line right above the waterline, thats where a strip of paint peeled off. Unfortunately all I have is some crappy cell phone pics. I agree with the run it like it is, but it will bother me from now on if i leave it. From the inside, it looks like the hull metal is unharmed, but the strip of aluminum that makes up the "keel" is folded over too far to be bent straight. I'm planning to remove about 18" of the "keel piece and replace it with a new piece of metal, and rivit it in just like it was. I will have one additional seam in the metal this way, but i dont see why it wouldnt work. Oh and I have enlisted the help of a friend that used to do aircraft work to help with the riviting. As for the hull leaks, doesnt look like it was leaking. And it appearesto have been moored at a marina based upon all the gunk on the bottom of the hull. So hopefully I dont create too many leaks.

I pulled the plug on the engine after I got the boat and found it had been winterized. The last decal on the hull was from 2011. Had to know, so we hooked up a fresh battery and stuck the fuel line in a gas jug, after a few seconds of cranking it fired right up. Couldnt run it long with no muffs on the outdrive, but it sounded good with no rattling / missfiring.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Dude, you took the smiley face off....

Watermann's is a 21ft Chief, don't know if it's a 1974 or not. There are a few Chief resto's look thru them, you might find the pix you're looking for of the window trim/detail.
Starcraft Rebuilds and Restorations, they're all here!

Which engine/outdrive are we talking about?

Welcome to the Tin-sanity..

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Thanks guys, been looking through the build threads but cant find exactly what I'm looking for on the windshield thing. The bottom windshield frame is still there, It's a piece of aluminum channel attached to the deck. But theres nothing on the top and sides of the windshield opening, the aluminum of the cabin is just bare with a few rivet holes where something used to be attached. It looks just like the other chiefs I have seen on this site with their windshields removed. Just wondering if theres supposed to be a piece of channel for the windshield to sit into on sides and top, or does it just sit in the channel on bottom and rivet directly to the opening on the sides and top with some sealant?

I'll get some pics of what I'm working with on the windshield, and more detailed pics of the dent in the bottom of the hull. As well as some of the other entertaining items I found during teardown.

As for the smiley face, this boat belonged to someone with a serious smiley face obssession. They are everywhere on this boat, not to mention the "have a nice day" on the transom.

As for the engine/outdrive. It has a good looking Mercruiser 165 engine. Outdrive is an alpha one thats corroded beyond use. Judging by the lack of corrosion anywhere on the hill, i'm guessing the outdrive is not original.

 

[classiccat]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Welcome to the tin brotherhood double! :welcome:

I was in an almost identical situation when I purchased my steaming pile of... :facepalm:

Regardless, that boat will be worth the effort! Awesome rig!

 

[dozerII]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Great to see another new StarCraft owner, it looks like you have a few challenges with this old girl.
Any boy else notice how were getting too many Chiefs and not enough __________ Just saying:noidea:

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Hey double, welcome to iboats and the Starcraft brohood!:welcome:

Man, you've got a big project ahead of you, no doubt about it.

On the dent - I'd be very hesitant about trying to pound that out and attempt to replace that keel piece. That would be a tricky and critical fab job for sure. It may look ugly but if it's sound and doesn't leak, I might leave it be.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Whoops, double post, sorry:joyous:

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Welcome and congrats on the Chief. Pretty sure I would have removed the smileys before I towed her home. I guess peeling non skid off the side of the boat is a bit easier that peeling off several layers of paint. Seems the cabin windshield is a common problem, as it had been replaced in mine also with 2 pieces of polycarb and slathered with silicone and an extension cord for filler.

Good luck with her, will be watching.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Thanks guys, been looking through the build threads but cant find exactly what I'm looking for on the windshield thing. The bottom windshield frame is still there, It's a piece of aluminum channel attached to the deck. But theres nothing on the top and sides of the windshield opening, the aluminum of the cabin is just bare with a few rivet holes where something used to be attached. It looks just like the other chiefs I have seen on this site with their windshields removed. Just wondering if theres supposed to be a piece of channel for the windshield to sit into on sides and top, or does it just sit in the channel on bottom and rivet directly to the opening on the sides and top with some sealant?

Welcome doubleud! Nice ride ya got there.

Here's a couple of pics of mine. My windshield had been molested some, but I think only to replace some of the glass. I have the track on the bottem like you described. When all this snow melts, I'll try and get you a picture of the top and side track. I believe the sides are flat, but don't remember the top. These pics are pretty good quality and you should be able to download and zoom in.

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[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

I was wrong about the side pieces. The sides do have a groove for the glass. (Just like the top frame)

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Here's the top frame:

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[GA_Boater]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Aw Double, ya took off the smiley! I remember her face from a found on CL post a while back. Welcome to the crazy place.

What part of the South are you located? Stick a pin on the map - http://forums.iboats.com/starcraft-boats/starcraft-members-map-635933.html There are a few of us down here.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Jas, it doesnt look like it will require any pounding to remove the dent, once the keel is removed. The hull metal has a very slight / gentle bend in it that should come out without hammering. It appears that it was leaking at one time, theres some clear silicone filling the gap between the keel and hull side.

Cj, thanks for the pics that was exactly the view I needed. I saw the first two pics in your build thread. I was hopeful that the windshield was held in with just flat pieces of aluminum, oh well. Now that I know what I'm missing I can try to figure out how I'm gonna put it back right.

Ga, I am from Tuscaloosa, Al. I'm a pretty good ways from you. I'll have to get on a real computer to add to the member map.

More Pics to come shortly.

 

[barato2]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

hey, welcome to the madhouse. you sure jumped right onto the black diamond run with that one......BIG job. such a sad Chief, maybe you should call it Custer's Revenge...... but glad it found a loving pair of hands.

i'm with Jas on the keel strip. even with some knowledgeable and experienced riveting help, i'd think long and hard before deciding to pull and try to replicate the keel strip....not gonna be an easy bend to replicate, even for a good aluminum fabricator. not to mention that it will be a huge amount of time. fill with water to test for degree of leakage, and then have a go at working it out from inside first.....nothing lost cept your time if you do eventually decide you need to pull it. the end of a 2x4 and a 3+ lb dead blow hammer will work wonders (yeah, i'm from down south too, none of those high tech Canuck restos at my house!)

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

First off, gotta put the snow picture in here since I see all the northern guys posting up their boats buried in the stuff. This is the first snow we have gotten in 2 years



I tried to get a dent picture, but the camera phone just doesnt take very good pics. After looking at it again, I'm convinced it will not be too big a deal to repair. I was able to get a pic of the inside of the hull. My finger is in the gap between the two hull sides where they join in the middle. The right side is up about 1" higher than the left side. They should be flush. But as you can see there are no creases or sharp bends, just a gentle radius. This should go back into place easily once the keel is removed. Looks like the bent up keel is causing all the problems. Sorry for the crappy pics.









Pics still dont show the problem very well, but I am going to try to fix it. Guess if it doesnt work, yall wil have a good refrence for what not to do. I have a good bit of experience with fabrication and between my experience and my buddy's airplane repair experience we should be able to put it back good as new. I'll be sure to take plenty pics.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

What's all over the hull:

Looks too thick to be 'just' paint @ that spot @top center of the pix.... Bottom paint?

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Barato, guess we were posting at the same time. I'm not planning on replacing the entire keel piece. Just gonna replace about 18" worth of it. The section with the damage is right where the keel begins to run straight down the bottom, with a shallow "v" and only a very slight curve. Yall are right though Theres no way I'd be able to replace it all the way to the bow and have it turn out worth a carp. Pretty much my plan is to remove the damaged section and make a patch panel with a shallow "v" angle. As a fellow southerner, the hammer idea does sound enticing, but i'd just leave it before i do that. Pretty certain that would result in a crack in the keel with how far it has folded over.

On to the good stuff. Heres a few of the gems I located inside along with the "Have a nice day" on the transom. Even better is the previous name "grey poupon" which is still visible under the poorly applied paint.