77 / 78? 16' Starcraft SS Partial Restoration

[winnipegsubaru]

Hey Everyone,

I've been a long time reader and thought it was about time to post my current project. When I first became a member of iBoats, I had a 1990 Bayliner 2655. The wife and I enjoyed this boat for years. But we decided to sell due to the fact we moved out of our condo and into a larger house. Its been 2 years since we've been on the water, and I have really missed it.

This brings us to about a month ago. I found what I believe to be either a 77 or 78 (but could very easily be wrong) 16' Starcraft SS with a 50HP merc. The boat was in very bad shape. Floor was rotten, Transom was rotten. P/O said it had been sitting for 2 years (looked more like 10). But the good news was that the boat was solid. The transom knee brace (or whatever its called) was not cracked or broken. So I decided to take a chance on it.

First bit of action was to take the motor off, and to rip every last piece of wood out of the boat. There was not 1 usable piece left. They were all rotten.

All the foam was water logged. So we then decided to rip it right down to bare metal. I have replaced a few leaking (or missing) rivets, and we have used gluvit on all the seams and rivets. New Transom is in (3/4" Marine Ply [yes overkill] coated with epoxy resin). Should hopefully last a long time.

I will post pictures shortly, as I am currently having difficulties doing so.

 

[winnipegsubaru]

Here is how the Boat was purchased.

No seats, and very rotten

 

[winnipegsubaru]

Here is starting to pull up the floor.

This is starting to see how bad the transom is:

This is the old transom out. Unfortunately, I cannot find my the picture of me using an engine hoist to pull out the old transom. You can see on the ground in this picture how the transom was falling apart. (side note: This was the original transom to the boat). Also shown is my home made engine stand. I added more bracing that you will see in future pictures.

 

[winnipegsubaru]

I had to move the boat out of the driveway and into the backyard as the cement for my soon to be garage was getting framed and poured

 

[winnipegsubaru]

New Transom went into the boat. Not secured in, but just doing a final test fit after the resin had cured.

And from below

Somewhere I have pictures of the Transom out of the boat, but I cant seem to find them either.

Here it is from the back

 

[winnipegsubaru]

This is about as far as I am at to date. Floor and foam is all out. Transom is in. Some rivets replaced and Gluvit on all rivets and seams. (unfortunately all the tree and dust debris got into the boat while the Gluvit was curing. (This is why I am building a garage)

And the back. You can see that the transom still isn't bolted back in yet

 

[winnipegsubaru]

I will be posting more pictures as I make more progress. The one thing I don't currently have pictures of is starting the motor. Engine started right away, but gas was leaking from the gas lines and possibly from the carbs, and the water pump wasn't working. (engine only ran for 15 - 20 seconds before I shut it off. So in the coming days, I will be replacing the fuel lines, checking if the carbs do need new gaskets, and replacing the water pump.

Also, as you may have noticed, currently nothing is being done to the paint on the outside of the boat (that will get done in the future as money permits).

Thanks for reading. If you have any advise, please let me know.

 

[winnipegsubaru]

Well apparently I screwed up posting pictures pretty bad.. and for some reason I cannot edit my posts

So here are some pics hopefully in order:

The Day the boat was purcahsed:







Floor starting to be ripped out





Old Transom removed and homemade engine stand (You can see on the ground how the transom came out)





Had to move the boat into the backyard as they started to frame and pour my garage pad for my new garage



New transom test fit after epoxy resin had cured (I will find pictures of it before it went into the boat)







Front padding removed and aluminum cleaned up



Floor all ripped out, a few new rivets put in and gluvit on all seems and rivets



Thats about as far as I have gone with the boat itself. All I have done with the outboard so far is that I started the engine and it fired right away, but gas was leaking from the gas lines and possibly from the carbs, and the water pump wasn't working. (engine only ran for 15 - 20 seconds before I shut it off. So in the coming days, I will be replacing the fuel lines, checking if the carbs do need new gaskets, and replacing the water pump.

Also, as you may have noticed, currently nothing is being done to the paint on the outside of the boat (that will get done in the future as money permits).

Thanks for reading.

 

[Crawfish Dundee]

I am at the same point in my project of almost the same boat. I have other obligations to meet before going farther, even though I have almost everything at hand to finish, I have to shelf the job for a bit.