'84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

[lakeranger]

I was wondering if anyone has completely guted the foam on one of these? Any shortcuts? My foam is soaked and can't see installing new decking over top.

 

[djpeters]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Check my thread, not to be a downer, but I spent a month digging out the pour in foam that was in mine. I don't think there are any shortcuts. Do you have leaky rivets?

BTW, welcome, there will be plenty of guys stopping by to drool over your Starcraft yacht. You may be the first on here with a 26'er.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

there will be plenty of guys stopping by to drool over your Starcraft yacht.

Uh, I would be one of those guys.

Can somebody hand me a paper towel or something.

Yah, no shortcuts my friend. Rip it all out and rebuild. At 26 big ol feet long, she'll make for a big project!

Welcome to the madness!

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Thanks for the goods straight up, right now I am using an old bread knife that I keep tucked in the tool box for times like these. It seems to work okay. As far as rivets go they're solid, although some have been lost to galvanic corosion.
Also digging out the tank, some pitting going on there and evidence on the foam of some excaping fuel.

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Daunting task at best, I am figuring out how I am going to tackle the transom.

 

[1216bandit]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Wherebouts you at lakeranger? I'm in Amherstburg. I looked at a couple of 26' and man they sure made my 19' seem like a dingy!! One I looked at was a hard top....like the looks of yours better, very KOOL! Have you had the boat for a while?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Daunting task at best

Yah man, you have yourself a honkin big job ahead of ya. We are here to help though! Just work at her one step at a time and she'll get there!

I think if I were in your shoes I'd empty her out, get everything out of there so you can have some elbow room.

Then, since you are doing the transom, I'd go ahead and pull that engine out of the way.

Then rip out the deck, then the foam.

Empty!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

What a beautiful hunk of tin you have there! Looks like you already have some momentum going with this project. Can't wait to see it done. I don't know why there aren't many if any in my part of the world.

As for the foam it seems the best way to remove it is with a shovel then a wire wheel on a grinder.

Welcome to the Starmada!

 

[Golden Arrow II]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

I used a garden fork with thick tines and it worked great to get the foam out of my boat. You can stab it in where you want some good leverage at and pop out big pieces of foam. I got all the foam out of my 22 footer in two days. Then I used nylon bristled and wire wheel's on a angle grinder for the final clean up. Make sure to wear a mask when grinding the foam, that stuff gets everywhere. Good luck and welcome to the group.

 

[Casey G]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

I just got done doing mine also!! What a big pain in the arse!! I used a wood hand saw and cut it into chunks and a crowbar to pop it out. It took me at least 4 days after work to get it all out. It filled 5 big boxes, felt like 300-400 lbs came out of my boat. Cant wait to get it out to see how it sits in the water now. Good luck!!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

A 26'. So beautiful (tears up)

Oh wait, is that a Merc 470? Darn it is. That dried my eyes

Good luck with your project. Very cool boat and welcome to the madness.

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

I've had this boat for about 24 years and I am near Cobourg Ontario. Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. This is a great forum!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Welcome to the Starcraft fleet lakeranger, that's a nice huge boat you've got there

Good luck with the teardown, looking forward to seeing what you've got planned for the ship

 

[GLG fishing]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Welcome to Iboats great rig you got there.
Must be an amazing fishing machine.
Well worth the time and expense of having her.

GLG

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Lots of foam has been removed, the best way I found removing it was carefully using a sawsall with a long blade.
Getting ready to remove tank, lotsa fuel, lotsa siphoning. There are 2 small ribs that are rivetted to the main ribs on either side of the tank, they had to be removed to get the tank out. The pictures show the rib before and after being removed. I figure it's a 100 gallon tank and it half full. So it's imperitive the fuel is removed first. A hand pump was used with clear hose to draw the fuel down and installed an inline shut-off valve. Once the line was full, I then removed the hand pump and let the fuel flow into a gas container.
After using many of those small garbage bags, I finally broke down and purchased contractor size bags. The pic shows less than 10% of the foam that has been hauled out.
And yes the engine is coming out soon!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Progress!!!!!

Love it...

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Compared to some, it's a snailpace. So far I've pulled 24 imp. gallons out of 'er.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Hey, LR - progress is progress whether it's fast or slow. You'll get her back on the water.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Agreed, forward motion is what counts!

You can watch Glen (dozer) crank through a total rebuild of an SS in 10 minutes, or...

Watch me pick away at an old Islander one very small step per day, for a half a lifetime. (I try to accomplish at least one thing every day, today I bought Arauco plywood)

Your pace? Whatever is right, just so long as you are moving forward

 

[lakeranger]

Re: '84-26' Starcraft Islander tear down and restoration

Sounds great, I had more time this week to concentrate on the craft and got some momentum going.