Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

[motorpsykler]

****Update-I eventually sold the Starcraft and got a Lund. This thread details the trailer modifications I made to the trailer that now holds my Lund.****




Well it's time to start my resto thread. This one is going to be somewhat of a slow mover, because I am a slow mover myself, not to mention monetarily challenged.



This is what I started with:

It's a $500 Craigslist find. The boat ran well, but had a bad starter bendix. I did manage to get it started the next day on the lake and ran it, just to see if I liked how it handled (I DID!). I eventually want a more modern/powerful motor, so I sold the Evinrude and the Panther TnT. At this point I made money on the deal, that won't last for long As you can see from the picture the trailer is too small, not only a little short, but worse in my opinion, the axle was narrower than the boat.



So I shopped a few Craigslist trailers until I found this one:

It looked absolutely terrible, but it was the exact type of trailer I wanted and it had NO damage and only surface rust. I paid $175 for it.

...to be continued.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

"monetarily challenged" uhhhh we ALL are and I am weather challenged too! I have my Starcraft SS160 upside down off the trailer right now and it will remain that way through the winter. To cold to paint and at least the snow will not build up in it

For a $500 find I will tell you ....Good Find! What a great boat to play with!.

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

I think I got a good deal too, Bob. Lucky for me I have a garage that I can heat. So I can progress through the winter, albeit slowly.

To continue with the thread, I have a wife, and there is no way I could have brought that trailer home looking the way it did. She doesn't have the ability to see the potential in things like I do. I'm sure some of you guys can relate. So I took it to my work and stripped all the bolt-on parts off of it. Next I wire brushed the loose rust off, primed it with Rustoleum Rusty Metal primer(good stuff) and painted it (3 coats) Rustoleum gloss white. I also painted the axle black. Now the trailer looked good enough to bring home. So I mounted the old lights on it temporarily and brought the trailer home. The wife approved.

This picture shows the new(old) trailer on the right, and the undersized trailer that came with the boat on the left.

You might be wondering, if that's both trailers, where is the boat? That will be the subject of my next post....


.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

motorpsykler, that trailer on the right looks alot like the one that my 16' SS is sitting on

So it looks like you are on the right track...in a week or two I will be trying to catch up to you LOL...nice rig...good luck with her

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Nice boat and good work. You're really going to like that more "low slung" new trailer as opposed to the old one that the boat was more perched upon. I don't know why it took manufacturers so long to figure out to put bends in the cross members so the boat would sit lower.

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

I absolutely agree Ezmobee. It's not like there is something high tech about putting a bend in the crossmembers. It's not too new an idea though, this trailer is actually a 1973 model. Took awhile for it to catch on I guess. I made it even more "low slung" I mounted the axle above the springs...

I think I'll have enough travel. I don't expect that spring to bend much, the trailer is rated for 2300 lbs. If I do ever see signs that the axle is bottoming on the frame, I'll notch the frame hotrod style.

 

[STARCRAFT16SS]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Great to see your resto..thread started...it should be fun to follow along
got a 1971 Starcraft almost just like it...Hi again Motorpsykler...that replacement trailer looks much more heavy duty than the old one

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

I want to repaint the hull and I want the trailer to have a custom look, all welded and none of those pesky bolts. So to accomplish both things, I needed to support the boat from the inside. I built a fixture from 2x4's to support the boat underneath the gunwales.

The chains are attached to the longitudenal 2x4's and there are about 6 transverse 2x4's laid flat, that contact the gunwales. I balanced the boat by trial and error, adjusting each leg link by link with quicklink connectors. It took awhile, I was suprised how far back the center of gravity was.

I then lifted the boat with a 1 ton chain fall. It came up easy. After I got it lifted, I rolled out the old trailer and took some pictures, I think they look pretty cool...

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Some more pictures....

The boat looks like it's going to fit real nice on this trailer...

I've made several trips to Bass Pro to study their Trailstar trailers. I like their innovation and plan on copying some of their ideas.
Some plans I have for this trailer: 2x6 bunks mounted flat. Poly rollers. I purchased some plastic step fenders that I will attach carpeted boards to the inside of to act as guides. I want to weld diamond plate steps to the side of the trailer from the back of the fenders to the back of the trailer. I will fabricate a custom winch tower with a bow stop roller. I will also make bunk style hull guides in the rear and bow roller guides in the front. I'm a maniac about trouble free boat loading I plan on breaking out the mig welder this weekend.

 

[BaDucK]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Hi everyone......I've been trying to figure out what type of starcraft i had, from the looks of this thread i have a 16' '74 model super sport....pretty cool.

Glad i found this site, and really glad i came across this thread, looking forward to my winter project and tapping the vast resources of this site for info and advise....

thats going to be a great looking boat you have there, i cant wait for the thread to progress and see how she turns out.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Welcome BaDuck! Make sure you post some pics of your boat down in the Starcraft section. We'd love to see it.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

This is what I consider a nice trailer modification that may provide you with some good ideas since you have a welder http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=335793&page=3

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Thanks for that link, Bob. Like that guy, I want to load the boat without a possibility of it hitting any metal. I was thinking about doing more than one set of bunks as well. For some reason you only see them on flatter bottomed bass boats, but I don't see why they wouldn't work on a v-hull boat, as long as the angles were correct.

 

[Captmills]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Looks good man! I know what you mean about SWMBO not seeing the potential of something, Mine is that way "Why did you bring that piece of crap home !!!" One mans junk... Great looking project and a nice dry place to work I got my barn cleaned out a couple of weeks ago so I could get my Nassau out of the rain, dirt floor,sawdust (woodshop right above) and kero heater but at least it's inside Good luck on your project ! Steven

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

It's been a couple weeks, got nothing done last week except order some parts. I got some Stoltz rollers from Iboats, gotta support the forum They are made in USA and nice quality. I got the endcaps too, because I don't want any chance of the boat hitting the brackets. I also got some 5/8" T-416 stainless rods from onlinemetals. Wow this is nice stuff. I will use this to make the roller axles. I'm gonna have to set my drill press pretty slow to drill the cotter pin holes, this stuff is HARD.

 

[Captmills]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Looks like the trailer is having all the fun SWMBO seeing any potential yet? If she's anything like mine your hearing "your alway's working on the boat or on that computer" LOL

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Found this Snaptraxx stuff on the web, hmmmm...

They have slippery and grippy versions, you put the grippy on the back where the weight is and when that floats, the slippery on the front slides off.

I gotta think about this one, I really don't like carpet much. That's why I was looking for an alternative.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Thats some neat looking stuff there we need a link to where ya found it . I would also like to do away with the carpet on my bunks . I still like the levitating boat just hanging out there in your garage LOL.


Rick

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

Not a problem, Rick. http://snaptraxx.com/index.php?pr=Home

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: Another STARCRAFT resto; '72 Starcraft SS 16ft

OK, despite having to deal with fixing two family vehicles, continuing our kitchen remodel and replacing the motor in our clothes dryer, I actually got a little work done to the trailer...

First I had to weld in a crossmember to fix this gap...

...with some steel I cannibalized from the small trailer.

I still have to weld up the rest of those holes, they bug me.

Next I fabricated brackets from 3/16 steel for the first roller and carfully welded them on.

I had to really get them straight because I drilled 5/8" holes and the stainless rod is exactly 5/8". The rod fits with remarkably tight tolerance, at least the rollers won't rattle! Here is the roller in place...