Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

[ranger31]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Why are you guys so worried about the rivets and the corrosion????If it is water coming in I would hate to take you guys out in my old wood boat..Hell if I had that boat I would knock a few rivets out and take the old paddle bit to the hull just so it would feel right..If the bilges are not a pumping to keep up with the water coming in I would freak out..Oh well..But seriously I had a super sport 16ft holiday white..It had the leakiest rivets and than when I put a new fish finder on and forgot to plug the old holes from the transducer she would fill up quick..Which worked out great because we were usually ready to hit another spot on the lake about every hour,or noticing water above the floor board whichever came first.We would fire her up and pull the old plug..All I am saying man is that there was something about that aluminum boat,I swear it was like a bobber on the water.We could not sink her..They are good boats,you would not believe the waves off of lake erie they will take.Finally got rid of her after we crinkled the whole front pounding into 7-8 ft waves that last storm..Hey give her credit though she brought us back...The boat looked kinda like a banana and crinkled aluminum bad....

 

[sprintst]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

My boat had some surface corrosion in the interior as well from battery acid. If you can take it to the car wash after some scrubbing with some dish soap or an aluminum safe industrial car wash soap. You can do most of the scrubbing at home and hose it out. Then take it to the car wash and pressure spray the hell out of it.

Once it's clean you can fill the pitted areas with Marine-tex or something alone those lines and seal everything in Gluvit including all seams and rivets. Fill it with some water afterwards to see if it's leaking anywhere...then it will be more Gluvit.

I filled some screw holes in the stern area of the boat with Starbrite aluminum putty and sanded it down.

Your rivets for the deck look good. When it comes time you can drill the holes and coat the tip of the rivet in 4200 before riveting it in place. That should seal the rivet so nothing can go down that hole.

 

[North Beach]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

My boat had some surface corrosion in the interior as well from battery acid. If you can take it to the car wash after some scrubbing with some dish soap or an aluminum safe industrial car wash soap. You can do most of the scrubbing at home and hose it out. Then take it to the car wash and pressure spray the hell out of it.

Once it's clean you can fill the pitted areas with Marine-tex or something alone those lines and seal everything in Gluvit including all seams and rivets. Fill it with some water afterwards to see if it's leaking anywhere...then it will be more Gluvit.

I filled some screw holes in the stern area of the boat with Starbrite aluminum putty and sanded it down.

Your rivets for the deck look good. When it comes time you can drill the holes and coat the tip of the rivet in 4200 before riveting it in place. That should seal the rivet so nothing can go down that hole.

I don't know bud? I'm not tryin to be argumentative here but those bottom rivits take a beating on the trailer and when beaching, etc and I wouldn't trust that area to blind rivits. You'd be much better off using a flat head phillips type ss bolt and washers with lock nuts. Especially below the waterline. JMHO!

 

[sprintst]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

I was only talking about the rivets for the 3/4 deck.

Anything going through the hull should be something beefier than a blind rivet.

 

[North Beach]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

I was only talking about the rivets for the 3/4 deck.

Anything going through the hull should be something beefier than a blind rivet.

I'm with ya!

 

[tagggg]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Thank you so much for your advice...

Today, I decided to take the test. I know it was time. I expected the worst. But hey, why stress before the leak test.

Well I was some good suprise. Yes there are some leaks but much less than I thought.

In the first photo, there is a hole right next to something that I do not even know what it is. LOL I am a beginner.

In this picture, it really seems to be my biggest problem. Two leaks located directly below the support shown in the third photo. I'll need your advice on this. What do I do? Remove support completely removing the rivets that hold it in place? The water seems to come from two rivets in very bad condition (corrosion around)

Another hole here.

And leaks around this 2 screws

I also saw two other small leaks. One from the transom (I'll see if I will remove all) and one on a joint where I think the Gluvit can solve everything.

So I wait for your advice

David alias tagggg

 

[fshngho]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

David, I don't see anything to worry about. Lets take the easy first, the screws. Remove them and wire brush around the hole. Then install them (or new) with 1500 sealer. Oh, make sure the screws are stainless steel. You can put a smaller screw in the other hole the same way. The brace is called a knee brace and I have the same problem except mine is broken at the top flanges. you have two choices, you can clean the area real good and put Gluvit on it real heavey, or drill the rivets out that are leaking and replace with screws, same as above. You may try re-bucking them too. That gizmo beside the one hole is a speadometer pickup. Water pressure from forward motion makes the spedo work. Good luck.

 

[sprintst]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Those screws definately shouldn't be there. It's probably someones attempt to stop a small leak after mounting a speedo pickup or transducer from a fish finder.

I filled screw holes in my transom with Starbrite aluminum putty and they are as hard as a rock. Canadian Tire had the stuff in the automotive or boating section.

http://www.starbrite.com/productdetail.cfm?ID=1461&ProductCat=Marine&ProductSCat=Epoxies%20%26%20Adhesives%20%26%20Caulks&ProductSSCat=Epoxies

The reason I liked the putty is that it is a mix of epoxy and aluminum that you can drill, grind, etc after and it won't react with the aluminum.

Other may seal a bolt in 5200 and put it back in the hole or use marinetex to fill the hole.

I'd clean up the area and use Gluvit it from the inside on whatever repair you choose to make.

 

[Marcq]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

David, doing good dude!!

Don't worry about the leaks/holes right now, this is the easy part.
Clean her inside out real good to bare aluminum(except the top side), the bottom will be the hard part, get it over with , you'll be glad you did

Marc..

 

[tagggg]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

And it was time to go ... a little.

We remove the engine to see is below. So on the first photo, the engine on my homemade rack (plan form iboats).

On the second pics, we see the state of wooden ... rotten

On the third photo, we see the result below the board, nothing very reassuring. You can see some holes made by corrosion.


On the fourth picture, not very clear but a very impressive hole.

Finally, on the fifth photo, there was sillicone to hide something. A huge hole but for no apparent reason.

So I just wonder what I'll do. Currently the only solution would be placed inside an aluminum foil glued to 5200 and with rivet. What do you think?

 

[North Beach]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

David, Your first step would be to remove the transom. The wood has got to be wet/rotton. Then I would wire wheel everything inside and out. Please go and see what I did on the mariner and on the islander. You're probably going to need to remove the splashwell so you can get to the back side of that aluminum skin that's on the back of the boat. I'd take my time and do this right. I have exactly the same thing going on on the Mariner. My plan was to cut two new sheets of aluminum and sandwich the old transom skin with the new stuff. I'm going to coat the joining sides with 5200 and thru bolt the heck out of it. You should also check the rivets that hold the z channel in that the transom wood slides into at the bottom. mine has signs of stress fractures.

There is still nothing wrong with this boat that you can't fix.

So to recap
Remove splashwell
Remove transom wood- remember to save it for a template!
Wire wheel the transom skin inside and out-get all the junk off of it.

Then we'll all help you plot and sheme the next step.

Guys-if I'm sending him down the wrong path-please chime in now

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

NB has you on the right track there! I'd follow what he has for you there step by step. A new sheet of aluminum on the outside or inside or both is probably the perfect solution for your transom!

Have fun, she is fixable!

 

[sprintst]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Do'h. I was typing this in and NorthBeach and the others beat me to it.

Just wondering if you are looking to replace the transom.

Considering how many holes are in there you might want to epoxy a couple of sheets of 3/4 marine or exterior plywood (non pressure treated) together to get the wood to the right thickness. It's been done many times on this forum and will give you a lot of piece of mine on what is going on back there. I had an inboard/outboard transom to replace and was in the 2 - 2 1/8 inch range on the thickness with the aluminum skin. Yours being an outboard will probably have a different thickness that others will post on or you can lookup in the manuals that you can download.

That huge hole and a lot of the others are above the water line so you are ok there.

I'd fill all those holes after the transom replacement and only drill what you need and coat any screw or bolt in 5200 before it goes back in.

You are always going to find weird holes drilled for some reason but that one hole up high looks like a shotgun gun blast or something Some king of weird dissimilar metal corrosion to get that odd shaped hole(s)

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Not much to add.....I repaired some extra holes in my transom with JB Weld and used little squares of aluminum flashing as a backer so when I sanded them down flush there was still some "meat" to grab onto.

 

[tagggg]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Thank you so much. Yes i'm not in panic I will remove the transom maybe today or this week. It's just more job LOL

I will make your advice for sure... thnaks again

 

[tagggg]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Hello everyone

I had to put aside my restoration project for personal problems. Now things have relocated and am now ready to complete my project.

I am now at the transom to remove short term and continue to pass the wire wheel on the floor. Now the boat is in the garage because here in Quebec winter has arrived. I can ask you some questions now.

Remember that I live in Canada

1 - What other type of paint can I use for the bottom that TRILUX? The price is very high I think.

2 - What are the alternatives to the WEST SYSTEM epoxy for my floor and my transom?

I put some pictures of my installation of the garage soon

David

 

[Krichbourg]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Good luck with your restore Tagggg. I've got the same hull but haven't started my restore yet. By the time you're finished, you'll be the expert and we'll all be asking you for advise. After all your hard work, the finished result will be all the more sweeter. Great job!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Hello everyone

I had to put aside my restoration project for personal problems. Now things have relocated and am now ready to complete my project.

I am now at the transom to remove short term and continue to pass the wire wheel on the floor. Now the boat is in the garage because here in Quebec winter has arrived. I can ask you some questions now.

Remember that I live in Canada

1 - What other type of paint can I use for the bottom that TRILUX? The price is very high I think.

2 - What are the alternatives to the WEST SYSTEM epoxy for my floor and my transom?

I put some pictures of my installation of the garage soon

David

Glad to hear you are back at it, sorry to hear you have had problems.

As far as epoxy resin, I ordered mine from clarkcraft.com and I was very happy with it. One good feature is that it mixes 1:1 with the hardener so no tricky ratios/measuring needed. It is cheaper than West System. Hope they can ship to Canada, or another supplier is available for you.

Many of us are going with Rustoleum enamel paint. Roll/tip or spray with HVLP and it is a good durable paint. I've used it on my 12 foot boat and it is a good paint for a good price.

Looking forward to some photos!

 

[Triton II]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

Welcome back tagggg. Glad to hear things are back on track, looking forward to some pics. Have a very Happy New Year from us downunder...

TII

 

[Starman8]

Re: Another Starcraft Restoration : SuperSport 18' 1977

RUSTO oil-based enamel does a solid job. My 79 SS18 came to me caked in awful metallic silvery paint and some red crapola. According to the 79 brochure, my SS was white with red accents, and the interior red.

Me and my friend the orbital palm sander went from 40 grit to 120 grit for 4 days and I got it down to factory prime. She received 4 coats of RUSTO white primer, then 2 coats of white finish before mother nature closed the paint shop for 2010.

When the weather breaks, 2 more finish coats, the decals and striped in Hawaiian and Royal blue, and some silver.

The topside gunwales were red, roughed up, cleaned, primed with 3 coats of Rusto white prime, then 3 coats of Rusto gray. I would post pics, but the new software eliminated our albums, so far.

In my opinion, stripping down to bare aluminum isn't necessary if you prep.