Furrylittleotter's Starcraft Chieftain Revival

[Furrylittleotter]

Here uou can see some if the aluminum I have been collecting. The 1/2" by 4 angle will be the engine cradle $20 from Shipwreck marine, the aluminum ladder will most likely be cut up and used to build the stern (no wood, remember?)$120 from craplist and the 3/8" by 4 by 1.5" C channel goes to the outside of the existing Starcraft stringers, the 2" architectural U channel will go side to side to support the floor, which will be 2" of pink foam on top of carved foam (building hot wire) and then the top will either be plastic or aluminum sheet (not sure) and then rubber mat over that. I want it blood proof.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

This is Cardo Aluminum Supply in Sacramento. They have everything I need, no minimums and clearly marked prices and helpful owner right there. I spent $300 on new metal here and will probably spend $500 more later and I am happy to do so. This place is great.

 

[Grandad]

Hi Otter. I really enjoy a challenge and love watching when people think outside the box. Already 80 degrees? I see your snow is green, not white like ours. Our high for today is minus 8 celsius (18 F). I'd love to have a year-round opportunity to do boat work, even if outdoors. - Grandad

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here you see the v drive in place and the engine as far in as the lift would allow. It needs to go another foot.

You can also see the C channel in place and that the boat is truly a blank canvas!

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here is the engine in the boat. It will sit up higher because of the mounts and so the shaft can go under it.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here is the engine with the drive. The shaft here came with the hot boat. I have pretty much decided to use a Porsche 911 turbo driveshaft instead, and have ordered a used one from fleabay for $30. I used the same CV joints on my van and they are quite rugged and I already have spares.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

This is the Deutz Flywheel. On top of it is the 1/2" adaptor plate I am fabricating. I built a circle cutter and flame cut it, then finished with a grinder. I will drill the 10mm mounting holes and probably hire a machine shop to make a recessed area for the CV joint and tap the holes. That is unless my neighbor will hurry up and dig out his Southbend Lathe and sell it to me!



You can see the hot boat strut in the background but in will not be using it because it and the rudder were steel and we hope to be able to take our boat in saltwater occasionally.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

This is the 10degree 6.5 inch Nicson Strut I found at Shipwreck Marine. Also shown is one of the 4 liquid filled Mercruiser Motor mounts I will be using and the 4 pieces of angle iron I will probably using to attach the lump to the mounts

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here you can see the lump in place. As it sits there is about 30" of clearance between the motor and the stern. I am very interested in this area for fishing purposes. I hope to increase it to around 45inches. There will be a cover of some sort (probably aluminum with 2"foam as well as sound deadening inside) and we well likely mount a cooler above the box and another box over the v drive area for a bait well. You can see the C channel stringers as well as U channel floor framework.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

This is a view from the top windscreen. Note that neither the drive or engine are in their permanent locations.


It gives you an idea how small the motor is compared to the boat.

 

[laurentide]

Straight shaft diesel big Chief express (oops, V drive). This is awesome. Even more awesome will be seeing you pull it with an EJ22 Westy! I really hope you can splash this thing! I love it!

Edit: I briefly pulled my 18' Chief with a 2.5 Impreza. Not bad, but you sure knew it was there when braking.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Because I have a fair amount of modification/repair and finish work to do to the bottom of the boat in different stages I decided to go ahead and fabricate a Boat Rotisserie, or as we call it a "Boatisserie"!

Here is the front mount. It consists of a 2" square tube, slotted and drilled to accept and bolt onto the front eyelet, an angle iron piece to grab the center V and two pcs of halved square tubing to grab the rub rail with a piece of angle across the top as well as two pcs of tubing tying it all together. A ratchet strap around the cleats holds the top on. A trailer hub and stub axle will bolt to an upright or a hoist eventually.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Straight shaft diesel big Chief express (oops, V drive). This is awesome. Even more awesome will be seeing you pull it with an EJ22 Westy! I really hope you can splash this thing! I love it!




Edit: I briefly pulled my 18' Chief with a 2.5 Impreza. Not bad, but you sure knew it was there when braking.

The van is actually powered with an Ej25 with ej22 heads and small diameter primary custom header. It pulled the Hot Boat quite well. The trailer will have brakes of some sort but there is no accounting for wind with such a short wheelbase the van really hates crosswinds . CA restricts towed vehicles to 55 so that helps but I don't mind going 45. If it is an issue we will buy something to tow with or possibly rent a slip or dockside storage somewhere and use a Uhaul.

We are trying to keep the total weight below 2500lbs.

 

[laurentide]

Cool, that's a big upgrade over what the VW factory put in those. I really do love the diesel repower. Seems like you've got it pretty well under control! I'm just here as an interested bystander with nothing but encouragement to offer. Cheers.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here is the steering system from Craplist. I believe it was from a Mastercraft Ski boat.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Here is a close up of the liquid filled motor mounts. They apparently came from a Mercruiser Chevy 4.3 ltr. I have 4, $200 total

 

[g0nef1sshn]

I want to be your neighbor. I dont really know most of what your doing,but id grab a beer and come over to help every day! This is a fun construction to follow!

 

[Furrylittleotter]

Well I can use all the help I can get. This afternoon I built the rear Boatisserie mount. I am thrilled with it. I wanted to be able to use it even after the boat is built so I made it bolt into the rear eye holes as well as the drain plug hole.

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I really love this shot. Our with the old, in with the new...

 

[hayko1971]

I think a no wood build is a very cool idea, I've thought once or twice that a diamond plate floor would be neat. Likely get too warm for me though and be too abrasive to myself and the fish. Kneeling on it would hurt too. Best of luck with the project, I love following restoration threads and learning techniques and getting ideas for my own.
Cheers!