I have returned... with a Starcraft this time!

classiccat

"Captain" + Starmada Splash Of The Year 2020
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
3,412
Hi guys. It's been awhile (again) and I'm sad to say that I still haven't finished the KF. :blue: :mad:

My health has much improved and a lot of work was done. But not quite enough to make it by the end of this year. :grumpy:

Frustrating. And expensive. :(

Great to hear that you're on the mend BWR!

These aren't easy projects even when you are 100%... Don't beat yourself up too much!
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,822
Welcome back, not much has changed around here and guys aren't very active including myself as far as boat work goes but I do stop in almost daily to poke around.
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Great to hear that you're on the mend BWR!

These aren't easy projects even when you are 100%... Don't beat yourself up too much!

Thanks! My health has greatly improved since last year. The dangerous time is long over but I did have to go on the steroid again back in September in order to start functioning physically normally again. And it's working well! I'm feeling tremendously better and doing just fine. Pretty close to normal. Low dose this time. :eagerness:

This project has been a major PITA for me. Here's a pic of the last time this KF was on the water. Jan. 12, 2017!

Three years ago and it's still not done!

I've gotten very close but keep running into things with the project which slow, stop or even reverse the progress. It's not only frustrating but became expensive when I had to get professional repair/setup help a couple months ago. (But that part I wouldn't have attempted myself anyway.) The project is officially no longer "frugal." :rolleyes: :facepalm:


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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Welcome back, not much has changed around here and guys aren't very active including myself as far as boat work goes but I do stop in almost daily to poke around.

Thanks WM!

I've been checking the site regularly and noticed the slowness as well. I can't help but wonder if it's partly due to the system problems since the "upgrade" awhile back. Two years ago? Or was it three? I can't remember. I recall that several members left because of that issue.

And that problem is part of the reason I stopped posting too. I kept getting logged off or couldn't get in, etc. Heck, when I decided to post again last week I got some weird code number instead of the Starcraft page. Had to try several times before I got in. Then I was logged off without doing so myself. :blue:.

But I didn't want to just leave y'all hanging. :)
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Sigh. And I just noticed that the board time for me is wrong... off by an hour. Even though I have my profile set correctly for Eastern Standard Time. :rolleyes:
 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
25,111
Sigh. And I just noticed that the board time for me is wrong... off by an hour. Even though I have my profile set correctly for Eastern Standard Time. :rolleyes:

Yep, times arent right
post count/last post time's not right on the forum list page
seemingly random forced to re-logon
and xyxyxy
And xyxyxy
And xxyxy
.
.
.
.
So, yep, Forum has been notably inactive for a bit.....

Glad to hear you're doing better

The KF's time to finish will be what it is. Some projects take longer then others.
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,822
Glad everything is going well. Oh hey yeah the forum issues could be but if you have some idea of a SOTY nominee the vote thread is on the main page, guys are looking at it but not adding any of the splashes for nomination.
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Okay, I suppose I should give y'all an update. I did promise one several months back. :facepalm:

From January last year until late May, I did no work on the Kingfisher. None. But then I finally got re-motivated.

I hope this update works. I keep getting Bad Gateway Error and other forum problems which keep me from getting logged in. Or involuntarily logging me back out. :blue:

I took a zillion pix like I always do and over the last couple days I gathered a group of 52 together for the update. They're organized by month with the most "interesting" things shown.

Before I flood the forum with KF pix, I'll let you guys know of a couple important events which we've had.

Last spring, my wife applied for US Citizenship for her and the boy and it was approved. She took the Oath last summer! The boy has automatic "derived" Citizenship since he's a minor. Two new proud Americans! :usa2:

And 2 weeks ago she filed for US Passports for her and the boy. They're planning on a visit back to the Philippines late this year. Maybe I'll go. Maybe. :rolleyes:

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Then in October my wife fell in love with this big 2016 F-150 and made it hers. She's less than 5' tall and has always wanted a big truck of her own. :cool: I still have my old F-150 but don't know for how long.

Small.jpg



And then it was my turn. I really, really loved my Genesis but it had 93,000 miles on the odometer. I'd purchased an extended warranty for it and actually had to use it once. A couple things failed after that and then just 3 days after the warranty expired, the master cylinder started to go bad. Expensive to fix and that was that. I traded it in for a brand new Kia Sportage. With a 10 year/100,000 mile warranty and 5 year 60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty, I won't have to worry about being stranded or have to face thousands of dollars in repairs! The little Sportage can tow the Kingfisher! I have a hitch and wiring harness already and am just waiting for my buddy to get them installed.

Small.jpg
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
The KF update will have to wait until tomorrow. It's late and nearly bedtime for me. :cool:
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Here we go...

MAY 2019

What "got me going" again back in late May was that I finally convinced a neighbor buddy to create and weld the trailer extension into place for me.

He used the frame from the old donor boat to create the extension. He also added some uprights made from a bed frame to hold some PVC guide-ons as well. I'll clean up and paint the extension after the KF is actually on the water and usable. I have to completely rewire the lighting so I bought a magnetic light set to use in the meantime.

May 1.jpg
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
JUNE 2019


We built some underdeck braces and a topside trolling motor spacer from 3/4" plywood and treated them all with OTF.

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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
JULY 2019

I'm not going to post any pix from July last year. I absolutely STRUGGLED with getting the paint to work right. It literally took me SIX WEEKS of experimentation to finally get it to look good. I laid the paint on the topsides and it would fail and we had to strip or sand it back off. Did that twice on the boat then switched to using test pieces instead of the hull proper.

Then we slogged on and on and on until we finally got it to be nearly perfect. Virtually no orange peel and a high gloss. :encouragement:

Consequently, the white topside paint wasn't finished until August.

What really gripes me is that after I finally got the test pieces to look good, I applied 4 thin coats to the hull in order to get proper coverage. The first 3 looked stunning but when I applied the "final" coat, I ended up getting a bazillion spray nibs which will have to be sanded and buffed out at a much later date when the paint is sufficiently dried. Maybe a year from now. Broke my heart. Again. :Cry:
 
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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
AUGUST 2019

White applied to topsides.
1 Aug.jpg


Masking for the black trim started.
6 Aug.jpg


One thing I learned in all my research was that once the paint is dry enough, get it outside in the sun to expedite the drying process! Otherwise, if it's left in an enclosed space, it'll get dull and take longer to fully dry.

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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
SEPTEMBER 2019

I bought some custom aluminum plates. The bent piece is 1/4" and is used for the throttle mount. The PO had just used a piece of untreated 1/2" plywood held to the gunnel with a couple of screws. Flimsy. The wood rotted and the screws rusted. Ugh. :rolleyes:

The other 1/4" piece is the dash panel. There's a 3/32" piece which I used for the front of the console and the two 1/8" pieces are used as under deck joint braces. (I already had the balance of 1/8" stock on hand for the other under deck joint braces.)

5 Sep.jpg


I cleaned up the end caps.
6 Sep.jpg


They turned out pretty nice! :)
8 Sep.jpg


I used 3/4" plywood treated with OTF as under deck seat braces along with the aluminum deck joint braces.
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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
OCTOBER 2019


New steering wheel. :D
6 Oct.jpg


Throttle ready for installation.
10 Oct.jpg


The boy got first chance at sanding down the wood filler. I did get my chance as well. :p
12 Oct.jpg


Then we painted the deck again. We used a large nap roller with traction sand in the paint mix. This pic is while the paint is wet.
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BWR1953

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Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
NOVEMBER 2019


Time to cut holes for the steering wheel and switch panel.
9 Nov.jpg



Console mounted. At this point I took the boat to the local marine place. I bought a complete steering system and throttle system and paid them to install that stuff and get the motor running at a basic level. Cost quite a bit.
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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
DECEMBER 2019


When I picked up the KF from the marine dealer, they'd successfully installed the motor and steering cables and the engine was "running," albeit with issues. Apparently I'd installed one of the carb flange gaskets backwards. :facepalm: So I'd have to address that myself since it's $100/hour shop rate for the marine guy. :cool: Plus the trim pump case itself had been damaged and the pump wasn't working. Another thing to deal with.

AND! I'd installed the trim pump where I was told to by the younger marine guy. But that turned out to be a problem because it interfered with the steering mechanism. It has to be moved to the port side. I bought another 1/4" bent aluminum bracket which will be mounted similarly to what I did with the throttle bracket.

I picked up the boat from the marine place and took it straight to the metal fabricating place.
8 Dec.jpg


Upon opening the top of the trim pump motor we discovered that not only was it damaged, but it was also filled with sand and grease! :eek: I now suspect that the donor boat must have been sunk at some point. The outboard water pump and impeller location, as well as the gearbox area were similarly covered with sand. I'm amazed that the motor actually runs.
11 Dec.jpg



My wife brought her talents to play and installed the custom aluminum lettering that I made.
6 Dec.jpg

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Turned out nice! :D
13 Dec.jpg


And this is where I am now. Trouble-shooting the wiring harness trying to get the trim pump working. Ugh.
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BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
And now y'all are up to date. We didn't do much over the holidays. Shortly thereafter the weather turned cold so nothing new to report thus far this year. Slow progress, I know. Exasperating for me. :rolleyes:

But I did order and receive more stuff for the project, so will hopefully be able to get back in the groove again soon. :cool:
 

BWR1953

Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
6,278
Oh yeah, a couple videos.

This is the motor running but it didn't have a tell tale stream. It was full of gunk of several types. I ended up having to replace the hose and the block connector.



And this is with the new hose installed. Working great! This is before I reversed the one carb flange gasket. After I did that, it wouldn't start all. So, now I have to remove both of the carbs again and reverse BOTH flange gaskets. :facepalm:

 

jbcurt00

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
25,111
All, 'cept motor woes, sounds/looks outstanding, slow progress is still progress....

Plus welcome to US citizenship BWR's Admiral and her son, congrats and safe travels.
 
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