Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

[Travis91]

New to the forum, been lurking a while. ive been looking at 1969 Starcraft. i know it has had a new floor and interior, CD player, speakers its I/o with a inline 4 gm motor. my mechanic said he would belive it to be a "iron duke" or "iron horse" that the older Chevy cars had.


I do know he said it hasn't been used in the last year because he bought a newer boat and didnt take this one out and he expected the carbs would have to be cleaned, new fuel, new battery.

Can anyone tell me which model this is? if they are decent boats? and if anyone has one id love to see pictures.. i live about 2 hours from this boat so i haven't gone to look yet.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

Welome to the forum Travis.
That white thing protruding from that round hole in the back means TROUBLE!
aka the WHITE LEG OF DEATH.
This OMC outdrive is obsolete and servicing and parts may be a problem.
The 4 cylinder GM motor is a great little motor, not exactly the "Iron Duke" as many people think..
Id say pass, there are too many Mercruiser I/O boats out there to be stuck with this boat.
Sorry

 

[Travis91]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

Don't be sorry thats why i asked.. is there a way to replace that outdrive? the guy is only asking 600 for the boat and trailer..

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

Can anyone tell me which model this is? if they are decent boats? and if anyone has one id love to see pictures.. i live about 2 hours from this boat so i haven't gone to look yet.

Kev was nice enough to not point out that this is a fiberglass Starcraft, and not a tinny SC, the preferred SC round the SC owners group. But here are 2 places to look for pix & info:

SC Brochure Thread here at iBoats.com
1969 pix are in a photobucket acct & not just 1969 brochure pix. Here are the specs for the 1969 SC's listed in their brochure:

and another site that stops at 1967 boats, but you might find a similar hull.....

The 4cyl I/O motor info & the pix are helpful, but do you know: how long (transom to bow), it's VIN/HIN (Hull Id #), it's max beam, or transom beam? Those can help narrow it down, and confirm a year &/or model. Registration, title & VIN# are occasionally inaccurate...

If you end up w/ a fiberglass boat (SC or not) the resto forum may be more helpful since they are collectively a bunch of glassing experts. And in that forum, there's a thread of Helpful How too's

Welcome, & depending what you end up buying, the SC tin guys or the glass guys in the resto forum will help ya get it prepped & ready for water duty.........

 

[Travis91]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

i didnt think i was in the wrong for posting about a fiberglass boat in this section.. that wasnt stated anywhere.. sorry that just rubbed me the wrong way..

I have compared pictures and i think its a Trident.. i dont want to deal with the outdrive problems. i think i will just get a outboard boat

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

You mis-understood, I meant for fiberglass Q's the resto forum would give you better results to your questions, if you decide to buy it & it needs work. NOT that you couldn't post here. It's an SC, so here is just fine. And as far as I'm concerned it's a boat, so tin or glass is no matter.

Being fiberglass, the tin fellas may not even know the answer to your model question, I don't, that's why I posted the brochure pix.

Heck no man, no problem at all. If I gave you that impression, my bad.

Welcome, tin or glass, it's all good

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

That white thing protruding from that round hole in the back means TROUBLE!
aka the WHITE LEG OF DEATH.
This OMC outdrive is obsolete and servicing and parts may be a problem.
The 4 cylinder GM motor is a great little motor, not exactly the "Iron Duke" as many people think..
Id say pass, there are too many Mercruiser I/O boats out there to be stuck with this boat.
Sorry

^^This^^

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

Don't be sorry thats why i asked.. is there a way to replace that outdrive? the guy is only asking 600 for the boat and trailer..

I missed that you posted this Q too... there are two OMC outdrive to Mercrusier threads going, 1 is Jas' SC Islander (tin) that although similar, won't be extremely helpful because it's tin. The other is Pat's ChrisCraft Lancer thread. Although his isn't an SC, the types of changes & required work will be extremely similar as his is also fiberglass. This goes back to my comment about glass vs tin in the SC threads.... Significantly more glass info & help in the resto forum. Pat recently hit a snag, but is working thru the re-work. Jas' has been sidelined working on a variety of other tin boats but should be back on the Islander this fall/winter.

If you'd like to read thru some SC project threads their here, and do have lots of great info, but mostly about tin SC boats. Some currently still in progress, other's finished/completed.

I think at least 1 company makes a converter that allows you to run the motor in an OMC outdrive setup, but replaces the OMC outdrive w/ a Mercruiser unit. I don't know who that is but a google search may find it.

However, most of the guys that need to make changes to the outdrive setup, buy a donor boat, and scavenge off the motor & outdrive for use in the boat they are working on & dump the hull for sale cheap or free, w/ or w/out the trailer. Many even upgrade to a much better trailer from the donor boat as well. Jas has elevated this to a finely crafted artform, as you'll quickly find if you read thru his signature line threads....

 

[barato2]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

glasser trihulls that used to run when last used ____ [fill in the blank] years ago at <$1000 are thick as fleas on a dog. be selective and don't be in a hurry to buy. thse are OK boats if you get a decent one, and it's what you need for where and how you boat (ie, no offshore or big water; great for lakes and bays). should be tons of boats in ALabama.

IMHO, that $600 bargain you posted would be a $3000 headache by the time you got it water ready.....everything they say about the WLOD is true. look for an outboard boat instead unless you're familiar with I/Os.....easier to work on and better for shallow water.

and read some glasser threads on how to spot soft stringers, floors, and transom.....these are some work to replace on a tinnnie but absolute nightmare on a glasser. you'll be glad for the time you spend reading and you don't have to spend cutting and grinding out old fiberglass.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

OMC Cobra's aren't too terribly obsolete and can possibly be converted to Mercruiser using the SEI kit jbcurt mentioned above. However, this boat doesn't have a Cobra, it's got an old Stringer. These setups are VERY different from any others and are obsolete as sh.it! Pass on this boat and look for something with a Chevy motor based Mercruiser or Volvo setup for best parts and service support.

 

[Travis91]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

.

IMHO, that $600 bargain you posted would be a $3000 headache by the time you got it water ready.....everything they say about the WLOD is true. look for an outboard boat instead unless you're familiar with I/Os.....easier to work on and better for shallow water.

I have a deal worked out with my mechanic who knows alot about both outboards and inboards.. i buy, he fixes for free labor we both fish kinda deal.

 

[barato2]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

good deal. the SS Tin Tub even gets a Chief Engineer onboard in the deal.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

I have a deal worked out with my mechanic who knows alot about both outboards and inboards.. i buy, he fixes for free labor we both fish kinda deal.

Thats a great deal..But your buddy will be kicking himself for agreeing to that. In fact...Define "Knowing alot"? He has a boat repair shop? He specializes is obsolete parts?

I think you have your mind made up, so best of luck.

My advice is still find another boat, and if it's an I/O..Get a mercruiser! If its an OB, stick with the big names (Evinrude, Johnson, Mercury) or the imports (Yamaha, Honda).

Do not buy a boat with a FARCE (Force), or a old Chrysler (even if they are cool blockhead motors)

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Looking at a 1969 starcraft!

Glasser
Tri Hull
Obsolete Driveline
40+ Years Old

if they are decent boats?

Nope, not any more, sorry.