Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

[KyleM]

After looking for a long, long time I finally found a smaller 14' aluminum runabout.

1969 Starcraft Falcon aluminum runabout with a modified transom for a 1983 Johnson 40 VRO.

I have a few questions about some repairs on the boat if you fellas dont mind.

There are about 8 rivets that have a minor leak (to be expected I guess). I talked to trusted guy at a marina and he said there might not be a need to replace them.
Of all things, he said get it nice and dry and dab some super glue into them. Is that ok to do??
I read something about a product called gluvit, dont think I wanna take that route....I did do a lengthy search of the forum.

I have the floor pulled and plan on settin in some nice new carpeted 3/4 ply and a new pair of pedestal swivel seats. This boat will be for fishing (mainly trolling).

Now, the previous boat owner could not locate a 40hp short shaft so the marina he took it to gave the transom a bit more height and added on this 83 40 Johnson (oil pump already disconnected). They replaced the transom aswell with some major ply (looks like 4/4 or maybe even 5/4). I then noticed the seems all around the outside of the transom have some sort of a rubber gasket coating?

Is that gonna be a huge problem in the future? Im guessing they did it because it leaked but I was curious to see if this is a normal/regular way of repairing it (or a proper way).

The last little problem is the windshield.
It has a complete crack directly in the centre.
I would like it to be replaced but it is not
totally needed as its right in the middle.
Is there a place on the web where you can order
retro windshields?

Ive added some pictures....I ended up paying 1300 CDN (he was asking 1800)
Came with an older tilt trailer.
The motor runs decent with the muffs on but who knows what its like in the water at WOT. Probably moves the boat at a fair pace though.

I will post some pictures of the complete interior project in a couple weeks when Im done.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

"There are about 8 rivets that have a minor leak (to be expected I guess). I talked to trusted guy at a marina and he said there might not be a need to replace them.
Of all things, he said get it nice and dry and dab some super glue into them. Is that ok to do??
I read something about a product called gluvit, dont think I wanna take that route....I did do a lengthy search of the forum."

Ask that "trusted guy" about the super glue again..... I would venture to say he is sniffing glue! That WILL NOT WORK. Go the gluvit route, tighten the rivets or replace them. Super glue... what a laugh!

Make sure that "rubber gasket coating" is not silicone because that will not work for long.

Try a local auto glass shop. Since you have the original windshield they may be able to make one from that template from plexi or even better lexan.

Do things right the first time.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

bob's right, while the floor is out, get a friend and one on the outside and one on the inside, and tighten the rivets, then as future prevention coat the whole inside to the water line with Gulvit. take it from someone with a leaky boat,. i have now found more problem with my 18 footer. as far as the transom, i can see how it's installed. in the pics, looks like a 2x8 bolted to the transom. the windshield, you are lucky you have the frame. a plexiglass or lexan is a good replacement. i'm in a restroration of a1956 without the frame. good luck, fantastic boat

by the way the one i'm restoring only had one rivet missing, the leaky boat is the one i have $5000 in with restoration and engine. thinking of stripping it and go again with another hull. or just the second bilge pump.

 

[KyleM]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

While it looks like its a 2x4 bolted, I think they did it correctly.

That white strip is actually aluminum.
They insterted a higher piece of ply then what the original aluminum was capable of covering. That white piece of riveted onto the back of the ply to cover it up.

Now, heres a different problem with the rivets.

I went out and had a peak.

The leaky rivets look to be pulling through from the outside to inside. They look to be pulled into the aluminum, they barely leak but its still a problem that Id rather not have.

Can you purchase gluvit in Canada?

Can i line the inside of the haul with this stuff and then lay down my foam?

I read that you need to seal it up with paint because UV eats it. Im guessing thats not the case if its under the floor of the boat?


So many questions....this stuff is much easier solved over a couple beers in the shop but hey, thats just not possible.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

drill the rivets out, use stainless steel bolts and washers and nuts, then coat the inside with gulvit, you can refoam if you like, i usually don't. then floor with exterior plywood, sealed on all edges. this is where Bob, and i differ, exterior will last longer than your are going to own it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

this is my project. they are very similar. only had one riviet missing, the only leak. extremely well built boat, looks like the hull is 3/16 thick.

http://forums.iboats.com/bbBoard.cgi?a=viewthread;fid=26;gtid=1282229

 

[wayno]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

Nice, Good luck with it.

 

[KyleM]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

Looks like you got a pretty good start on your project.

They are very similar boats. I may start a new thread this week with some more detailed photos. Someone may find it helpful someday.

Im gonna phone up North to the junk yard and see if I cant score a decent windshield.

Did you re-rivet the missing rivet or did you go with the bolt and washer trick?

Im also curious as to what type of supports to put in for the floor.

There is a single tapered aluminum support that runs atop the keel. The floor I pulled out was not original and it was pretty crude. There were no wooden stringers/supports at all running the width of the boat.

They had a 5/8 ply screwed to this keel strip and then they had it screwed to the hull stringers (probably not what its called) on the edges.

This whole thing is new to me but Ive wanted to try it for a long time. I have a spray booth I can use to paint and every wood working tool known to man available........metal work really is new to me though
so keep an open mind if any of the words Ive used are incorrect.

It was either finishing this boat or buy an older bassboat and that was definatly not something I wanted to tackle.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

If you go with a stainless steel bolt, washer, nut set up to replace the bad rivets make sure you make them tight. The gluvit (yes available in Canada) should be then applied to that nut on the inside, onto the rivet lines and onto the seams. Great stuff but MUST be mixed well.

As long as the wood used for the extended transom is in bad shape just leave it. For ither seams you can use 3m 4200 (if you intend to ever take it apart) or the permanent 3m 5200 for the pieces that will almost never come apart.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

ok, i'm really not that far ahead of you. post some pics detailed pics of the interior stucture.. mine sill open for a couple of days.. i found this easier to post pics.you can choose as many as you want post in 1 clik.


load your pictures to photobucket, then clik the small box under the pictures you want to post, go to the bottom of the page, clik generate HTLM. it will go to another page, about the 3rd section down it will say thumb nails for message boards, clik the box, and copy. then when posting in the forum, at the end of the post just paste the HTML, and click add reply. this is the easiest way to post pictures.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

Kyle, I redid a very similar boat to yours. Had the same plexiglass windshield. I was able to find a glass windshield off a typical bowrider on eBay. Even though I have a closed bow, I was able to bump the center out when I mounted it on my boat and make it work. Check it out here:

Before:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/Boat Project/09.jpg

After:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/Boat Project/boat3.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w200/ezmobee/Boat Project/boat2.jpg

 

[sdunt]

Re: Picked up a 69 Starcraft Falcon

There is a group on Yahoo that I was following for a while, I think its called classicaluminumboatclub http://groups.yahoo.com/group/classicaluminumboatclub/

There was some discussion awhile back about galvanic action, corrosion of two dis-similar metals in the presence of water. and I know there were issues in using Pop rivets for repairs. I don't recall if there were issues with stainless and aluminum together.

Also be careful of using pressure treated wood for the floor, use marine or A/C ply because the new AC2 type of treatment will EAT metal UP.

Also some folks have used roll on truck bed liner on the inside of 'Tinnies' to leak proof and seal them. Check out shareaproject.com. A search there for truck bed liner got several projects listed that used it.