Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

[tlynch99]

Hello,

I have been meaning to start my restoration thread for a long time. I am new to owning a power boat, and purchased this Startcraft 16' SS after being encouraged by many of the members here.

Original "Should I buy this" thread:
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=245358

I bought the boat in April 2008 for $400, I didn't know if the motor worked, the paint was hideous and there were soft spots in the floor and seats.

Instead of starting my restoration thread as I was doing it, I am going to recap what I did now that I am almost complete.

Since this was my first boat and I did not have a lot of experience restoring 1970's vintage aluminum boats I wanted to see if I could use the boat as is.

After buying the boat, going to the nearby cabelas and getting the clymer manual, I figured out how to "de-winterize" (Since I didn't know the condition of the outboard) and try and start the motor. After new sparkplugs, gas / oil and a new battery the outboard started within seconds of cranking. I was feeling pretty good, I just bought a boat for $400 and I had it running on muffs in my driveway, within a couple days.

Next question: Does this boat float? or really not take on too much water for the bilge pump I was going to buy at least for a test run.

I took the boat over to a quiet lake with my brother and basically backed the boat down the ramp, (with the plug in ), and just sat in the boat while it was still connected to the trailer / winch. After about 10 minutes I noticed there was a good bit of water in the bilge but the pump hadn't come on yet. So we figured it was floating well enough we could start the motor and take it for a quick spin. We started the motor, no problems, and went out on the lake for about 15 minutes. The outboard was a 70hp Evinrude that ran well, and we got just about WOT 30mph on GPS. We then put the boat back on the trailer, pulled it up, and took out the drain plug, quite a bit of water came out so I knew I had some leaks. I could also see while underway water leaking in around the bottom of the wooden transom piece.

After this first experience boating, I knew I wanted to restore the boat, fix the leaks, the interior, the exterior paint etc....

The following posts / pictures document the work I have done to restore this wonderful boat.

The Plan:
First Summer 2008 - Get the boat usable with minimal amount of work
Fall / Winter 2008/2009 Exterior Repaint, New Deck, New Interior
Summer 2009 - Use the boat
Fall / Winter 2009/2010 - Replace transom and complete gunwhale painting

I will make a new post for each of these 4 "Phases"

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Glad you got a thread started. Your plan pretty much mimicked mine with my Jupiter......except mine had the additional step of "dump hundreds of dollars into the motor to get it running well".

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

First Summer 2008:

After that initial test run with my brother at the lake, I could tell the 1978 70hp Evinrude needed a carb cleaning, it was running a little bit rough at idle and needed the warm up lever to very small amount to not cough out and die.

So I took the carbs apart and cleaned them:

After taking a good look at my motor I realized it was in pretty decent shape, it was clean, there wasn't anything that looked missing, the only thing I could tell was that I would need a new hose that connected the pee fitting on the outside of the motor to the plastic piece that was screwed in the block. I also would eventually break that plastic part and had to back it out without breaking it more, and then I replaced it with a brass one that screwed in and is much more sturdy.

I took a lot of pictures so I could remember how everything went back together, and tried to preserve the linkage on the throttle cams for each carb.

After taking each carb off, I bought a kit from Iboats to totally rebuild each one. The process was fairly straightforward, and took a few hours. I used compressed air to blow out and clean each bowl.

Picture of workbench and the carb parts laid out:

After cleaning the carbs and putting them back on the engine, I took the boat out for another spin, it idle perfectly smooth and ran great. I was still having a good bit of water leaking in around the transom, and I am sure other places but at least I could see the water coming in around the transom. That winter I would rip the interior out, fill the boat with water and then try and find the leaks / use gluvit etc....

On my test runs the bilge pump would turn on ever 30 minutes or so pump the boat dry and then repeat. I figured it was good enough for now.

Also when I bought the boat I didn't get the title, I use the International Title Service to do the "I sell you my boat, where you are in a state that can retitle it, then you sell it back to me...." it worked great, and I soon registered the boat in MA.

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

ezmobee,

Boy was I glad when it started, I had read a lot on here and was worried about having to trace down electrical problems, or diagnose timing / bad power pack types of things....

I think now 2 years later I would feel more comfortable, but not back then.

TL

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

End of First Summer 2008:

Well the season went great, I had the boat out 6 times. 3 times in lakes around central MA, 2 times in lakes around Hartford CT, and once in the ocean / harbor at Point Judith RI. I realized I wouldn't test my luck trying any watersports with the transom the way it was so I didn't do any skiing / tubing even though I was looking forward to trying.

I was able to fix the transom leak with some silicon sealant, and I knew I would eventually have to really fix the leaking rivet / transom problems.

I also found out that I had a stripped spark plug hole that someone installed a helicoil into. I took the spark plug out once and the helicoil was still around the plug.... so I new that I wanted to replace my head, one that had good threads.

I looked on ebay and was able to purchase a gasket and head for ~ $30.

Going into the fall my plan was to repaint the boat, and then in the winter redo the interior.

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Fall 2008:
Repaint the boat

I did a little test of repainting my transom over the paint that was on the boat when I bought it. I wanted to determine the amount of prep work I was going to need. When I did my test on the transom I lightly sanded it and then used rustoleum white primer. What I found was that the end result did not look smooth and I could see the scratches / blemishes of the old surface.

I realized then I would sand the boat down to the aluminum. As you can see in some of these pictures, I also realized there were a couple of previous owners who had just painted over the previous coats.

This is what one side looked like when before I started:

The other side before I started... needless to say this was the side that was facing the street when I bought it:

**A note about the Canadian flag, we make mayple syrup as a hobby (inside this horse riding area, no horses though) and liked the flag due to it's maple leaf, we have an American one in front of it out of view...

As I started to sand, you can see what I think might be the original paint job, red with that white stripe I have seen so many times in the starcraft brochures from the period:

More sanding:

Was using 60 grit sand paper on a festool sander / vacuum combo, a very nice tool... almost no dust.

Trying to not sand the rivets:

More Sanding:

Continued....

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Continued....

Outside, with one side almost completed sanded down:

Transom from my paint experiment, it looked ok from 15 feet:

Other side sanded:

Still need to do the bow and parts of the bottom.

The bottom was actually in pretty good shape, so I sanded as much as I could then moved the boat on the trailer and sanded the areas that were previously covered by bunks etc... I know I could have flipped the boat, but I was trying to stick with things I knew I could do vs, diving into removing the motor, windshield etc...

After the paint was all stripped I wiped the whole boat with vinegar / water solution and then used the roll / tip method to apply rustoleam primer and then rustoleam white high gloss. There will be some pictures of the finished paint job later.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Looks good so far, nice work...keep the pictures coming That rig looks quite patriotic with the red, white, and blue blending of paint.

Strikingly similar to my rig, not much(if anything) changed from '78 to '79...if it ain't broke don't fix it

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Fall / Winter 2008 / 2009
Remove Interior

After repainting the outside boat all white, gunwhales and some interior parts / splashwell etc... not yet repainted. I decided to take the interior apart.

Being an engineer, I took a billion pictures and trying to document everything so I could figure out how to get all of this stuff back together.

I had been reading about replacing the deck and members opinions on 1/2 vs 3/4, regular plywood vs marine plywood, how to seal the deck etc... I had a good idea of what I was going to do.

I decided on 3/4 regular high grade plywood and then sealing it with a epoxy resin.

So I started taking things apart, and why not start at the bow. You will notice a piece of crappy plywood in this picture, one of the worst soft spots was up here in the front so during the summer when I was using the boat those 6 times I cut a piece to try and stabilize the deck.

Found all kinds of gross stuff:

Took the controls off the side board, I wasn't sure exactly how to remove all the steering cables / control cables so I just would put them off to the side.

I eventually replaced the deck without ever removing the steering cable or control box.

Transom area, you can see some of caulking which I knew was a hack job, but it did stop the leaking. I would replace that when I do my transom.

What was a bigger hack job by the previous owners was that bolt you can see in the top position of that angle support, it's like sticking out 5 inches. It went from outside just below the motor, inside... I would replace those with real closed ended rivets once I got all this interior out.

Other transom angle:

I was luck enough to take the front seats apart without breaking any of the wood, which I would then use for templates:

Continued....

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Continued.....

Removing the dash boards, they were so rotted I wouldn't have the luxury of using them as templates, which was ok because I wanted to change their shape a bit:

The floor was also covered in a vinyl, I hadn't decided which was I was going to go, carpet, non-slip coating, vinyl, wasn't sure yet.

Looking astern:

You can also see here 4 cushions, I templated them and made them before starting this tear down of the interior. I bought 3 inch thick foam from a furniture store, some marine vinyl and a new sewing machine. They turned out as nice as the originals, I was happy.

Starboard console:

Starting to take up the vinyl, very very rotted:

Continued....

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Continued....

As I removed the floor, with a hammer and a crow bar, I knew I was going to have wet foam under the deck, the decking was very wet and I had seen white pieces of foam in the bilge during the summer.

Boat inside garage, it was cold out, removing the foam, you can see parts of it on the left leaning up against the wall, it was nasty:

At this point the boat was empty. I did the fill up with water leak test and found tons of areas where water was entering the boat. I went to harbor freight and bought a pneumatic riveter, which was the best $40 I spent. I also decided after a lot of reading that I wanted to use closed ended aluminum rivets. Since I own a small business, I can order parts at Grainger industrial supply stores. I honest to god walked into one of their local stores and they had the rivets I needed for both the hull repairs and securing the 3/4 deck to the stringers IN-STOCK.

Closed ended pop rivet, steel mandrill:

I would basically find a rivet that was leaking, drill / grind the head off, then bang it out with a center punch, and then take the new rivet, smother the end in 4200 and set it in place.

I would then lightly sand down the 4200 and then was going to repaint the transom / bottom areas where I had to rivet.

After I did the rivet repair / fill boat up 3 times I found I had replaced the majority of the leaking rivets. There were still a few that I couldn't get to because they were very close to where the sides of the boat met the bottom.

I decided to gluvit the entire inside of the boat, which I did in the garage during the winter. Used 1.5 cans. Seemed to work great, filled the boat back up with water, no leaks.

After vacuuming out the boat, and removing any rivet left over pieces, I then Went to Home Depot and bought the closed cell insulation material. Be it this was before EZ's foam noodles.... very cool btw....

Cutting it wasn't too bad.

Using the air angle grinder to grind down any rivets / screws that were sticking up from the deck:

It's good to not I decided to screw with the red vinyl on the sides, it was in good shape just needed a good washing, and I had seen some of the pictures of people who try and remove it. It seemed like it was going to be a big hassle.

Continued...

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Painted boat in garage:

Helper:

Adding more foam:

Boat with all foam pieces, and other helper, this was a warm day in New England during the winter:

Paint job / New foam ready to be placed in and then the deck installed:

So at this point the boat was sealed, the foam was cut, and I was ready to start cutting the deck. This wasn't going to be too easy because I didn't have any templates as all the decking was totally rotten.

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Huron Angler,

I didn't think of that before, but you are right it does look very patriotic. I couldn't decide how I wanted the final paint job to look like so I just painted it white, and figured when I knew what I wanted to could add a stripe or something like that.

I looked at your 79 it does look very similar, I noticed you have a CMC tilt / trim, how do you like that? I have been thinking about buying one. I took the motor off the boat yesterday, and will be doing the transom in the next few weeks, so now would be the time to add that if I wanted.

TL

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Winter 2009 - Next Steps:

I need to organize my pictures and get them posted so that is all for now, but the next steps I took were to template the deck, cut the deck, seal it, install it, install carpet, install interior.

Will post those pictures / text soon.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

I'd look for an OEM TnT unit. You're past the '77 mark which means it's the newer style system. Not too tough to find and not overly expensive (unlike the CMC unit). If your motor was a '77 or older I'd say go with the CMC.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Huron Angler,

I didn't think of that before, but you are right it does look very patriotic. I couldn't decide how I wanted the final paint job to look like so I just painted it white, and figured when I knew what I wanted to could add a stripe or something like that.

I looked at your 79 it does look very similar, I noticed you have a CMC tilt / trim, how do you like that? I have been thinking about buying one. I took the motor off the boat yesterday, and will be doing the transom in the next few weeks, so now would be the time to add that if I wanted.

TL

The CMC trim/tilt was a really cool bonus($600+ brand new, $1000 spent on the whole package) and I am a huge fan of it. Not only does it allow me to trim and tilt the motor which is key...it sets the OB back 6" so it effectively makes my SS a custom 16' 6" in length

This helps with handling and performance(less motor cavitation) and just looks sweet in my opinion. I would not have thrown down the cash for one if it didn't come with the rig, but a used one would be a serious consideration. I've seen used units for <$300 locally.

Great work I haven't found much that isn't identical to mine...one disparity is that your stringer run all the way to the transom. Mine stop short below the splashwell. Not a problem since it leaves more room for gas tanks back there. If the deck ran all the way to the transom I believe you'd have some added structural rigidity as it would tie in the whole rig pretty much...not sure though

 

[tlynch99]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Ezmobee,

Thanks for the information regarding the OEM TnT, I think I vaguely remember reading something about the change in 77, I should then be able to find a used one on ebay or something.... I guess the question would be do I want to change my controls over, or do I want a dash mounted tilt / trim switch. I kind of like my current controls as I have rebuilt them, and they work great. I don't have any experience using a tilt trim equipped boat and have read that you adjust the tilt trim sometimes as you are turning, so maybe having the new controls would be best.

I do know that I boat sometimes in the Connecticut River, and would like to have the ability to put my bow up in the air to plow through some wakes created by some big boats.... I once had a 44ft sea ray come off plane about 100 ft in front of me, we were in a 300-400ft wide channel, but I thought I was going to take one over the bow.

Huron Angler,
That is a nice bonus, that it came with your boat. Not only do my stringers run to the transom, but I ran the decking over them all the way to about 1 inch of the transom, I figured it would be good for my battery and gas tanks back there...

TL

 

[sprintst]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Nice work. It's bringing back painful memories of the hull sanding last summer.

I like the summer 2010 enjoyment phase as I won't redo my dash until the fall.

 

[PaulyV]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

Real Nice Job! Cant wait to see the rest. Aprils coming fast. My stringers go to the back as well.

Its maple syrup time. Just went to Lamothes in Burlington a picked up a Gallon..$68 scheckles..

 

[sprintst]

Re: Starcraft 1978 16' SS Restoration - Multi-year Project

The coach from Norway that handed a ski pole to the Canadian skier in Turnin who broke hers during competition was sent 5.2 tons of maple syrup with the duties waived.

I wonder what that was worth