Starcraft american 16

bkeith66 · Nov 7, 2005

Hi all, Picked up a 1975 starcaft american 16 with a 1978 mercury 1150 on the back of it on an ezloader trailer for $650.00. Not sure if that's good or bad but it's mine now

. Had boat out once & the motor ran great. Transom needs a rebuild though. Will be a 1st for me. Decided to take it on after reading about & looking at pic's of others project boats posted here. Some real nice work

. Currently have rub rail removed along with all deck screws under the rail track. Does anyone have any tips on how to free the deck splash well from the inner transom skin? First post. First digital camera too. Not very good pic's, but hope they work. Appreciate any & all help. Brian http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs54&d=05452&f=DSCN0061.JPG http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs54&d=05452&f=DSCN0058.JPG

AMD Rules · Nov 7, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

There is a member at iboats with another starcraft similar to yours. Have a peek here: Chinewalker's Place

Chinewalker · Nov 8, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Yep, that would be my Americans. Fantastic hull you've got there! You will not be disappointed when you're done! Although it's not exactly a step-by-step photo essay, there are lots of pics of my 15-footer being dismantled and rebuilt on my site. That was last winter/spring's project. This year's is an 18 foot American that I just moved into the shop this past weekend. Looks like we're in for the same deal this winter. Chances are that if your transom is rotted out, so are the stringers - at least the aft portions. I found it easier to simply gut the boat and rebuild it from the skin in rather than try to piece it together. Made for a much stronger boat when done, and no soft spots in the floor, either. Starcraft had a good hull design that responds well to power and trim, but the internal construction simply wasn't meant to last more than 20 years. My 18-footer will by my third American restoration, so I'm getting quite familiar with them at this point.

As for the transom, I found that it was easier to just pry the splashwell free a bit at a time, breaking the inner away from the outer. You're not saving the existing transom core so cut, break, gouge, etc. whereever needed to free things up. My 18-footer in its new home for the winter... Just got the seats out and started removing excess hardware (must have been a sale on bumper cleats and fishrod holders!!)

- Scott

bkeith66 · Nov 8, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Thanks for the replys Amd & Chinewalker. Chinewalker, Got the deck off. Ended up prying like you suggested. Not alot of room to work under the well

. Anyway, transom wood is wet & breaks apart easily. Definetly coming out. Solid work on your 15 footer. That's a sharp boat. Wish this one was blue. Gonna try & go off your pic's as i go along. The stern on your 15 sits up nice and high on the water while sitting still. This one seems low. Water comes in & goes out of the splash well hole with just a slight wake on this one. That was with a 1150 mercury (270?#) on back of it. Do you think that is too much motor weight for this boat, or maybe the foam under the floor is saturated, or a little of both? Thanks again.

Chinewalker · Nov 9, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi BKeith, My bet is that you're lugging a bit of waterlogged foam. Both of the 15s I've redone had saturated foam. When done, both boats were quite lightweight. Makes for a very responsive ride with the 75. My 15's rated for an 85, which might be downright hairy! The 16 is listed as being maxed with a 105hp outboard, so you are a little over on power. However, the 115 weighs pretty much the same as the 90hp Merc of the same vintage, so weight isn't the issue. I don't think it would be asafety issue running a 115 on your boat, but could definitely be a liability or legal issue. Might want to consider trading down on engine size. It was the water soaked foam that led to the rotted stringers in both of mine. I suspect my 18 will have the same problem, as I had a surveyor friend of mine hit the hull with his moisture meter and it pegged in the transom and along the sides where the foam is. You may want to take a peek at the Yahoo group for Starcraft owners where I have a 1977 vintage catalog posted. It lists the max hp ratings, etc. The group is at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/starcraft_boats/ Might want to talk to a sign man about redoing the black vinyl for the sides of your boat. Looks like someone peeled it right off... I think the black helps set off the color (green on yours vs. the white. Not a whole lot of green on yours, so it wouldn't be hard to repaint that part if it really bothered you... - Scott

bkeith66 · Nov 11, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Scott, Dug into the transom more & cut the plywood floor back some. Foam is saturated at least to the cut back. Wanted to keep cutting on floor, but wasn't sure if a lip should be left or not. I think you can see the lip in pic's that i have left so far. See pic's below. Is a lip neccasary for this paticular rebuild or should it be smoothed flush to hull? Hate to keep asking questions, but fiberglass is new to me. Also noticed in your pic's that you left part of the old fiberglass for your stringers. Could you give me an approximate height on what you left for your new ones. Thanks again for the help. Brian. http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs54&d=05456&f=DSCN0082.JPG http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs54&d=05456&f=DSCN0081.JPG

Chinewalker · Nov 11, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Brian, For the floor, I like to leave something there as a guide so that I can place a straight-edge across the stringers to the chines and check for flat and level. Doesn't have to be much, as you will be glassing the floor to the chines when you're done. Be sure to scuff up the sides near the chines so that the new glass will have something to bite. For the stringers, I left about an inch, maybe two in some spots using the old fiberglass as a guide for the stringers. I've done it this way on both of mine and it has worked quite well. I saturate the old woven glass with epoxy, too, to help it adhere to the hull better. Keep in mind - I'm no expert on this stuff myself, as I'm sure there are other ways to do what I've done, but this has worked for me on the two that I've finished... - Scott

bkeith66 · Nov 15, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Scott, Have floor pulled about half way up. Concerned about going further without the hull distorting. Below is a pic of the boat on trailer. Was thinking of putting some cut one bys under each roller to make a bigger & more stable foot print. Did you have any trouble with the hull loosing shape after floor was removed? 32#'s of wet foam so far in 2nd pic. How's progress coming on your 18 footer? Thanks again for the help. Brian http://xs.to/xs.php?f=FSCN0063.JPG&h=xs55&d=05463 http://xs.to/xs.php?f=DSCN0086.JPG&h=xs55&d=05463

Chinewalker · Nov 17, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Brian, I had the deck and floor off my blue boat for over a year and there was no distortion whatsoever. The only conscession I did make was to install the new floor AFTER I had replaced the deck so that any spread of the sides wouldn't be set in place by the new floor. Once you get the boat gutted the hull will be very light so there isn't much weight there to distort anything. Another thing I did do was make sure that I was NOT in the boat when the epoxy was kicking for the stringers. My weight when walking around the bare hull was enough to flex the bottom a bit here and there, but it easily returned to shape when I got out. This makes for lots of hurry up and wait periods, but it makes for good, quick after dinner projects each evening. I redid my blue boat while it was on a bunk trailer, but they weren't super supportive. It takes a lot to permanently distort a fiberglass hull. My other concession to preventing hull distortion was to leave the main keel in while I re-did the two outer stringers, and when they were in, then I removed the keel stringer. I didn't remove the kick-board forward, either, so I had to butt-joint the new keel with the old keel just before the kick-board. I used sandwich blocks on either side, so it's plenty strong. The stuff up front was fine with no rot or moisture to speak of, so I left it. if I had removed that there may have been significantly more hull spread. I haven't had a chance to work on the 18 too much the last couple weeks since I got it in the shop. I pulled and winterized my 15 last weekend and have been trying to piece together an engine for a 16-foot Sea Sprite I bought at an auction awhile back, so I've got several projects on the table at once. At present I'm still trying to get the rub rail off the 18 without destroying it. It's been banged up a bit so the rubber part isn't sliding out easily as it did on the blue 15. I ended up taking about 150 lbs. worth of water saturated wood and foam out of my 15-footer - it makes a difference! - Scott

bkeith66 · Nov 21, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hey Scott, Thanks for the reply. Helped erase some building doubt I was having. Now have floor pulled just shy of console kickboard (pic below). Stringers look to be wet farther up under the area at front. Thought it would be a good idea now to do the transom, before I go any farther with floor & stringers. Did you completly grind fiberglass lip down flush with hull at transom bottom, so your new transom wood is flush with the hull? Also, can you recommend a good book on fiberglassing? Working with fiberglass will be a first for me. Seen a few books mentioned on the forums, but I'm not sure which one to get for the use of epoxy over glass. Ended up with 80#'s of wet foam. Thanks again. Brian http://xs.to/xs.php?f=DSCN0095.JPG&h=xs56&d=05472

Chinewalker · Nov 22, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Brian, Yes, I ground the transom area smooth with an angle grinder and belt sander. On my 15-foot hulls, I was able to pull the entire stringer out on either side, leaving the fiberglass "tunnel" in place up under the kickboard flooring. They were loose in there once I removed the rotted aft portions of the stringers. I used the smaller pieces of the original stringers as patterns when making the new ones so that they'd fit into the old glass tunnels. I goobered them up good with thickened epoxy before sliding them back in, then screwed them in from the top through the existing floor. I left the original floor starting at that original plywood seam, just before the kickboard with everything aft of that being new. Both of my small hulls had been stored bow up a bit, so the forward keel and flooring weren't bad at all. I've been kind flying without a net as far as books are concerned. I've worked in a few marinas and boat repair shops over the years, as well as helped friends build some racing hulls, so I've picked up lots of info that way. Plus, I found lots of good info here on iBoats, too. There's no real rocket science to it, and as I'm sure you've figured out by now, your Starcraft's original construction methods weren't all that great, anyway, so more than likely you're going to build it better than it ever was originally. On mine, all wood is encapsulated in epoxy, the transom is full thickness top to bottom, side to side (original was not), and not a single steel screw to be found anywhere in my reconstruction. Not a knock against Starcraft, but they certainly didn't figure their hulls would still be in use 30 years down the channel. - Scott

bkeith66 · Dec 2, 2005

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hi Scott, Haven't had alot of time to work on the boat with the holiday. Ordered a fiberglass repair book from westsystem to get me going in the right direction. Will post a new thread when progress is made or when I get stumped again. Thanks again for the useful info. Brian

Chinewalker · May 1, 2006

Re: Starcraft american 16

Hey Brian, How's your project coming along? Finally got back into my 18 a bit this weekend and now have power for it, too... - Scott

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