Starcraft Chieftain 1972 MK4

[boatnut74]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Nice looking rig! Lot's of helpful folks here to help you through your transom and deck replacement. It's a pretty straightforward job.

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

The beast is now in my shop. I plan on soda blasting the entire hull and most likely roller painting with rustoleum with hardener. First order of business will be to gut the interior including removing the engine. Once I have removed all that weight I will remove the boat from the trailer.

My thought is to build a mobile cradle that would allow me to move the boat around the shop and also incorporate in the cradle the ability to lay the boat over onto each chine to be able to paint the bottom. Has anybody ever heard of this or done this?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

I used furniture rollers to set th boat on. Man was that a huge advantage being able to roll a big boat from one side of the garage to the other.

To get the hull up on its side I used hoist systems hooked up to LVLs over head. Super easy.

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Rookie question. As I'm looking at the beast it looks likes the entire boat is either riveted or screwed together. Do I need to worry about taking things apart and not getting them back together?

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

As I am using my digital camera to take more pictures of the beast I am finding out that they are too large to post to the forum. Is there an easy way around this?

 

[Gun Dog]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Nice find. I'm curious as to what the beam measures on that rig.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Rookie question. As I'm looking at the beast it looks likes the entire boat is either riveted or screwed together. Do I need to worry about taking things apart and not getting them back together?

All rivets Steve. Don't take anything apart that you can't put back together!!!

As I am using my digital camera to take more pictures of the beast I am finding out that they are too large to post to the forum. Is there an easy way around this?

Open up a photobucket account and upload your photos there. Then, copy the IMG code form there and paste them into your post here. Cake

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

As best I can tell it looks like the beam at the widest point in eight feet.

 

[barato2]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Steve, here's to ya....when you jump into a resto, you certainly do it big.

on motor stuff, i'd also replace the rear main seal on the engine while you have it out and separated from the outdrive....not necessary, but not much $ either.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Has anybody on this board actually launched and retrieved a boat this size?

I've dealt with a 24' fiberglass Seaswirl w/ hardtop at the launch and it's manageable.

the biggest hassle will be wind pushing the rig side to side while trying to get it centered on the trailer.

I would not worry about it, that boat is awesomely huge and you will be a master retrieving before long I'm sure

Welcome to the Starcraft fleet, good luck to ya!

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

I finally started tearing down the Chieftain. I am removing the interior but want to get the lower unit off so I can remove the engine and get the boat off the trailer onto some kind of dolly. Question, how heavy is the lower unit? Is it something I can unbolt and strong arm it to the ground or do I need some sort of lift? Thanks in advance for all the help this group will be providing.

 

[dozerII]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

The out drive is not super heavy I took mine off my self. Build a stand for it out of scrap lumber to support it right under the cavatation plate. That way all you have to do is pull it back onto the stand.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

First off - nice Chief! I am sure you will enjoy your time doing the restore, some frustrations but much more pleasure. I too am currently restoring a Chief ( http://forums.iboats.com/starcraft-boats/my-chieftan-project-580639.html ) with pics. The outdrive is manageable by one person, not really that heavy, just more on the bulky side. Much easier to do with two people but still not a bad task with only one. Good luck and looking forward to your progress.

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Thanks for the advice. I am working on just tearing out the big pieces for now. I would be interested if anybody out there has done a transom on 24ft MK4? I think the rear end of the boat is different then the 22s. My corners appear to be welded and I'm not sure how I can peel the aluminum back to pull the transom??

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Have you got some photos so we can check it out?

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Sorry for the disjointed response I am a rookie at this site. I posted three pictures of the top end of the transom. I have removed the rear rub rail and see the actual plywood transom(totally rotted out). I don't see how I can bend the aluminum up enough to remove the transom with ruining what is currently in place. Suggestions??

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Take a look at the transom removal on my Islander thread - should be identical to what you have there. (Sorry, I'd link ya right to it's but I'm on my phone and it's takes forever to scroll through).

You basically just need to free the side rub rails then wedge em out a little. Then the stern alum skin will just come up enough for the transom to slide out.

 

[Stevens520]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

I was trying to figure out the same thing; So far I have come up with 2 solutions. Either removing the 3 rivets just forward of the cleat in the picture and bending the piece of aluminum up, or removing the side rub rails and removing the bolts up far enough so that the cap can lift up far enough for the transom to slide out.

 

[Sc25175]

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Re: Chieftain 1972 MK4

Agree with both of you. The big concern is in each corner there are two layers of aluminum. One is the side deck and the the other is the rear deck. If there was one layer(rear deck) I feel pretty good that I could bend that up to remove the transom. I do think the corners are going to be problematic, just I will just figure it out. Jas, I will look at your thread to see if I can glean something. Again thanks for the help.