Starcraft Holiday Rebirth

[badbowtie]

A little background first. I started boating about 15 years ago and bought a wellcraft 210 elite that needed all kinds of upholstery work and new fiberglass floor. Used it for 5 or 6 years then sold it and bought a century 285 cabin cruiser that needed a motor and more upholstery work. Sold it two years ago and bought a 1977 14' sea nymph v fishing boat to just fish with. My 6 year old and my 3 year old I want to take fishing with me more this summer and want to beable to use a boat after the morning fishing for the family to go hang out and drop anchor and swim.

So today I found a 1974 starcraft Holdiay 18' with merc 115hp outboard on it original in he has always kept it in the barn all year around and in 2001 he had installed all new seats and decided to cover it that winter in the barn. He opened the cover up in the spring and noticed he had two raccons in the boat all winter and tore the seats and dash and foam to all heck. The floor still felt really solid and the outer alum hull is in excellent condition. Trailer will just need new tires and go thru bearings and lights. I am going to go back in a few days so we can pull it out of the barn and hook up a two gallon gas tank straight to motor and make sure it still will run. As long as the motor does run I am going to plan to try to buy it. I really like the look and lines of these older alum boats. As long as motor runs what is a ball park of what this is worth needing all new upholstery and the year and model of this.

 

[mr 88]

500 to 1500 depending on where you live and how badly the owner wants to sell it. The hull is not a issue and your used to the upholstery work.The engine will need some love before firing up if it has sat for a long time. Some oil in the cylinders to keep it from scoring the cylinder walls in case the rings are stuck. The water impeller is probably dry rotted and will need to be replaced.Check the gear lube at this point if you decide to buy it. The wiring in these In-lines are known to be dry rotted out as well,check them out carefully as that is a" bring down the price item." In most cases you can either pick up a wiring harness for them or splice the new wiring into a solid section of the original and be good to go from there. The carbs will probably have to be rebuilt as the jets will be gunked up and new diaphrams installed in the fuel pumps.The primer bulb on the fuel line will also be shot at this point.The 115 is a great motor when running and will also suck fuel like crazy when wide open,its not to bad at cruising speed ,maybe 4 mpg at 3,000 rpm.Any questions on the motor can be addressed in the Mercury forum on this site.If the price was right and I was looking for a easy to tow unit and fairly maintenance free setup I would not hesitate to buy this older setup.

 

[badbowtie]

I was figuring pull the plugs and shoot some oil in them and let that soak for a day or two before I even tried to start. I also figured impeller since I replace them every other year anyway. I think I am going to call the guy today and see if I can take my trailer and just load his boat and trailer on mine and bring it here and put it in the heated garage to start tinkering with it to try get it started. The guy doesnt need the money or care if he sells it but wants 1000 and acts pretty firm at that. Acts like if he can't get 1000 he will just continue to let it sit in the barn. I think it could make a good fish boat for me and big enough the whole family can enjoy it also.

 

[redneck joe]

Wouldnt worry about a start as much as it cranking over. Good luck. Oh and fyi i put mothballs in my boat over winter.

 

[badbowtie]

Well I talked to the owner little bit ago and he is going to measure the fender widths tomorrow for me and let me know. I am going to try to take my car trailer and load his trailer and boat on my trailer to bring to the house and put it in the garage and see if I can get the motor to atleast crank. I am going to try to atleast pull the plugs and spray some oil in the cylinders and let them sit for a day or two before I try to turn it over.

 

[BWR1953]

I've used Marvel Mystery Oil for loosening cylinders before and it worked great using your method. Still have some around here somewhere.

 

[Texasmark]

On a 2 stroker it's more than just spraying in the cylinders. The crankshaft and rods get lubed from the fuel (which contains oil) and air mix from the carb's venturis. There are needle bearings involved in the interface and they will need some lube too. If you are just nuts about turning it over and all, do more than what you said. Get a can of engine fogger, like is used when winterizing an engine, at least and with the butterflies open and the plugs out spray through the venturis and through the plug holes. Then rotate the flywheel by hand, back and forth until you can rotate it through a couple of revolutions.

Then, with the engine vertical and assuming it has been in the vertical position, pull the lower unit gearcase drain plug carefully and see what comes out. If clean oil only fine, you can run it with that and change it and the seals on the drain fill screws when you get home.

The only thing left is the impeller and it is probably as Mr. 88 said so you aren't going to hurt much there. Don't try to run it without water attached.....muffs and a garden hose over the water pickup holes on both sides of the lower unit just above the round gear box. Just to light it off to see if it will, I wouldn't worry about it.......max run time on that like 15 to 30 seconds.

If it fires off with a fresh battery shut her down. You have proven your point. After you get things cleaned up, as 88 mentioned, then you can run it for some time.

That's the way I would do it if it were mine. I had an 18 Holiday I/O and loved it. You will enjoy yours a lot better being an OB. Easier to get to things to work on when needed. Seats are available at numerous places....iboats for one. Doubt the coons did any structural damage that you would need to fix. Good that you are servicing the trailer bearings and putting on new tires. Ensure that you get Special Load rated trailer tires. They have (seem to have) a lot more plasticizer in them and they last a lot longer before cracking than regular tires.

Good luck,
Mark

 

[badbowtie]

Yea I didn't even think about the needle bearings I will get a can of engine fog and do like you said for sure. I also didnt really see any structure damage from the coon but It also is still never been cleaned out from when they tore it all up years ago. I also no you can score back to back seats all the time which is what is supposed to be in it but not sure which route I want to go since I am using primarily a fishing boat. I am going to look around for ones people have changed around for ideas.

 

[Texasmark]

not sure which route I want to go since I am using primarily a fishing boat. I am going to look around for ones people have changed around for ideas.

Fine! When I restored mine I put in pedestals for the reason mentioned with a large diameter base with lots of screw holes for securing. Worked great, view great, preferred with the high sides of that boat as I see it.

 

[badbowtie]

Well today after got done rabbit hunting ended up stopping over the guys place with truck and trailer. Got it all loaded up on trailer so tomorrow on to start cleaning it up and seeing what I got, and see if I can get it running.

 

[badbowtie]

No Title

 

[BWR1953]

Wow! $1.88/gal. for gas!

Nice boat.

 

[Texasmark]

Looks good from here. How about a couple of shots of the rest of it. Looks like a tilting trailer with rollers for bolsters. Both should make for veryyyyyyy easy launching. On the gas that's where it's running here in N. TX. to the penny on regular. Don't know about the rest but diesel is finally tracking regular. Fix yourself some guides in the rear so that when you get ready to load it back up at the end of the day, the boat can find the submerged trailer. You can make a set out of PVC pipe and electrical metal conduit/box pieces. Really makes a difference and if you don't have sealed running lights, you can put your highway running/stop lights up there out of the water.

 

[badbowtie]

Ounce I start cleaning it out today and figure out how to get it unloaded I will get some more pictures today. I really hate to guy buy tires before I decide what the deal with the motor is since that maybe what makes or breaks the deal with me buying it. I am going to at least leave it on the trailer till I see what I got.

I also will end up installing 2x6 oval sealed led lights and I also will install side boards to help load without a doubt.

Yea gas is down I just wish diesel would come back down little bit more also.

 

[redneck joe]

Nice boat.


Diesel down to 1.99 here

 

[Watermann]

Great idea hauling the entire boat and trailer on a car hauler, sure takes the wonder out of the trip. Nice Holly! :thumb:

 

[badbowtie]

Well for some more pictures after I used my lift to unload trailer of my trailer. Also it is alive it runs and idles very well. I noticed the tach doesn't work and I also noticed there is no gas gauge so I am little confused there.

 

[jbcurt00]

Are you sure there isnt one on the top of the Mirax tank?

 

[badbowtie]

Here is some more pictures from cleaning more after lunch. All them bags are full of all the crap that was on the floor from seats and everything raccoon's destroyed. I am also guessing this boat has foam under the floor and that is what all this white foam is. You can also see the tank and it does look like that is were the gauge should of been so I am not sure if I can replace that part. I am very impressed how clean and solid the floor is but I guess a one owner that has been garage kept its hole life makes a big difference. I also am looking for some different ideas to set up the interior I am going to plan to fish primarily and then also use with the wife and three kids to use the boat. I am really thinking like 4 pedestal seats then the original style back in the corners on each side of motor like original. So I can remove the second set of pedestal seats to fish so have plenty of floor space. I also don' t think I want carpet so I am thinking some kind of epoxy paint right over the plywood.

 

[mr 88]

Yes it is foam under the floor and it can get waterlogged,however in your case I doubt it is. I have the same hull and stripped it for duck hunting,including windshield. Ended up with a side console real close to the stern ,but thats for the ease of picking up decoys.I have a In Line 90 hp on her and she gets up and boogies,your 115 should push that to a solid 45+mph. Ended up taking the interior side panels out as well,but my objective is different than yours. I like the pedestal seats and have them staggered for shooting and like you can remove them if more floor room is needed or add one if need be as well. Epoxying the floor is a good idea,but can be very slippery when wet and with little ones you don"t want them banging there noggins. So you probably should add some sort of grit in the epoxy or use some snap in marine carpeting. That way you can remove it when need be.The tach is probably a loose,rotted wire,consult your post in the Mercury forum. You pretty much have a blank canvas to work with so you can do whatever you think will work.There is not much of a dead rise so she will pound a bit in rough water,BUT when drifting,trolling or anchored she sits fairly still compared to a deep V.