Starcraft Restoration

[Rickairmedic]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

BoatDr I am a fan of Citristrip it does a good job and is more enviromentaly freindly than alot of the other strippers out there . Most of my hull was media blasted with walnut shells when I got my boat ( except for the bottom ) which I spent 4+ hours with last night with a random orbit sander and half a box of 60 grit . I managed to get one side done . I will add if you have good sized compressor then you can get a pressure pot type sandblaster from TSC or Harbor Freight for less than $100.00 and use walnut shells to blast the paint off . They also sell the shells at Harbor freight .


Rick

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

On the steering you can get new cables which is what I will have to do s mine is in sad shape and frozen .


Rick

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

BoatDr nice work I read the thread and didn't notice the length mentioned...is she a 16' or 18'? Looks like an 18' to me very similar to NB's resto. Looks like you've been putting your nose to the grindstone sanding and everything keep at it and you'll be floating before you know it.

That Johnnyrude 115 should push you around nicely. Do you plan on tubing, skiing, fishing? I love an old starcraft outboard that boat will be a real beaut.

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Yeah, I spent 4 hours yesterday on just the rivets! Two hours today and didn't even get all of the topside done. I do have a compressor, and a blaster sounds nice, but I just want to get it done in the next few days and not spend another $100! Will replacing the steering cable fix the play in the wheel? I guess it's only an extra $80 to get the kit instead of just the cable.

Huron Angler, she's an 18.5' and will be a salmon boat if, uh, I mean when she gets done haha. Where in MI you from? I'm from Traverse. I've got about three weeks before the fishing picks up, so lots of work to do!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Where in MI you from? I'm from Traverse.

Well, I was born and raised a stone's throw away from you on Little Traverse bay outside of Petoskey, but I've spent a great deal of time north of Alpena on Lake Huron(hence my name) since we've had some property in our family for 70 some odd years on the big lake.

Now I live in landlocked Lansing for employment purposes only but may be relocating to the Saginaw area in a year or so which would be nice for walleye purposes

I'd prefer to live on or very near Huron or Michigan for salmon/steelhead/brown trout/lake trout fishing since that's how I was raised

We used to fish little traverse in a 19.5' aluminum Sea Nymph for most of my childhood that was very much similar to these Starcrafts that are so popular on this site.

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Well, had a semi-productive day today. Didn't really get anything done on the boat itself, but got everything set up to rock and roll in the next few. Got her flipped over to make my life easier and set up a ghetto paint booth haha. Here are a few pics:

Finally off of the trailer!

Here's a shot of the support brace I built from 2X4's. It functioned both to hold her up and to mount her new set of wheels

A shot of my Dad working the chain fall and the boat a rollin.

And she's finally down.

A shot from inside the ghetto paint booth. It went up a little easier than I thought.

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

A close up of the wheels. Now I can roll the boat outside the barn to sand/wash her down and then back in to paint...without having 4 guys around to carry her!

Hopefully I'll have her painted in the next few days...the bottom and sides anyway.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Looking good BoatDr . I was lucky enough to have a small pile of furniture dollies laying around when I flipped mine . I would have had paint on her today if it were not for the fact it rined half the night and all day . I like your homeade dolly though that will work just fine . I have considered rolling mine inside the garage for the bottom paint just to keep the danged bugs from lnding in the wet paint .


Rick

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

First of all..

I cant believe this thread has gone THIS long without me popping in and causing mischief?? lol

Great job Bdr! The wheels make it look like a supersized john boat! lol
Is that your barn? Shop? And where can I GET ONE!!!! lol//Oh the room, the rooooom! I want a boat-cave!

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

First of all..

I cant believe this thread has gone THIS long without me popping in and causing mischief?? lol

Great job Bdr! The wheels make it look like a supersized john boat! lol
Is that your barn? Shop? And where can I GET ONE!!!! lol//Oh the room, the rooooom! I want a boat-cave!

haha boat cave! I like it!

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

First of all..

I cant believe this thread has gone THIS long without me popping in and causing mischief?? lol

Great job Bdr! The wheels make it look like a supersized john boat! lol
Is that your barn? Shop? And where can I GET ONE!!!! lol//Oh the room, the rooooom! I want a boat-cave!

To the boat cave! It's my Dad's pole barn. And as for room, it's still kinda tight because of all of the crap it has accumulated over the years. My mother has saved 4 childrens worth of school work, kindergarten through college! But I must say it's a little better than the garage. Keeps the Mom off my case too.

 

[OV1961]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

You have exactly the same steering setup as me, even the same steering cable clamp on the transom. It's a Teleflex Big-T. I think you should keep it all. The new clamps are cheap stamped metal. You can't buy the cast ones new. You can take apart the Big-T and put in new grease and tighten up the gear lash. Teleflex steering cables are available that will fit this set up.

Now I also have a question about the steering. There is a decent amount of play in the wheel. Does it need to be replaced, or can it be tightened? Here is a picture of what I am dealing with:

Looks to be a rotary doesn't it? The cable functions, but it's in terrible shape...the casing is cracked and rusting, the support tube is all rusted, etc.

Should I just replace the whole system with a NFB rotary?

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Well, she's got some paint on her. 4 coats of white on the bottom and one coat of blue on the sides. Here's a crappy phone pic:

It's turning out pretty well seeing that it's my first time using a spray gun. A few runs here and there because of the limited space I have to move around, but i've managed to brush and sand most of them out. One more coat of blue, then back on the trailer she goes. Then I'm going to paint the topside and put the deck in. I've got to hurry up....only a few weeks before I go back to school!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Looking good Boat Dr I like the color combo . By the way we are planning a little get together for the Starcraft owners for nexrt summer so be sure to check it out in the Starcraft forum . I will give you a link to the forum here .


http://forums.iboats.com/Starcraft_Boats


Rick

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Looking good Boat Dr I like the color combo . By the way we are planning a little get together for the Starcraft owners for nexrt summer so be sure to check it out in the Starcraft forum . I will give you a link to the forum here .


http://forums.iboats.com/Starcraft_Boats


Rick

Sounds like it would be a great time! I don't know if I'd have time to do it next summer. I've got step one of my boards in June, then I start my rotations in July...free time is pretty much gone after this summer

 

[North Beach]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

BD, Based on the length, color, and hull configuration, this boat has to be a 66 holiday. They only came in one color each year and 66 was the only year for the blue on blue Holiday.

This first picture is on the cover of the 66 brochure. This is my all time favorite Starcraft Boat picture. Totally awesome IMO. Good luck with the restore. BTW, I have a parts boat that is the sister to this one except it's the I/O model.

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

North Beach,
Cool pics! That sure looks like her! Thanks for the identification. Those pics look like they were taken along the shore of Lake Michigan about 40 minutes from where I live. Well, she's pretty much done except for the dash which needs some gauges and a finish.

Here's a link to my restoration album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/whitee22/StarcraftRestoration#

Thanks for all of the help guys. I couldn't have done it without you!

Here's a shot of her on her maiden voyage:

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

very nice!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

[/QUOTE]

Nice salmon Boat Dr Glad to see she floats and knows where to fish! BTW where do you fish out of? We've had some good luck on Huron this summer with the walleye...salmon are few and far between compared to Lake Michigan though.

Looks like you've got her all rigged up for trolling the big lakes...congrats on the restoration you've done some great work

 

[BoatDr]

Re: Starcraft Restoration

Huron,
I fish out of Traverse City over on Lake Michigan. Fishing is just starting to pick up over here. Of course right after I finish this thing I find out that I need to replace a powerhead gasket! I guess that's part of the fun of owning a boat...there's always something new to do!