Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

[Craftsman_85]

Hi All! I haven't posted on Iboats in a year or two, Although i do come luurk from time to time . I just aquired a Starcraft Thruster with a 70 Evinrude. The motor is an 85, but i don't know what year the Hull is. Ive never messed with fiberglass at all really, except for insulation, but nothing like whats needed here. I'm wondering If this boat is worth the time and effort. I work A lot so time is limited but I think I'd really like to take on this project. I'm a carpenter by trade, so I like the satisfaction of putting something together and saying Yeah, I did that All the stringers are GONE from what i can see.(not rotten like actually disintegrated) So I imagine the transom isn't much better off. Ill attach some pics the last is an area of the hull, where the transom is, with some bad looking cracks in it. Any advice on whether or not this particular hull is worth the resto would be very much appreciated. I also Have a 79 Tri-hull Lamar that i might attempt a full resto on if I decide to take this one on and all goes well. But we will save that for another Thread on another day

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

 

[Pmccraney]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Man, that's a big project... She's been rode hard and put up wet....

If you are just itchin (no pun intended) for a project and learning experience, then maybe go for it... However, if you are looking for a return on your investment (starcraft glassers don't have a cult following like their metal boat counterparts); or, you want to get on the water fast and economically, then this is probably not your best route...

Restoring a glass boat is tedious and the materials can be on the spendy end... So, you really need to love the boat and have a decent nest egg for the project, or else burn out may be in your future...

Sorry if this seems negative... Its not really fair for me to be that way since I am in the middle of a project that most people would have punted on... Just wanted to give you a realistic assessment since (unlike me) you were wise enough to ask before you jumped into the deep water...

If you do decide to go for it, then keep posting and lots of folks will be her to help out and cheer you on..

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Yea I know it's a lot to get into. I've read through quiet a few of the boat restoration threads when I thought about taking on this project so I can somewhat understand what all is needed to be done. The Most difficult part to me is the re-wiring of the boat. I'm also a little concerned about how I would get the stringers back in place perfectly with nothing left in there to be able to trace. But I guess If I took the fiberglass shells out in one piece I could trace them., but that's a ways down the road anyway. I am always up for a learning experience and I'm a very hands on type of person. This interests me a lot and I'm always looking for a new way to occupy my free time with something constructive. Idle hands are the Devils playground Thanks for your response though. Any input at all is very appreciated.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Setting up new stringers from scratch is not very hard.... Just leave the lip of glass form the original deck line and pull string lines across the boat....measure down to the hull and deduct the tickness of your deck.... That would be the top of the stringer.... We can help you along when you get there Welcome Aboard!

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Yea thats a great idea thanks! When it comes to any kind of wood work my brain starts drawing a mental map of how to get it done. Thanks for clearing that road block! lol

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Alright, So I've Decided to take this baby on. Tomorrow when I get off work I'm going to build a couple of motor stands and hopefully have enough time to unbolt the motor and get it off. If I get to that point early enough I may start drilling out the rivets. I'll post pics of any progress made tomorrow. I don't think i will be able to take any helpful measurements until after that cap is removed, but if I'm missing something please feel free to give a heads up

 

[rickryder]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Yes pop the cap and measure in a bunch of places on the lip of the cap under where it fits the hull and record the numbers......then do the same to the top of the hull to see if they match.... I would brace the hull along the outer chines to help it from spreading.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Welcome Craftsman_85,

As you already mentioned you have been hangin around here long enough to know this is the place to get the info you need to make this boat better than new...

The electrical is no big deal...there are awesome electricians here that will walk you through this every step of the way...

Any and all hurdles are easily overcome with the amount of incredible knowledge and help afforded by all the folks here...

The only obstacle you will need to overcome, every now and again, is your own personal determination to Git-r-dun...most of us have suffered this, as PMC said, "restoring a boat is tedious and the materials can be spendy"...

Although being a carpenter, I am sure you are familiar with both...

Also, a good example of setting up a string line grid to measure for you stringers can be found in South Texans thread... http://forums.iboats.com/member.php?u=283438 ...Post #67...

Be sure to also support the hull at the top where it meets with the cap...you can use straps or boards clamped to the edges, to keep it from "spreading out"...

As you also already know, we are picture hounds here...get yourself a free photobucket [or similar] account, load your pics there, click the IMG tag, then post 'em here...that way, when we are reading the postings, we don't have to click on the images to see them clearly...sort of like these...

Best of luck and have FUN!

Regards,
GT1M

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Bass boat restos appear to me to be a little more difficult than your standard bowriders just due to the caps being that much more substantial. However, once you get the hull dismantled and the cap successfully off, they rebuild pretty similarly to other boats. We do seem to have a lower completion rate for bass boat projects. Not sure why that is. GT's thread above is a good resource as are some other's he'd probably recommend. Good luck with your project. That 70 is at least a heck of a motor!

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Hey Guys! Nothing to report on today. My boss needed me to stay late at work and I just got off and the suns going down :*(. Ill def be able to get started Tomorrow though and I've got to say I'm pretty excited.

Thanks for the input ryder I'll be sure to do that.

GT I'm glad you replied to my Thread. It was actually your thread that gave me the confidence to take this project on.I literally got addicted to reading your thread. So much helpful Info in there it was amazing. And it all looks really good man you are doing an awesome job. I was planning on buying me some straps to wrap around the hull after I get that cap off. I will also be sure to post from photobucket next time so you guys can have a clearer Image of whats going on round here

Ezmobe Yea I've had a pretty hard time (with the exception of GT's thread) Finding a project on iboats similar to mine with some info to lurk on. Hopefully Ill be able to kick that bass boat complete restoration percentage up a notch tho And Yea can you beleive I got it for a steal of $300 for the whole package, and not a thing wrong with the motor from what I can tell. And the guy who sold it to me is good people so I know i can trust his word of it running fine. All checks out in the yard but you never really can be sure till you get to open her up. I also have a 120 evinrude from the same year on that previously mentioned 17' 79 tri-hull lamar and I know she purrs like a kitten cause I had some fun with her last year. Not as much as I would of liked but still.

Thanks for all the replies Guys. Ill be sure to make some headway tomorrow and get some pics up for y'all.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

All I can say is that I will share any and all of my novice knowledge with you and try and help raise the bass boat resto percentages along with you...

Like I mentioned, somewhere...this is my first boat and resto...and if it weren't for all of the superb info I have recieved from the great guys here...I would have never even gotten started, let alone this far...

And I guess, as EZ said, most guys don't do the bass boats because of the caps...darn good thing I was too dumb to realize that when I started...:facepalm:...

But now that I have gotten this far, and gone through what I have, it really does seem like I might just make it to the end...

So my bassboat Brother, fight the good fight and lets float these badboys...

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Alright, well I had to work all day Yesterday to so not a lot got done . I did get a little done today though. Got up this mornng went to Stines and got the lumber for the Motor Stand. My neighborhood doesn't get up early, so to keep from ticking anyone off, I waited until noon to get started. I got the stand nuilt and the Motor mounted on it. Also drilled out the head of the rivets to take the rub rail off. When i started to frilling the rivets for the glass the was too much dust from it so I'll have to wait till next day i get off so I can get some PPE befor drilling them the rest of the way. Also I tired taking a small bit and hammering on it to punch the rivets through. This didn't work too well. Can i just take a bit slightly bigger bit and drill all the way through? Later in the process I would like to glass over the existing holes and either re-rivet or preferably run screws into the cap/rub rail. Any thoughts on this?

GT: Hard to tell it's your first boat from the work you've put in. It's all very well done I was wondering once the cap is removed will I eventually remove all the foam that's on the cap itself? What are the plans for your cap?

What Transom?!

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

OK, best answer I can give you right now is...I am not 100% sure...you see, I will probably end up cutting the cap apart and using bits and pieces of it in the final build.
There are a lot of design issues that I don't particularly like and I am going to change the layout quite a bit, plus the wood that used to be in the cap, is no more, so cutting into the cap is a necessity...
So in a sense, yes, some of the foam will be history, but if I can leave certain parts of it in place, then that's what I am going to do...after it is re-assembled, if needed, I will replace the foam with 2 part pour-in foam...

In your case, if you are going to leave the cap intact, and the foam is not waterlogged [it really shouldn't be], then you can just leave it as is and re-attach the entire structure to the hull when you are done...

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

Missed the question about the rivets...

Yes you can use a bigger bit, drill the heads off completely, and try to punch them out with a punch and hammer, if that doesn't work, you can drill them completely out, and later on refill and redrill the holes...

I will be refilling and redrilling all 4,839,692 of my rubrail holes and adding a plywood strip backer in the hull, fiberglassed in, to actually hold the screws in place...much like what USED to be there from the factory...

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

The engine stand looks good, But you might want to hang the engine on the other side of the stand, that way it will be loading against the uprights, instead of away from them...does that make sense?

 

[Craftsman_85]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

The engine stand looks good, But you might want to hang the engine on the other side of the stand, that way it will be loading against the uprights, instead of away from them...does that make sense?

Yes it makes plenty of sense. Ill switch it around Next time I have a day off. I was planning on taking it off to water seal the stand anyway. Its covered good for the time being though.

I will be refilling and redrilling all 4,839,692 of my rubrail holes and adding a plywood strip backer in the hull, fiberglassed in, to actually hold the screws in place...much like what USED to be there from the factory...

I kNOW WHAT YOU MEAN I mean are all those rivets REALLY necessary. To tell you the truth I'm a little disappointed that I didn't get further but I woulda had to stop after cap got pulled up regardless. I'll be ordering some PPE tomorrow so if I do manage to get a day off next weekend I can take FULL advantage of it. I feel like a bum only working 2 hours today The Glass work in your post for the day looks AWESOME. Hopefully when I get to that point mine will look that good.

 

[torbjorn]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

The engine stand looks good, But you might want to hang the engine on the other side of the stand, that way it will be loading against the uprights, instead of away from them...does that make sense?

It doesn't matter that the thread is a year old. I''m going to tell you about those motors. The 49.9 ci 4 cyl. OMC looper has one weak spot: the inner exhaust plate warps under normal use due to heating. On all those of motors you should remove and resurface (or mill) it. Othewise the motor will eventually suck water from the cooling system into the cylinders where the gasket fails to seal. This can at a min. score pistons and cylinders, in the worst case the crank journals and rods will be ruined. When I raced that model 1977-85 I never experienced it but now, decades later, I've seen the problem in many fishing motors and in one of my old racing motors. I've recently thrown away two cranks damaged from the problem. The exhaust manifold can be removed and replaced easily without removing the powerhead. And upon replacement the bolts must be torqued (80 in-lb) and retorqued many times after each running until they no longer move. Especially the inner bolts. Otherwise, it's my favorite motor of all times. I wrote about this problem in the April 2012 edition of The Antique Outboarder. The later 56.1 ci 3 cyl looper does not have this problem, the exhaust manifold is cast as part of the block.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

It doesn't matter that the thread is a year old. I''m going to tell you about those motors.

Yes, it does matter. torbjorn. First - this is a boat resto thread, not at all about the motor. Second, if all members felt the same way the forum would be chaos instead of a source of information and sharing. Please respect the rules.

 

[rickryder]

Re: Starcraft Thruster Full Resto Needed....

I concur ! Besides it's a dead thread it's not in the engine section....we have rules for a reason please respect them...