West Coast Newbie...Sixties Starcraft "Fury" Purchased Today! A few questions??
I purchased what appears to be an early-mid sixties Starcraft Fury yesterday here in San Diego. I have restored a few Whalers and Hobie Skiffs along the way, but I must say I never heard of Starcraft before. This was a Clist find and what I could see of the photo was enough to hook me on the ultra cool hull profile and I paid $250 and hitched her up. I took it to the self serve car wash and spent $15 in quarters and about an hour spraying off years of muck and scooping out inches of leaves and stuff out of the interior and vacuming it out. Then I got her home and did a bit more clean-up.
Here is the result:
http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/043570c6a9
So last evening and this morning I have spent about 3 hours after finding this forum going through the treasure trove of information you all have amassed here! Holy cow, you guys (girls...) have some amazing boats! And I am learning now that Starcraft seems to have been (is?) an iconic and seemingly historic boat manufacturer.
I enjoyed going through the brochures and am struck at how cool this company compiled their model names: Fury, Rocket, Falcon, SeaBreeze, Scout, Ranger...on and on the names just shout vintage coolness!
So, perhaps you get the point that I am impressed with Starcraft and so happy I stumbled upon this boat, and this forum.
Now, to my questions. It appears that y'all from the midwest are in the sweet spot for finding these boats as that is where they were made. They also seem to be prolific for the manufacture of aluminum hulls. So...are the fiberglass hulls harder to find? Were glass hulls a "diversion" for Starcraft? Secondly, my Fury model seems to be a bit rare...is this accurate? I only saw one or two others on the site and none that seem to have been fully restored?
Lastly, I have no title, nor do I know the year of manufacture. My Starcraft manufacturers plate has the model name and the serial number is:
65 - P - 252 0 (I am not certain the final digit is a number or a letter "G"/"O")
I would presume she is a 1965, but would love certainty from those of you that know how to decipher the manufacturers code.
The old Johnson 40 Electric Seahorse appears to be a 1965 from the serial number postings I have found on the net. The serial number here is:
J25750LR
I have no idea if the motor will run, but irrespective of that, if I keep the boat, I will likely re-power and suspect that this old relic will have some value to someone for parts, etc. Particularly with the shifter/controls still intact and in good condition.
So before thinking it through, I posted the boat on Craigslist myself last evening before finding this Forum figuring I would "flip" her to someone that would give her more love. However, now after finding this Forum and learning more about these cool boats, I am now thinking of keeping her and doing a partial restoration. The hull is just so swweet, and she is pretty much intact. Even the windshield is fairly clean and should polish out nicely. My thought would be to simply clean her up, replace some of the fittings and perhaps polish some of the aluminum trim, attend to the bad indoor/outdoor carpet cockpit covering, and then repower her keeping the hull and paint in its original condition.
I would love to learn your thoughts about what seems to be a rare find here for the Left Coast, and thank all of you for contributing to this amazing forum.
Best,
JB
I purchased what appears to be an early-mid sixties Starcraft Fury yesterday here in San Diego. I have restored a few Whalers and Hobie Skiffs along the way, but I must say I never heard of Starcraft before. This was a Clist find and what I could see of the photo was enough to hook me on the ultra cool hull profile and I paid $250 and hitched her up. I took it to the self serve car wash and spent $15 in quarters and about an hour spraying off years of muck and scooping out inches of leaves and stuff out of the interior and vacuming it out. Then I got her home and did a bit more clean-up.
Here is the result:
http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/043570c6a9
So last evening and this morning I have spent about 3 hours after finding this forum going through the treasure trove of information you all have amassed here! Holy cow, you guys (girls...) have some amazing boats! And I am learning now that Starcraft seems to have been (is?) an iconic and seemingly historic boat manufacturer.
I enjoyed going through the brochures and am struck at how cool this company compiled their model names: Fury, Rocket, Falcon, SeaBreeze, Scout, Ranger...on and on the names just shout vintage coolness!
So, perhaps you get the point that I am impressed with Starcraft and so happy I stumbled upon this boat, and this forum.
Now, to my questions. It appears that y'all from the midwest are in the sweet spot for finding these boats as that is where they were made. They also seem to be prolific for the manufacture of aluminum hulls. So...are the fiberglass hulls harder to find? Were glass hulls a "diversion" for Starcraft? Secondly, my Fury model seems to be a bit rare...is this accurate? I only saw one or two others on the site and none that seem to have been fully restored?
Lastly, I have no title, nor do I know the year of manufacture. My Starcraft manufacturers plate has the model name and the serial number is:
65 - P - 252 0 (I am not certain the final digit is a number or a letter "G"/"O")
I would presume she is a 1965, but would love certainty from those of you that know how to decipher the manufacturers code.
The old Johnson 40 Electric Seahorse appears to be a 1965 from the serial number postings I have found on the net. The serial number here is:
J25750LR
I have no idea if the motor will run, but irrespective of that, if I keep the boat, I will likely re-power and suspect that this old relic will have some value to someone for parts, etc. Particularly with the shifter/controls still intact and in good condition.
So before thinking it through, I posted the boat on Craigslist myself last evening before finding this Forum figuring I would "flip" her to someone that would give her more love. However, now after finding this Forum and learning more about these cool boats, I am now thinking of keeping her and doing a partial restoration. The hull is just so swweet, and she is pretty much intact. Even the windshield is fairly clean and should polish out nicely. My thought would be to simply clean her up, replace some of the fittings and perhaps polish some of the aluminum trim, attend to the bad indoor/outdoor carpet cockpit covering, and then repower her keeping the hull and paint in its original condition.
I would love to learn your thoughts about what seems to be a rare find here for the Left Coast, and thank all of you for contributing to this amazing forum.
Best,
JB
