What have I gotten myself into......

[redneck joe]

I have remodeled many homes so I can do this.

ok - then you will be just fine.

 

[dozerII]

Just stay at a Holiday Inn the night before.:thumb:

 

[cj8mule]

Just stopping by your dry dock sea-u-later. That's a great chief you have here and awesome history with it as well.

I'll throw my .02 in and tell you that the motor in the chief will work great! I had mine out trolling the chesapeake the other day and went through 10 gallons of fuel. I ran for a good 7 hours and covered over 30 miles. That I-6 will get you great mileage and push that boat around 35 mph.

I'm going to mention this now in case I forget later.... most I/O boat owners don't know that you should always store the boat with the outdrive in the down position. (Actually, outboards should also). This will help your bellows to last and drain any water left.

My chief was built in '74 and looks like the brother of yours. Your chief is definetely in better shape than mine was last Nov when I brought her home. The important thing here is to have some fun restoring her!

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Cj has it right. Enjoy your resto. Sometimes it may seem overwhelming but obstacles will be defeated and you will have a boat that you can stand beside and be proud that that is the boat you created.

As far as I/O's .....they are great and reliable as with any engine with proper care. No need to run them balls to the walls as these hulls are not go fast boat hulls and most of us certainly don't run our car or truck engines at top rpms. When you need to run get her on plane and throttle her back. It will give you many a good years of service.

 

[elkhunter338]

and you replaced your manifold and risers every 5 years because you were in salt water? the motor would not ingest salt water and break a timing gear unless your maniflold and risers were bad.

manifold and riser was only 2 years old, timing gear broke then the motor ingested salt water because the water came back up thru the exhaust when the boat came to a stop with the motor off. The flapper in exhaust tube did not do its job. New engine same manifold riser ran 5 more years on the new engine, then the manifold started to leak, I caught it early no damage to the new now 5 year old engine no milky oil. Changed manifold riser and ran it another 20+ hours this year, no milky oil, engine ran fine. I do not run salt water in the engine it has antifreeze, but the manifold and riser gets salt water, flushed everytime I pull it out of the water. I do store the outdrive down and change the oil.

I would make sure and re seal the outdrive being it's so old.

 

[roscoe]

I cant wait to take my Dad, daughter and grandson on it first rebirth fishing trip.

And wouldn't that be the perfect day to introduce the family to your new husband.
Please send address and phone number.
I will provide a brand new engine and outdrive, and design the new cabin.

 

[64osby]

^^^ What is this - iboatersonly.com. :faint2::lol:

 

[SEA-U-LATER]

I have seen several restoration's that they raised the DECK what is the opinion on this I am considering it.

 

[classiccat]

I have seen several restoration's that they raised the DECK what is the opinion on this I am considering it.

CONS: raises the center of gravity and reduces freeboard (a desirable attribute of our StarCraft tinnies!), windshields, consoles, etc. may need to be modified to accommodate the change.
PROS: more room below deck for flotation & sub-deck fuel tanks.

How much are you thinking of raising it?

 

[laurentide]

I don't think it would be worth it to raise the deck. If kids will be on the boat I'd want as much freeboard as possible. Plus the deck ties into the structure of the boat by fastening to the rib ends...and the side panels in turn support hull side flex, so you want them attached to the ribs via the deck. At least that's my understanding of the structural wood. The chines are prone to cracking without all that stuff in place.

I run downriggers on my chief and the gunwales are just high enough that I'm not worried about going over most of the time...my deck is standard height.

EDIT: Hey classiccat, I'm just now realizing your user name change. Guess you sold the Bluefin?

 

[pckeen]

Start by working out what issues you have: does it leak, do you have mechanical problems, do you have soft floors.

What do you want to get this to: back on the water quick and cheap; or brand new, show-room condition restoration..... Take a look at Watermann's resto - the 'TIn Addiction' link in his thread for an idea of what you can do....

 

[elkhunter338]

I would not raise the floor, mess with the inside cabin height, easier to fall overboard, moves center gravity up. The only advantage I could see is if you created a self bailing deck. I use mine in the ocean and it will take some really rough water and does not need a self bailing deck. The only reason I would like one is because washing the fish blood off the deck drains in to the bilge. So I have 3 bilge pumps, 1 that is manual on/off (electric) for dewatering the bilge while fishing most rearward. Then two more that are auto/manual and auto only.

 

[Watermann]

It's easy to raise up the deck and maintain the boats integrity but the deck but should only be raised as necessary to accommodate say a new belly tank and then only enough height to what's needed. With the Chiefs design the helm chairs raise you up pretty good on top of seat boxes making for a bit of weight up high in the boat depending on the size of the occupants that is.