1978 Starcraft Mariner Restore - Part 2

[Isaacm1986]

So 5 years ago I was in the middle of a restoration of a 21ft 1978 starcraft mariner. The boat was coming along very nicely and we had the motor mounted and running good. We ran into a unexpected family emergency in 2011 before the boat was finished completely. I was forced to sell the boat, something I never wanted to do.

Yesterday I got a email out of the blue, the buyer had kept my email address and asked if I wanted to buy the boat back. He bought a bayliner trophy and was selling the starcraft. Of course I jumped on the deal, and I have my boat back. I am so excited to be able to finish the restore 4 years later!

For now a couple pics. Ill load pics of the original restore project later.

Glad she is home where she belongs.

 

[DeepBlue2010]

Congratulations!! It seems like she was meant to be yours. I am sure you will take good care of her.

 

[64osby]

Wow! How awesome is that. :becky: :thumb:

One of the best boats available IMHO.eace:

But then I'm pretty biased.

 

[GA_Boater]

Well this doesn't happen often.

All I can say is Carry on, sailor.

 

[Isaacm1986]

Thanks Guys! I am very excited!

I am going to just post all the photos of the original restore. Then I will keep you guys updated as we move forward. Going to tear her down some, get everything cleaned up, go through the motor and make sure it is good to go, and get this thing back on the water!

 

[Isaacm1986]

 

[Isaacm1986]

 

[Isaacm1986]

 

[Isaacm1986]

This is the last photo before it was sold. A few things were added by the now "previous owner" but overall it is the same. He never did anything with the interior, just left it bare and fished out of it. Now I get to clean her up and finish what i started.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Nice story! The feeling has to be great.

 

[BWR1953]

How very cool! Congrats on the reacquisition! :encouragement:

 

[Isaacm1986]

Thanks Guys, it does feel great. I should get some time later this week to start getting it cleaned up. We are going to get it fully restored over the winter!

 

[sprintst]

It was meant to be man. Nice to see you back at it.

 

[EastCoastMountaineer]

Best of luck man, Keep it up!

 

[Isaacm1986]

Yesterday I got a new battery for the boat, and started the motor. It was pretty rough at first, and was not peeing water. I took the p-hose off and found it was clogged. Unclogged it and it works great. Motor stays nice and cool. With new fuel in it and a little seafoam she was running a lot better.

I found a hydralic leak in the steering setup. So i will need to get that fixed. But that should not be too hard.

Next up is to clean the inside of the boat and re-coat the deck.

Then I am going to be building some seats and getting the interior restored.

 

[Isaacm1986]

Ok. it has been a while since I have updated this. The boat just sat over the winter. by the time I got it back last year, it was too cold and wet to do anything with it. I am looking forward to restoring it this summer once again. A lot better this time!

We got it cleaned up over the last couple weeks. I fired up the motor, changed lower unit oil, got everything working nicely. We have had it out a couple of times now and it is running awesome.

I re-wired all the electrical in the boat. the previous owner had it hard wired with extension cords to a battery. So i installed a fuse panel and wired everything correctly.

My goals for the boat this summer are:
- Coat the deck with non skid coating
- Install seats
- Install GPS/Depth/Fish Finder unit
- Paint center console
- Upgrade motor to something with electric tilt
- Sand blast and re-paint the outside of the boat

I am looking forward to getting this thing back to its original glory!

 

[Tnstratofam]

Awesome you got her back and are going to get to finish the resto. I'll be tagging along.

 

[Isaacm1986]

Yesterday I crossed off one item on the list. I rewired the boat and all the electronics. When I say "all" i mean both electronics. The bilge pump, and the running lights. The previous owner, had everything wires with cut up extension cords and hardwired to the battery. And it all just ran along the deck of the boat.

I bought a new fuse panel, some electrical conduit, new toggle switches, and wire. I ran everything on fused circuits with 15 amp fuses. The bilge and running lights are on their own fuse. I plenty of room to expand with new electronics as i add to them.

Here are a few pics.









This setup is only temporary to test everything. I ordered a battery box for the battery.