22 Foot Starcraft Chieftain I/o to Outboard Conversion

Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
12
Hi guys, My name is Captain Marcus. I'm 31 years old , Cleveland Ohio and got my Masters Captain License back in March 2017. I have been restoring aluminum boats for about 7 years now I have always purchased outboard hulls until now.

I recently purchased a Chieftain with 260 v8 stern drive setup. Rotted transom, rotted deck, mediocre foam etc. I have a 100hp Johnson outboard in the garage and a 70hp evinrude vro with tilt as options.

I'm also a certified aluminum tig welder so making repairs to the hull should be manageable. I'm redoing the floor in 3/16 diamond plate from stern to the bulkheads at cabin entry.

My thing is fabbing a Splashwell , Inboard patch , 20 inch transom Outboard cutout and knee braces To accommodate an outboard motor.

I've cut a template for I/o patch so far but haven't moved to cutting the transom 20 inches yet. I am wondering what size opening should I go with for outboard. A wide opening to acomodate two engines or a small opening that will give clearance for the single outboard.

Bigger cuttout would equate to a bigger splashwell and more material. I'm stuck.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Welcome aboard.

Have you thought about using your skills to fab a bracket? The knee braces are still needed and the big hole needs patched, but no cutting of the transom is involved. And the cockpit gains more room.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
12
Welcome aboard.

Have you thought about using your skills to fab a bracket? The knee braces are still needed and the big hole needs patched, but no cutting of the transom is involved. And the cockpit gains more room.

I haven't done enough research on brackets on my boats layout. Will the center of gravity change? Pros vs Cons
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
You throw out over 1000 pounds of IO and add maybe 500 pounds with 2 motors about 12-18" off the stern. It ends about a wash as far as balance on the boat.
 

82rude

Rear Admiral
Joined
May 8, 2012
Messages
4,082
Whatever you decide to do please document on here id love to see the process and results.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Click Forum Help in my sig and look at posting pics. You need 3 posts or more posts and you can add them now on your 4th post.
 
Joined
Sep 4, 2017
Messages
12
No Title
 

Attachments

  • photo276064.PNG
    photo276064.PNG
    1.3 MB · Views: 15
  • photo276065.PNG
    photo276065.PNG
    1.5 MB · Views: 15
  • photo276066.PNG
    photo276066.PNG
    1.2 MB · Views: 15
  • photo276067.PNG
    photo276067.PNG
    844.9 KB · Views: 15
  • photo276068.PNG
    photo276068.PNG
    1.5 MB · Views: 14
  • photo276069.PNG
    photo276069.PNG
    1.6 MB · Views: 14
  • photo276070.PNG
    photo276070.PNG
    1.5 MB · Views: 14

63cruiser

Seaman
Joined
Nov 2, 2013
Messages
72
If your going to use a 20" outboard cut there. I did about the same conversion. I welded the transom from square aluminum. It turned out very strong. I used full width splash well to mount a kicker motor next to main motor. Also I have a 140 hp Johnson and mine only runs about 30.
 
Top