Oh Buoy!

pbeamtn

Cadet
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
25
My brother took my 1979 Starcraft straight into something solid, and he hit it hard. The damage is above the water line, but it is pretty bad.

New_2011-04-15_16-04-44_337.jpg

I wasn't sure quite how to fix it, but I separated the top deck and the trim strip and managed to work the hull mostly back into shape. What worked for me was to drill a hole in the low spot of the dent, put a bolt through it and a piece of hardwood on the outside, and then tighten the bolt to pull the aluminum back into line with its surroundings.

New_2011-05-21_13-06-12_380.jpg

I flattened the top deck by placing it on the garage floor and working it flat with a rubber mallet. So far, so good -- or at least good enough.

Unfortunately, the trim strip is too damaged around the front to work into shape. In fact, messing with it a little caused it to tear about 12" from the nose. This obviously took the brunt of the collision. Additionally, the trim piece on the nose was lost in the accident.

So, now the question. Anybody have any suggestions on what I can do to repair the nose? Can body parts still be purchased for this boat? I'm mostly just concerned that the metal edges on the front are very sharp.
 
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