1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

ErikF

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
204
Hello Everyone,

With luck this thread will follow and document my eventual restoration and repair of my newly acquired 1971 21' Chieftain!

This boat followed me home at the beginning of last week soon after I discovered it on Craigslist. I bought the boat as a non-runner in somewhat unknown condition. The boat had been sitting for likely close to 20 years under cover, it had recently replaced fuel tanks and all new fuel lines as the PO had planned to start using the boat again but had never gotten around to it. Beyond that though the boat was in close to the same condition it was in when it was parked in the early 90's.

The seller wanted $950 for the boat and trailer and I happily paid the asking price as I've wanted a Chieftain for years and knew he had other interest in the boat and would have no issues getting his ask.

We filled out the DMV paperwork along with a bill of sale and my brother and I were on our way home, I quickly realized that our truck with a 4.3V6 was not the ideal tow vehicle for a boat this size, we made it home without incident but after seeing our 2 hour drive going to look turn into a 3 1/2 hour drive coming home I realized that I will definitely want more power on tap if I ever plan on going real distances with the boat on trailer.

Over the next week I worked on the boat as time allowed, on the engine I found that the starter and solenoid had been rebuilt shortly before the boat was parked, the entire ignition system less the coil also looked brand new and recently replaced, but the engine wouldn't start, it wouldn't even crank over.

I was worried that the engine had seized from sitting for so long. Thankfully I was wrong, it turned out that the copper plate inside the starter solenoid had become so badly corroded that it was no longer providing continuity between the battery and the starter and as a result I was getting a healthy sounding solenoid click but no power to the starter.

With that problem resolved I moved on to the fuel system. I didn't hit any real snags working through this, I replaced the water separator filter and used a Mity-vac to prime the fuel lines, I then used a fuel pressure vacuum gauge to check the pump on the block, everything checked out fine so I put everything back together and got fuel flowing to the carb.

Next up was the ignition system, this took me the longest as all my previous experience has been on diesel engines and I didn't realize I was looking at the wiring diagram backwards until the third day of playing with test lights and probing around with my Fluke. It turned out my no spark issue was a bad coil, $36 later I had a new one and had a good spark. I rough adjusted the point gap and was back in business.

I turned the key with the outdrive on muffs and the engine started up almost instantly. I forgot to mention previously but I did a compression test and found all six cylinders to be at 120PSI +/- 2PSI

Now with the engine running I did a visual check on the outdrive to verify proper shifting and water flow, everything looked fine so I headed off to the lake for a sea trial, everything worked as it should with the exception of the (up) button for the tilt (it had to be jury rigged by jumping the solenoid on the pump).

Happy with the way everything was working I brought the boat back and now I'm contemplating what to begin work on next.

DSC_0001.JPG


DSC_0004.JPG


DSC_0005.JPG


DSC_0017.JPG
 

Teamster

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
1,923
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Nice looking rig,...

Yous don't want to know what I might maybe do to that boat if I owned it!!!!,.....lol,..
 

djpeters

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jun 9, 2010
Messages
1,824
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Welcome. Looks and sounds like you got a lot of boat for not much money.
 

yooperangler

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
721
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Nice looking boat and a great deal for the money and the motor even runs congrats and welcome. How are the floor and transom ?
 

Huron Angler

Admiral
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
6,025
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Welcome aboard Erik, nice Chieftain for a good price...congrats!:D

Glad to hear you made progress with the motor, that inline 6 should provide plenty of power for the rig.:)
 

boatnut74

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
1,835
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Thats a nice looking rig, almost identical to mine. Those inline 6 motors are excellent and very good on fuel.
 

MichaelP

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
1,190
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Welcome to the Starmada! Wicked deal you got there! Looks like the deck will need some attention soon but over all it's in excellent condition for it's age. Someone here from NJ is searching for something like that and having a tough time.
 

ErikF

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
204
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Thanks for the comments everyone. As for the floor and transom, well the floor in the cuddy has some very soft spots from standing water and will need to be replaced. There is also soft wood at the sides of the engine and the wood under the seats (under the replacement fuel tanks) is new but hacked into place above the original floor. So I plan on gutting the boat at the end of the season and replacing the entire floor as most of it needs work and I'd rather do it right once than patch in panels and be right back working on it in a few years.

The transom seems to be good and solid, but I won't say that for sure until I have a chance to pull the cap and probe around a bit.

I really do like the inline 6 engine, it has plenty of "get up an go" to move the boat but can also happily push the boat around at 800RPM for canal cruising. Does anyone have rough fuel economy numbers for the engine? Reason I ask is I have ~22 gallon fuel capacity on the boat and I'm planning on doing some canal trips with the family later this year and want to get a rough idea of how long I'll be able to run before I need to fill-up.

Thanks again for the comments, I'll be sure to keep the thread updated with pictures and my progress!

Erik
 

jigngrub

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
8,155
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Thats a super sweet tinny and deal you got there!!!(*insert envy emoticon here*)
 

jasoutside

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
13,269
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Gotta agree with these guys Erik, excellent score on the new rig man! Great boat all around buddy, enjoy and welcome to the Starcraft brohood:):)
 

Teamster

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
1,923
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Personally I would redo the floors and put in a 40 or 50 gallon tank,......

Better to much than not enough,........
 

ErikF

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
204
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Personally I would redo the floors and put in a 40 or 50 gallon tank,......

Better to much than not enough,........

I like this idea, I know I'm redoing the floors, but putting in a larger single tank at the same time is also appealing.

Anyone here know what size tank(s) was/were factory on this boat? Right now it has two new 11.5 gallon tanks mounted under the seats.

Thanks,

Erik
 

MichaelP

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Apr 26, 2010
Messages
1,190
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

I had a Mercruiser 165 4 banger that got about 3.5 gph @ 3500 rpm in a 19' Stingray cuddy. Yep a glasser but that was when I was very very young. I'm toiling on tank size myself. Check out the Inca brand.
 

Teamster

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 8, 2010
Messages
1,923
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Stop by Jason's 22 foot Islander thread and see what he put n for a tank,....If I remember right it was way bigger than the original,...
 

tgp***

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Oct 18, 2009
Messages
768
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

WOW!! Nice boat. The gas tank is just like everything else, bigger is always better. That is one nice ride you have there, I'm jelous.
 

boatnut74

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Aug 29, 2010
Messages
1,835
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

I think the factory tanks were around 12 gallons, one under each seat. I had one original in mine and it looked close to twelve. I know under the deck of mine there wasn't a whole lot of room for a belly tank, but one would fit. I think I only had about 7 1/2" of height where I could put one. Moeller had a couple that would work, one was a 26 gallon and I think they had one that was around 50ish gallons.
 

jasoutside

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
13,269
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Stop by Jason's 22 foot Islander thread and see what he put n for a tank,....If I remember right it was way bigger than the original,...

Yah, this is what came out of the Islander, twin above deck 17 gallon tanks...
http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg451/jasoutside/Starcraft Islander/P1000824.jpg

(one of those ended up in a Jeep with a Corvette engine, the other is being installed in a Super Sport down Lansing way)

What went in was a 28 gallon cut out of a Baja and a 33 gallon cut out of a Bayliner...
http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg451/jasoutside/Starcraft Islander/P1040768.jpg

I had to do a bit of redneck engineering to make it work. I also lost that step down part into the cabin which I didn't care for anyway (I felt like I'd trip/fall as I am watching rod tips).
 

ErikF

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
204
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Hey Everyone,

Here's the latest progress.

I spent some time last night and removed the icebox cabinet and the sink, both of the cabinets are in reasonably solid condition with the exception of the particleboard tops that swelled from water exposure. I'll take a closer look later to confirm my findings but right now I'm thinking I can build up new tops, scrub them up and reinstall on the new floor.

Speaking of the floor I bought the new wood this afternoon and soon after set to removing the old floor with the help of my little brother. We're making good progress and had the first 8' (working from the stern) removed in under an hour, we're working carefully so the pieces can be used as templates to cut the new sheets! So far so good, some bits are pretty rotten but I think with some mirroring techniques I can get pretty accurate templates to cut from.

Now for the questions:

-Can anyone explain (pictures would be a huge plus!) how the wall to the cuddy is removed? We'll need to remove it tomorrow to pull the next floor piece and I'm unclear on how it comes out.

-The seat framework in the cuddy is riveted to the hull. I know I can remove the rivets easy enough but I'm not sure what would be used to replace them? Are their any special tools I'll need to install new rivets?

-I'm going to rewire parts of the boat that need work while everything is opened up. I was thinking of running PVC soft conduit inside the "walls" are their any special rules for using conduit in a marine environment?

-How is the top half of the cuddy held on the hull? I'm not planning to remove it unless it's necessary, but I'd like to know how it's secured just in case I run into a situation where I need it off.

I think that's all for now, I'll add some pictures in a minute, as soon as they're uploaded!

-Erik
 

ErikF

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Messages
204
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

The help:
DSC_0020.JPG


The floor, this section was covered by a piece of plywood that was glued and screwed over the hole:
DSC_0019.JPG


The progress!:
DSC_0017.JPG


Hoping to have the new floor in by the end of the weekend! Yes, I'm optimistic ;)
 

yooperangler

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 17, 2010
Messages
721
Re: 1971 21' Starcraft Chieftain (eventual restoration)

Nice progress surprised to see that foam actually looks dry . I never took apart a chieftain so can't help you there but bet one of these other chief guys can.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=472217
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=477984

The only thing You need to replace the hollow pop rivets is a rivet gun available at any hardware store. The solid rivets are a different story requiring special tools not sure which your dealing with here.

I don't know of any reason not to use pvc in a boat best way I can think of to be able to pull more wires through or whatever without tearing stuff apart again. I plan to run all My motor wiring, control cables, steering etc in solid pvc subdeck . I haven't decided yet on nav lights etc...

Hope some of that is helpful good luck and keep at it :)
 
Top