TB's 1977 Starcraft Chieftain 22?

[thebrain]

1977 Starcraft Chieftain 22?
I bought home a decent SC after 6 years of looking for a mariner, she?s big.
Boat came from Michigan and sat in a Ft.Walton Bch, FL driveway for 5 years.
I don?t see obvious signs of corrosion, deteriated rivtos or water logged floation.
I believe the 77 model was the last year that had blocks of white Styrofoam.

when I saw it on CL I jumped on it right away made deal this Thrusday.
Attached image coming home.

I have a many ?s would like to start w/
1.what type of oil doe?s the 165HP Mercruisers engine use? And how many quarts?
2.what type lower unit oil for the stern drive? And how much?
On my Rude 25HP OB I pump in the lower unit oil from the bottom hole, how is the stern drives LU filled?

When the man started showing me the boat he first wrapped a nylon strape around the harmonic balancer to prove the engine was?nt seized then connected a battery to the engine then turned the key we heard a clicking sound I suggested jumping the starter seliond and the engine turn I poured a tad bit of fuel straight into carb, still would?nt start.

I?m suspecting lack of spark coil, distributer ect. I will start at the engine end and clean each wire as I suspect corrosion.
3.suggestions on cleaning wired connections? I do have some CRC eletronics cleaner in a spary can.
I have dropped the boat off at my Mechanic Buddies big back yard. Would like to help and get as involved as I can he likes to show and tell excellent learning experience.

I want to show up this weekend w/ a new deep cycle battery think I?ll try a Interstate.
What size battery should I get ? like are deep cycle bat. Rated like car batterys of cold cranking amps?
4.please suggest suggest battery I plan to just have one.

the Chieftain has 2 fuel tanks above deck mounted on the side of rear of boat
I believe only one tank is useable w/out a total restore, I want to show up w/ new fresh fuel.
5. what size fuel line connects to the fuel pump?

The Styrofoam in the back near the engine is dry
6.what are the chances of the Styrofoam
Under the cabin being unwaterlogged? All the wood under roof seams solid.

7.there is 5 years of flith inside, outside, allover should I start my first cleaning w/ a deck brush and use good quality car wash soap? please recommend a cleaning solution. I was thinking of using diluted white distilled vinegar for the few corrosion spots.

I will post many images here for the restore will also create a webpage of this project.

Thanks TB.

 

[thebrain]

start of images see the attachment on the stern drive that's a kicker bracket for (what I've been told) a 4HP kicker.

 

[thebrain]

start of images
I will create a website for this vessel to make it easy to view and not have to browse though a bunch of pages
index (first page will be the end of project)
2nd page the before and after restore
3rd page senecary big tin in the Gulf of mexico
4.fish caught
5.videos

I my have a couple more pages what should I add.
TB

 

[64osby]

TB, Congrats. Should make a great big water boat.

Get a Merc manual. It will be a wealth of information for you.

Piece on the back is a trolling plate, hard to tell from the pic angle but pretty sure.

Buy the biggest dual purpose battery you can get if only using one battery, Group 31.

 

[thebrain]

Thanks I think it was well worth waiting for a decent boat I think I came out OK I'm anxious to get the engine up and running
can you answer a few of my ?s

these images are the CL images I will take some real images w/ my camera this weekend. I believe I only need 2 sheets of plywood for the floor plus build a dog house.
TB

 

[thebrain]

I looked at the 1977 brochure didn't see the Chieftain
I'm assuming it weights the same as a Islander here are my conservative weight estimates
hull is 1800LBs/engine 500LBs/ trailer 800LBs total 3100LBs

a link to the 1977 Chief would be nice
Thanks TB

 

[GA_Boater]

Look at the 1978 brochure. The '77 and '78 Chieftains are virtually the same.

For motor and outdrive questions, it's best to ask them in the Mercruiser section.

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to the Starmada TB... it's about time you pulled the trigger on some tin! Nice looking hard top Chief you found.

The drive on your 77 is pre alpha so I don't know much about them but I think the MR1 is pretty easy to get parts for. what ever you do don't put her in water until you make sure the bellows aren't ripped or rotten.

I only use Quicksilver motor oil but you might think twice about starting an oil thread in the MC section :lol: I would wait until I got it started and make sure there's no milkshake prior to changing the old oil out.

For a starting battery I use a group 24 marine starting battery rather than a deep cycle as it's a waste of money to have a huge deep cycle to start with.

Don't try starting the motor again with the fuel line connected to the tank at the pump, it will suck your carb full of rotten gas and garbage if there's any left inside that is The fuel line is 1/2" standard but you have to use marine rated line to the tanks.

There's no way to know what condition the white styrofoam is in without inspecting it. Lots of rodents could have made it home even.

 

[jbcurt00]

Make use of all the big tin builds posted here. They are all a great resource and may suggest answers to questions you havent yet thought of.

Rodent habitat and losing little white styro beads into the bilge are both good reasons to expect to remove and replace the old SC flotation.

I'd suggest getting all the loose debris out of the boat by whatever means necessary then take the big girl to a DIY car wash. Unless you have access to a fairly big pressure washer.

At this point ANY soap, scrub brush, wash down os better then none.

BOW HIGH, DRAIN PLUG OUT!

Since you mentioned plywood for the deck, I'm guessing you plan to pull the old deck (floor), so I wouldnt be overly concerned about using the pressure washer, but keep the cabin door closed and avoid blasting that bulkhead and the windows.

Congrats and good luck.

 

[FrankenCub]

Sweet Chief there you picked up ! If you find any signs of little vermin droppings you can look at my Chief pics to see what you may expect. From looking with the floor intact I had no idea how bad it was under there lol. Oil discussions in engine treads get wacky in hot rod forums, maybe they are more tame here ? Personally from my experience building engines and working on antique cars and muscle cars I won't use anything but Brad Penn oil. The issue is with the new oils having such a low zinc content in them to meet emissions standards. The newer engines with roller cams don't require much, if any, zinc. The zinc is to lubricate the cam and lifter faces. I can tell you from personal experience that the new oils will take out a cam in the older solid lifter engines. I had to replace the engine in my '71 GMC this past summer because of it. The brand of oil isn't as important as the zinc content. I use Brad Penn because it's made in Bradford Pa and my local speed shop stocks it. Research the different brands first to be sure they have enough zinc, or if none is available locally you can usually find a good additive at an auto parts store.
Your CRC cleaner should work pretty good, I've had good luck with it in the past. Maybe some help with a little stainless cleaning brush and some dielectric grease when you hook the connections back up.

 

[thebrain]

5 years ago the The OP drained the crankcase oil and refilled w/ new. then fogged each cylinder w/ red mystery oil.

should the new 5 year old oil be drained before attemping to start?

?1.can I go to the auto store and get new points and condenser?

?2.if yes what engine should I tell them I have I believe the Mercruiser is a GM.

I looked at marine batterys at advance auto then asked the kid to look up the Mercruiser fuel line size he couldn't find the Mercruiser.

?3.it has been adviced to me to replace a torn bellow please explain to me what a bellow is? I'm assuming it's a tube maybe exhaust related?

edit I didn't use the metal fuel tanks I just poured fuel directly into carb I plan to showup w/ new fuel in a clean container then stick a fuel line into container the connect directly to the fuel pump.

please excuse my ignorance I'm not farmiral w/ I/O engine just OB.
Thanks for advice TB

 

[jbcurt00]

TB, all these should be asked over in your Mercruiser forum topic, its all about your I/O.

So copy/paste it all.over there

 

[smevil]

Congratulations on your find, I'm excited for you they are so hard to find and to get one home feels even better. Really excited to see this one come apart, Then go back together again. Trying to muddle through one myself, there allot of work but the best project I have had in a while. Good luck

 

[thebrain]

update the boat will most likely not be completely taken apart, all the wood from the hard top toward the cabin is solid, I will replace wood floor from back of HT.

I will have to build a dog house I think I will make it out of a wooden frame then fiberglass resin and thick cotton T shirts w/ my favorite Alabama national champ on the front side (it will be visable). I will add a little fiberglass matting, I want to keep weight down as much as possiable. after I build the DH I will then preasure wash the inside.

the preasure washer is very powerfull I believe the cabins glas is actually tempered I'm assuming I shouldn't be spraying the glass?

My Buddy has a industreale type steam cleaner it has a furnace which heat the water he incruaged me to clean the seat and bed pads (which BTW had zero mold just dirt) they came clean except for some rust spots.

Please suggest how to clean the rust?

I know how the back jump seats are setup for both seating and for sun lounge however I can't figure out how the cabin bed pillows where designed to layout images of this would be a big help.

I would like to know how both the dinette table is setup and also the cabin door images of both would be a big help.

The right side of the folding cabin door is still attached would like to see the left side.

I sprayed a little simple green on the outside of hull and wiped it down the acillic paint will clean up nicely I don't think the outside will require paint just the inside.

please suggest how to clean the glue stuck to the inside walls.

I have been reading and studying the build thread for about 6 years there's a lot of SC there expect the 22' chief HT.

Thanks TB

 

[Grandad]

You might consider building an unconventional doghouse. It always bugged me how inconvenient the conventional style was for me until I rebuilt mine. There isn't a lot of floorspace when they are hinged from the floor into the cockpit. If they were easily removable and just pinned in place, or hinged upward, you could at least get around them for servicing. Something like this might work better. - Grandad

 

[Watermann]

Cleaning stuff up will be the easiest part but personally cleaning things is the last task not the first, the deconstruction is first and it always turns up issues not too mention the need for materials. So in the meantime everything you cleaned up months or even a year ago is dirty again. If you don't have an inside space to work then I would store stuff like seats up in the cabin and then seal off the door with some plastic sheeting to keep the debris and other things from entering, then do your work in the stern area.

My advice is simple, just start tearing into the old gal! Working all over the boat like a bird pecking away at everything is going to be a challenge for you and us as well!

 

[thebrain]

bad news the mechanic says the Merc. motor is ruined said lose of compression on a cylinder.

good news is I got a deal on a Armstronge OB POD.

now I need to figure out how this POD mounts not sure about the long rods and angle pieces. I would prefer a XL shafted engine to keep it as far away from water.

1.I'm thinking attach engine to POD connect engine to cherry picker raise the engine have a level under keel lined up w/ the cavitation plate then make mark on transom for PODs location doe's this sound correct?

I've actually been looking for a donor boat (wasn't really planning on the Merc to run) so now I'm on the hunt for a serieous OB I'm currently looking at a 2005 Bass boat w/ Merc 225 OB not sure if I can use the trailer.
2.What type of fuel tanks do bass boat usalley have?1

3.I know trailer springs are weight rated can I find out how much the BB weights to see it can handle the Chief?

the Armstronge pod is stainless steel will I have to cover the POD w/ aluamin or fiber glass where it contacts the transom?

my plan is to add some plywood to the transom then have a aluamin plate so the plywood transom is sandwhiched w outside aluimin and inside AL then have two tall AL triangle welded to plate and stringers.

any tips on POD mounting is appreciated.
TB

 

[64osby]

so now I'm on the hunt for a serieous OB I'm currently looking at a 2005 Bass boat w/ Merc 225 OB

:jaw::tape2::fear:

 

[thebrain]

Update in the process of removing rotten engine & replace w/ remaned or mite have my block honed or bored and rebuild it myself, first need to remove Outdrive.
I’m praying the OD is good. Is there like a way to check it to see if it’s any good?

still haven't outruled a OB conversion.

I figured out how the partition go’es to the cabin however I’m unsure of how the partion is attached to gunwhale, floor.

The hinged top porsion of partition appears to only be latched? Also there is a good sized gap inbetween the partition and the window maybe this is the way it was designed?

I’ve cleaned and kindof figured out how the dinette table is setup there are two upsidedown slots that the table is to fit into and a vertical surport then there’s a hinged
Surport rod under where the table attaches to the gunwale unsure of how it’s surported to side of boat under the gunwhale.

Any tips is appreciated STB

 

[Watermann]

You should do a compression check yourself and see what the numbers are. If one cylinder is bad pull the head and see if it's worth rebuilding or switching motors.

Drain the LU oil, no water and no metal on the magnetic drain plug then you should be good there. Next is the seals, if bellows have oil in them then you have an upper shaft seal leaking. Inspect u joints for slop and rust.

Start tearing her apart, you have a bunch of work that lays ahead. Sorry to say Brain but spending time polishing fenders at this point is not going to be progress towards getting you on the water.