1974 Starcraft Chieftain Overhaul

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Sorry for the long story...

My father came into possession of this boat a couple years ago (08/14) after a friend of his had passed. The story goes the previous owner was a huge starcraft loyalist and found a great hull in 2006 which happened to be this Starchief (or Chieftain, not sure on the difference but title lists it at 18', no model given). In 2006 the previous owner completely overhauled the boat, it got a brand new 2005 Johnson 115PL (Saltwater) and a brand new (2005) magictilt trailer. I have the receipt for everything he'd done for the boat (including the bojangles receipts from breakfast while working it:lol::lol. He passed away in February of 2007, the boat had sub-15 hours on it. It sat that way for 7 years while his wife battled with letting go of his prized possession.

My father offered to buy the boat several times a year since his passing, finally in August of 2014 she offered him first chance at the boat, $3500, he jumped on it. Got it home and went through everything, fluids, new battery, etc...took it to the landing in his neighborhood and backed it in, started right up. He'd never even fished it once before winterizing it that year as he wanted to spend the winter re-doing the cabin and cosmetics while he continued to fish his larger boat for the trips to the gulf. December of 2014, after a trip to the VA with his hip and knee bothering him he found he was due for full hip replacement due to some bone-on-bone action and spurs. The Starcraft has been sitting untouched since then with barely any care.

My dad called me this past Monday and asked If I'd like to have the boat under the condition that I took care of it and brought it back to it's former glory and that I did the same for my daughter as he did for me while growing up, take her fishing every chance I could. I went yesterday and slipped $3500 in his gun safe as he refused payment for it and picked up all the paperwork for the boat and spent a little time making sure the trailer was good for the ~80 mile haul it'll make back to my house sometime in the next week (hopefully).

Sorry but unfortunately, I've gotta end this first post with no pictures, but I'll update it as soon as the boat is here and cleaned off.

 

[Decker83]

:welcome: to the tiny madness.
Great story.
Looking forward to some pics..
There or some great gentlemen here to help out if you need any..

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard :wave:

Thanks for the write up on your new to you Chief. I too am looking forward to seeing her brought back to those glory days and pics!

 

[laurentide]

I've got a '74 Chieftain as well, great boat. All the 18' Chieftains and Starchiefs are the same boat for about 10 years, '68-'78 I think?

It's an excellent fishing boat for two people...three starts to get crowded unless they're kids.

Congrats and we look forward to some photos!

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Appreciate the responses and welcome guys. I had originally planned on removing the cabin to make room for more fishing area but after reading a couple build threads on here I'm leaning towards keeping it, got the feeling it'll be one of those "Wish I had it back" things but I'll reassess that choice once I spend some more time crawling over the boat.

It'll be primarily a fishing boat, but I do have a wife and 5yo daughter, so cruises will most likely happen fairly often, so the cabin would payoff greatly on days I have the family with me, giving them somewhere shady to sit, I plan to tint the windows and wire up a fan in the cabin if it stays. Just for the peace of mind, does the removing the cabin impact the structural integrity of the boat at all?

I'll be fishing both fresh and saltwater, mostly shrimping and inlet fishing for salt, maybe a venture to some of the shallow reefs (~3 miles). Live well(s) are pretty much going to be a must for me. Ideally I'd like to get the fuel tank below the flooring and the splashwell? area with the sliding doors removed to give me a bit of extra room for a live well at the rear. For those of you that have had tanks put below the floor, what capacity did you manage to fit?

With fishing being the priority, say 80%+ of the trips being fishing, would removing the cabin and sticking to a bimini top suffice for those cruises with the family?

I have a million ideas in my head, mostly stemming from always fishing much larger boats, this is the smallest boat I've ever been on by ~10ft, so not having the built in live-wells, leaning post, rod holders everywhere. Everything else I've ever fished has been a walkaround or center console so Im used to fish boxes in the floor as well. But I know this is a different class boat, I wont be spending all day 50+ files offshore trolling, so its pointless to dwell on it.

Paint scheme will be white/black, these boats wear black so well from what I've seen of the rebuilds and restos on here.

Think I'm going to be naming it something pretty cliche but 'Dock Holiday' as the wife and I are huge Tombstone fans. I do my own vinyl decals, so I'll be doing my own lettering but thinking of something along these lines:

I apologize for the rambling, but any ideas or input on anything I said or asked would be greatly appreciated.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Great open to your build! I wonder if you keep the helm seperate from the cabin top, if your could design it to be removable like a truck topper? My pontoon walls are held in by bolts on my crazy duck boat. Im sure the cabin top can be done similiar? Just keep helm, wlectronics and what not detatched? Looking foraward to this one.

 

[Watermann]

Installing a belly tank is a must in my book as being able to carry a lot of feul with no impact on space which is at a premium on an 18' Chief. For me to install the poly belly tank in my Chief I did have to spread the stringers out wider which raises them so I ended up having to raise the deck 1" from the cabin back. On the sides you can see the firing stripes I used to elevate the deck, some guys have used aluminum channel rather than sealed ply strips like I did.

As far as desecrating a Chief to make it into something it's not, well you're not going to get a whole lot of support around the forum here for that as SC makes boats that are open bow, closed bow and center console. We also fall in love with our Chiefs and their unique look that you won't find out there on the water, everything on the water nowadays all look the same. To answer the question yes the cabin provides structural integrity that would have to be replaced if removed.

 

[FrankenCub]

opcorn: Just to warn you, Poseidon doesn't much care for Chiefs that had their crown removed and would likely sink her layful:
Your wife and daughter would probably appreciate the cabin too, especially your daughter when she gets board. Nice place for her to play or take a nap when she's had too much sun.

 

[oldhaven]

Welcome! It is going to be fun to see another Starchief build. I am having a great time with mine, and the design allows a lot of personal touches that make it your own. Still, I fall in the camp that would hate to see you cut off the really unique and vintage looking cabin. You could make Bullitt's Mustang fastback into a convertible, but why? It sounds like the Chief doesn't need much, so try it as is for awhile, and if you are disappointed with it sell it and look for a nice SC SS or an older Holiday or Jupiter that will allow the fishing modifications you want . If you have looked through the Starcraft rebuild thread at the top of the SC pages you will get lots of inspiration. Oh,and your wife and daughter will appreciate the privacy for a portapotty and changing room that the cabin provides. In any case, have fun planning and working on the boat.

Ron

 

[laurentide]

One huge plus with the cabin: it's dry. It's a great place for tackle and safety equipment storage. The closed bow and cabin also sheds water if you find yourself out in stuff you shouldn't be out in in an 18' aluminum boat. I've been there once in my Chieftain and, while it bobbed like a cork over the swells, it was nice to have the cabin in front of me in case one breaks over the bow. Definite "code brown" moment but the Chief handled it better than I did.

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

I made the choice to stick with it as it is, it should be plenty for myself and a buddy to fish and cabin for storage and somewhere dry will definitely prove useful....better the have it and not need it than need it and not have it, huh?

Well...I finally got her home yesterday and immediately started tearing into it. She was pretty dirty, she'd been sitting up for a year and a half or so. Also, its a Chieftain, not a Starchief per the dash.

But she started to clean up decently well:

As I expected the floor was a bit soft...the carpet was the first thing out and was pretty surprised to what I saw, it looks like the PO just laid OSB over the previous floor and screwed it down then threw carpet over everything. The plywood under the OSB is gone as well so I'll be replacing the entire floor, in turn hopefully I'll get to put in the fuel tank under the floor. Heres what I was greated with:

Weathers been a bit rough today so I haven't done too much else.

 

[jbcurt00]

If the deck (floor) is toast, and had been covered w a deck-over, expect the flotation foam to need removed and replaced as well.

Looks like a great Chief to rehab. Changed the topic title to Chieftain.

Good luck w the project

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Appreciated on the title change jbcurt, I couldn't find the 'edit' button for the OP.

--------------------------------

Got a little separation on the port side of the transom, 10-12 inches or so looks like its pulling away. Guessing this is going to call for a new transom?

Has anyone done a full transom and a jackplate on one of these and removed the backdeck/splashwell?

 

[1973Chieftain]

Welcome! That is a beautiful Chief, and a brand new engine compared to most around here lol! Give it a few times out on the water before deciding on any major changes to give you a chance to see what you like about it and what could be better

 

[Watermann]

Fine looking craft you have there and it's good to see you got the old gal home. You can just about bet that the transom is in the same shape as the original decking if it hasn't been replaced. All of us here that have rebuilt a Chief have replaced the transom. Very straight forward repair, just be sure to remove the splashwell and not try to work around it. Look up under the splashwell and check out the transom wood, post some pics too.

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Welcome! That is a beautiful Chief, and a brand new engine compared to most around here lol! Give it a few times out on the water before deciding on any major changes to give you a chance to see what you like about it and what could be better

I greatly appreciate the kind words, it's definitely growing on me. I do believe I'm going to give it a shot as it is and see how it fits my needs. Hopefully I get it done in time. I've got a ton of ideas for the offseason.

Fine looking craft you have there and it's good to see you got the old gal home. You can just about bet that the transom is in the same shape as the original decking if it hasn't been replaced. All of us here that have rebuilt a Chief have replaced the transom. Very straight forward repair, just be sure to remove the splashwell and not try to work around it. Look up under the splashwell and check out the transom wood, post some pics too.

Will do, I assumed as much after seeing the deck and the gap starting to form along the transom. I've done'em before, though never on a 'Chief. Will post more pics tomorrow.

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Got to spend a little more time on'er today though not much. I know this is going to sound pretty crazy considering the condition of the floor but the transom seemed solid, I reached under, pryed and pulled everywhere I could. Nothing felt soft, I knocked around various places, nothing sounded/felt soft. Asked a couple neighbors who're also boaters, everyone seemed to agree it was solid as is the floor under where the fuel tank was...Im guessing the pinestraw and leaves and such that has sat in it over the past 2 years is what rotted the floor where it had piled up and gotten wet and soaked into the floor as the floor in the covered areas is solid. Is drilling these acceptable for the final word on the transom or should I just assume its going to be alright for the rest of the summer? I plan on putting it on a bracket and doing a full transom this winter.

Started pulling the boxes out from in front of the cabin...these things were built -solid- the floor didn't look too bad under them, and a little peak at the OSB they re-decked with and the condition it was in.

And this mess....started to start working on a bit of the electronics...this mess has my mind blown. Looking like Im going to be completely re-wiring it.

 

[Watermann]

The transom wood under the splashwell is very dark, it looks wet and rotten to me around the knee brace. Check the tabs on the knee brace, I can't tell for sure but one side could be cracked. The transom ply looks like the original white washed 42 year old wood and will be de-laminating.

 

[oldhaven]

The fact that the splash well has started separating from the transom is a sign that things are not all solid beneath the outer transom surface. It also means that stress of use might cause damage to the metal well and the knee and surrounding hull. If it has been a couple of years since it was used, the rot may have done a lot of spreading , since these things don't dry out very well once the wood is soaked through. Get under there and take out a few of the SS screws that hold the well's bottom edge to the wood near the knee. They should be solid and not just fall out. Another thing to look at, requiring a bit more work, is to very carefully pull the stern quarter caps, (drill out rivets), and the aluminum channel transom cap. The cap should be held on with SS nails with twisted shanks. Careful prying under the cap below the nail heads will lift them just enough to get a small nail puller under them. I stress careful because you don't want to damage the hard to fabricate or replace corner or transom caps. This will give you a look at the plywood laminations, and you can even do a little probing deeper into the wood. Everything might be fine , but you will feel better about using that big engine for a couple of months and not causing more repairs later.

It looks like that might be original vinyl over the ply deck under the OSB. That is good since it means the original deck has not been replaced and you will have good templates for deck replacement later. If the transom is really as solid as you indicate, and deck is solid under the well, and you are replacing the rest of it in the correct way next year, I suppose you could run it for the remaining summer, but by the time you get it rewired, partially decked and presentable enough to use, you might be running out of time to use it. You might get as much enjoyment out of going for it now and being able to use it next summer without a lot of delay.

I was going to rebuild an old post and beam barn on my place many years ago, and started tearing into it thinking I would stop when I ran into good material to build on. I ended up reusing one knee brace that was made from a natural crook knee, and I think I only kept that in the new post and beam structure I built for nostalgia reasons. If you look into the boat under the surface by going a bit deeper, most of your future path will be obvious.

Ron

 

[Unapologetic_Patriot]

Welp...Im reneging what I said prior. The cabin is coming off, I know! I know! I do love the lines of the hull, its nice a deep and may pound but should be a decent boat, the power and rigging and everything is virtually brand new. So I'm just going to put it under the knife and modify it to my needs and hope to have it ready for next season. I came to this conclusion after browsing through a couple threads, mainly coalminerswife's thread where they removed to cabin on that one, it's essentially perfect for my needs. I'll also be going full transom and a positive flotation bracket and center consoling it. At this point with my plans I'll basically be only using the hull, rigging, and power. Is there any value to the parts I'll be removing, I don't want to chunk anything away that will prove useful to someone else?


I can't convince myself the transom is solid and without feeling 100%, I wouldn't dare risk it...so I'm pretty much shelving the idea of having it running this year. The full transom and bracket (18-22") will hopefully give me the room I'm missing in the back for a livewell and some storage for gear. Only thing I'm going to be weary about will be weight distribution with the cabin gone. I did a bit more demo and found the walls (MDF?) to the cabin are soaked and blistering which kind of pushed me in the direction of losing the cabin.