1971 Starcraft Mariner 18-foot

[steve_latino]

This was my dads boat, and now she is all mine. Made the trek back from Southern California to Illinois to get her. Finally, after getting married...and my skeeter being in the shop, I am getting around to starting the work on her. I managed to get all the decking out this weekend, but this is going to be a fun little rebuild. Unfortunately my life is busy, so keeping up on a weekly post is highly unlikely, but as I get time I will post updates.

My goals, clear her out and seal her up from the inside. Fresh coat of paint on the inside and outside, new decking, new center console and seating. Luckily the transom is new because Dad replaced that about 5 years ago and then it sat. Sandwiched two pieces of ply wood and full blown epoxy coating on that...so that should last darn near a life time.Unfortunately where I live, the old 2-strokes are banned, so I have an 85hp Evinrude (circa 1972) Starflite to get rid of.

Anyways, off to bed, but figured I would get her out there. Well, here she is. Oh, and her name is Pegasus, which I intend on keeping!

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Nice start!

 

[Tnstratofam]

Looks like a nice project and you're ahead of the game with the newer transom. Lots of great Starcraft restorations here. Post updates when you can. Good luck.

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to the Starmada Steve,

From what I can see the hull is in great shape :thumb:

I think part of the transom wood is exposed on those models, if not painted or covered up the epoxy resin will be damaged by UV light.

 

[steve_latino]

Thanks for the welcome! Looking forward to learning from all of you and sharing my experiences. As for the transom, the wood is exposed, but my dad and I spoke tonight, he used MAS epoxy thinned out to coat the wood. This will be a fun project for sure!

 

[jbcurt00]

Thinned epoxy doesnt protect well. And as noted above it needs to be coated to protect from UV.

 

[64osby]

Nice to keep it in the family!.

Have fun.

 

[steve_latino]

Nice to keep it in the family!.

Have fun.

I learned to fish in it, I want my kids to learn to fish in it. A lot of my friends learned to water ski behind that boat too!

 

[Old Irving]

Finishing up my boat soon. Make sure you do a leak test on the hull. Those rivits like to shake loose or get sheared off. Good luck and have fun.

 

[steve_latino]

No Title

Thinned epoxy doesnt protect well. And as noted above it needs to be coated to protect from UV.

Just saw this...so the wood is painted on the outside, but epoxied underneath on the inside (you can see in the pictures above). Also, plan to keep her either stored inside or covered, so with the outside protected....I hope I am good.

Well, didn't get too far on it this weekend, as I have been busy with life...something about working full time, getting an MBA and just recently married really seems to put a dent in the boat time. Anyways, I did get the motor controls all removed and taken out from the splash well. Next step for me is to get the motor pulled and mounted on a mobile stand (found the plans on the site! AWESOME!!eace. Gonna borrow an engine hoist from a buddy so that is next on the list. Maybe a little bit on that one though as we are in tournament season here in So. Cal and next weekend is shot fishing a local tournament.

One thing I am wondering, is there a market for an old '72 Evinrude 85hp Starflite. I have the manual, spare prop, spare ignition system, all motor controls. Unfortunately where I live, I have to be Star Compliant (newer direct inject 2 stroke or 4 stroke)...gotta love California! Anyways, wanted to give an update even though it isn't much of one.

Last but not least, foam for the boat. The original styrofoam is in there, but it is chewed up by rodents over the years. What does one replace this with that is gas/oil resistant? I guess I will continue my reading and see what I come up with!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Steven

 

[BWR1953]

This is how I did the foam replacement in my Kingfisher. It's home insulation foam paneling. The blue color is from covering the stern pieces with HDPE trash bags which provides fuel proofing.

 

[Watermann]

You'll be good to go on the painted over epoxy, that's what we meant.

Probably not much of a market in CA for a motor that can't be used there. I don't know for sure but that old motor might have a different bolt pattern than the standard BIA pattern of the new motors. Just something to check when you get it off the transom.

The rigid foam board is great stuff for under deck flotation.

 

[ezmobee]

Probably not a great market for that motor. Being an electric shift model is undesirable as is not having tilt 'n trim. It could be worth up to $500 but not likely any more.

 

[steve_latino]

This is how I did the foam replacement in my Kingfisher. It's home insulation foam paneling. The blue color is from covering the stern pieces with HDPE trash bags which provides fuel proofing.

Genius! I like that, its nice and neat and sure enough you solved the problem I was thinking of. My father and I argued about this yet again today....his thought was I needed it to be fuel proof....my comment was, it wasn't before and there was never an issue. Sadly I am an Engineer so everything I do is overkill, we have to have a factor of safety of like 10 on everything we do! Thanks!

 

[steve_latino]

You'll be good to go on the painted over epoxy, that's what we meant.

Probably not much of a market in CA for a motor that can't be used there. I don't know for sure but that old motor might have a different bolt pattern than the standard BIA pattern of the new motors. Just something to check when you get it off the transom.

The rigid foam board is great stuff for under deck flotation.

Watermann...so I did a follow up on the issue of the transom. So he used the slow cure MAS thinned out to let it soak in and penetrate the wood, then did a second coat with the medium cure without it being thinned. Trust me, I will take all the advice I can get, because I am a total stranger to boat rebuilds. Appreciate the heads up and it led me to do a little more investigation!

 

[Watermann]

Just be sure you don't appear to be a boat noob and mark the packs of foam with a P and S rather than L and R. :lol:

 

[steve_latino]

Probably not a great market for that motor. Being an electric shift model is undesirable as is not having tilt 'n trim. It could be worth up to $500 but not likely any more.

So my initial thoughts are confirmed...I guess I should just put an anchor chain and a rope on it and call it a day! :witless:

 

[steve_latino]

Got some time this afternoon to run errands and get some lumber, casters and hardware....so I built a motor stand. Hopefully in the next week or two I can get the motor off the boat and out of the garage since my skeeter is just about done at the shop!:whoo:

 

[steve_latino]

Just be sure you don't appear to be a boat noob and mark the packs of foam with a P and S rather than L and R. :lol:

:facepalm::rofl:

 

[steve_latino]

No Title

Well, haven't been on here in awhile because I haven't had time to work on the boat. Last weekend we were in Las Vegas for National Finals Rodeo. Today it was actually raining here in Southern California (a rarity for sure!) so I decided it was time to take off the motor. Borrowed a hoist from a coworker and within a few hours...all mounted up on the stand. Just need to cover it and wheel it out in the backyard until spring. Maybe then I will work on getting it running and seeing if I can offload it.