New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

[holiday68]

Paid $800.00 for it. Had to re-light and will need to re-roller trailer (tho it towed well).Boat has been sitting for 3 years in a barn. Basically looks good. Was winterized before storage and purportedly runs well. Have not started it up yet. Have heard I/O can have problems. Want to know from someone with experience how to proceed with assessing what I hope will be a good motor/ outdrive. Boat has always been in fresh - I live on No. Shore in MA so will trailer it probably 60/40 salt/fresh. What do you think?

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Nice find that motor is bullit proof, excellent fuel economy. You might have to rebuild the carb after sitting that long. Very easy boat to work on. I would slowly go through and check everything.

Is this your first boat ?

The outdrive as long as it has been maintained should be fine. I would pull it and replace the waterpump in the outdrive and grease that gimbal bearing. On that older Mercruiser you will have to do it by hand. Grease the ujoints.
Change the oil in the outdrive, check all your bellows and shift cable bellows.

If you look in the top of the mercruiser engine section in Iboats forum " ADULTS ONLY" , Don has put all the mercruiser manuals on their to download. Your manual is a huge file to download but well worth it.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I have a 1971 Holiday 120 Merc I/O

Congrats

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Thanks a lot for the info. It really helps. I tried to attach a couple photos last send but files were too large. Will try to solve that and post again.

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

And yes this is my first boat other than a 12' Starcrfft w/ a 6hp merc. up-powered to a 10 hp evinrude (tillers) back 47 years ago.

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Well its been 3 days since last post, have it running yet ? Where's the pics ?
Download google Picasa free and resize them.

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Not running yet. I bailed on trying to do it myself and brought to certified MerCruiser marina. I am going to fix trailer and maybe do winterizing in fall but from a practical standpoint was more than I wanted to tackle with all else I got going right now. Mech. said at first glance things look good - will know by next week. Here are pics.







[/ATTACH]

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Well if your not sure of fixing things yourself it's allways better to find a qualified tech to do it.

Very nice find, you will grow to appreciate the fuel economy you will get with that 2.5 mercruiser. Treat it good and that boat and motor will do the same back for years.

Is that a N.H. tag on the back ?

I'm surprised BOB VT didn't find that hull before you !

 

[North Beach]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Nice lookin boat there bud, and guess what? I ain't no danged motor mechanic either

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Holiday 68 click on North Beach's link on the bottom of his post and look a 22' Starcraft restore job that he is doing. Very awesome job !

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better used boat for the money than these aluminum Starcrafts. You did well taking it to a pro to get the motor up to snuff the first time. That's what I did with mine as well when I got it. I have since learned enough on here to tackle most maintenance tasks but that initial going over is best left to the pros.

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Really nice job you're doing there North Beach. That larger size hull is nice to have also. Hope I don't get a big bill from the marina. Ordered via online (4) 12" keel rollers, shafts, and bracket sets so I can redo trailer and paint it w/ that stuff that turns rust into something you can paint. Trick will be off-boating trailer to work on it. May try and land it on the lawn gently rather than water. Thoughts?

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

NICE!
I have the exact same boat! Mine was also 800 bux!!!

In a lot worse shape tho..nice score!

Do ya have some old used tires? Or go ask your local tire shop for some and put a couple under the corners in the stern and pull the trailor out...

I look fwd to seeing more pics and following your resto...

Welcome to the SC insane asylum! lol

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Hey thats great! What a coincidence, same price and everything. I'd like to put a Bimini on ours too. What did you use for width x height dimensions for your Bim? Any problems on the install, tips, suggestions? Looks good , like the height it affords. How long is that Bim (6' or more)? Don't have any frame or hardware on the boat so was going to go with Taylor Made or West Marine (Sunbrella or Ultima) probably, w/ frame etc. Boat is still at marina so can't remember if gunwales were level or canted (level I think) and don't have dims. When you store your Bim (to the rear I assume) is it out of the way and behind the jump seats and motor cover? Thanks.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Sorry..The Bimini came with...
First I was thinking it was waaaay to high, but now I like that I can stand fully under it..

Your's will be level...like mine.
It is mounted on a sliding track and yes, it slides back and folds down over the doghouse and jump seats and rests on the stern...
Only think I dont like is the color (of course) since I have this whole blue/white scheme going on now, lol

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Guess I jumped the gun talking about Bim tops cause I just spoke w/ Marina and they're saying it needs alot of work;gimbal bearing, bellows, lower shift cable, rebuilt carb., exhaust manifold ($560 part alone from Merc., mech. mentioned Osco as other after market source) and elbow, thats just to get it running and he said it could be more after - no way of telling!? He said maybe $ 1200. to see if you have a boat that will keep running or not. He told of other shop that has mech. that has worked on older outdrives but am not sure what to do at this point other than try not to cry. Have any of you Starcraft owners had similar travails? Mech. said he'd walk away form it which I'm hoping I won't have to do.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Post your question in the I/O forum and you'll get TONS of advice and hopefully some ideas of how to get it on the water cheaper. If it makes you feel any better, we dumped some major coin in our outboard to get on the water initially. However, we've done zip to it since in 5 years of boating.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Guess I jumped the gun talking about Bim tops cause I just spoke w/ Marina and they're saying it needs alot of work;gimbal bearing, bellows, lower shift cable, rebuilt carb., exhaust manifold ($560 part alone from Merc., mech. mentioned Osco as other after market source) and elbow, thats just to get it running and he said it could be more after - no way of telling!? He said maybe $ 1200. to see if you have a boat that will keep running or not. He told of other shop that has mech. that has worked on older outdrives but am not sure what to do at this point other than try not to cry. Have any of you Starcraft owners had similar travails? Mech. said he'd walk away form it which I'm hoping I won't have to do.

I agree..post in the I/O..also, I bet you can scour ebay/Craigslist for a good used or rebuilt 120...or better yet another "donor" boat..

All is not lost..your hull and and most of her looks great...hang in there

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Holiday are you mechanically inclined ?

What they are saying is not real hard work. I would run a compression test on engine and see what numbers you are getting 140 psi is new.

If your engine is 120 or above I would not replace the motor. I would repair what is wrong.

 

[oceanhorse]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Just a note to say I know how you are feeling as I just bought one too with the same reports actually! I paid a bit more (ouch) I'l post in the i/out board board! good luck

 

[holiday68]

Re: New owner of 1968 Starcraft Holiday 18' w/ 120 Mercruiser

Had buddies friend who is an aircraft mech. (very capable) go thru it: re-built carb., tune-up, (120psi all 4 cyl.) replaced all belt / hoses, repaired trim switches, replaced lower shift cable, new gimbal bear'g, replaced 2 trim supply tubes, engine oil change, marina had already rebuilt outdrive water pump. I've re-built and painted trailer in mean time. Hope to take shake down cruise this weekend with mech. at helm. Will keep you posted. Appaloosa2 your assessment was right on. Thanks.