22' 1978 Starcraft Holiday rebuild

[Sunny Jim]

Hi folks, been lurking here for a while and I've decided to jump in the deep end.

Recently I bought a 22' Holiday plus trailer for a good (not-quite-bottom-feeder-but-good) price. The PO had taken good care of the beast but was looking to downsize.

Sooo, good points; freshwater boat, hardly any dings on the hull, good motor, electrics in good shape.

Not so good points; Outdrive (OMC 185) needs an impeller rebuild and shaft replacement, a couple of sheared rivets plus a few loose ones, hull needs paint and there is some mild pitting on the surface.

Can't get the pics to upload right now, problems with the server?

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to SC tin bin Jim!

Yeah photobucket is the way to go, upload pics to account, click on IMG code to copy and paste in the message field.

Oh man you have the OMC WLOD, not too many of those left around but there is a forum here for them.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Thanks for the welcome and the Photobucket tip, I'll set it up shortly .

Yup,the OMC is a little, ah, unique, kind of reminds me of British engineering . But, my local marina can still get OEM parts so all is good and they will get some coin from me.

More to follow.

 

[dozerII]

Welcome to the Starmada Jim, looking forward to the pictures.

 

[classiccat]

:welcome: Welcome SunnyJim!

22' Holiday! :madgrin: Can't wait to see some pics of this monster!!! hoto: :hungry:

 

[Sunny Jim]

Thanks BF, let's try some pics.

Here's a bow on shot, I can't get a good wide shot in this location

Interior shot. The doghouse is rotted but surprisingly the floor is still fairly solid (and original). The transom is still solid as well but the seats are toast. Love that '70's carpet The consoles are in good shape but there is some cracking in the plastic (ABS?). The teak is in excellent condition. I oiled up a test piece and it came up really well.

Yup, it's a V5. You can't see it in this shot but the boat was tied up to a dock that had nails sticking out, it has caused scratching and pits in the starboard side.


I'm up to the point where I have stripped paint and pulled half the floor, there were a couple of surprises. So just to keep you in suspense...I'll post them later. OK, tonight if i get back early enough.

 

[Watermann]

Hey there's a Chief back there in the bushes! Jim you sure got the start of a nice SC fleet and a case of MBS to boot! :lol:

Nice V5 hull Holiday, she should come back to be in usable shape real nice :thumb:

 

[classiccat]

AWE-YEAH! 22 FEET OF V5 BABY! :madgrin:

 

[Sunny Jim]

Watermann, yeah there is a Chief hiding back there. The CINC House is pretty tolerant of my projects but I better get the Holiday in the water next year (there are limits...).

Couple more shots.

‹Console. It is OK but as I mentioned some cracking etc. The gauges all work.



The hydraulic line for the port tab has blown out.



When I first picked up the boat we had a massive downburst that resulted in an impromptu leak check in the driveway. So there are a few sheared rivets and loose rivets in the bow, but no dings. More about that later.



SJ

 

[Watermann]

Got your work cut out for you with that monster tin! Yeah I would suggest losing those old tabs and go with some Nauticus Smart Tabs instead, they're tough to beat.

I guess you either do or will shortly own an air hammer, rivet set and bucking bar :lol: welcome to the club buddy!

 

[cj8mule]

I see some real good bones there Jim.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Watermann, Smart Tabs? Hmmm, possible, I've heard good things about the Smart Tabs.

I'm going to have to research the riveting necessities, starting with ear defenders! I have a CH compressor, 25 gal, so if I can find an air hammer and bucking bar, etc, I'll be in good shape.

cj8mule, yup the hull is pretty good with very shallow pitting below the waterline plus some baked on organic goo. Paint stripper takes it off easily. However there are some issues...

When I pulled the floor under the foredeck I found original flotation foam in surprisingly good shape and this! (cue ominous music)

Left stringer, fatigue cracking and the rivets have pulled through the stringer.



Right stringer, ditto.



And crossmember, its rivets have worked loose. You can also see where rivets have leaked.



As I've said before there aren't any dings in the hull but there must be a fair amount of flex (or the PO was out in heavy weather, a lot). I'm going to pull the rest of the floor this weekend hopefully and I'll check for the infamous Holiday chine cracking. Fingers crossed.

SJ

 

[classiccat]

Wow...were they jumping off of waterfalls with it?!?

One of the ill effects of connecting the stringers directly to the hull skin as opposed to the ribs. Once the deck/fastening gets sloppy, stringers/connections take the brunt of it.

As long as there aren't stress cracks in the actual hull skin, pretty easy repairs. If you don't have a riveting hammer now... you will :madgrin:

You've found a Totally Awesome Hull that I'm sure you'll be proud of! :thumb:

 

[Watermann]

No problem repairing those and like BF says those deck supports get all whacked out of shape when the boards get rotten or loose and the boat gets used in that condition. That is also for the most part the reason the spray rail gets over worked and starts cracking. Don't forget the critical examination of each and every rib end for cracking between and around the rivets. I'm not sure if the 78 SC's had the braces or not, do you have some pics of the inside stripped down?

 

[Sunny Jim]

Thanks for the heads up on the rib-ends, I'll take a close look when I get the rest of the deck off and I'll get some better pics on the weekend. For the stinger flanges I was thinking of fabbing up a doubler and laying it on top so when I buck the rivets they have a solid surface to work on.

In the meantime, just to keep you entertained, here is a pic of the Chief enjoying the sunshine and a pic of the lack of splines in the outdrive impeller housing.





​SJ

 

[Watermann]

Whoa that Chief is sweet! :thumb: Man you're a lucky fella Jim, I would run around naked through that fleet at night.

Splines in impeller housing..? I got nothing for ya, you got me there. Mercruiser doesn't have splines in the impeller housing either. :lol:

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Nice fleet of tin you have there. Plenty to keep you entertained for quite a while. Good luck with the OMC, hopefully you can get it back in shape. I too spied the Chief in the background and thanks for putting that pic up too. What year is the Chief? I see it has the same swim ladder and the black Chieftain placard on the side of the cabin that was on mine.

 

[Sunny Jim]

Watermann, if I run around naked the local wildlife will either be terrified or die laughing. Or my neighbour will put a shotgun load of rock salt in my posterior.

Willy, That is a good question. I've looked for the build plate on the Chief and haven't found it yet. The PO did an exterior touchup and a floor replacement so a number of things are missing. Overall the Chief is in good shape but my next task is re-doing the interior, the replacement floors weren't urethaned, varnished or epoxied so they are already coming apart. It has an older Mercruiser 165 so I'm guessing it is a late 1960's build (maybe?).

 

[Weep'n Willy]

When I removed the guage cluster on mine written on the back was 3-1972 so I kinda figured that was the date on mine or at least close enough

 

[Watermann]

We'll leave the fleet streaking discussion right there :lol:

Your MC if from the 60's would have a little plate on the block showing it's a Kiekhaefer Mercury Marine. If the boat is a 78 I'm not sure why someone would go retro on the power?