70's gutted Starcraft SuperSport? Restore (somewhat?)

[NotABoatBuilder]

Hey, First post here so bare with me please while I tell my short story about the boat you see below. I purchased it about 5 years ago, never bothered to look into what brand or type of boat it was etc, until I towed it up from the cabin a couple of days ago in hopes of doing some restoration on it over the winter. I believe it is an 70's Starcraft SuperSport that has been gutted completely. I can see remanants on the sides where possibly the console used to be etc... I don't think it will ever be like that again BUT, I would like to make this baby sturdy and nice so we can feel safe with our 1 year old next spring/summer when I take him down to the cabin for the first time and take him for his first boat ride.

As it stands the boat has an aluminum floor (1/4" aluminum plate I believe) on over 3/4 of the boat floor with a little bit of rotten plywood flooring up in the very front so that is great news as I plan on keeping that and only really need to replace the plywood up front, probably will carpet it all over to make it less slippery. It has a 1992 55hp Evinrude (Commercial) outboard on it with tiller handle (no steering controls or power tilt etc) and the motor runs fantastic so I have no complaints there and am happy sitting in the back in the only seat in the boat driving the old fashioned way

I would like to find out what type of trim I can use around the inside of the gunwales, it was stripped off I guess and never replaced, but restoring that would give it a nice trimed look, where can I get the aluminum strip that goes around the inside? The outside of the gunwales has the bumper stuff all the way around.

My plans are to fix all leaky seams, rivets etc... paint inside and out, add some more seating, some little things like a switch panel for the pump, lights etc, a battery box perhaps even some under gunwale lighting strips even if I get around to it and get the important stuff done... basically I want to make this a safe and sturdy boat for me, the missus, and my 1 year old son (he will be around 1 year old when he first gets in he is 7 months now, and I am such a proud and excited father!!) As I have said I have been using the boat with no real problems for the past 5 years (minus the leaks, I can't leave this boat over night in the water or she will sink, I always pull it up on the beach at the cabin which I am sure is not good for the rivets) and I love the way it rides in the water I would much rather restore this than get something newer, also what man doesn't like an awesome winter project?

I would also like to pin down the year of this boat, I will post some more pics tomorrow but for now here is the only one I have:

 

[astor]

I was only able to view the 1st picture, maybe its my computer, but it looks like a starcraft, nice project.

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

I was only able to view the 1st picture, maybe its my computer, but it looks like a starcraft, nice project.

Hey, That is the only pic there is, for some reason it said the it was attached 3 times, so I edited my post to remove the other attachments of the same pic. Thanks for the reply going to be a fun winter!

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to iboats and the tin division.

Yeah NaBB about all I can say is that she does indeed appear to be a Starcraft but without some more pics of the inside not much else can be said with any certainty. It would also help out to have some dimensions, length and beam.

 

[dozerII]

Welcome to the Starmada NaBB. on the right rear corner of the hull just under the corner cap there should be an aluminum tag riveted to the hull with the HIN on it. That number will tell us the year it was built. If there is no tag and no sign there ever was one it may be older than 1972. How is the aluminum deck fastened in the hull? You will want to remove it to fix your leaky rivets and seal the seams with Gluvit from the inside.

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

No Title

Hey Watermann, thanks for the welcome! I have some more pics and measurements for ya:

Length: 16ft (16' 1" maybe, hard to get the tape where it needs to be)
Beam: 6' 4.5"

dozerII: There is no tag to be found on the boat, so not sure if it was removed or was never there to begin with. The aluminum floor was fastened with rivets, I have already drilled them out to remove the floor to get at the seams and rivets. Building a stand for the outboard today then will strip the floor out and fill with water to find all the leaks. Will have to order some Gluvit, gonna have to find a source for it here in Canada.

Any idea on what I could use for trim on the inside gunwales?

Here are some more pics:

 

[Watermann]

After looking at your new pics, I would say she's a heavily modified early 70's 16' SS. I'm thinking the mods the PO made to a tiller model have created a challenge for you to get her back to being a safe water tight craft. It can be done though!

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

I'm up for the challenge Watermann, just going to take things one step at a time. First thing is to strip it out find the leaks and seal it up. Then I'll rebuild the transom and go from there. It does look like the transom was replaced at some point in the past but definitely needs to be done again.

 

[MNhunter1]

Once the leaks are all taken care of and the transom is replaced, you'll want to focus on the structural integrity provided by the splashwell (which appears to have been mutilated), the tie in of the deck and side panels, and the non-existent consoles (I'd look into some sort of casting deck w/bracing to the gunnels). Together, all the pieces of the puzzle come together to really tighten up the hull.

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

Hey MNhunter1, The casting deck is a great idea to add stability to the front, I will do that for sure. For the back where the splashwell is/was.. I was thinking maybe I could make some steel angle iron or thick aluminum tube stock to mount to the aluminum floor and run them up to the gunnels on a 45 deg angle then run a piece to join the two brackets so it will be lower than the motor handle and I should be able to run it under whats left of the splashwell to keep it outta the way that should sturdy it up a bit, might not be as strong as original but it should work along with the sidewalls and casting deck.

 

[dozerII]

Sent you a PM, with a link to Gluvit in Canada

 

[stevecur]

With the roughness of the gunnels up front and the lack of angles riveted to the sides of the bow, I would say it was a holiday with the front deck cut out.

 

[64osby]

NotABoatBuilder - You are now!

Welcome to the best tin boat thread in the world!

 

[MNhunter1]

With the roughness of the gunnels up front and the lack of angles riveted to the sides of the bow, I would say it was a holiday with the front deck cut out.

Yeah, it's missing the supports for the SS front seats/deck, but unless there was a lot of modification done by the PO, I think the bow would look much different under the cap of a Holiday. My vote still goes towards a gutted SS.

 

[laurentide]

If you look at some photos of any of the old Starcraft outboard models, you'll see that they have a splashwell in the stern to keep waves that come over the transom out of the cockpit/bilge. Somebody cut that out of yours. You'll probably want to have something there to replace it, as even a big wake could swamp that boat as it sits. Just one more of many things to think about. Good luck with whichever way you go with it, and welcome!

Edit: just noticed that MNhunter already mentioned this issue, but it's important enough to leave my redundant post.

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

No Title

Thanks for the welcome 64osby. I am still thinking it is a early 70's SS as MNhunter and chemicalwire are pointing out. Either way, regardless of what it is, it is getting re-done this winter

Got the floor out today, looks like I have a lot of cleaning to do!

 

[MNhunter1]

After looking through those pics, I'm no longer as confident that it is indeed a SS. It lacks the side supports for the seats and the gunnels and bow cap piece do look to be fabricated and not original. Can't tell if the wood support across the bow is there and just painted white, or if it's just a piece of aluminum there. Maybe it was born a Holiday after all??

 

[InMotion]

Looks an like my Jupiter as well.... Front is custom though! It'll be fine with a little tlc...

Jim

 

[NotABoatBuilder]

After looking through those pics, I'm no longer as confident that it is indeed a SS. It lacks the side supports for the seats and the gunnels and bow cap piece do look to be fabricated and not original. Can't tell if the wood support across the bow is there and just painted white, or if it's just a piece of aluminum there. Maybe it was born a Holiday after all??

Well, now I'm confused as well. The bow cap is aluminum, can't tell if it was original or not because I am new to this whole thing and am on a huge learning curve here. Do you have a pic of that contains the missing pieces so I can have a closer look and see if there are signs that the pices were removed?

InMotion: I can indeed see some resembleance to your jupiter, but the bow is what is throwing me off here (and everyone else too)

I will get some closer pics for everyone to gawk at

 

[MNhunter1]

Just borrowed these from some other threads, but here are a couple pictures of a SS bow. Notice the piece of angle used to support each side of the seats on port and starboard, the wood bracing across the bow, the shape of the bow cap, and how the inside gunnels(behind the cushioned pads) continue toward the bow.



Now, compare that to the pictures on this thread where the bow cap is removed from a Holiday... http://forums.iboats.com/forum/owne...ay-to-open-bow-conversion-aka-the-unthinkable