A New Starcrafter Enters the Fold

natemeins

Seaman
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
73
Hello fellas and ladies. Proud owner of a 1971 Starcraft Sprint as of around 2pm...well, yesterday I guess. Cosmetically a little rough, but what really caught my eye was how complete and original is was/is! I traded an ol' boy straight up for my old Loweline jon boat for it, and I'm so excited to start working on it I can't seem to stay on task at work! Looking forward to doing research here for ideas, recommendations, and guidance in making this little jewel a diamond.
I've been wanting a little runabout for quite some time, and specifically a Starcraft, butt these guys are pretty scarce here in Arkansas. The boat I had was easy to keep cause it was, well free. My dad gave it to me when he finally decided he was just finished with boat ownership. That and I have/use an old 1968 VW Westfalia bus to haul the boat out to the lake for fishing, skiing (yup!) and tubing with my family. We soon realized we were playing more than fishing so I finally had my chance to get the aluminum ski boat I always wanted- guess the brand? Newer and larger boats were completely out of the question because the old bus is a part of our family, and there was no way we were gonna sell him just to have someting bigger to haul a bigger boat. My new Sprint is perfect, and Walter hauls it pretty good so far.
Plans include getting it lake ready by July, enjoy it the rest of the season, then this winter tear it down for a good restoration.
Anyway just wanted to say hello, post a pic of the boat, and have a new topic that centered around what seems to be rare birds here- the Sprint.
Talk to y'all soon.
 

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Tnstratofam

Commander
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
2,679
Nice looking Sprint, and cool tow rig. Just remember no pressure treated wood in her anywhere, and you can hardly go wrong with any mods to get her water ready. Good luck and keep us posted.
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
:welcome: to the Starmada Nate!

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm with us! We've all fell in love with an old tin can with a propeller and share love of the water. Like John's sig tag above, it's all about pride and smiles.
 

laurentide

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Jul 24, 2011
Messages
1,869
Welcome! Nice barn door 'burban, too!

PS: If you use a file host like imgur or photobucket you can post pics like this without having to resize them:

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v8nT9AL.jpg


NAuLan0.jpg
 
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GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
What - A Vdub bus and no flower decals? What kinda hippie are you? :lol:

That is a nice pairing of Walter and Sprint. :thumb: She looks close to original. Welcome to the TinHaus, Nate.
 

natemeins

Seaman
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
73
Thanks, everyone. After a week and a half of busting my ass to get her ready for blue water trials, I'm exhausted but excited! Amazingly, the original deck is still in good shape! A few places feel soft when running a screw down, but otherwise no signs of rot. Most of the vinyl interior is still good. After a good cleaning I installed new carpets, new seats, all new electrical including bilge pump, switch panel, restored the lighting and "air" horn, and did some extensive engine work (carbs rebuild, new water pump, general cleaning and maintenance, gear oil, etc). After a few disappointing outings (all engine related) she finally ran like a scalded dog today! What a fun little boat! With myself and my wife, a bag full of tools and a full tank of gas, and on a ROUGH day at the lake we had her showing 28mph on the GPS with the engine tilt pin set one down from top, and no cavitation on the hole shot. Impressive. Now, not only do I get smiles and stories driving the old bus, I get em for the Starcraft too. When the summer season is over I'll start the restoration process. In the meantime we're gonna go play!
 

classiccat

"Captain" + Starmada Splash Of The Year 2020
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
3,405
Congratulations on a great find and welcome to the fold! :thumb:

Glad that you have the engine issue(s) behind you!!

How is the VW at the launch ramp? Any slippage??
 

natemeins

Seaman
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
73
Thanks everyone for the warm invites! After a 2 week flight of the bumblebee knock down drag out getting the boat ready for summer and some friends staying with us for a week, I finally got the ol girl wet in the lake! Several test n tune days to get the ails of the ol 50hp Rude running right, but the boat itself was flawless! Looks so awesome on the water! I'll be sure to post some pics soon, I know how this crowd is 😄. We were able to have it to watch the fireworks tied alongside several other (and MUCH more expensive) boats, and really it fit right in! It's amazing how much an ol Starcraft gets the old school juices flowing. I can't wait till the fall when I can do a complete resto (new transom and decks, paint, etc). Oh, and yes, the ol VW bus pulls the boat very well, on the road and at the ramp. It's not fast by any means, but it'll get us there! Because of all the rain and our lake being so high, the ramps have been very shallow and the boat sits rather high on the trailer, so it's been a challenge to get it in- that is until I discovered how to use the tilt option on the trailer! Man, that's just plain awesome! Can't exactly back the bus down too far for fear of water intrusion onto the engine, transaxle, etc. ask me how I know! 😕 so the tilt trailer is a great thing to have. Speaking of restoration, I want to do a restoration thread for the boat, can I just do that with this thread or would it be prudent to start a new one? Pics soon, I promise.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Having fun already, Nate. :thumb:

Since the thread is already in the Starcraft section, you can just carry on with this thread. Or you can start a resto thread here in the SC section. Either way works with us. Keeping it here keeps you closer to the good advice and no need to go over to the Resto section of iboats. We're kinda clannish here. They don't call us The Mob for nothing. :D
 

natemeins

Seaman
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
73
Haha! Good to know. Think I'll just edit up this thread and press on from here. I meant to note that apart from the carpet and seats, the boat is ORIGINAL! The original vinyl covered coamings, dash, and motor are factory original. The top of the dash still had its red vinyl, but I removed it due to the rotted wood underneath and it was torn in the corner. The coamings, aside from the aft portions looking a bit faded, are still in very good shape. So much so I went ahead and installed the new seats based on red as I plan to keep the original vinyl as long as they'll last. I removed the old carpet the PO installed and found the original vinyl covering for the deck. It was trash of course, but it was there. Some doofus painted it with exterior household paint and so I'll battle that come fall. Been working up paint schemes and I think I've found one that looks fresh but maintains a vintage look. So for the next few months this thread may be dormant, while we enjoy the summer in her. So far we're loving it! My wife. Even enjoys driving it as opposed to our old Jon boat. It's helpful to have a wife's stamp of approval.
Here's a photo of our old Jon boat. This was originally my dads. It's been in our family since I guess 1985. All of us kids learned to ski behind it. Dad let it rot in his back yard for several years before he gave it to me. I restored it a few years ago. I was sad to see it go but am looking forward to what the little Sprint will do for us.


 
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