1965 Starcraft Nassau Refurb / Restore

[gberl001]

Have you noticed a corresponding bulge downward in the hull skin beneath the braces? - Grandad

Interesting, never thought of this but it sounds plausible. On the contrary though, I noticed the hull appears to be pulled upward from the brace. As if, the transom was stressed in the reverse direction (away from the boat) thus pulling the hull upward. I'll try to get a picture tomorrow.

 

[gberl001]

As far as structural integrity, I found one more concern and I'm not sure how to mend this one. One of the ribs is cracked straight through.

Please excuse the mess, I'm working inside a tarp tent I created over the boat due to a few days of rain here. If I recall, this is about the fourth rib from the transom. It's cracked at the third rivet in from the side and it's also cracked on the exact opposite side (I didn't see it until after I took the photo and moved my junk).

Here's a close up

Any suggestions, will JB Weld hold on something like this?

 

[Grandad]

As far as structural integrity, I found one more concern and I'm not sure how to mend this one. One of the ribs is cracked straight through. Any suggestions, will JB Weld hold on something like this?

JB Weld is nothing better than a hole filler. What you have is structural damage. If you want a repair to last here, you'll need to add some structural aluminum at least as strong as the original rib. I'm not sure what you can find that is both structurally strong and curved to fit. I'd spend a bit on this fix. Perhaps a piece of aluminum U-channel inverted over the rib and machined to fit the curve. Then a pair of aluminum flat bars welded to the curved edges and riveted in place. Or maybe 2 pieces of heavy (3/8" to 1/2" thick) aluminum flat stock a couple of inches wide contour bent and bolted on either side. A chintzy fix such as a 1/8" x 3/4" strip with a rivet hole in the same location won't get you through more than a season without cracking across the same spot. - Grandad

 

[ssdale]

I agree with grandad. Just a tip, but garage door guys may have strong old aluminum frames that could possibly work for your mending, if you catch them before they are scrapped. Good Luck with your worthy project.
Dale

 

[gberl001]

Thanks for the feedback, is there a certain type of shop I could take this to? I'd rather have someone who knows what their doing mess with it like a body shop or welder. Could this be fixed by a welder, if not by mending the crack but laying a sheet of aluminum over it and welding it?

 

[Grandad]

Welding directly to the rib or the hull can be kinda dicey. Manufacturing and welding up a stiffener that's then riveted into place is much less risky. Any experienced weld shop should be able to weld aluminum, though it is trickier than welding steels. Aluminum's heat transfer rate and it's tendency to warp requires a knowledgeable welder. - Grandad

 

[jbcurt00]

Check your PMs

 

[gberl001]

Check my PMs, thank you

I'm going to contact a master welder that my father in law knows and see if he could shore up the cracked ribs.

UNTIL THEN, ONTO THE DECKING...
Since I'm not positive that the deck I took up was mounted properly, does the deck get mounted directly to each rib and the center aluminum support? If so, how am I supposed to measure to pre-drill all of those holes and have them actually line up.

I'm worried that if on is off, I won't be able to fix it without making the hole too wide for the rivet to hold. Also, every rib has two or more holes so it looks like the last guy didn't even bother and just drilled through the deck and the rib to create a new hole if necessary. I'm not going to do that since it would be riddled with holes the next time someone needs to replace the deck.

 

[gberl001]

Also, for the transom drain holes (drain from the splashwell), where/how do I get the metal inserts?

 

[jbcurt00]

It's unlikely you'll be able to drill the deck and have the rivet holes hit the existing rib end holes.

I cant see your rib ends very well in the most recent pix you posted. Post some pix showing the holy rib ends.

Iboats sells the drain tubes. I bought the aluminum ones and have the Moeller flanging tool. But there's a graphic floating around for a DIY flanging tool, and iboats also sells the plastic drain tube that some use too. I wouldn't use the brass in an aluminum boat........

Is the hull bilge drain plug tube in great shape? It's a different aluminum boat specific drain tube, not 'just' a smooth flanged tube. Iboats sells it too..

 

[gberl001]

Here are the rib ends, I didn't have a good photo already so I blew up part of an existing, sorry it's a bit blurry. You can see some of the rivets still in there, they are SS and they were being a pain so it was easier to chip away the rotting wood, I'll just cut them with a sawzall now.

The drain tube on my hull seems to be a solid piece of aluminum that is part of the boat, it protrudes on both the inside and outside and it's about 1/4 thick aluminum. The outside has a plastic overlay that keeps it protected from damage. In any case, it's in great shape, thanks for the drain tube reference, I wondered if they were one time use tubes because of the way they were flanged on both ends.

 

[gberl001]

On another note, found an interesting creature in my transom ha ha. Good thing I decided to replace it. The existing transom is a rectangle with two extra pieces cut for the upper portions on the sides, I popped one of those extra pieces out and this little lady was nesting there... yikes!

My wife found they can live longer than any insect, up to 30 years. We were trying to find out how many their might be elsewhere. I wonder how old this one is.

Anyway, I'll be taking the transom out tomorrow, it took a while to get all of the bolts out because I needed a second person on the inside so I've been tearing the deck out in the mean time.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Check my PMs, thank you

I'm going to contact a master welder that my father in law knows and see if he could shore up the cracked ribs.

UNTIL THEN, ONTO THE DECKING...
Since I'm not positive that the deck I took up was mounted properly, does the deck get mounted directly to each rib and the center aluminum support? If so, how am I supposed to measure to pre-drill all of those holes and have them actually line up.

I'm worried that if on is off, I won't be able to fix it without making the hole too wide for the rivet to hold. Also, every rib has two or more holes so it looks like the last guy didn't even bother and just drilled through the deck and the rib to create a new hole if necessary. I'm not going to do that since it would be riddled with holes the next time someone needs to replace the deck.

Im on my phone otherwise id put a pic up, but my rib ends were swiss cheese from previous decks so i rivereted down aluminum rectangles on the ends for the new deck to catch something solid. Its shown somewhere in my thread. Havnt seen it done before but i figured it wouldnt hurt to do it that way.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Made it to a computer now, here is what I did..

 

[gberl001]

Im on my phone otherwise id put a pic up, but my rib ends were swiss cheese from previous decks so i rivereted down aluminum rectangles on the ends for the new deck to catch something solid. Its shown somewhere in my thread. Havnt seen it done before but i figured it wouldnt hurt to do it that way.

Oh, nice, I was actually thinking of using 2x2 strips of wood, mounting them to the rib ends first and then I could just screw right into that. Granted it would lift my deck by ~1.5 inches. but then I could screw down anywhere. I like the idea of the aluminum 'scabs' because you can just pop them off and replace them each time. I think this is what I'll plan to do unless something else comes up that I like more.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Just watch as you get near the bow, If you want your deck flush/level all they up, cut the wood right and fit it first before adding the 'scabs' (nice term!).

 

[gberl001]

Just watch as you get near the bow, If you want your deck flush/level all they up, cut the wood right and fit it first before adding the 'scabs' (nice term!).

Great, thanks.

Now, I'm working on the transom board and I want to add some tow eyes to pull the kids in a tube. I have the whole setup with the bridal and two eyes and I know I want the eyes high so the rope stays out of the water as much as possible but I also want to be sure I have enough support so I don't want to go too high. I was thinking of replacing the handles with tow eyes.

The tow eyes look like this

Here's repeat of the stern for reference, any other suggestions on placement for the tow eyes?

 

[g0nef1sshn]

no experience with that one, but are there removeable poles you can install in the deck that will get the height your looking for? If you go with the eyes, Id add reinforcement inside and outside the transom to them to help distribute the load.

 

[jbcurt00]

Just a note, those ski pylon poles aren't supposed to be used for tubing, although lots of people use them anyway.

You've pulled to old transom wood, correct? Or at least the upper 2 'wings' at either corner?

If you want to go a little higher w/ the tow eyes, instead of using the current handle location you can, although you should probably make the transom in all 1 piece, rather then a trapezoidal main section w the 2 upper 'wings'. It'll take extra plywood to do it that way, but being all 1 piece it'll be stronger, and I still wouldn't raise more then about half way from the current handle to the flat part of the transom (where the OB rests). Straight up from the right most handle screws on the starboard handle, and straight up from the left most handle screw on the port side.

Most guys recycle a handle hole for tow eyes, and JB Weld/patch/MarineTex the unused holes, and use the U shaped eyes instead of the ski tow eye you posted.

Add an aluminum backer plate on the inside, even if the eyes came w/ washers, but use them too

The U shaped tow eyes work good for transom tiedown straps too

 

[gberl001]

Just a not, those ski poles aren't supposed to be used for tubing, although lots of people use them anyway.

You've pulled to old transom wood, correct? Or at least the upper 2 'wings' at either corner?

If you want to go a little higher w/ the tow eyes, instead of using the current handle location you can, although you should probably make the transom in all 1 piece, rather then a trapezoidal main section w the 2 upper 'wings'.

Add an aluminum backer plate on the inside, even if the eyes came w/ washers, but use them too

Yes, I pulled the old transom wood, I thought the wing pieces were someone's way of cheating when they didn't have enough wood so I was going to make a whole piece anyway. I didn't think it made structural sense to use separate pieces which is why I decided to use one piece, I just cut the raw shape today and I'm going to glue it and then cut it to its final shape.

Dang, I thought those were official tow hooks, it says on the box that they are but I also thought it was odd that they looked only as strong as the u shaped tie downs you showed, I tried to find some with some thicker "bolts" but couldn't. I looked at using an official pylon but all of the threads I found through google said, with an outboard, use two of the tow eyes and a bridal, live and learn...

I was going to add a backer plate as well, again for structural support, washers alone didn't seem like a good idea, especially when it's simple enough to take a piece of stock metal and use it for a little more support so the nuts and washers don't get pressed into the wood over time.