170 starcraft leaking bad..

henrye718

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
207
Heya all,

I have a 1998 starcraft superfisherman I picked up for a project boat. It actually looks really good. It has some problems I could use some advice on.

The transom seems to be corroding\pitting from the inside I think, from what I have read and searches came up with its because the transom wood is wet all the time. It seems the boat setup encloses the entire transom with decking and storage area so it never drys out in there. Defiantly need to change this in some way when I rebuild it to get some venting in there.The wood is still sound I checked it pretty well, it is wet tho but not rotted.

I am trying to get a season or two out of this before I tear into it, the reason is I don't have a proper place to work on it right now sort of.

Should I change out the transom right now?

So far I found a few pin hole in the transom even way above the water line and when I dig into them with a pick they open up a little bigger than the pick and became solid.

Also I filled the hull with water and found quite a few rivets leaking. :(

The last thing that really bothered me was on the very bottom port side of the boat where the transom, bottom and side meet. I found what looked like a small leak there, upon digging into it with my pick it opened up to about a 1/4 x 3/8 inch hole. keep in mind the hull is full of water now. It leaked but not as fast as it should have. It seemed as if this area has a double wall and the water would leak into this area like a chamber, then comes out of the hole some what slowly instead of gushing out. Would like to know whats in there but it looks like my only choice without ripping out the decking storage area above this is to just seal it fromt he outside. :confused:

Any suggestions or tips on fixing these issue would be greatly appreciated.
 

Rickairmedic

Commander
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
2,576
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Henrye some pics might help us . The rivets leking need to be rebucked which isnt going to happen with the deck in the boat and also sounds like the other issues may men needing to remove the Deck. The good news is redecking a Starcraft is really easy at least the Tin Cans :D. There are no wood stringers under the deck ( at least not from the factory :( ) . Most of us are using a product called Gluvit inside our hulls while we have the decks out ( those that didnt now wish they had :D. ) What part of the country are you in . I would guess if your further north than me having a plce to work on it inside over the winter would be nice otherwise I have done everything so far except for changing the color of my vinyl out in my driveway :D. The easiest answer on the holes in the transom would be to open them up to 3/16" and put some closed end rivets in them with some 3M 5200 on them to seal them up nice .


Rick
 

henrye718

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
207
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Hi Rick, I'm in the north east in N.J., yeah, winter is pretty much out for working on boats outdoors here.


I keep my boat in a marina on a trailer, they are pretty cool with working on a boat there. I might even be able to score a socket to power electric tools. I'd would rather wait till I can tow it home and have the convenience of my own driveway and access to all my tools for really long term work and a big project.

Right now I just want to patch all these problems and keep fishing. The interior is in really good condition still and everything else about the boat for that matter.

My plan unless I get better suggestions on this tread, was to sand lightly around the leaky rivets and 5200 them from the outside. Wire-brush-drill the transom holes, slap some 2 part epoxy over the area, prime and paint these patched areas. The larger hole on the side I'm not sure, it seems like it needs some kind of filler, the hole has no backing. I was thinking of filling it with gorilla glue which expands a lot, sand it flush, then 5200 over that. I don't want this to pop out like a boat plug one day 3 miles from shore and find my bilge pump is not working.

Any advice at all I can get from people who have experience with this would be great.
 

Rickairmedic

Commander
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
2,576
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Henrye I would say most of your plns should work as temp fixes until you can get a better location to work on her . Be sure to check in on the plans being mde in the Starcraft forum on a little get together we are planning for next summer for all the Starcraft owners on iboats in the eastern side of the country :D . I will leave you a link here .


http://forums.iboats.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53



Rick
 

henrye718

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
207
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Went over to the boat today for the two hours of daylight I had left. Looked inside my major side hole real good. What is going on is there is foam pushed up against the inside side wall. That is what was slowing the water flow when I filled the hull up with water. Also what caused the corrosion I guess, wet foam up against aluminum.

I opened the hole up some more to see how weak the metal was around it for sure, it went to about 3/8 X 1/2. I scraped out some of the foam trying to created a mushroom shaped cavity inside, used some paper towels to somewhat dry the foam out and injected some gorilla glue. It quickly started to pour out, I used a piece of cardboard and some tape to hold it back.

While sitting there thinking about it I realized this will not do. The water pressure could push the gorilla glue plug in and this is a really big hole to have burst. I also realized I forgot to take a picture of the hole so I took one afterwards its useless but I will post it anyway. :rolleyes:

I picked up a piece of aluminum sheet on the way home. I will sand and 5200 a piece of this to the outside of the hull to cover the hole to make 100% sure I do not spring a leak while I'm out there. :eek:

This is a 1999 starcraft shouldnt the foam be of the newer type that does not water log? It looked like pour foam to me BTW.

hole.jpg
 

Rickairmedic

Commander
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
2,576
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Hey Henrye being newer is most likely why you have the pour in foam . On the older Starcrafts like mine we had styrofoam sheets and blocks like an oold cheap cooler :D. That stuff soked up water as well . When I took mine out it was all waaterlogged badly.


Ok on your repair with the piece of aluminum you want to put it on from the outside with the 5200 and then you want to rivet it in place with closed end pop rivets . This will keep it from being pushed in by the water pressure and will make the best repair . The only other option on this repair would be to have someone tig weld the patch in place but the 5200 and rivets will work fine.


Rick
 

targetpanic

Seaman
Joined
Jul 25, 2008
Messages
70
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Hey henrye,

The new foam you have is the same as the pour in foam in my 2000 Sylvan Expedition. Trust me it soaks up water. I had a very small leak in my hull, when I filled it with water I would get a slow drip, yet when I pulled the deck off and tore the foam out it weighed 250-300lbs. The pour in is bad IMO just because it sits right on the hull and blocks drainage to the bilge.
Check out my thread
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=336139
 

henrye718

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
207
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Got in another two hours of daylight today, layed under the boat most of that time. With the salt water flys biteing me most of the time, not much defense against them in that position. I was able to sand and 5200 all the rivets I marked the other day that were leaking.

I also put the aluminum patch on the outside of boat, I did not rivet it Rick although I thought about it. Its about 2"x3" piece it should have enough surface area for the 5200 to hold it on by itself. I will most likely have a plate welded from the inside when I rip the floors out.

Here is a picture of the hold after I removed the cardboard that was keeping the gorrila glue in till it dried (the dark area near the very bottom is the hole). I forgot to take one of the patch glued on. I have to remember to bring a real camera with me too.

patch.jpg


Heres a crappy pic of the boat.

boat1.jpg
 

Rickairmedic

Commander
Joined
Apr 24, 2009
Messages
2,576
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Henrye I think you should be ok on the patch job . Good lookin boat by the way. Hopefully you can dunk her this weekend and make sure you got her taken care of . I would keep an eye on the patch just in case . I have a piiiiiiiile of Closed end rivets if you need a few :D. I had to order 250 of them to fill 25 holes in the bottom of my hull :D. I still have at least 200 left although I think I can use them inside when I pull some of the trim to polish it :D.


Rick
 

henrye718

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
207
Re: 170 starcraft leaking bad..

Hey henrye,

The new foam you have is the same as the pour in foam in my 2000 Sylvan Expedition. Trust me it soaks up water. I had a very small leak in my hull, when I filled it with water I would get a slow drip, yet when I pulled the deck off and tore the foam out it weighed 250-300lbs. The pour in is bad IMO just because it sits right on the hull and blocks drainage to the bilge.
Check out my thread
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=336139


Hi Target, Thanks for the link and info on the foam, your project looks great. My boat sits low a little in the rear it must filled with soaked foam too.

I will post and follow along in your thread.
 
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