Just bought a 1970 16' fiberglass Starcraft...

Owned a houseboat a few years back, loved living on the water, but - economics decided otherwise (Yes, I'm in Arizona, and lived on a houseboat...)

MISS being on the water...

So, a few days ago, I bought a 1970 16' fiberglass Starcraft, for $700, 140hp mercruiser stern drive.

Looks like it's all there. Looked it over pretty good, did not find any wood or fiberglass damage, other than a few small chips gone here and there.

It's got, from what the previous owner told me, the engine was rebuilt in 2004, when the guy he bought it from put $5k into it.

I can see I've got a LOT of work to do.

I was told that the engine>stern drive coupler aluminum splines 'spun', and had been replaced.

Right now, the motor won't turn over, and I'm suspecting it's actually the drive that's frozen. Starter wouldn't spin it, and I pulled the starter, flywheel won't turn.

I think it's worth going through the drive anyway, but - have a question...

Best way to pull the drive off the boat? (I've got the manual for the stern drive, but - looking for tips/tricks (but - NO shortcuts...)

Anyway, I HOPE I've made a good deal, plan on getting it going, and at some point in the next 5 years or so, we'll likely be moving to Mexico (retirement),
and will be using it in saltwater (need to learn quite a bit about zinc/anodes, etc).

Looks like it's been taken care of, but - needs to be gone through, cleaning/ lubricating/adjusting, Worst I've found hull wise is some oily mess in the bilge, which I'll have to get cleaned up. All APPEARS to work, except for the frozen motor/drive....

Anyway, just wanted to say hi. I'll post some pics when I get the chance.
Jeff, Phoenix, Arizona...

Re: Just bought a 1970 16' fiberglass Starcraft...

Outdrive off, appears to be OK, bellows apparently were sealed.
Motor still locked up, looks like alignment is off (will fix that). Previous owner pulled the motor, and didn't reconnect much, and likely broke the front motor mount bolts out of the fiberglass bed (that doesn't look like fun to fix...)
Pulled starter, tried to turn motor with flywheel teeth. No luck.
Marvel oil in the cylinders, removed crank pulley, put crank bolts back in, and used a big square screwdriver on the crank bolt heads (more leverage than I could get at the flywheel), and with some effort, got the motor to turn, around 90 degrees. It's free for the 90 degrees, and then stuck again. Will let the oil work for a while, and see if I can get it to turn all the way. Here's to hoping.

THANK YOU for this forum, and all of the contributors! I've learned a huge amount already, and (hopefully) have saved a motor rebuild, time wil tell...

Hope all is going well for everyone,
Jeff

Re: Just bought a 1970 16' fiberglass Starcraft...

Good luck with it Jeff. I don't know how many motor gurus we have down here in the Starcraft section but there's a TON of 'em in the I/O repair section. That's where your best answers will be. Anyway, we'd love to see some pics or your boat if you have any. Welcome to iboats!

Re: Just bought a 1970 16' fiberglass Starcraft...

THANKS FOR THE REPLY, I'm sure I'll have more engine questions!

I found the problem. Previous owner mentioned that he had changed the engine - drive coupler. Guess where I should have looked first?
AFTER removing the head (yes, engine appears to have been rebuilt recently, all in good shape) and still won't turn over - pulled the engine out of the boat (well, it's actually still in the boat, just raised it onto the floor...)
Still wouldn't turn, so wasn't alignment. Pulled oil pan, looking for problems, no problems found. But - while turning the engine with the flywheel, discovered that when the coupler was changed, the studs holding it were screwed in too far, and when the engine was turned, the bolts that stuck out, were catching on the back of the engine block...
(Gee, if only I would have looked at the *questionable* 'work' done by the previous owner (the actual cause), BEFORE I started to tear it down. Well, as the wife says, at least we KNOW the inside of the motor is solid.
Just some gaskets, replacement coupler studs/nuts, and some assembly work.

Figured I was looking at $1700 or so to buy a rebuilt motor. Got lucky.

While I've got the engine out, cleaning up all of the 40 year old dried grease/dirt combinations on the shift/throttle/trim/tilt stuff, and will have to redo much of the wiring. I can do that, it's just parts and - time.

I consider myself VERY lucky. Been over as much of the boat that I can see, and don't see ANY rot, or signs of water sitting anywhere (helps that I'm in the desert. NOTHING more that just surface rust...

Still have to get some pics, now would be a good time, as the engine is torn apart all over the back of the boat...

Model V-160 IO S/N 93160

Haven't seen a matching model anywhere, but haven't researched to much.

Hope all is going well!
Jeff